Patent Description:
A developing box is a necessary consumable in an operation process of an imaging device. In order to make the imaging device remind the end user of the remaining life of the developing box in time, the current developing box is usually provided with a counting assembly, and the imaging device is provided with a counted member which is combined with the counting assembly. The imaging device determines the life of the developing box based on the duration and the times of combination of the counting assembly and the counted member, and an interval between two adjacent combinations of the counting assembly and the counted member.

In order to improve the overall assembly convenience of the counting assembly and the developing box, a structure is provided in which a counting member in the counting assembly can be decomposed into a rotating member and a toggling member that are combined with each other. The rotating member is provided with a plurality of protrusions. When driven to rotate, the rotating member drives the toggling member to move, to cause the toggling member to be combined with the counted member. In actual applications, the current counting assembly has poor accuracy, which results in failure of counting. A prior art developing box having a counting assembly is disclosed in <CIT>.

The present disclosure provides an improved counting assembly and a developing box including the counting assembly. The present disclosure adopts the following technical solutions.

A counting assembly includes a counting member capable of being engaged with and disengaged from a counted member that is arranged outside the counted member. The counting member includes a rotating member and a toggling member separated from each other, the rotating member rotates by receiving an external driving force, and the rotating member drives the toggling member to rotate. The counting assembly further includes a holding member in contact with the rotating member and the toggling member. During a counting process, the rotating member applies a discontinuous force to the toggling member through the holding member; and when the toggling member is subjected to the force, the toggling member is held at a stationary position where the counted member is continuously pressed by the holding member. When the toggling member is not subjected to the force, the toggling member rotates along a direction opposite to a rotating direction of the rotating member under a reaction force of the counted member.

During a process that the rotating member applies the force to the toggling member through the holding member, as the rotating member rotates, the force applied by the rotating member to the toggling member increases.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the holding member includes protrusions which are provided at the rotating member and spaced from one another and a bump provided at the toggling member, and during a rotating process of the rotating member, when the bump is in contact with the protrusions, the rotating member transmits the force to the toggling member, and when the bump is not in contact with the protrusions, the rotating member does not transmit the force to the toggling member.

The bump and the protrusions are eccentrically arranged. In this case, the bump is in contact with an outer surface of one of the protrusions, and a contact point thereof is within a circumference of the rotating member. Alternatively, along the rotating direction of the rotating member, a starting point of each of the protrusions is closer to a rotation center of the rotating member than an ending point of the protrusion. The protrusions are provided at a rotating body of the rotating member. In a radial direction of the rotating member, the protrusions extend beyond the rotating body, and along the rotating direction of the rotating member, a protruding extent of each of the protrusions decreases. Alternatively, a surface on which the bump and one of the protrusions are in contact with each other is configured in such a manner that, an upstream edge of the surface is farther away from a rotation axis of the toggling member than a downstream edge of the surface along a rotating direction of the toggling member when the rotating member drives the toggling member to rotate. Alternatively, at least one of a surface on which the bump and one of the protrusions are in contact with each other and the outer surface of one of the protrusions is configured to be elastic, and when the rotating member rotates, the toggling member is held at a stationary position where the counted member is pressed by the toggling member through a static friction force between the rotating member and the toggling member.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the holding member includes protrusions which are provided at the rotating member and spaced from one another and an elastic member provided between the rotating member and the toggling member. The elastic member is in contact with the protrusions and the toggling member. In this case, a circle center of a circle along which the elastic member performs a circular motion is not concentric with a circle center of a circle along which the protrusions perform a circular motion. Alternatively, along the rotating direction of the rotating member, a starting point of each of the protrusions is closer to the rotation center of the rotating member than an ending point of the protrusion. Alternatively, a surface on which the bump and one of the protrusions are in contact with each other is configured in such a manner that, an upstream edge of the surface is farther away from a rotation axis of the toggling member than a downstream edge of the surface along a rotating direction of the toggling member when the rotating member drives the toggling member to rotate.

The present disclosure further provides a developing box including the counting assembly described above.

As described above, the counting assembly provided by the present disclosure utilizes the holding member in contact with the toggling member and the rotating member to hold the toggling member at a stationary position where the counted member can be continuously pressed, thereby improving the accuracy of the counting assembly and reducing a risk of counting failure.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail as below.

<FIG> are perspective views of the developing box according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a perspective view of a developing box viewed from a counting end according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

A developing box <NUM> includes a housing <NUM>, a developing member <NUM> rotatably installed in the housing <NUM>, a power receiving member <NUM> and a toggling member <NUM> that are arranged at a longitudinal end of the housing. A side where the toggling member <NUM> is located is a counting end. When the developing box <NUM> is detachably installed, along a mounting direction S, into an imaging device provided with a counted member <NUM>, the power receiving member <NUM> receives a driving force from the imaging device and transmits the driving force to a developing member <NUM> and the toggling member <NUM>. Thus, the developing member <NUM> is rotatable about a rotation axis L1.

The toggling member <NUM> is configured to toggle the counted member <NUM>, so that the imaging device is capable of identifying the developing box <NUM> and determining a service life of the developing box <NUM> according to a duration and times that the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM> and an interval between each two adjacent pressings. Once the toggling member <NUM> no longer applies a pressing force to the counted member <NUM>, the counted member <NUM> rebounds and is reset.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the toggling member <NUM> and the power receiving member <NUM> are respectively located at two longitudinal ends of the housing <NUM>, that is, the toggling member <NUM> and the power receiving member <NUM> are arranged at two different sides, so that the toggling member <NUM> is capable of receiving the driving force of the power receiving member <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the side where the toggling member <NUM> is located is the counting end. The developing box <NUM> further includes a gear set <NUM> and a rotating member <NUM> that are arranged at the same side as the toggling member <NUM>. The gear set <NUM> receives the driving force of the power receiving member <NUM>, and the rotating member <NUM> is engaged with the toggling member <NUM> and the gear set <NUM>, respectively. Therefore, the driving force of the power receiving member <NUM> is transmitted to the toggling member <NUM> through the gear set <NUM> and the rotating member <NUM>.

The rotating member <NUM> is configured to control the duration and the times that the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM> and the interval between each two adjacent pressings. Therefore, the rotating member <NUM> and the toggling member <NUM> can be collectively referred to as a counting member K. The gear set <NUM> includes a first gear <NUM> configured to receive a driving force, a transforming gear <NUM> and a driving gear <NUM>. The first gear <NUM> receives the driving force of the power receiving member <NUM>, and a rotation axis of the first gear <NUM> is parallel to the rotation axis L1 of the developing member <NUM>. A rotation axis L2 of the transforming gear <NUM> and a rotation axis L3 of the driving gear <NUM> are both perpendicular to the rotation axis L1, and the driving gear <NUM> is coaxial with the rotating member <NUM>, that is, the rotating member <NUM> is directly driven by the gear <NUM> to rotate about the rotation axis L3.

<FIG> is a status diagram illustrating a case in which a counting member in a developing box is disengaged from a housing of the developing box according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a perspective view of a rotating member in the counting member according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a top view of the rotating member in the counting member according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a perspective view of a toggling member in the counting member according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure.

As shown in <FIG>, the counting member K is installed to the housing <NUM> through an installation plate <NUM>, so that the rotating member <NUM> rotates about the rotation axis L3, and the toggling member <NUM> rotates about the rotation axis L4. In this embodiment, the rotation axis L3 and the rotation axis L4 is not collinear. In this embodiment, the rotation axes L3 and L4 are parallel to each other. That is, the rotation axis L4 and the rotation axis L1 are also perpendicular to each other, and the rotating member <NUM> and the toggling member <NUM> are eccentrically arranged. As shown in <FIG>, the rotation center C of the rotating member <NUM> does not coincide with the rotation center D of the toggling member <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the rotating member <NUM> includes a rotating body <NUM> and a plurality of protrusions which are provided on the rotating body <NUM> and spaced from one another. According to the difference of the service life of the developing box <NUM>, the number of the protrusions and a space/distance between adjacent protrusions vary, but a working process thereof is similar. According to this embodiment of the present disclosure, in an example, the rotating body <NUM> is provided with three protrusions.

As shown in the figures, a first protrusion <NUM>, a second protrusion <NUM> and a third protrusion <NUM> are spaced from one another along a circumferential direction of the rotating body <NUM>. A first space <NUM> is formed between the first protrusion <NUM> and the second protrusion <NUM>, and a second space <NUM> is formed between the second protrusion <NUM> and the third protrusion <NUM>. The first protrusion <NUM> includes a first outer surface <NUM>, the second protrusion <NUM> includes a second outer surface <NUM>, and each of the first outer surface <NUM> and the second outer surface <NUM> is located at a radial outer side of the corresponding protrusion.

Taking the first protrusion <NUM> and the second protrusion <NUM> as an example, as shown in <FIG>, along a rotating direction r, a projection of a contact surface between the first protrusion <NUM> and the toggling member <NUM> along a circumferential direction of the rotating body <NUM> includes a starting point E and an ending point F, and a projection of the second protrusion <NUM> along the circumferential direction of the rotating body <NUM> includes a starting point A and an ending point G. Meanwhile, along the rotating direction r, each protrusion further includes a starting surface located in the most downstream and an ending surface located in the most upstream. For example, the second protrusion <NUM> includes a starting surface <NUM> and an ending surface <NUM>. Further, the starting surface of each protrusion is formed as an inclined surface, indicating that: when the protrusion is projected on the rotating body <NUM> along the rotation axis L3 (a same plane perpendicular to the rotation axis L3), along the rotating direction r, an endpoint of the projection of the protrusion close to the rotation center C is located downstream of an endpoint of the projection of the protrusion away from the rotation center C. As shown in the figure, a projection of the starting surface <NUM> of the second protrusion on the rotating body <NUM> includes an endpoint A and an endpoint B, and a connecting line AB between the endpoints A and B is an inclined line, that is, along the rotating direction r, the endpoint B close to the rotation center C is located downstream of the endpoint A away from the rotation center C. The configuration of the inclined surface allows the toggling member <NUM> to be more smoothly disengaged from the starting surface of the protrusion and then enter a position in contact with an outer surface of the protrusion.

The toggling member <NUM> includes a base <NUM> that is rotatable, and a toggling plate <NUM> and a bump <NUM> that protrude outward from the base <NUM>. When the rotating member <NUM> drives the toggling member <NUM> to rotate, the toggling plate <NUM> and the bump <NUM> move with the rotation of the base <NUM>, the toggling plate <NUM> is engaged with the counted member <NUM>, and the bump <NUM> is controlled by the rotating member <NUM> to make the toggling member <NUM> be stationary or move. In an example, an inner surface <NUM> of the bump <NUM> is controlled by the rotating member <NUM>, when the rotating member <NUM> controls the bump <NUM> to keep the toggling member <NUM> stationary, the toggling plate <NUM> keeps pressing the counted member <NUM>; and when the rotating member <NUM> controls the bump <NUM> to make the toggling member <NUM> move, the toggling plate <NUM> no longer presses the counted member <NUM>, but is forced to move along a direction opposite to the rotating direction r by a reaction force of the counted member <NUM>.

<FIG> is a perspective view of the counting member at an initial status according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a simplified plan view of the counting member at the initial status according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure.

During the counting process of the counting member K, the bump <NUM> is engaged with the protrusion, and when the bump <NUM> is engaged with the outer surface of the protrusion, the bump <NUM> (the toggling member <NUM>) remains stationary. In order to describe the motion process of the rotating member <NUM> and the toggling member <NUM> more clearly, a rotation trajectory of the outer surface of the rotating member <NUM> is represented by a solid-line circle R1 with a circle center C, and ta motion trajectory of the inner surface <NUM> of the bump <NUM> is represented by a dashed-line circle R2 with a circle center D. The circle center C and the circle center D are eccentric, and the eccentricity is configured in such a manner that during the counting process of the counting member K, the inner surface <NUM> is in contact with the outer surface of the rotating member <NUM>, or the inner surface <NUM> is located at an inner side of the outer surface of the rotating member <NUM>, that is, the inner surface <NUM> is located within a range of a circumference of the rotating member <NUM>. When the solid-line circle R1 and the dashed-line circle R2 have a same radius, the two circles have intersections.

Further, as shown in <FIG>, when the inner surface <NUM> and the protrusion are projected on the rotating body <NUM>, in order to simplify the representation, the first protrusion <NUM> (the outer surface <NUM> of the first protrusion) is simplified as an arc formed by a starting point E to an ending point F, and the second protrusion <NUM> (the outer surface <NUM> of the second protrusion) is simplified as an arc formed by a starting point A to an ending point G, and the starting surface <NUM> is simplified as a straight line AB formed by the starting point A to an ending point B which is closer to the circle center C than the starting point A.

As shown in <FIG>, before the counting member K starts counting, or in other words, when the developing box l is just installed to the imaging device, the inner surface <NUM> of the bump <NUM> is in contact with the outer surface <NUM> of the first protrusion <NUM>, and the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling plate <NUM>, so that the imaging device determines that the developing box <NUM> has been installed. With reference to <FIG>, a contact point H of the bump <NUM> (toggling member <NUM> / inner surface <NUM>) and the outer surface <NUM> of the first protrusion coincides with the starting point E of the first protrusion <NUM>. Therefore, the bump <NUM> remains stationary through the inner surface <NUM> by the protrusion <NUM>, and the toggling plate <NUM> keeps pressing the counted member <NUM>.

When the power receiving member <NUM> receives a driving force and drives the rotating member <NUM> to rotate about the rotation axis L3 along a direction r, the inner surface <NUM> keeps in contact with the outer surface <NUM> of the first protrusion, and the first protrusion <NUM> applies a holding force to the inner surface <NUM> of the toggling member <NUM> to make the toggling member <NUM> remain in a stationary position. Although the counted member <NUM> applies a force to the toggling member <NUM> along a direction opposite to the rotating direction r, a motion trend of the toggling member <NUM> along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r is prevented by the first protrusion <NUM>, therefore, the toggling member <NUM> remains stationary as an entirety and continuously presses the counted member <NUM>. As the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the contact point H of the two gradually approaches the ending point F of the outer surface <NUM> of the first protrusion. As shown in <FIG>, a distance DF from the circle center D of the toggling member <NUM> to the point F is greater than a distance DE from the circle center D to the point E. As the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the holding force applied by the first protrusion <NUM> to the toggling member <NUM> gradually increases. In this way, the toggling member <NUM> can be stably held in a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed. When the rotating member <NUM> rotates until the outer surface <NUM> of the first protrusion no longer contacts the inner surface <NUM>, that is, the contact point H no longer contacts the ending point F, the first protrusion <NUM> no longer prevents the toggling member <NUM> from moving along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r, and the projection <NUM> moves within the first space <NUM> about the rotational axis L4 along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r.

<FIG> is a perspective view of the counting member after a first holding period according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a simplified plan view of the counting member after the first holding period according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a status diagram illustrating a case in which the toggling member in the counting member rotates with a second protrusion according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a simplified plan view when the toggling member in the counting member rotates with the second protrusion according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a status diagram illustrating a case in which the toggling member in the counting member is about to be held by the second protrusion according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a simplified plan view illustrating a case in which the toggling member in the counting member is about to be held by the second protrusion according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure.

As shown in <FIG>, the starting surface <NUM> of the second protrusion <NUM> is in contact with the bump <NUM>. At this time, the toggling member <NUM> stops moving along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r, and instead, is driven by the rotating member <NUM> to rotate along the direction r. As shown in <FIG>, the contact point H of the bump <NUM> (toggling member <NUM>) and the starting surface <NUM> is located on the starting surface <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, as the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the contact point H gradually moves away from the circle center C on the starting surface <NUM>, namely gradually approaches the starting point A of the second protrusion <NUM>, or in other words, the bump <NUM> is gradually disengaged from the starting surface <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, when the contact point H reaches the starting point A of the second protrusion <NUM>, the inner surface <NUM> of the bump starts to contact the outer surface <NUM> of the second protrusion. At this time, the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling plate <NUM> again, and under a reaction force of the counted member <NUM>, the toggling member <NUM> tends to move along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r. As shown in <FIG>, the contact point H is at an intersection of the solid-line circle R1 and the dotted-line circle R2, and the second protrusion <NUM> prevents a moving tendency of the toggling member <NUM> along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r, therefore, the toggling member <NUM> remains stationary during the toggling member <NUM> is in contact with the second protrusion outer surface <NUM>, and a distance DG from the circle center D of the toggling member <NUM> to the point G is greater than a distance DA from the circle center D to the point A. As the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the holding force applied by the second protrusion <NUM> to the toggling member <NUM> gradually increases. In this way, the toggling member <NUM> can be stably held in a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM>, until the bump <NUM> is disengaged from the second protrusion <NUM>.

<FIG> is a status diagram illustrating a case in which the toggling member in the counting member is about to be disengaged from the second protrusion according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a simplified plan view illustrating a case in which the toggling member in the counting member is about to be disengaged from the second protrusion according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure.

As shown in <FIG>, when the contact point H reaches the ending point G of the outer surface <NUM> of the second protrusion, the bump <NUM> is about to be disengaged from the second protrusion <NUM>. Once the two no longer contact each other, the bump <NUM> will enter the second space <NUM>. Under a reaction force of the counted member <NUM>, the toggling member <NUM> moves along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r, until the bump <NUM> is in contact with the third protrusion <NUM>. As the rotating member <NUM> continues to rotate, the bump <NUM> repeats the above-described motion process until the counting member K finishes counting.

As described above, the toggling member <NUM> is in contact with or disengaged from a plurality of protrusions of the rotating member <NUM> through the bumps <NUM>, so that the toggling member <NUM> (toggling plate <NUM>) is controlled by the rotating member <NUM> to remain stationary or move. That is, the developing box l further includes a holding member configured to control the toggling member <NUM> (toggling plate <NUM>) to remain stationary. The holding member and the counting member K jointly form a counting assembly, and the holding member is in contact with the toggling member <NUM> and the rotating member <NUM> in the counting member, so that the rotating member <NUM> holds the toggling member <NUM> at a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> can be continuously pressed by the holding member. In an example, the holding member is configured to hold the toggling member <NUM> (toggling plate <NUM>) in a stationary state according to the duration and the times that the counted member <NUM> is required to be pressed and the interval between two adjacent pressings. When the counted member <NUM> is not required to be pressed, the toggling member <NUM> (toggling plate <NUM>) is disengaged from the counted member <NUM> under a reaction force of the counted member <NUM>. In a process that the toggling member <NUM> contacts one of the protrusions of the rotating member <NUM>, as the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the holding force applied by the rotating member <NUM> (protrusion) to the toggling member <NUM> gradually increases, so that the toggling member <NUM> can be stably held in a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM>. The toggling member <NUM> remains being held until the toggling member <NUM> is disengaged from the protrusion.

According to this embodiment of the present disclosure, the holding member is provided in the counting member K, and includes a bump <NUM> provided on the toggling member <NUM> and a plurality of protrusions provided on the rotating member <NUM>. The circle center D of a circle in which the bump <NUM> performs a circular motion is not concentric with the circle center C of a circle in which the plurality of protrusions perform a circular motion. That is, the protrusion <NUM> (toggling member <NUM>) and the protrusions (rotating member <NUM>) are eccentrically arranged, and a position where the bump <NUM> is in contact with the plurality of protrusions is located on or within a range of the circumference of a circle where the plurality of protrusions perform a circular motion. As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, a distance from the circle center D to the starting point of each protrusion is shorter than a distance from the circle center D to the ending point of the protrusion. In the above description, it is taken as an example for illustration that a solid-line circle R1 and a dashed-line circle R2 have a same radius. However, the solid-line circle R1 and the dashed-line circle R2 may have different radii, provided that the solid-line circle R1 and the dashed-line circle R2 are not arranged concentrically, and a position where the bump <NUM> is in contact with the plurality of protrusions is located on or within a range of the circumference of a circle where the plurality of protrusions perform a circular motion, and the above-mentioned function of the holding member can be achieved.

A difference between this embodiment and the above-mentioned embodiment lies in a structure of the holding member, and other identical parts will not be repeated herein.

The holding member in this embodiment includes an elastic member provided between the toggling member <NUM> and the rotating member <NUM> and a plurality of protrusions provided on the rotating member <NUM>. The elastic member is, for example, a compression spring. Before the counting member K starts counting, or in other words, when the developing box <NUM> is just installed to the imaging device, the compression spring is located between the toggling member <NUM> and a top surface <NUM> of the first protrusion <NUM> (as shown in <FIG>) and the compression spring is compressed, so that the toggling member <NUM> can be held by the compression spring to remain stationary so as to press the counted member <NUM>.

As the rotating member <NUM> rotates, an end of the compression spring which is in contact with the top surface <NUM> of the first protrusion slides on the top surface <NUM>. During this process, the compression spring continues to be in a compressed state. When the rotating member <NUM> rotates until the compression spring no longer contacts the top surface <NUM> of the second protrusion, the compression spring enters the first space <NUM> and extends, and at the same time, the toggling member <NUM> is no longer held and thus no longer presses the counted member <NUM>. Under a reaction force of the counted member <NUM>, the toggling member <NUM> rotates along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r, and then the compression spring is compressed again by the second protrusion <NUM> to repeat the above-mentioned motion.

It can be seen that in this embodiment it is not required that a circle center of a circle where the compression spring performs a circular motion is not concentric with a circle center of a circle where the plurality of protrusions perform a circular motion, provided that the compression spring is engaged with the protrusion. When a circle center of a circle where the compression spring performs a circular motion is not concentric with a circle center of a circle where the plurality of protrusions perform a circular motion, during a process that the toggling member <NUM> is in contact with one of the protrusions on the rotating member <NUM>, as the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the holding force applied by the rotating member <NUM> (protrusion) to the toggling member <NUM> gradually increases.

In an example, a position where the compression spring is contact with the protrusion may not be a top surface of the protrusion. For example, the compression spring may also be in contact with an outer surface of the protrusion. Alternatively, a groove for receiving the compression spring is provided at the top surface or the outer surface of the protrusion, so that a motion trajectory of the compression spring trajectories is more stable.

<FIG> is status diagram after a counting member in a developing box is disengaged from a housing of the developing box according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a top view of a rotating member in the counting member according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure.

Compared with Embodiment <NUM>, the rotating member <NUM> and the toggling member <NUM> in this embodiment are arranged coaxially, that is, the rotation axis L3 of the rotating member <NUM> is coaxial with the rotation axis L4 of the toggling member <NUM>. Similarly, the rotating member <NUM> includes a rotating body <NUM> and a plurality of protrusions which are provided on the rotating body <NUM> and spaced from one another. As shown in <FIG>, an ending point of each protrusion is farther away from the rotation center C than a starting point of the protrusion.

In this embodiment, it is also taken as an example that three protrusions (the first protrusion <NUM>, the second protrusion <NUM> and the third protrusion <NUM>) are provided on the rotating body <NUM>. For example, the starting point E of the first protrusion <NUM> is closer to the rotation center C than the ending point F of the first protrusion <NUM>, and the starting point A of the second protrusions <NUM> is closer to the rotation center C than the ending point G of the second protrusions <NUM>, that is, each protrusion gradually approaches the rotation center C along the rotating direction r.

When the developing box <NUM> is installed to the imaging device, the bump <NUM> (the inner surface <NUM>) is located at the starting point E of the first protrusion <NUM>. As the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the outer surface <NUM> of the first protrusion <NUM> gradually moves away from the rotation center C. Therefore, the holding force applied by the rotating member <NUM> to the toggling member <NUM> also gradually increases. When the bump <NUM> (the inner surface) is located at a position (a position of the ending point F) where the first protrusion <NUM> is farthest away from the rotation center C, the holding force received by the toggling member <NUM> is the largest. During this process, the toggling member <NUM> is held in a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the holding force applied by the rotating member <NUM>, until the bump <NUM> no longer contacts the first protrusion <NUM> and enters the first space <NUM>. Under a reaction force of the counted member <NUM>, the toggling member <NUM> moves along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r, and reaches a position where the toggling member <NUM> is in contact with the second protrusion <NUM>.

In an example, in order to prevent the starting point of each protrusion from being in contact with the inner surface <NUM> of the bump, it is one of the solutions that the plurality of protrusions are arranged farther away from the rotation center C in a radial direction of the rotating body <NUM>, along the rotating direction r of the rotating member <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the bump <NUM> and the plurality of protrusions may be regarded as a holding member, and the rotating member <NUM> applies a holding force to the toggling member <NUM> through the holding member. During the process that the toggling member <NUM> contacts a protrusion, as the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the holding force applied by the rotating member <NUM> to the toggling member <NUM> gradually increases, so that the toggling member <NUM> can be stably held in a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM> until the bump <NUM> no longer contacts from the protrusion.

As an alternative, in the radial direction of the rotating member, each protrusion may protrude beyond the rotating body <NUM>, and along the rotating direction r of the rotating member, a protruding extent of each protrusion decreases, or in other words, the starting point of each protrusion is closer to the rotation center C of the rotating member than the ending point of the protrusion.

As another alternative, the elastic member according to Embodiment <NUM> can also be applied to this embodiment. For example, the elastic member is installed to the bump <NUM>, so that the bump <NUM> is in contact with the outer surface of the protrusion. At this time, the elastic member and the plurality of protrusions can be regarded as a holding member. Since the protrusions have the above-mentioned structure, during a process of the elastic member contacting a protrusion, as the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the holding force applied by the rotating member <NUM> to the toggling member <NUM> gradually increases, so that the toggling member <NUM> can be stably held in a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM> until the elastic member no longer contacts the protrusion.

<FIG> is a perspective view of a toggling member according to Embodiment <NUM> of the present disclosure. This embodiment adopts the same reference signs to the identical components with the above embodiments.

In this embodiment, the rotating member <NUM> and the toggling member <NUM> are arranged in a coaxial manner, and the bump <NUM> and the protrusions of the rotating member <NUM> may be regarded as a holding member. The protrusions of the rotating member <NUM> are the same as those in Embodiment <NUM>, but the bump <NUM> of the toggling member <NUM> is different from that in Embodiment <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, along the rotating direction r, the inner surface <NUM> of the bump is configured to be not parallel to the rotation axis L4 of the toggling member <NUM>. In an example, the inner surface <NUM> may be configured as an inclined surface or an arc surface. No matter what shape the inner surface <NUM> is configured as, along the rotating direction r, an upstream edge 531a of the inner surface <NUM> is farther away from the rotation axis L4 than a downstream edge 531b of the inner surface <NUM>.

When the rotating member <NUM> starts to rotate, the protrusion first faces the upstream edge 531a of the inner surface, and as the rotating member <NUM> continues to rotate, the protrusion gradually starts to contact the downstream edge 531b of the inner surface. Therefore, the rotating member <NUM> applies a gradually increasing holding force to the toggling member <NUM> through the holding member, and the toggling member <NUM> can be stably held at a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM>. When the bump <NUM> no longer contacts the protrusion, under a reaction force of the counted member <NUM>, the toggling member <NUM> moves along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r.

As another alternative, the elastic member in Embodiment <NUM> can also be applied to this embodiment. For example, an elastic member which is capable of being in contact with the bump <NUM> is installed to each protrusion. In this case, the elastic member and the bump <NUM> can be regarded as a holding member. Since the bump <NUM> has the above-mentioned structure, in a process that the bump <NUM> is in contact with a protruding elastic member, as the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the holding force applied by the rotating member <NUM> to the toggling member <NUM> gradually increases, so that the toggling member <NUM> can be stably held at a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM> until the bump <NUM> no longer contacts the protruding elastic member.

This embodiment relates to a structure combining the rotating member <NUM> according to Embodiment <NUM> and the toggling member <NUM> according to Embodiment <NUM>. The bump <NUM> and the protrusions of the rotating member <NUM> are regarded as a holding member.

As shown in <FIG>, for the first protrusion <NUM>, when the rotating member <NUM> starts to rotate, the first protrusion <NUM> may not contact the inner surface <NUM> of the protrusion, but along the rotating direction r, the first protrusion <NUM> gradually moves away from the rotation center C, the inner surface <NUM> of the bump gradually approaches the rotation axis L4, and the rotation center C is located on the rotation axis L4. As the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the first protrusion <NUM> gradually starts to contact the inner surface <NUM> of the bump. Through the holding member, the rotating member <NUM> applies a gradually increasing holding force to the toggling member <NUM>, and finally the toggling member <NUM> is stably held at a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM>. When the bump <NUM> no longer contacts the protrusion, under a reaction force of the counted member <NUM>, the toggling member <NUM> moves along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, the toggling member <NUM> is held at a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by changing the structure of at least one of the protrusion of the rotating member <NUM> and the inner surface <NUM> of the toggling member <NUM>. However, alternatively, it can also be achieved by changing a material of at least one of the protrusion and the inner surface <NUM> of the toggling member <NUM>.

Different from the addition of the elastic member in Embodiment <NUM>, in this embodiment, when the rotating member <NUM> and the toggling member <NUM> are coaxial, at least one of the outer surface of each protrusion and the inner surface <NUM> of the bump is configured to be elastic. As the rotating member <NUM> rotates, the toggling member <NUM> is held at a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed through a static friction force between the outer surface of each protrusion and the inner surface <NUM> of the bump. Likewise, the protrusions and the bump <NUM> may still be regarded as a holding member. When the rotating member <NUM> rotates, a static friction force is generated between the protrusion and the inner surface <NUM> of the bump, and the static friction force, as a holding force, to keep the toggling member <NUM> at a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM>. That is, the holding force of the toggling member <NUM> pressing the counted member <NUM> is applied by the rotating member through the holding member. When the bump <NUM> no longer contacts the protrusion, the toggling member <NUM> moves along the direction opposite to the rotating direction r under a reaction force of the counted member <NUM>.

In an example, along the rotating direction r, the holding force applied by the rotating member <NUM> to the toggling member <NUM> gradually increases during the process in which the bump <NUM> is in contact with each protrusion. For example, along the rotating direction r, the static friction force between the downstream portion of each protrusion and the inner surface <NUM> of the bump is smaller than the static friction force between the upstream portion of the protrusion and the inner surface <NUM> of the bump, or in other words, along the rotating direction r, a static friction force between the upstream edge 531a of the inner surface <NUM> of the bump and each protrusion is smaller than a static friction force between the downstream edge 531b of the inner surface <NUM> of the bump and each protrusion, thus, the toggling member <NUM> can be stably held at a stationary position where the counted member <NUM> is pressed by the toggling member <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A counting assembly, comprising:
a counting member (<NUM>) capable of being engaged with and disengaged from a counted member that is arranged outside the counted member, wherein the counting member (<NUM>) comprises a rotating member (<NUM>) and a toggling member (<NUM>) separated from each other, the rotating member (<NUM>) rotates by receiving an external driving force, and the rotating member (<NUM>) drives the toggling member (<NUM>) to rotate; and
a holding member in contact with the rotating member (<NUM>) and the toggling member (<NUM>),
wherein during a counting process, the rotating member (<NUM>) applies a discontinuous force to the toggling member (<NUM>) through the holding member; and when the toggling member (<NUM>) is subjected to the force, the toggling member (<NUM>) is held at a stationary position where the counted member is continuously pressed by the holding member, and
when the toggling member (<NUM>) is not subjected to the force, the toggling member (<NUM>) rotates along a direction opposite to a rotating direction of the rotating member (<NUM>) under a reaction force of the counted member.