CN114442450A - Developing box - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus having a detecting member, the developing cartridge including: a housing in which a developer can be accommodated; a detection unit installed at one side of the housing and detected by the detection member; the detection unit is arranged between the shell and the end cover; the detection unit comprises a connecting gear, a rotating assembly, a first elastic member, a second elastic member and a contact member; the connecting gear and the rotating assembly are rotatably arranged on the shell, the first elastic member is arranged between the connecting gear and the rotating assembly, the second elastic member is arranged between the shell and the contact member, and the rotating assembly can touch the contact member to enable the contact member to be in contact with or separated from the detection part; the rotating assembly comprises a cover component, a third elastic component and a toggle piece; the third elastic member is disposed between the cover member and the toggle, and the toggle is located between the connecting gear and the cover member so as to be extendable and retractable along the rotational axis of the transmission gear.

Description

Developing box

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of electronic imaging, in particular to a developing box.

Background

In image forming apparatuses (printers, copiers, facsimile machines, etc.) of the related art, a developing cartridge is widely used, which includes a counting mechanism, and is detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus, and by interaction of an information detecting mechanism of the image forming apparatus and the counting mechanism on the developing cartridge, detection of whether the developing cartridge mounted to the image forming apparatus is a new developing cartridge is achieved, thereby determining the life of the developing cartridge.

The counting mechanism of present developing box all adopts the detection gear that has scarce tooth portion to be used for detecting whether developing box is new, in the testing process, the tooth portion that detects the gear meshes with drive gear, it follows drive gear rotation and accomplishes the detection to detect the gear, when detecting and accomplishing, the scarce tooth portion that detects the gear is relative with drive gear, it breaks away from the meshing to detect the gear and drive gear, it no longer follows drive gear rotation to detect the gear, the detection gear that has scarce tooth portion makes and the installation accuracy requirement is high, and because developing box's detection gear includes scarce tooth portion, consequently the condition that transmission is unstable or became invalid can take place in the use, will directly lead to detecting like this and protruding can not be effectively and the touching of printer sensor, thereby cause the erroneous judgement. On the other hand, in the process of reusing the developing box, the end cover of the developing box needs to be detached, the detection mechanism is reset, and the developing box can be reused, so that the recovery efficiency is directly influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a developing box, and aims to solve the problems that a detection gear in the traditional technical scheme is complex in structure and high in requirements on manufacturing and mounting precision, and transmission is unstable or fails in the use process due to the fact that the detection gear of the developing box comprises a tooth missing part, so that a detection protrusion cannot effectively touch a printer sensor directly, misjudgment is caused, and recovery efficiency is affected.

In order to solve the problems, the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

a developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus having a detecting member, comprising:

a housing in which a developer can be accommodated;

a detection unit installed at one side of the housing and detected by the detection part;

the detection unit is arranged between the shell and the end cover;

the detection unit comprises a connecting gear, a rotating assembly, a first elastic member, a second elastic member and a contact member; the connecting gear and the rotating assembly are rotatably arranged on the shell, the first elastic member is arranged between the connecting gear and the rotating assembly, the second elastic member is arranged between the shell and the contact member, and the rotating assembly can trigger the contact member to enable the contact member to contact or separate from the detection component;

the rotating assembly comprises a cover member, a third elastic member and a toggle piece; the third elastic member is arranged between the cover member and the toggle piece, and the toggle piece is positioned between the connecting gear and the cover member in a telescopic way along the rotation axis of the transmission gear so as to enable the toggle piece to be meshed with or separated from the connecting gear.

Further, the connecting gear is provided with a discoid fluted disc, an extension post that extends from the fluted disc is kept away from the casing and is extended from the fluted disc and the first meshing portion that forms in the left and right direction, the rotating assembly sets up on the extension post, first meshing portion with the rotating assembly meshing.

The end cover is provided with a first opening, the tail end of the extending column is exposed out of the surface of the end cover from the first opening, and the fixing component is fixed at the tail end of the extending column.

Further, the toggle piece comprises the main body portion and a protruding portion extending from the main body portion, the protruding portion being configured to abut against the contact member, move the contact member and be detected by the detection member.

Further, the main body part is provided with a first notch and a second notch, the first notch and the second notch are both formed by being concavely arranged from the outer peripheral surface of the main body part towards the rotating shaft, the cover member is provided with a first protruding part and a second protruding part, the first protruding part and the second protruding part are both formed by protruding from the inner peripheral surface of the cover member towards the rotating shaft, the first protruding part is matched with the first notch, and the second protruding part is matched with the second notch.

Further, the first notch and the second notch have different sizes.

Further, the cover member further comprises a third protruding portion and a fourth protruding portion, the third protruding portion and the fourth protruding portion are formed by extending the outer peripheral surface of the cover member outwards, a third notch and a fourth notch are formed in the end cover in a concave mode, the third protruding portion can be matched with the third notch, and the fourth protruding portion can be matched with the fourth notch.

Further, the contact member includes the contact end and the trigger end, and the second elastic member is disposed between the trigger end and the housing and is configured to contact the rotating component so that the contact end is movably contacted with and separated from the detecting component.

Further, the stirring piece is provided with a second meshing part which can be meshed with the connecting gear so that the stirring piece rotates along with the connecting gear.

Further, the elastic coefficient of the first elastic member and the elastic coefficient of the third elastic member are the same.

According to the technical scheme of the developing box, after the detection unit finishes counting, the rotating component is disengaged from the connecting gear due to the forced pushing of the first elastic component, the connecting gear continues to rotate under the action of the driving force of the driving gear, but the driving force of the counting gear cannot be transmitted to the rotating component, so that the rotating component cannot touch the contact component, and the working stability of the developing box can be effectively guaranteed. When the developing box is recycled, only the initial position of the rotating assembly needs to be adjusted again by using external force, the end cover of the developing box does not need to be detached, and the recycling cost and efficiency are effectively improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is an assembled schematic view of a developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 2 is an exploded schematic view of one side of a developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 3 is an exploded schematic view of another angle of one side of the developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 4 is an exploded schematic view of a detecting unit of the developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 5 is an exploded schematic view of a rotary assembly of the developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 6 is another exploded schematic view of the rotary assembly of the developing cartridge provided in the present invention;

fig. 7 is a partially assembled schematic view of a developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic view of a cover member of the developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic view of a dial of the developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 10 is an assembled view of one side of a developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 11 is an assembly view of a detecting unit of the developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 12 is an assembly view of a contact member of the developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 13 is a left side view of the detecting portion of the developing cartridge of the present invention at an initial position;

fig. 14 is a left side view of the detecting portion of the developing cartridge of the present invention at an angular position;

fig. 15 is a left side view of the detecting portion of the developing cartridge of the present invention at the termination start position.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and do not limit the invention.

In the following description, the developing roller 2 is located at the front end portion of the casing 1 in the front-rear direction, the handle 5 is located at the rear end portion of the casing 1 in the front-rear direction, and the direction intersecting the left-right direction and the front-rear direction is the up-down direction.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the developing cartridge of the present invention, which is mountable in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a detecting unit 3, includes: a casing 1 configured to internally contain a developer; a powder feeding roller 7, located inside the casing 1, for supplying the developer contained inside the casing 1 to the developing roller 2; a developing roller 2 rotatable about a developing roller axis extending in the left-right direction, the developing roller 2 being located at least partially outside the casing 1, the developing roller 2 being located at a front end portion of the casing 1 in the front-rear direction; an agitation frame 4 located inside the casing 1, the agitation frame 4 being capable of rotating about an axis extending in the left-right direction while being capable of agitating the developer contained inside the casing 1; a handle 5 for facilitating the user to put and take the developing cartridge, the handle 5 being provided at a rear end portion of the casing 1 in the front-rear direction.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the developing cartridge further includes a driving end that depends on gear transmission to receive driving force for driving components in the developing cartridge to work, the driving end is located at the left end of the casing 1 in the left-right direction, and the driving end includes: the developing roller gear 6 is matched with the developing roller 2 and drives the developing roller 2 to rotate; the powder feeding roller gear 7 is matched with the powder feeding roller and drives the powder feeding roller to rotate; a drive gear 8 which is engaged with the developing roller gear 6, the powder feeding roller gear 7, and the transmission gear 9 and which can receive a drive force transmitted from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus to drive the developing roller gear 6, the powder feeding roller gear 7, and the transmission gear 9 to rotate; the drive gear 8 rotates on a first axis extending in the left-right direction; the transmission gear 9 is also meshed with the stirring rack gear 10 and can drive the stirring rack gear 10 to rotate; the stirring frame gear 10 is matched with the stirring frame 4 and drives the stirring frame 4 to rotate around a second axis; and an end cover 11 which is mountable to the housing 1 and is provided to cover the developing roller gear 6, the powder feed roller gear 7, the transfer gear 9, the agitating frame gear 10, and the drive gear 8.

As shown in fig. 3, 4 and 5, the driving end further includes a detection unit 3 capable of touching a detection part in the image forming apparatus of the electronic camera, and the detection unit 3 can receive the driving force transmitted by the driving gear 8 and be detected by the image forming apparatus. The detection unit 3 includes a connection gear 31, a rotation member 32, a first elastic member 33, a second elastic member 35, and a contact member 36.

The connecting gear 31 is engaged with the agitator gear 10 and rotates with the rotation of the agitator gear 10, and the connecting gear 31 is provided with a disk-shaped toothed disk 311, a columnar fixing portion 312 extending from the toothed disk 311 toward the housing 1 in the left-right direction, an extending column 313 extending from the toothed disk 311 away from the housing 1 in the left-right direction, and a first engaging portion 314 extending from the toothed disk 311. The columnar fixing portion 312 is fixed to the driving end of the housing 1, and the outer peripheral surface of the toothed disc 311 of the connecting gear 31 is provided with a plurality of gear teeth.

The rotating assembly 32 is disposed on the extending column 313, and the rotating assembly 32 includes a cover member 321, a third elastic member 322, and a toggle member 323. The end cap 11 is provided with a first opening 111, the cover member 321 is exposed from the first opening 111 to the surface of the end cap 11, the end of the extending column 313 is exposed from the first opening 111 to the surface of the end cap 11, the fixing member 34 is fixed to the end of the extending column 313, so that the rotating assembly 32 and the first elastic member 33 are limited between the connecting gear 31 and the fixing member 34, and the connecting gear 31, the rotating assembly 32 and the first elastic member 33 are combined together, thereby facilitating the assembly installation of the detection unit 3 and the resetting of the detection unit 3. In this embodiment, the fixing member 34 is a screw, the shifting member 323 is sleeved on the extending column 313, the shifting member 323 is provided with a second engaging portion 3233, the second engaging portion 3233 can engage with the first engaging portion 314, so that the shifting member 323 rotates along with the connecting gear 31, specifically, the first engaging portion 314 includes a plurality of detent grooves, the second engaging portion 3233 includes a plurality of detent bosses, the detent bosses are configured as right trapezoid extending in the left-right direction, the detent grooves are matched with the detent bosses, when the first engaging portion 314 engages with the second engaging portion 3233, the detent bosses of the second engaging portion 3233 engage with one of the detent grooves of the first engaging portion 314, when the connecting gear 31 rotates the shifting member 323 in the detecting direction, the detent grooves retain the detent bosses in an engaged state, when the shifting member 323 rotates in the detecting direction, the inclined surface of the detent groove guides the inclined surface of the detent boss, so that the toggle element 323 compresses the third elastic member 322 to generate displacement moving away from the housing 1, the detent boss is disengaged from the currently engaged detent groove and continuously rotates into the next detent groove, and thus the rotating assembly 32 can rotate in the detection direction relative to the connecting gear 31 while the connecting gear 31 remains unrotated.

The driver 323 further includes a main body portion 3231 and a protruding portion 3232 extending from the main body portion 3231, in the present embodiment, the protruding portion 3232 is configured as an arc formed by extending the driver 323 toward the housing 1 in the left-right direction, and the protruding portion 3232 is configured to abut against the contact member 36, to move the contact member 36, and to be detected by the image forming apparatus. The third elastic member 322 is disposed between the cover member 321 and the toggle member 323, the main body portion 3231 is disposed with a first notch 3234 and a second notch 3235, the first notch 3234 and the second notch 3235 are both formed by recessing the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 3231 toward the rotation axis, correspondingly, the cover member 321 is disposed with a first protrusion 3211 and a second protrusion 3212, the first protrusion 3211 and the second protrusion 3212 are both formed by recessing the inner peripheral surface of the cover member 321 toward the rotation axis, the first protrusion 3211 is matched with the first notch 3234, the second protrusion 3212 is matched with the second notch 3235, the cover member 321 partially covers the outer side of the main body of the toggle member 323, so that the cover member 321 can move relative to the toggle member 323 using the first notch 3234 and the second notch 3235 as guide rails, and the third elastic member 322 is used for limiting the relative movement between the cover member 321 and the toggle member 323. The first notch 3234 and the second notch 3235 have different sizes, so that a fool-proof structure is formed, assembly between the cover member 321 and the toggle element 323 is facilitated, and assembly errors of the cover member 321 and the toggle element 323 are prevented. The cover member 321 further includes a third protrusion 3213 and a fourth protrusion 3214, the third protrusion 3213 and the fourth protrusion 3214 are both formed by extending outward from the outer peripheral surface of the cover member 321, correspondingly, the first opening 111 of the end cover 11 is provided with a third notch 113 and a fourth notch 114 in a recessed manner, the third protrusion 3213 can be matched with the third notch 113, the fourth protrusion 3214 can be matched with the fourth notch 114, and when the third protrusion 3213 enters the third notch 113 and the fourth protrusion 3214 enters the fourth notch 114, the cover member 321 protrudes from the surface of the end cover 11. The dimensions of the third protrusion 3213 and the fourth protrusion 3214 are different, forming a foolproof structure, preventing the lid member 321 from being mistaken in the detection process (before the end position), causing the third protrusion 3213 to enter the fourth notch 114 and the fourth protrusion 3214 to enter the third notch 113, and interrupting the detection or detecting the error.

It is understood that the elastic coefficient of the first elastic member 33 is the same as that of the third elastic member 322. In the present embodiment, the first elastic member 33 and the third elastic member 322 are configured as the same compression spring, and when the first elastic member 33 and the third elastic member 322 are simultaneously in the compressed state, since the elastic coefficient of the first elastic member 33 and the elastic coefficient of the third elastic member 322 are the same, the toggle part 323 located between the first elastic member 33 and the third elastic member 322 is approximately positioned at the middle position of the first elastic member 33 and the third elastic member 322, and thus the displacement of the toggle part 323 can be controlled by controlling the compression amount of the first elastic member 33 and the third elastic member 322 to control the engagement of the second engagement part 3233 of the toggle part 323 and the first engagement part 314 of the connecting gear 31, which facilitates the structural design.

The end cap 11 is provided with a second opening 112, the contact member 36 is movably disposed at the second opening 112, a part of the contact member 36 can protrude out of the second opening 112 or can be retracted into the second opening 112, the end cap 11 is further provided with a fixed shaft, the contact member 36 is sleeved on the fixed shaft so that the contact member 36 can rotate around the fixed shaft, the contact member 36 comprises a contact end 362 and a trigger end 361, the contact end 362 can protrude out of the second opening 112 to be disengaged from a detection rod of the image forming apparatus, the trigger end 361 is used for contacting with the rotating assembly 32, specifically, the trigger end 361 is used for contacting with a protruding part 3232 of the toggle piece 323, the contact member 36 is biased by the second elastic member 35 towards the toggle piece 323 so that the contact member 36 keeps contacting with the protruding part 3232, in the present embodiment, the second elastic member 35 is configured as a torsion spring, it can be understood that the second elastic member 35 is not limited to the torsion spring, an elastic pick-up may be used to hold the contact member 36 in contact with the projection 3232.

Further, the cover member 321 further includes a force-receiving portion protruding from the surface of the cover member 321 in the left-right direction on the surface of the end cover 11, and the force-receiving portion is used for receiving an external force to enable the cover member 321 to drive the toggle element 323 to rotate, which is beneficial to resetting the detection unit 3. In addition, the surface of the end cover 11 is provided with an indication bump for indicating the initial position of the detection unit 3, specifically, the force-receiving portion includes a first force-receiving portion and a second force-receiving portion which are oppositely arranged, wherein an indication mark is provided on the first force-receiving portion, and when the indication mark points to the indication bump, the detection unit 3 is located at the initial position.

The operation of the detecting unit 3 of the developing cartridge of the present invention when the developing cartridge of the present invention is mounted in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 11 to 15.

When the developing cartridge is mounted in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the detecting unit 3 is located at the initial position, the protruding portion 3232 of the toggle member 323 does not abut against the trigger end 361 of the contact member 36, the contact end 362 of the contact member 36 retracts into the second opening 112 to abut against the detection lever of the image forming apparatus and is detected by the image forming apparatus, at this time, the third projection 3213 of the cover member 321 and the third notch 113 of the cover 11 are misaligned, the fourth projection 3214 of the cover member 321 and the fourth notch 114 of the cover 11 are misaligned, the cover member 321 urges the toggle member 323 to move toward the housing 1 by the third elastic member 322, the first elastic member 33 is compressed, and the first engaging portion 314 of the connecting gear 31 and the second engaging portion 3233 of the toggle member 323 are engaged; when the driving gear 8 receives the driving force to rotate around the first axis, the driving gear 8 drives the transmission gear 9 to rotate so as to drive the stirring rack gear 10 to rotate, the stirring rack gear 10 drives the connecting gear 31 engaged with the stirring rack gear 10 to rotate, the connecting gear 31 drives the toggle part 323 to rotate, after the rotation of a preset angle, the protruding part 3232 of the toggle part 323 abuts against the trigger end 361 of the contact member 36, the contact end 362 of the contact member 36 extends out of the second opening 112 to be separated from contact with the detection rod of the image forming device, the connecting gear 31 drives the toggle part 323 to continue rotating, the trigger end 361 of the contact member 36 abuts against the outer periphery of the protruding part 3232, the contact end 362 of the contact member 36 is kept in a separated state with the detection rod of the image forming device, the toggle part 323 is driven by the connecting gear 31 to continue rotating, the trigger end 361 is separated from contact with the protruding part 3232, and the torsion spring urges the contact member 36 to retract the contact end 362 of the contact member 36 into the second opening 112 to abut against the detection rod of the image forming device to be formed by the detection rod of the image forming device When the image forming apparatus is rotated for a certain angle, the rotating assembly 32 moves away from the housing 1 due to the urging of the first elastic member 33, the third protrusion 3213 enters the third notch 113, the fourth protrusion 3214 enters the fourth notch 114, the first engaging portion 314 of the connecting gear 31 and the second engaging portion 3233 of the toggle member 323 are disengaged, at this time, the detecting unit 3 rotates to the end position, the stirring frame 4 only drives the connecting gear 31 to rotate, the rotating assembly 32 does not rotate along with the connecting gear 31, and the contact end 362 of the contact member 36 keeps abutting against the detecting rod of the image forming apparatus, thereby completing the detection.

The detecting unit 3 is maintained at the end position after the detection is completed, the first engaging portion 314 of the connecting gear 31 and the second engaging portion 3233 of the toggle member 323 are disengaged and maintained in the disengaged state, the rotary member 32 cannot rotate along with the connecting gear 31, the detecting unit 3 is always in the detection completed state, the developing cartridge is changed from a new one to an old one and cannot be identified as a new one by the image forming apparatus, and when the testing or the powder adding operation of the developing cartridge is completed, the detecting unit 3 needs to be reset to the initial position. In this embodiment, an external force is applied to the cover member 321 to move the cover member 321 toward the housing 1, the third protrusion 3213 is disengaged from the third notch 113, the fourth protrusion 3214 is disengaged from the fourth notch 114, and the cover member 321 pushes the toggle member 323 via the third elastic member 322 to move the toggle member 323 toward the housing 1, so that the first engaging portion 314 is engaged with the second engaging portion 3233, and then the external force is applied to the force-receiving portion to rotate the cover member 321, the cover member 321 drives the toggle member 323 to rotate together, and when the indication mark of the first force-receiving portion points to the indication bump, the rotation is stopped, and the detection unit 3 is located at the initial position. Wherein the rotation direction of the cover member 321 is the same as the detection direction. The detection unit 3 can receive the driving force of the drive gear 8 to perform detection again. The reset process does not need to remove the side cover of the developing box, and the detection gear does not need to be rotated, so that the reset is simple and convenient.

According to the developing box, after the detection unit finishes counting, the rotating component is disengaged from the connecting gear due to the urging of the first elastic component, the connecting gear continues to rotate under the action of the driving force of the driving gear, but the driving force of the counting gear cannot be transmitted to the rotating component, so that the rotating component cannot touch the contact component, and the working stability of the developing box can be effectively guaranteed. When the developing box is recycled, only the initial position of the rotating assembly needs to be readjusted by using external force, the end cover of the developing box does not need to be detached, the resetting is simple and convenient, and the recycling cost and efficiency are effectively improved.

The above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, but not to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus having a detecting member, comprising:

a housing in which a developer can be accommodated;

a detection unit installed at one side of the housing and detected by the detection part;

the detection unit is arranged between the shell and the end cover;

the detection unit comprises a connecting gear, a rotating assembly, a first elastic member, a second elastic member and a contact member; the connecting gear and the rotating assembly are rotatably arranged on the shell, the first elastic member is arranged between the connecting gear and the rotating assembly, the second elastic member is arranged between the shell and the contact member, and the rotating assembly can trigger the contact member to enable the contact member to contact or separate from the detection component;

the rotating assembly is characterized by comprising a cover member, a third elastic member and a toggle piece; the third elastic member is arranged between the cover member and the toggle piece, and the toggle piece is positioned between the connecting gear and the cover member and can stretch along the rotating axis of the connecting gear so as to enable the toggle piece to be meshed with or separated from the connecting gear.

2. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said connecting gear is provided with a disk-shaped toothed plate, an extending column extending in a left-right direction from said toothed plate away from the housing, and a first engaging portion formed to extend from said toothed plate, said rotary member being provided on said extending column, said first engaging portion being engageable with said rotary member.

3. The developing cartridge according to claim 2, further comprising a fixing member, wherein the end cap is provided with a first opening, a distal end of the extension column is exposed to the surface of the end cap from the first opening, and the fixing member is fixed to the distal end of the extension column.

4. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said dial includes a main body portion and a protruding portion extending from said main body portion for abutting against said contact member to move said contact member to be detected by the detecting member.

5. A developing cartridge according to claim 4, wherein said main body portion is provided with a first notch and a second notch each formed to be recessed from an outer peripheral surface of said main body portion toward the rotary shaft, said cover member is provided with a first projecting portion and a second projecting portion each formed to project from an inner peripheral surface of said cover member toward the rotary shaft, said first projecting portion and said first notch are matched with each other, and said second projecting portion and said second notch are matched with each other.

6. The developing cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the first notch and the second notch are different in size.

7. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cover member further includes a third projection and a fourth projection, both of which are formed to extend outward from an outer peripheral surface of the cover member, the end cap is concavely provided with a third notch and a fourth notch, the third projection is mutually matable with the third notch, and the fourth projection is mutually matable with the fourth notch.

8. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said contact member includes a contact end and an activation end, said second elastic member being disposed between said activation end and said casing, said activation end being adapted to contact said rotary member so that said contact end is movably brought into contact with or disengaged from said detecting part.

9. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said dial member is provided with a second engaging portion engageable with said connecting gear to rotate the dial member following the connecting gear.

10. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein an elastic coefficient of the first elastic member and an elastic coefficient of the third elastic member are the same.

Images