IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING REDUCED MANUFACTURING COSTS, AND IMAGE FORMING UNIT AND DEVELOPING UNIT INCLUDED THEREIN

摘要

An image forming apparatus supplies toner to an electrostatic latent image on a circumferential surface of a photosensitive rotating member to develop the electrostatic latent image, and includes: a photosensitive unit including the photosensitive rotating member and a pair of support frames rotatably supporting the photosensitive rotating member at axial ends thereof; a developing unit including a developing sleeve that is longer in a rotational axis direction thereof than an element tube of the photosensitive rotating member in a rotational axis direction thereof, and a pair of bearings provided outward from axial ends of the element tube and rotatably holding the developing sleeve at axial ends thereof; and a forcing member relatively forcing the developing unit toward the photosensitive unit to bring the bearings into abutment with the respective support frames, such that a gap between the developing sleeve and the photosensitive rotating member is maintained at a predetermined value.

主权项

1. An image forming apparatus that supplies toner to an electrostatic latent image formed on a circumferential surface of a photosensitive rotating member to develop the electrostatic latent image, the image forming apparatus comprising:
a photosensitive unit that includes the photosensitive rotating member and a pair of support frames, the support frames rotatably supporting the photosensitive rotating member at axial ends thereof; a developing unit that includes a developing sleeve and a pair of bearings, the developing sleeve being longer in a rotational axis direction thereof than an element tube of the photosensitive rotating member in a rotational axis direction thereof, the bearings being provided outward from axial ends of the element tube and rotatably holding the developing sleeve at edges of axial ends thereof; and a forcing member that relatively forces the developing unit toward the photosensitive unit to bring each of the bearings into abutment with an abutment part of a corresponding one of the support frames, such that a gap between the developing sleeve and the photosensitive rotating member is maintained at a predetermined value.