JP3363766B2 - Electrophotographic image forming apparatus and process cartridge - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer or a copying machine in which a process cartridge can be attached and detached, and a process cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic image forming process, an electrophotographic photosensitive member and process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge, and the cartridge is formed into an image forming apparatus. A process cartridge system that can be attached to and detached from the main body is adopted. According to this process cartridge system, the maintenance of the apparatus can be performed by the user himself without resorting to service personnel, so that the operability can be markedly improved. Therefore, this process cartridge system is widely used in image forming apparatuses.

As a method of attaching and detaching such a process cartridge to the image forming apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as the apparatus main body), as shown in FIG.
A method of opening 8 and pushing in or pulling out the process cartridge B (with an operator's hand is generally adopted.

The image forming apparatus also has means for detecting whether or not the process cartridge B is present in the apparatus main body A,
It has both a means for detecting whether or not the lid 18 for attaching and detaching the process cartridge B is closed. First, it is detected whether or not the lid 18 is closed, and if it is closed, then the presence or absence of the process cartridge B is detected. is doing.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the operator has to hold the process cartridge during almost the entire process of attaching and detaching the process cartridge to and from the apparatus main body, which imposes a heavy burden on the operator.

An object of the invention according to the present application is to provide an electrophotographic image forming apparatus in which an operator reduces the load of the process cartridge attaching / detaching operation with respect to the apparatus main body to improve the operability.

[0007]

[0008]

[0009]

The main invention of the present invention is as follows if it is shown with the same numbers as the claims.

A first aspect of the present invention is directed to an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, coaxial with the photosensitive drum, and from both side surfaces of the process cartridge. A process cartridge having a positioning member protruding in the longitudinal direction is attachable / detachable, and in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, an opening, and an opening / closing cover for opening / closing the opening, A cartridge positioning portion provided at a process cartridge mounting position, the cartridge positioning portion holding the positioning member of the process cartridge, and the positioning member,
A cartridge carrying member for carrying the process cartridge from the opening to the cartridge positioning unit, the cartridge carrying member capable of pushing the positioning member with a side wall, and the opening / closing cover and the cartridge carrying member interlock with each other. An interlocking member for holding the positioning member of the process cartridge on the cartridge transport member with the opening / closing cover open, and closing the opening / closing cover to mount the process cartridge on the process cartridge. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus is characterized in that the positioning member is carried into a position and the positioning member is held by the cartridge positioning portion.

[0011]

A second invention according to the present application is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, comprising an opening, an opening / closing cover for opening and closing the opening, and a process cartridge mounting position. An electrophotography including: a cartridge positioning part provided; a cartridge carrying member for carrying the process cartridge from the opening part to the cartridge positioning part; and an interlocking member for interlocking the opening / closing cover and the cartridge carrying member. In a process cartridge detachable from the main body of the image forming apparatus, an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, and coaxial with the photosensitive drum, from both side surfaces of the process cartridge in a longitudinal direction. A protruding positioning member, which is held by the cartridge positioning portion And a positioning member, wherein the positioning member is held by the carrying member and can be pushed by the side wall when the process cartridge is carried from the opening to the cartridge positioning unit. It is a process cartridge characterized by the fact that it is present.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, one embodiment of a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the longitudinal direction means a direction orthogonal to the inserting direction of the process cartridge into the apparatus main body and parallel to the surface of the recording medium. The direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is called the lateral direction.

(Embodiment 1) Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that FIG. 10 is a configuration explanatory view of the image forming apparatus in which the process cartridge is mounted.

[Overall Structure] As shown in FIG. 10, the image forming apparatus forms an image on a recording medium by an electrophotographic image forming process. Then, a toner image is formed on a drum-shaped electrophotographic photosensitive member (hereinafter referred to as a photosensitive drum) which is an image carrier. Then, in synchronization with the formation of the toner image, the recording medium 2 set on the feeding tray 3a is conveyed by the conveying means 3 including the pickup roller 3b and the feeding roller 3c. Then, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 7 of the process cartridge B is transferred to the recording medium 2 by applying a voltage to the transfer roller 4 as a transfer unit. After that, the recording medium 2 to which the toner image has been transferred is guided by the guide plate 3d and conveyed to the fixing unit 5. The fixing means 5 is composed of a fixing rotating body 5b having a built-in heater and a pressure roller 5a for pressing and conveying the recording medium 2 to the rotating body 5b, and applying heat and pressure to the recording medium 2 to transfer toner. The image is fixed on the recording medium 2. The recording medium 2 is conveyed by the pair of ejection rollers 3e and 3f and ejected to the ejection unit 6.

[Process Cartridge] On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the process cartridge B rotates a photosensitive drum 7 having a photosensitive layer as an image carrier,
The surface is uniformly charged by applying a voltage from a charging roller 8 which is a charging means. Next, a laser beam light corresponding to image information is emitted from the optical system 1 to the photosensitive drum 7 through the exposure opening 9 to form an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing means 10 using toner. That is, the charging roller 8
Is provided in contact with the photosensitive drum 7, and charges the photosensitive drum 7. In addition, the developing means 10 includes the photosensitive drum 7
The toner is supplied to the developing area of 1 to develop the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 7.

The optical system 1 includes a laser diode 1a,
Polygon mirror 1b, Fθ lens 1c, reflection mirror 1d
Is equipped with.

The developing means 10 supplies the toner T in the toner chamber 10a to the developing chamber 10b, rotates the developing roller 10c attached to the developing chamber 10b, and causes the developing blade 10d to impart a triboelectric charge to the toner layer. Is formed on the surface of the developing roller 10c containing a fixed magnet,
The toner is supplied to the developing area of the photosensitive drum 7. Then, by transferring the toner to the photosensitive drum 7 according to the latent image, a toner image is formed and visualized.

Then, a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image is applied to the transfer roller 4 to transfer the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 7 to the recording medium 2, and then the cleaning means 11 is used.
The residual toner on the photosensitive drum 7 is removed by. Here, the cleaning means 11 is the elastic cleaning blade 1.
The toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 7 is scraped off by 1a and collected in the waste toner reservoir 11b.

Each of the parts such as the photosensitive drum 7 is housed in a cartridge frame body formed by connecting the toner developing frame body 12, the toner developing wall member 13, and the cleaning frame body 14 to make a cartridge. That is, the toner developing frame 12 and the toner developing wall member 13 are welded to each other and the toner chamber 10
a and a developing chamber 10b, and a developing roller 10c and a developing blade 10d are attached to the developing chamber 10b.
Further, the photosensitive drum 7, the charging roller 8, and each member constituting the cleaning unit 11 are attached to the cleaning frame 14. Then, the toner developing frame body 12 and the cleaning frame body 14 are swingably coupled to each other,
The process cartridge B is configured. The cleaning frame body 14 is provided with a handle 26 for holding the process cartridge B with the apparatus main assembly A by hand.

The process cartridge B is provided with an exposure opening 9 for irradiating the photosensitive drum 7 with light corresponding to image information and a transfer opening 15 for facing the photosensitive drum 7 to the recording medium 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, a shutter member 16 capable of opening and closing both openings 9 and 15 is attached. That is, the transfer opening 15 is formed by the photosensitive drum 7
It is for transferring the toner image formed on the recording medium 2.

The process cartridge is a cartridge in which the charging means, the developing means or the cleaning means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrated into a cartridge, and the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus. .
Also, at least one of the charging means, the developing means, and the cleaning means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally made into a cartridge so as to be attachable to and detachable from the main body of the image forming apparatus. Further, it means that at least the developing means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally made into a cartridge so as to be attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body.

[Structure of Attaching / Detaching Process Cartridge to / from Image Forming Apparatus Body] Next, attachment / detachment of the process cartridge B to / from the image forming apparatus body A will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 are cross-sectional views showing the opening / closing operation of the lid 18, the movement of the interlocking member 31 and the process cartridge B which interlock with the opening and closing operation, of which a perspective view showing the movement of the interlocking member 31 is shown. 7 to 9 and FIG. 6 are perspective views showing the relationship between the interlocking member 31 and the apparatus main body A.

The attaching / detaching means for detachably attaching the process cartridge B to the main body of the image forming apparatus includes a mounting space 21 for mounting the process cartridge B, and an opening 22 to the outside of the mounting space 21 for mounting the process cartridge B. A holding portion 31a as a cartridge conveying member that moves between the cartridge positioning portions 29 that are the process cartridge mounting positions, a lid 18 that is an opening / closing cover that opens and closes an opening of the mounting space 21 to the outside, an opening / closing cover and a cartridge conveying member. And the interlocking member 31 for interlocking the process cartridge B with the process cartridge B placed on the conveying member with the open / close cover opened, and the process cartridge B is loaded into the mounting position. Whether the process cartridge B is in the mounting position by opening It is carried out to the opening portion 22.

First, the outline of the above configuration will be described mainly with reference to FIG.

The lid 18 is rotatably supported on the apparatus main body A by a shaft 19 so as to be openable and closable. As shown in FIG. 1, the interlocking member 31 includes a holding portion 31a, a shaft portion 31b, and an arm portion 31.
In this example, the holding portion 31a, which is a part of the interlocking member 31, also serves as a carrying member that carries the process cartridge B.

As shown in FIG. 1, the holding portion 31a is coaxial with the photosensitive drum 7 of the process cartridge B and has a U-shape for holding the shaft 30 which is a positioning member protruding in the longitudinal direction from both side surfaces of the process cartridge B. Groove part 31a
1, the apparatus main body A, the cartridge mounting space 21
6 are fitted in elongated holes 32 provided as guide strips on both side surfaces of the cartridge, and move along the elongated holes 32 as shown in FIG. 6 (both process cartridge shaft 30 and elongated hole 32 show only one side). It has a possible engaging part 31a2. The shaft portion 31b of the interlocking member 31 is rotatably attached to the lid 18. The arm portion 31c includes a holding portion 31a and a shaft portion 31.
b is connected, and the lid 18 and the holding portion 31a are connected.

Guide strips 23 are provided on the left and right wall surfaces of the cartridge mounting space 21 in parallel with the elongated holes 32. In this example, the guide strip 23 is a strip groove, and the insertion portion 23a is open to the outside on the side of the opening 22 that is open to the outside of the cartridge mounting space 21. The guide strips 23 are for maintaining the posture of the process cartridge B, and the posture determining guide members 25 of the ridges provided on both end walls of the process cartridge B in the longitudinal direction are movably fitted. ing.

Next, the operation until the process cartridge B is completely attached to the apparatus main body A will be described in order with reference to FIGS.

When the operator opens the cover 18 of the main assembly A of the apparatus to which the process cartridge B is not mounted, the engaging portion 31a2 shown in FIG. 6 moves along the elongated hole 32, and FIGS.
And the lid 18 is fully opened in the state of FIG.
Goes out of the opening 22. The operator holds the process cartridge B and the shaft 3 of the process cartridge B on both sides.
0 is inserted into the U-shaped groove portion 31a1 of the holding portion 31a, and the posture determining guide member 25 of the process cartridge B guides the lower side of the guide strip 23 outside the insertion portion 23a of the posture determining guide strip 23 of the apparatus main assembly A. Extended surface 23 of surface 23b
When the process cartridge B is approached or placed on c, the process cartridge B is in the state shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG.

Here, the shaft 3 of the process cartridge B
0, the posture determining guide member 25 and the holding portion 31 of the apparatus main body A
The relationship between a and the guide strip 23 is as follows. (1) When the shaft 30 is inserted into the groove portion 31a1 of the holding portion 31a and the process cartridge B is carried by the holding portion 31a, the shaft 30 has a mounting portion for mounting the process cartridge B on the holding portion 31. I will also serve. The posture determining guide member 25 is provided on the lower extension surface 2 of the guide strip 23.
Approach 3c. Further, the posture determining guide member 25 is located below the line (space) extending the upper side c of the guide strip 23. (2) When the posture determining guide member 25 is placed on the lower extension surface 23c of the guide strip 23, the shaft 30 has the groove portion 31a.
It does not reach the bottom of 1. The attitude determining guide member 25 is below the surface (space) extending from the upper side of the guide strip 23.

As described above, the mounting operation of the process cartridge B is performed as follows in a state where the shaft 30 is carried by the holding portion 31a or the attitude determining guide member 25 is carried by the guide strip 23. .

7 and 8 are perspective views schematically showing the movement of the process cartridge shaft 30, the holding portion 31a, and the elongated hole 32 in the state shown in FIGS. 5 and 4, respectively. Corresponds to FIG. 5 and FIG. 8 corresponds to FIG. 4). In addition, in FIG. 4 (also in FIGS. 3 and 2 described later), the process cartridge shaft 30 is shown in the center of the U-shaped groove portion 31a1 so as not to come into contact with anything.
This is for the sake of convenience to show that there is a gap between them, and in fact, they are in contact with each other.

Next, when the operator moves the lid 18 in the closing direction, the arm portion 31c is pushed by the lid 18 from the state shown in FIG. 4 and the holding portion 31a is guided to the elongated hole 32 and moves to the right and the process cartridge B is in the posture. The deciding guide member 25 moves rightward into the guide strip 23 to be in the state of FIG. 3, and further, from the state of FIG. 3 to the state of FIG. 25 moves to the inside of the apparatus main body A along the guide strip 23, and the process cartridge B is guided to the inside of the apparatus main body A.

Then, when the lid 18 is closed to the end, the process cartridge shaft 30 is separated from the state in which the process cartridge shaft 30 is in contact with the U-shaped groove portion 31a1, and this time, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG.
It is supported by a cartridge positioning portion 29 provided at a position different from the position of 1a in the thrust direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1). At this time, the shaft 30 and the attitude determining guide member 25
Is lifted and the shaft 30 is pushed from the lid 18 side by the side wall of the groove portion 31a1. The cartridge positioning portion 29 is the horizontal surface 2
9a and a vertical surface 29b, these surfaces being the device body A
It is arranged with high precision with respect to the main image forming means (for example, the optical system 1, the transfer section, etc.), and the positions of the apparatus main body A and the process cartridge B can be determined with high precision. At this time, the U-shaped groove portion 31a1 is formed larger than the process cartridge shaft 30 to the extent that the U-shaped groove portion 31a1 does not come into contact with the cartridge shaft 30 and distort the position of the process cartridge B (the same as the above-mentioned convenient gap).
It should be noted that the posture of the process cartridge B is regulated when the process cartridge B hits the fixed member 40 of the apparatus main body A when mounted. This is the main unit A
Is ready for image formation, and enters the standby state.

Further, when the process cartridge B is taken out from the apparatus main body A, the same operation is performed in the reverse order (FIG. 1 → FIG. 2 → FIG. 3 → FIG. 4 → FIG. 5, FIG. 9 → FIG. 8).
→ Moves to Fig. 7).

Although the lid 18 and the interlocking member 31 are mechanically connected to each other only by the interlocking member 31 in the above description, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a gear portion is provided on a part of the lid 18 and the interlocking member 31. It is also possible to provide a rack on the rack and connect them to a gear (row) so that the rotation of the lid 18 is transmitted to the interlocking member 31 by the meshing of the gears.

(Embodiment 2) The process cartridge detection and lid open / closed detection in the above configuration will be described.

In the above-mentioned structure of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 12, a protrusion 3 for detection is provided on a part of the process cartridge B.
3 and the like, and the shaft 30 of the process cartridge B is in the cartridge positioning portion 29, and when the cartridge frame is in contact with the fixing member 40, the projection 3
A detection means 24 (photointerrupter or the like) for detecting 3 is provided in the apparatus main body A. Then, it is assumed that a control procedure for determining whether or not the apparatus main body A performs the next operation with or without the protrusion 33 is used.

In this structure, since there is no state in which the process cartridge B is mounted in the cartridge mounting portion, that is, the state in which the lid 18 is open with the process cartridge B present, there is no need for means for detecting only the opening / closing of the lid 18. Become.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 12 shows a third embodiment. A cartridge conveying member 41 is movably fitted in the long hole 32. The guide member 41a, which is fitted into the long hole 32 and is integral with the conveying member 41, is movable with respect to the long hole 32 but is non-rotatable. Cartridge transport member 4
The shaft 30 of the process cartridge B is provided in the U groove 41b of No. 1
Is loosely fitted and can be accommodated.

The attitude determining member 42 provided above the shaft 30, which is a positioning member at both longitudinal ends of the process cartridge B, has a substantially horizontal lower surface, and this lower surface is the edge of the U groove 41b of the cartridge conveying member 41. The process cartridge B is carried on the cartridge carrying member 41 by being mounted on the cartridge mounting surface 41c. As described above, since the cartridge transport member 41 is fitted into the long hole 32 and does not rotate, the mounting surface 41c
Is always almost horizontal, and the process cartridge B is always attached to and detached from the main assembly A of the apparatus while maintaining a constant posture. The lid 18 and the cartridge carrying member 41 are connected by a link 43 which is an interlocking member. One end of the link 43 is rotatably coupled to a shaft 43a integrally provided on the back portion of the cartridge transport member 41, and the other end is a shaft 43b that serves as an opening / closing cover.
Is pivotally attached to.

In this example, only the elongated hole 32 is used as a guide strip for guiding the process cartridge B.

When the lid 18 is closed from the state shown in FIG. 13, the link 43 pushes the cartridge conveying member 41 to the right, the conveying member 41 is guided to the elongated hole 32 and moves rightward, and the shaft 30 is the cartridge of the main assembly A of the apparatus. When the positioning member 29 hits the positioning portion 29, the attitude determining member 42 moves from the entire contact with the mounting surface 41c to the partial contact, and the process cartridge B hits the fixing member 40 of the apparatus main assembly A from the lid 18 to the link 43 and the cartridge transport. The shaft 30 is attached to the cartridge positioning portion 29 via the member 41.
The posture is determined by being pressed to.

In each of the embodiments, the lid 18, which is an opening / closing cover, is locked by a latching device (not shown) that is biased in the closing direction with respect to the apparatus main body A in the closed state.

Although the elongated hole 32 and the guide strip 23 are linear in the embodiment, they may be curved.

[0047]

As described above, according to the invention of the present application, the operability is improved in the following points. First, the operator does not have to push the process cartridge deep into the main body of the image forming apparatus. In addition, you never wonder how much you should push it. That is, according to the present invention,
On either side of the process cartridge, coaxial with the ram
From the positioning member protruding in the longitudinal direction from the cartridge
The cartridge positioning portion is held by the feeding member.
Transport to. The cartridge transport member is
It is assumed that a transport load was applied while transporting the cartridge.
But you can push the positioning member with its side wall
It Further, the positioning member is a cartridge positioning portion.
Can be held at. Therefore, according to the present invention,
It is possible to improve the mounting operability of the process cartridge.
And the positioning of the process cartridge
A car with a member installed at the process cartridge mounting position
Can be positioned using the ridge positioning part
It

[0048]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an apparatus for explaining the interlocking of a member for moving a lid and a cartridge according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device for explaining the interlocking of the lid and the member for moving the cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device for explaining the interlocking of the member for moving the lid and the cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device for explaining the interlocking of the lid and the member for moving the cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device for explaining the interlocking of the lid and the member for moving the cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the relationship between the guide member and the image forming apparatus main body according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating movement of the guide member with respect to the image forming apparatus main body according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating movement of the guide member with respect to the image forming apparatus main body according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating movement of the guide member with respect to the image forming apparatus main body according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-sectional view illustrating the entire image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view illustrating the process cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a detection unit of the process cartridge according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

A ... Device body B ... Process cartridge T ... Toner 1 ... Optical system 2 ... Recording medium 3 ... Conveying means 3a ... Feed tray 3b ... Pickup roller 3c ... Paper feeding roller 3d ... Guide plates 3e, 3
f ... Ejection roller pair 4 ... Transfer roller 5 ... Fixing means 5a ... Pressure roller 5b ... Fixing rotator 6 ... Ejection section 7 ... Photosensitive drum 8 ... Charging roller 9 ... Exposure opening 10 ... Developing means 10a ... Toner chamber 10b ... Development room
10c ... Developing roller 10d ... Developing blade 11 ... Cleaning means 11a ... Elastic cleaning blade 11b ... Waste toner reservoir 12 ... Toner developing frame 13 ... Toner developing wall member 14 ... Cleaning frame 15 ... Transfer opening 16 ... Shutter member 18 ... Lid 19 ... Shaft 21 ... Cartridge mounting space 22 ... Opening 23 ... Guide strip 23a ... Insertion portion 23b ... Guide surface 2
3c ... extension surface 25 ... posture determining guide member 29 ... cartridge positioning portion 29a ... horizontal surface 29
b ... Vertical surface 30 ... Shaft 31 ... Interlocking member 31a ... Holding portion 31a1 ... Groove portion
31a2 ... Engaging portion 31b ... Shaft portion 31c ... Arm portion 32 ... Long hole 33 ... Protrusion 34 ... Detecting means 36 ... Guide strip 40 ... Fixing member 41 ... Cartridge conveying member 41a ... Guide member 4
1b ... U groove part 41c ... Cartridge mounting surface 42 ... Posture determining member 43 ... Link 43a, 43b ... Shaft

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --Continued from the front page (56) References JP-A-8-254862 (JP, A) JP-A-4-90561 (JP, A) JP-A-6-43702 (JP, A) JP-A-4-43702 333066 (JP, A) JP 7-199568 (JP, A) JP 3-7960 (JP, A) JP 3-43752 (JP, A) JP 3-61957 (JP, A) JP-A-9-146441 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/00 550 G03G 21/16-21/18

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electrophotographic photosensitive drum, process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, and a positioning member coaxial with the photosensitive drum and projecting from both side surfaces of the process cartridge in a longitudinal direction. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, in which a process cartridge having, is detachable, an opening, an opening / closing cover for opening and closing the opening, and a process cartridge mounting position. A cartridge positioning unit that holds the positioning member of the process cartridge, and a cartridge transport member that holds the positioning member and transports the process cartridge from the opening to the cartridge positioning unit. Push the positioning member with the side wall A possible cartridge transport member, and an interlocking member for interlocking the opening / closing cover and the cartridge transport member, wherein the positioning member of the process cartridge is used as the cartridge transport member with the opening / closing cover open. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, wherein the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is characterized in that the process cartridge is held, the process cartridge is carried into the process cartridge mounting position by closing the opening / closing cover, and the positioning member is held in the cartridge positioning unit. 2. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, comprising: an opening, an opening / closing cover for opening and closing the opening, and a cartridge positioning portion provided at a process cartridge mounting position. Detachable to the main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a cartridge carrying member for carrying the process cartridge from the opening to the cartridge positioning portion, and an interlocking member for interlocking the opening / closing cover and the cartridge carrying member. In the process cartridge, an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a process means that acts on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a positioning member that is coaxial with the photosensitive drum and that projects from both side surfaces of the process cartridge in the longitudinal direction, A positioning member held by the cartridge positioning unit, The positioning member, when the process cartridge is transported from the opening to the cartridge positioning portion, is held by the conveying member, the process is characterized in that can be pressed with a sidewall cartridge.