Drum-loading/unloading apparatus for electrostatographic printer/copier

The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for loading (and unloading) a hollow drum onto (and from) a cantilever-mounted axle adapted to support the drum for rotation. The apparatus of the invention is particularly useful for loading and unloading an image-recording or image-transfer drum in an electrostatographic printer/copier in which minimal clearance is provided between the drum surface and the various processing stations associated with the electrostatographic imaging process. Apparatus is provided for facilitating the loading of a hollow cylindrical drum, for example, an image-recording drum in an electrostatographic printer or the like, onto a rotatably driven drum axle having a free end extending outwardly in a cantilever manner from a support frame and having a longitudinally-extending axis of rotation. According to a preferred embodiment, such apparatus generally comprises a plurality of slide mechanisms disposed at equal distances from each other and from the intended axis of drum rotation. Each of the slide mechanisms comprises a pair of elongated slide members extending parallel to said axis of rotation, one of the slide members of each of each pair being rigidly supported by said drum axle, and the other slide members of each pair being slidably mounted on the rigidly supported slide members for movement parallel to the drum axis. The slidably mounted slide members are operable to collectively support the drum from within for axial movement between a drum-loading position axially spaced from the drum axle and a loaded position atop the drum axle.