CN107269676B

CN107269676B - Hinge and office machine with same

Info

Publication number: CN107269676B
Application number: CN201710199774.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 宮崎兼次
Original assignee: Kem Hongkong Ltd
Current assignee: Kem Hongkong Ltd
Priority date: 2016-04-08
Filing date: 2017-03-30
Publication date: 2020-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 2037-03-30
Also published as: JP2017187699A; CN107269676A; TWI675969B; TW201736743A

Abstract

The invention provides a hinge capable of reducing cost, which can adjust parallelism of a device body of a manuscript cover plate with an automatic manuscript feeding device by a simple structure. The hinge enables the original cover plate to be linked with the device body in an openable and closable mode, and the hinge is provided with: an assembly case made of synthetic resin, which is detachably inserted into an assembly hole formed on the top surface of the apparatus body; an assembly member also made of synthetic resin and provided with an assembly leg which is inserted and retained in the assembly case movably in the front-rear direction; a supporting member also made of synthetic resin, which supports an original cover plate rotatably assembled to the assembling member by means of a hinge pin; and an adjusting mechanism having an adjusting screw which acts between the assembling box and the assembling member to move the assembling member in the front-rear direction of the assembling box.

Description

Hinge and office machine with same

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a hinge and an office machine having the hinge, and particularly to a hinge suitable for an office machine having an original cover, such as a copier, a multifunction office machine (a copier having facsimile and printing functions), a printer, a facsimile machine, and a scanner.

Background

The hinge used in the office machine described above has two types, one is to mount an assembly member, which is to rotatably assemble a support member supporting a document cover, on the top surface of the rear portion of the apparatus body using an assembly screw, and the other is to provide an assembly pin on the assembly member to detachably insert the assembly pin into an assembly hole provided at the rear end portion of the apparatus body, and the hinge of the present invention belongs to the latter. Further, such a hinge has advantages that it is easy to attach and detach the device body and that maintenance work is easy to perform. Further, in a copying machine as an example of office equipment, a pair of left and right hinges are used to openably support an original cover with respect to an apparatus main body, but since an automatic document feeder having a heavy weight is generally mounted on the left side of the original cover, as described in japanese patent application laid-open No. 2006-139008, a large hinge is used on the left side, a coil spring having a strong spring force is used, and only a light-weight and small hinge capable of maintaining the balance of the original cover is used on the right side. The invention relates to such a hinge for use on the right side.

As a known technique using a hinge having a mounting leg (also referred to as a document cover opening/closing device) as described above, there are those disclosed in japanese patent laid-open publication nos. 2011-28078 and 2012-155096, but no adjusting mechanism is provided for adjusting the assembly position of the assembly member in the front-rear direction. The adjusting mechanism is a mechanism necessary for allowing the original cover to be arranged in parallel with the contact lens. In addition, in recent years, in order to reduce the cost of the hinge, a synthetic resin molded article having a strong mechanical strength such as ABS has been used as a constituent member such as an assembly member or a support member instead of a press-processed article of a metal plate such as SUS.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hinge, which is assembled with an assembling element and has an assembling pin, and which has an adjusting mechanism capable of adjusting an assembling position of the assembling element in a front-rear direction, and which is simple in structure and inexpensive to manufacture.

To achieve the above object, a hinge according to the present invention is a hinge for openably and closably linking a document cover to a device main body, including: an assembly box made of synthetic resin and detachably inserted into an assembly hole provided in the top surface of the device body; an assembly member which is also made of synthetic resin and assembled so as to be inserted and locked in the assembly case so as to be movable in the front-rear direction; a support member, also made of synthetic resin, supporting the original cover plate, the support member being rotatably assembled to the assembly member through a hinge pin; and an adjusting mechanism acting between the assembling box and the assembling element to make the assembling element move the assembling box in the front and back directions; the assembly box is provided with a pair of guide rails at two inner side parts and a top panel covering the top surface side, the top panel is provided with an inner screw hole and an upright rib, the inner screw hole is positioned in front of the top surface opening and the top surface opening, and the upright rib is positioned behind the top surface opening and is provided with a screw clamping groove; the assembly element comprises a bottom plate, a right side plate, a left side plate, a rear side plate and a pair of assembly legs, wherein the bottom plate is provided with a sliding groove at the central part, the bottom plate is assembled on a top panel of the assembly box in a sliding way through a clamping screw penetrating through the sliding groove, the right side plate and the left side plate are erected from two side parts of the bottom plate, the rear side plate is arranged at the rear end part side of the bottom plate, the pair of assembly legs are hung downwards from the lower surface side of the bottom plate and are provided with connecting pins, the connecting pins are respectively inserted into the front end parts of the connecting pins through a top surface opening of the assembly box; the supporting element is provided with a pair of journal mounting parts at two side parts of the lower surface side, and the pair of journal mounting parts are connected to the right side plate and the left side plate of the assembling element in a rotatable mode through hinge pins; the adjusting mechanism is composed of the following components: the adjusting screw is arranged between the vertical rib arranged on the assembling box and the rear side plate of the assembling element; and a clamping screw assembled in the screw hole of the top panel through a sliding groove arranged on the assembling element.

In a preferred embodiment, the assembly box has a locking protrusion provided at a lower front side thereof; the assembly element is provided with a nut embedding frame for containing the nut in the rear side plate, and the nut is screwed on the adjusting screw.

In a preferred embodiment, the assembly box is characterized in that the top panel is also provided with a scale for viewing the moving amplitude of the assembly element.

The office machine of the present invention is characterized by including the hinge having the above-described structure.

The present invention, by having the above-described configuration, can provide a hinge capable of adjusting the parallelism of a document cover with an automatic document feeder to a main body of the document feeder with a low-cost hinge having a configuration simpler than that of a conventional hinge, and an office machine using the hinge.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing an embodiment of a copying machine as an example of an office machine using a hinge of an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an external view of the hinge of the present invention shown in fig. 1, wherein (a) is an external oblique view when viewed from diagonally front, and (b) is an external oblique view when viewed from diagonally rear.

Fig. 3 is an exploded oblique view of the hinge shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view (a), a front view (B), a right side view (c), and a cross-sectional view (B-B) in (c) of the hinge shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an oblique view showing (a) the appearance when viewed from obliquely front and (b) a bottom view of the assembled box in the hinge of the present invention shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an oblique view, (b) a plan view, (C) a front view, (d) a rear view, (e) a C-C sectional view in (C) showing the appearance of the assembly member in the hinge of the present invention shown in fig. 2 when viewed from obliquely front.

Fig. 7 is a view showing (a) a front view, (b) a D-D sectional view in (a), and (c) a bottom view of the supporting member in the hinge of the present invention shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing an adjustment operation of the hinge of the present invention shown in fig. 2 in stages.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the hinge for opening and closing an original cover used in a copying machine or a multifunction office machine as an office machine will be described, but the hinge of the present invention can be used in other office machines such as a printer, a facsimile machine, and a scanner. In the attached drawings, elements having the same reference numerals denote elements having the same or equivalent structures and functions. The present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments, and various modifications within the scope of the claims are also included.

Fig. 1 to 5 show a hinge 1 according to the invention. As shown in fig. 1, the copying machine 30 includes a main body 31, a document cover 32, a contact lens 33, and the like. A pair of left and right hinges is generally used to openably and closably support the original cover to the main body of the copying machine 30, and although not shown, a heavy automatic document feeder is generally installed on the left side. Therefore, in most cases, a large hinge in which a spring having a high elastic force is built is used on the left side to facilitate the opening and closing operation of the original cover 32 and to prevent the document from falling, and only a light-weight and small hinge capable of maintaining the balance of the original cover is used on the right side. The hinge 1 of the present invention is a small and lightweight hinge provided on the right side. In addition, the partial cross section of the hinge 1 shown in fig. 1 corresponds to the section a-a in fig. 4 (b).

As shown in fig. 1, a hinge 1 of the present invention includes: an assembly cartridge 2 inserted into and held in an assembly hole 34 provided in a top surface of an apparatus main body 31 of the copying machine 30; an assembly member 3 which is assembled movably in the front-rear direction (direction toward and away from the user) along the top surface of the assembly case 2; a support member 4 to which the original cover 32 is assembled by a fixing screw 10 and which is rotatably assembled to the assembly member 3 via a hinge pin 5; an adjusting mechanism 6 having an adjusting screw 7, wherein the adjusting screw 7 acts between the assembling box 2 and the assembling component 3 to make the supporting component 4 move to the assembling component 3 in the front and back directions.

In the illustrated embodiment, the adjusting mechanism 6 is composed of the following elements: an adjusting screw 7 which is assembled in such a manner that it can rotate but cannot move in the axial direction with respect to an upright rib (standing rib)2f formed at the upper end of the rear portion of the assembly case 2; a nut 8 which is housed in the nut fitting frame 3m of the assembly member 3, is fixed so as not to rotate the assembly member 3 and not to move in the axial direction, is screwed with the adjustment screw 7, and is movable together with the assembly member 3; the clamp screw 9 is assembled to the assembly case 2 through a slide groove 3d provided in the assembly member 3. Therefore, by loosening the clamping screw 9 and loosening the screw tightening of the adjusting screw 7 to the nut 8, the assembly component 3 can be moved in the forward and backward direction together with the operation of the nut 8, whereby the original cover fixed to the support component 4 rotatably assembled to the assembly component 3 can also be moved in the forward and backward direction, and the parallelism of the apparatus body can be adjusted by the position adjustment in the forward and backward direction. After adjustment, the clamping screw 9 is tightened to fix the assembly element 3 to the assembly box 2.

The package can 2 is, for example, a molded article made of ABS synthetic resin having excellent mechanical strength, and particularly, as shown in fig. 5, has a square tube shape with an open bottom, and includes: a front wall 2a, a right side wall 2b, a left side wall 2c, a back wall 2d, a top panel 2e, a standing rib 2f, a screw locking groove 2g, a top opening 2h, a screw hole 2i, a scale 2j, a locking protrusion 2k, guide rails 2l, 2m, and bulging portions 2n to 2 q. The locking projection 2k provided on the outer surface of the lower end of the front wall 2a is inserted into the mounting hole 34 in a state where the hinge 1 is tilted downward on one side when the hinge 1 is assembled into the assembly hole 34 of the apparatus body 31, and the hinge 1 is vertically oriented to press the entire assembly case 2 after the locking projection 2k is inserted into the vertical groove 34a formed in the front inner wall of the assembly hole 34, so that the locking projection 2k is received in the assembly hole 34. When a thick document such as a book is placed on the contact lens 33 and a copy is made, the locking protrusion 2k is required to press the document cover 32, which is inclined with respect to the contact lens 33, so as to be parallel to the contact lens 33. At this time, the stopper button also functions to prevent the entire hinge 1 from being lifted upward and the assembly box 2 from being pulled out from the assembly hole 34.

The assembly element 3 made of a molded product made of ABS synthetic resin having the same excellent mechanical strength is assembled to the top panel 2e of the assembly cassette 2 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. A pair of

fitting legs

3e and 3f are provided on the bottom surface of the bottom plate 3a of the assembly member 3, and the pair of

fitting legs

3e and 3f are inserted into the assembly case 2 through the top opening 2h of the assembly case 2. In the top panel 2e of the assembly case 2, there is a screw hole 2i for a clamp screw 8 for fixing the assembly member 3 to the assembly case 2 when the assembly member 3 is moved in the front-rear direction, and a scale 2j for knowing a moving distance of the assembly member 3 is provided. In addition, a pair of guide rails 2l and 2m protruding inward are provided on the right side plate 3b and the left side plate 3c on both side portions of the inside of the assembly case 2, respectively, and the

connection pins

3g and 3h of the

mounting legs

3e and 3f provided on the bottom surface of the bottom plate 3a of the assembly element 3 are engaged so as to be movable in the forward and backward directions along the guide rails 2l and 2 m.

The rear end edge of the top panel 2e of the assembly case 2 is integrally formed with a standing rib 2f, and an adjustment screw 7 is fitted into a screw locking groove 2g formed in the upper end edge thereof, whereby the adjustment screw 7 is rotatably mounted but is not movable in the axial direction. Further, the raised

portions

2n, 2o, 2p, 2q are formed on the upper outer surfaces of the front wall 2a, the right side wall 2b, the left side wall 2c, and the back wall 2d of the assembly case 2, respectively, so that the stability of the assembly case 2 can be improved when the assembly case is inserted into the assembly hole 34 held in the device body 31.

The assembly element 3 is also a molded article made of ABS synthetic resin as described above, and as shown in the drawing (fig. 6 shows an assembly element 3 single product), it includes: a bottom plate 3a, a right side plate 3b, a left side plate 3c, a chute 3d,

equipment legs

3e, 3f, connecting

pins

3g, 3h,

shaft holes

3i, 3j, a rear side plate 3k, a nut insertion frame 3m, a front frame plate 3n, a right frame plate 3o, a left frame plate 3p, and adjusting screw through

holes

3q, 3 r. The bottom plate 3a of the assembly component 3 has a slide groove 3d extending in the front-rear direction, and the clamp screw 9 penetrating the slide groove 3d is screwed into the screw hole 2i of the assembly case 2, so that the assembly component 3 is fixed to the assembly case 2. Right and

left side plates

3b and 3c are provided on both side portions of the assembly member 3, a hinge pin 5 is axially fitted to the

shaft holes

3i and 3j provided in these side plates, and a support member 4 is journaled (journaled) on the hinge pin 5, whereby the support member 4 is rotatably assembled to the assembly member 3.

At the rear of the assembly member 3, a rear side plate 3k, a front frame plate 3n, a right frame plate 3o, and a left frame plate 3p are provided, whereby these members form a nut insertion frame 3 m. The nut 8 is housed in the nut fitting frame 3m, and the side surface of the nut 8 is in contact with the right frame plate 3o, the left frame plate 3p, and the bottom surface 3s, whereby the nut 8 is held in the nut fitting frame 3m so as to be unrotatable and immovable in the axial direction. The rear plate 3k and the front frame plate 3n have adjusting screw through

holes

3q and 3r through which the adjusting screws 7 are rotatably inserted, respectively.

As described above, the pair of

mounting legs

3e and 3f are provided on the bottom surface of the bottom plate 3a of the assembly member 3, and the connecting

pins

3g and 3h provided at the front ends of the

mounting legs

3e and 3f are engaged with the guide rails 2l and 2m so as to be movable in the front-rear direction, and are movable in the front-rear direction along the guide rails 2l and 2 m. Since the

mounting legs

3e and 3f of the assembly component 3 have predetermined elasticity, when the

mounting legs

3e and 3f are inserted through the top opening 2h of the assembly case 2, the inclined outer side surfaces of the connecting

pins

3g and 3h come into contact with the surfaces of the guide rails 2l and 2m, the

mounting legs

3e and 3f are pushed in a slightly inwardly bent state, and are widened at the lower ends of the guide rails 2l and 2m, so that the connecting

pins

3g and 3h are automatically locked to the lower end surfaces of the guide rails 2l and 2 m.

The adjusting screw 7 has a head portion 7a, a screw portion 7b, a ring portion 7c, and a neck portion 7d, as shown in the drawings (see fig. 1, 3, and the like). As described above, the neck portion 7d is fitted into the screw locking groove 2g of the standing rib 2f of the package can 2, the neck portion 7d is screwed to the screw hole of the nut 8 through the adjusting screw through hole 3q of the rear side plate 3k of the package component 3, and the tip end thereof is protruded forward through the adjusting screw through hole 3r bored in the front frame plate 3 n. Here, when the adjustment screw 7 is turned in a direction of screwing the nut 8 by using a tool such as a screwdriver, the adjustment screw 7 is fitted into the screw locking groove 2g of the upright rib 2f as described above and cannot move in the axial direction, and therefore, the nut 8 moves in a direction (rearward) approaching the head 7a of the adjustment screw 7 and the assembly element 3 also moves rearward together therewith. Similarly, when the adjusting screw 7 is rotated in a direction to be unscrewed from the nut 8, the nut 8 moves in a direction (forward) away from the head 7a of the adjusting screw 7, and the assembling member 3 moves forward together therewith.

Next, the support member 4 is also a molded article made of the same ABS synthetic resin having mechanical strength, and as shown in the drawing (fig. 7 shows a single support member 4), it has a right assembling portion 4a, a left assembling portion 4b, a middle assembling portion 4c, a right journal mounting portion 4d, a left journal mounting portion 4e, screw holes 4f to 4h, pin holes 4i, 4j, and a stopper hook portion 4 k. The support member 4 is rotatably journaled to the assembly member 3 by inserting the hinge pin 5 through a pin hole 4i provided in the right journal mounting portion 4d and a pin hole 4j provided in the left journal mounting portion 4e and by axially mounting both ends of the hinge pin 5 in the shaft holes 3i and 3j of the assembly member 3. In the supporting member 4, the original cover 32 is assembled by using the fixing screws 10 inserted through the screw holes 4f provided in the right assembling portion 4a, the screw holes 4g provided in the left assembling portion 4b, and the screw holes 4h provided in the middle assembling portion. Further, as the synthetic resin constituting the package case 2, the assembly member 3, and the support member 4, in addition to the ABS synthetic resin, synthetic resins having mechanical strength such as POM (polyacetal), polyamide, and polycarbonate may be used.

Next, with reference to fig. 1 and 8, an operation for securing a parallel position of the original cover 32 with respect to the contact lens 33 in the copying machine 30 using the hinge 1 of the present invention configured as described above will be described. In a state where the hinge side on the left side out of the 2 hinges supporting the original cover 32 is positioned, adjustment for ensuring the parallel position of the original cover 32 with respect to the contact lens is performed with the other hinge (hinge 1 of the present invention). As described above, when the clamping screw 9 is loosened by using a tool such as a screwdriver and the adjustment screw 7 is then turned in a direction to screw the adjustment screw 7 into the nut 8, the adjustment screw 7 is fitted into the screw locking groove 2g of the upright rib 2f and cannot move in the axial direction, and therefore, the nut 8 moves in a direction (rearward) close to the head 7a of the adjustment screw 7 and the assembly element 3 moves rearward together therewith. As shown in fig. 8(a) to (b), the amount of movement can be recognized by visually checking the front end position of the assembly member 3 with a scale 2j provided on the assembly cartridge 2. Similarly, when the adjusting screw 7 is rotated in a direction to be unscrewed from the nut 8, the nut 8 moves in a direction (forward) away from the head 7a of the adjusting screw 7, and the assembling member 3 moves forward together therewith. For example, in fig. 1, as the assembly member 3 moves from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the broken line 3 ' (similarly, the support member 4 moves from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the broken line 4 ', and the hinge pin 5 moves from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the broken line 5 '), the position of the original cover can be adjusted, and the amount of movement can be known by the scale 2 j. After adjustment, the assembly element 3 is fixed to the assembly box 2 by tightening the clamping screw 9.

The original cover 32 is openable and closable to the contact mirror 33 together with another hinge not shown by the hinge of the present invention, and its opening angle is limited by the catch 4k provided at the rear of the support member 4 of the hinge 1 contacting the rear side plate 3k of the assembly member 3. One embodiment is shown in fig. 8 as being about 80 °, but its opening angle is not limited thereto.

The office machine of the present invention is characterized in that the hinge 1 of the present invention having the above-described configuration is provided between the apparatus main body 31 and the original cover 32.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, the form of the assembly of the package 2 to the apparatus main body 31, the form of the means for moving the assembly member 3 in the front-rear direction of the package 2, the form of the assembly member 3 or the support member 4, and the like may be appropriately changed in design as needed. Accordingly, the present invention includes all modifications of the embodiments which can be easily conceived from the above description in the technical field.

Claims

1. A hinge for openably and closably linking a document cover to a device body, comprising:

an assembly box made of synthetic resin and detachably held in an assembly hole provided in a top surface of the apparatus body;

an assembling member which is also made of synthetic resin and assembled so as to be inserted and locked to the assembling case movably in the front-rear direction;

a support member that is also made of synthetic resin and supports the original cover, the support member being rotatably assembled to the assembly member by a hinge pin; and

an adjusting mechanism that acts between the assembly case and the assembly member to allow the assembly member to move in a front-rear direction with respect to the assembly case;

the assembly box is provided with a pair of guide rails at two inner side parts and a top panel covering the top surface side, the top panel is provided with an inner screw hole and an upright rib, the inner screw hole is positioned in front of the top surface opening and the top surface opening, and the upright rib is positioned behind the top surface opening and is provided with a screw clamping groove;

the assembly member includes a bottom plate having a slide groove at a central portion thereof, a right side plate and a left side plate slidably assembled to the top panel of the assembly box by a clamp screw passing through the slide groove, a rear side plate standing from both side portions of the bottom plate, and a pair of assembly pins provided at a rear end portion side of the bottom plate, the pair of assembly pins hanging downward from a lower surface side of the bottom plate, the assembly pins being inserted into front end portions of the assembly box through the top surface opening thereof, respectively, the connection pins being slidably engaged with the guide rails;

the supporting element is provided with a pair of journal mounting parts at two side parts of the lower surface side, and the pair of journal mounting parts are rotatably connected to the right side plate and the left side plate of the assembling element through the hinge pin;

the adjusting mechanism is composed of the following components:

an adjusting screw provided between the upright rib provided in the assembly box and the rear side plate of the assembly member; and

the clamping screw is assembled in the screw hole in the top panel through the sliding groove arranged on the assembling element.

2. The hinge according to claim 1, wherein the assembly box has a catching protrusion provided at a lower front side thereof;

the assembly element is provided with a nut embedding frame used for containing a nut in the rear side plate, and the nut is screwed on the adjusting screw.

3. A hinge according to claim 1, wherein the assembly box is further provided with a scale on the top panel for viewing the amplitude of movement of the assembly members.

4. An office machine provided with a hinge as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3.