JP2000032195A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily execute maintenance and inspection work by devising the rotational direction of an upper case covering the upper surface of a main lower case storing a recording part of a facsimile equipment. SOLUTION: An original reading unit 5 is arranged on the upper surface side of an upper case 1b, an operation panel part 6 for covering the upper part of the unit 5 is loaded so as to be vertically rotated and opened/closed around a pivoting part 7 on the rear end side of the panel part 6, the upper case 1b is loaded so as to be vertically rotated around a lower main case 1a by a rotational cylinder shaft part 4 formed on the back-and-forth half-way part of the upper case 1b, and the upper case 1b is constituted so as to select almost horizontal posture covering the upper part of a recording part 2 or almost vertical posture that the upper surface of the upper case 1b is turned to the front of the image forming device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine and a copying machine, and more particularly, to a structure of an image forming apparatus which can be easily maintained.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine has a document reading unit, a recording unit for recording image data on paper, and a paper feeding unit for supplying paper to the recording unit. Is usually provided. In recent small facsimile machines and copiers, a compact image sensor (CIS) in which a light source and an image detection unit are housed in an integrated case is used for the document reading unit for miniaturization. (See JP-A-7-291476).

As a document reading unit, the close contact type image sensor and a document transport roller for transporting a document to be read so as to pass through the portion are previously incorporated in a unit case and fixed to the main lower case. On the other hand, a plastic document table with guides to guide the left and right sides of the document to be conveyed is configured separately, and this is detachably attached to the cover that covers the upper surface of the main lower case There were many things that did.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-20738, a main lower case containing a recording unit is divided into a front upper cover and a rear upper cover, and the front lower cover is divided into front and rear covers. Is provided with an original reading unit and an operation panel unit for covering the upper surface thereof, and the front upper cover is detachably mounted on the main lower case, while the rear upper cover is provided with an original placing table for feeding the original reading unit original. And a mounting hole for a paper feed cassette, and are pivotally pivoted to the main lower case around the rear end of the rear upper cover so as to be rotatable up and down. There was a configuration in which the rear half of the upper surface could be largely opened.

[0005]

However, in any of the above-mentioned prior arts, the document reading unit and the operation panel are required to open the upper surface of the main lower case for replacement of the recording section and maintenance. It is necessary to remove the top cover on the equipped side from the main lower case,
To remove the operation panel, turn off the power of the entire device.If not, leave the top cover including the operation panel and the main lower case connected with signal lines and power cables. You need to keep it.

[0006] When the power is turned off, the upper cover including the operation panel section must be reattached to the main lower case, and then a key operation for confirming the operation of the recording section must be performed. However, there is a problem that maintenance work is troublesome. When the power is turned on while the upper cover including the detached operation panel is connected with a cable, when the lower surface of the upper cover is placed on a table or the like, a short-circuit (electric short-circuit) phenomenon does not occur. In addition to this, there is a problem that the key input operation to the operation panel unit becomes unstable unless the top cover is held in a stable posture on the table.

[0007] Such a problem similarly occurs even in a facsimile apparatus including a communication unit. The present invention has been made in order to solve these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily performing a key input operation or the like on an operation panel and facilitating maintenance work. Is what you do.

[0008]

To achieve this object, an image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is a recording apparatus for recording an image on a sheet in a main lower case having an open top surface in the image forming apparatus. The document reading unit is arranged on the upper surface side of the upper case that covers the upper surface side of the main lower case, and the operation panel unit that covers the upper part of the document reading unit can be opened and closed. The upper case is attached to the lower main case so as to be vertically rotatable at an intermediate position between the upper case and the lower case, and the upper case has a substantially horizontal posture in which the upper part of the recording unit is covered. It is configured to be selectable between a substantially vertical posture facing the front of the forming apparatus.

The invention described in claim 2 is the first invention.
In the above image forming apparatus, various keys and a display unit are arranged on an upper surface of the operation panel unit. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the operation panel portion is mounted so as to be vertically rotatable around a rear end side. is there.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view of a facsimile machine 1 as an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of the facsimile machine, FIG. 3 is a plan view of an upper case with an operation panel unit 6 removed, FIG.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a pivoting support portion between the upper case and the lower main case. FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view showing a posture in which the upper case is set up substantially vertically so that the operation panel section 6 and the document reading unit 5 face forward. FIG.

The main body case of the facsimile apparatus 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a synthetic paper feeder 3 which accommodates an ink jet type recording unit 2 and which can be loaded from the rear upper side with a paper feed cassette 3 for feeding paper P for forming an image. Of the main lower case 1a and an upper case 1b made of synthetic resin which covers the upper side of the main lower case 1a. The upper case 1b is attached to a bracket 14 on the side of the main lower case 1a shown in FIG. Being pivoted.

As shown in FIG. 4, one end 8a is locked to one metal bracket 14, the coil part 8b is wound around the outer periphery of the rotary cylinder shaft part 4, and the other end 8c is made of metal in the upper case 1b. The upper surface of the upper case 1b is urged forward by a metal torsion spring 8 locked at an appropriate position of the chassis 40, and the upper case 1b is normally moved by a hook (not shown). It is fixed so that the upper surface faces upward.

The chassis 40 includes a document separating / feeding roller 35a of a document reading unit 5 to be described later, a transport driving roller 36a and a driven roller 36b disposed on the upstream side of the transport.
And a transport drive roller 37a and a driven roller 37b arranged downstream of the transport, and the rollers 35, 36a, 37
a metal plate for supporting each component such as the original transporting system driving unit 39 housed in the frame and shielding electric noise from the outside to the CIS 34 It is also connected to a shielding plate (not shown).

Then, as shown in FIG.
The sliding contact piece 40a cut and raised from the hole is made to come through a hole 41 formed in the upper case 1b so as to press and slide against the coil portion 8b of the torsion spring 8. As a result, electric noise from the document conveying system drive unit 39 and the like and static electricity accumulated on the rollers 35, 36a and 37a are conducted to the bottom plate 11 and the like on the main lower case 1a side to be grounded (earthed). In addition, the torsion spring 8 can serve both the function of rotating the upper case 1b and the function of the conductive member for grounding, and the sliding contact piece 40a is attached to the coil portion 8b. By pressing and sliding, there is an effect that a role of a damper for alleviating the momentum of rotation can also be achieved.

Further, a document reading unit 5 serving as a document reading unit is mounted on a portion of the upper case 1 b near the front of the upper surface, and the upper side of the document reading unit 5 is covered by an operation panel unit 6. Operation keys 6a such as various function keys and numeric keys are provided on the surface, input values of the operation keys 6a,
The operation panel unit 6 includes a display unit 6b such as a liquid crystal panel capable of displaying various command characters (characters). It is configured to be able to move. In addition, near the rear of the upper surface of the upper case 1b, the operation panel 6
A document placing portion 9 is integrally formed adjacent to the rear end of
A pair of left and right document guides 10, 10 for guiding the left and right side edges of the document to be conveyed are mounted on the document placing portion 9 so as to be able to move left and right in synchronization with each other.

The lower surface of the main lower case 1a is closed by a bottom cover plate 11 made of a metal plate or the like, and a control board, a power supply board, and a telephone line (not shown) are provided in the internal space of the main lower case 1a. NCU (Network Control Unit) for enabling conversation and transmission / reception of facsimile data with another telephone device or facsimile device through the network
A substrate or the like is located. Furthermore, the main lower case 1a
A handset 1 for conversation with another telephone device is placed on a cradle 13 projecting outward from the side of the handset.
2 is placed. Outgoing speaker (not shown)
Is fixed to the rear side of the right side surface in the main lower case 1a.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the lower portion of the carriage 18 in the recording section 2 is supported by a round shaft-shaped guide shaft 17 mounted on a chassis frame 16 which is long in the left and right direction. The upper part is slidably contacted with the vertical guide piece 16a of the frame 16 so as to be movable left and right. And
A color ink jet type recording head 15 is mounted on the carriage 18 downward. The recording head 15 for performing color recording has four nozzles for discharging inks of cyan, yellow, magenta, and black, and stores ink to be supplied to each recording head 15. The cartridges 19 for the respective colors are detachably mounted on the carriage 18.

A timing belt 20 extending in parallel with the guide shaft 17 is fixed to an output shaft of a driven pulley 21 disposed near one side of the chassis frame 16 and a drive motor 22 such as a stepping motor capable of rotating forward and reverse. By being wound around the drive pulley 23 and connecting one portion of the timing belt 20 to the carriage 18, the carriage 18 can reciprocate in parallel with the guide shaft 17. The paper P stacked on the paper cassette 3 is
The separated paper P is separated one by one by an intermittently rotating rotating paper feed roller and a separation pad as a paper feed mechanism (not shown) arranged in the rear part of the main lower case 1a but conventionally known. The position of the leading end of the sheet is temporarily adjusted at a position of a registration roller (not shown), and the sheet is fed below the recording head 15 by the conveyance upstream roller 24.
While being nipped and conveyed by the pair of upper and lower conveying rollers 25 and 26 on the downstream side of the conveyance, ink droplets are ejected onto the upper surface of the paper P in accordance with a print command to record an image. It is configured to be discharged to

The carriage 18 moves out of the recording area.
A maintenance section 29 is provided at the moving end section of the camera, for example, at the right end side shown in FIG. This maintenance unit 29 includes:
A nozzle wiping device (wiper device) 31 for wiping ink droplets attached to the surface of the nozzle portion of the recording head 15;
A purge device (nozzle suction device) 30 for recovering from non-discharge or defective discharge of ink of the recording head 15 is provided.
Is covered by a suction cap (not shown), and the defective ink in the recording head 15 is sucked by the negative pressure generated by the pump to recover from the recording failure. Further, a protective cap 32 for covering the nozzle portion of the recording head 15 and preventing the ink from drying as the carriage 18 moves closer is disposed at a home position further opposite to the recording area from the purge device 30. .

Next, the configuration of the document reading unit 5 arranged on the upper case 1b will be described. FIG. 2, FIG.
And a unit case 4 made of synthetic resin as shown in FIG.
2 is a horizontally long contact type image sensor (CIS) 34
A document separating / feeding roller 35a disposed near the document placement unit 9, a transport driving roller 36a and a driven roller 3 disposed upstream of the transport of the close contact type image sensor 34;
6b and a transport drive roller 37a disposed downstream of the transport
And the driven roller 37b, and the rollers 35, 36a,
A document conveying system drive unit 39 in which a drive motor for driving the drive 37a and a gear train are housed in a frame is provided. On the lower side of the operation panel section 6, the front side of which can be turned up and down largely around the pivot shaft 7, when the upper surface of the unit case 42 is covered, A separation pad 35b contacting an upper surface of the contact type image sensor 34;
And a pressing plate 38 whose lower surface in contact with the upper surface of the document is coated in white, etc., is provided. The document is separated and fed one by one via the document separating and feeding roller 35a and the separation pad 35b, and the image of the document is read when the document passes between the pressing plate 38 and the upper surface of the CIS 34. Have been.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, one side (front side) of the unit case 42 of the document reading unit 5 is engaged with and disengaged from a plurality of engagement holes 43 formed in the upper case 1b. The dovetail 44 projects downward. Also,
As a means for easily positioning the unit case 42 with respect to the upper case 1b, positioning holes 47a, 47b are provided in a plurality of recesses 45, 45 formed behind the flat portion of the unit case 42. On the other hand, the positioning projections 46a, 4 projecting upward from the upper case 1b.
6b, positioning can be performed by fitting these projections 46a, 46b with the positioning holes 47a, 47b, respectively. Further, the unit case 42 is configured to be fixed to the upper case 1b by a screw 48 in each recess 45.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 6, the unit case 42 is located on the document upstream side of the document reading unit 5 and adjacent to the rotation base end of the operation panel unit 6.
An original guide portion 10 of a pair of left and right L-shaped original guide members 10, 10 is provided on an original placing portion 9 formed integrally with the edge guide portion 1.
The operating plate 10b, which protrudes 0a and extends horizontally from the lower end of each guide portion 10a, is disposed along the lower surface of the unit case 42 through an insertion hole (not shown). Each operating plate 10
When one of the document guides 10 is moved left and right with a finger by engaging the gear teeth formed on one side of the unit case 42 with the gear 51 projecting from the lower surface of the unit case 42,
The other document guide body 10 moves relatively far and near, and is configured to contact and guide the left and right side edges of the document to be conveyed to the inner surfaces of the pair of left and right edge guide portions 10a, 10a.

The facsimile apparatus 1 according to the present invention sets various processing operations in response to various commands from a user input in response to various key operations on the operation panel section 6, and sets a document image by the document reading unit 5. Scans, converts original image data into transmission data, encodes transmission data, transmits and receives facsimile data to be transmitted to other facsimile devices via a communication line such as a telephone line, decodes received data, and records decoded facsimile data. In addition to the normal facsimile function of executing recording on the paper P in the printer, a CIS (contact image sensor) 34 of the original reading unit 5
A copy (copying) processing function of reading a document by a unit and forming a color image on a sheet of paper P by each unit of the recording unit, and print data transmitted from an external device such as a personal computer (not shown) via a printer cable or wireless communication such as infrared rays. In addition, it has a printer processing function of forming a color image on the paper P according to the data, and a scanner processing function of transmitting image data read using the document reading unit 5 to the external device.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of a control unit for executing the above-described functions, and includes a CPU 52 for executing various controls and calculations, and a ROM 5 for storing a control program.
3. Conversation with the RAM 54, the NCU board 56, a part of which is used as the reception buffer memory 54a, the modem 55 for transmitting and receiving facsimile data to and from other facsimile apparatuses via the NCU board 56, and other telephone apparatuses. , A recording unit 2 including a maintenance unit 29, a carriage drive motor 22, and the like, a paper supply unit 57 for performing a paper supply operation from the paper supply cassette 3,
The document reading unit 5, the key operation unit 6a and the display unit 6b
The operation panel unit 6 including the power supply 58 and the bus line 59
Connected through.

In recent facsimile machines 1, data is transferred from an external service center to the facsimile machine 1 for maintenance management such as changing various setting values and the like. When maintenance is performed, maintenance control for communicating with the service center is executed. In a normal use state, the upper case 1b is held in a substantially horizontal position so as to cover the recording section 2 and the like in the main lower case 1a, and the operation panel section 6 on the upper surface of the upper case 1b is It is set substantially parallel to the upper surface, and the operator can execute various key operations of the operation key unit 6a on the operation panel unit 6 to execute facsimile transmission and copying with other facsimile machines, In these cases, a document to be transmitted or copied is placed on the document placing section 9. The original read while passing through the CIS 34 is placed on the original receiving tray 60 on the front side of the main lower case 1a.
It is discharged to the place. If the document feed is jammed at the position of the document reading unit 5 or the like, the front side of the operation panel unit 6 is lifted and the upper side of the position of the document reading unit 5 is opened as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. The manuscript can be removed.

Data received from another facsimile machine and printer data are printed on paper P by the recording unit 2 and then discharged to a discharge tray 27. This recording unit 2
When the paper P is jammed, when the ink cartridge 19 of the recording unit 2 is replaced, or when the maintenance of the recording unit 2 or the maintenance unit 29 is performed, the lock button (not shown) is pressed to release the lock. As shown in the figure, the upper case 1b is placed on the rear side (the
Is lifted upward, a limit switch (not shown) is turned off, and the power is shut off. The upper case 1b pivots forward about the rotary cylinder shaft portion 4 in the middle part in the front-rear direction, and the operation panel 6 The upper case 1b can be held in a substantially vertical posture so that the front surface of the recording device 2 is directed substantially toward the front, so that the inside of the recording unit 2 and the like can be maintained.

By operating a specific key of the operation key section 6a in advance, it is possible to prevent the power from being cut off. In this case, the power supply is mounted on the upper case 1b which is turned forward. Moreover, the operation panel section 6 which can be turned up and down around the pivot shaft 7 at the rear side of the upper case 1b can change the direction of the operation key section 6a arbitrarily. Then, in this state, a key operation on the operation key unit 6a is possible, and a display on the display unit 6b is also possible.
Therefore, at the time of periodic inspection by a maintenance worker, the operation panel unit 6 can be changed in posture so that the display unit 6b can be easily viewed when the replacement of the ink cartridge 9 is completed. Part 6
operation key unit 6 so that key operation is easy while looking at b.
The vertical direction of “a” can be arbitrarily changed.

It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied not only to the facsimile apparatus described above but also to a copying machine and an image scanner.

[0029]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the recording section for recording an image on a sheet is accommodated in the main lower case having an open top in the image forming apparatus. A document reading unit is disposed on the upper surface of the upper case that covers the upper surface of the main lower case, and an operation panel unit that covers the upper portion of the document reading unit is openably and closably mounted. A substantially horizontal posture in which the upper case covers the upper part of the recording unit, and a substantially vertical posture in which the upper case faces the front of the image forming apparatus. Are configured to be selectable.

Therefore, the operation panel is openably and closably mounted on the upper side of the original reading unit mounted on the upper case, so that the operation panel is covered with the operation panel having a large area during a normal original reading operation, and an external unit is required for reading the original. No light comes in,
Since there is no adverse effect of external light, no disturbance occurs in the read image signal of the document. In addition, a document reading unit is provided on the upper surface side of the upper case, and an operation panel portion is attached to the upper case so as to be openable and closable. Therefore, when a document jam occurs, only the operation panel portion is opened, There is an effect that a jammed document can be easily removed.

When the upper case is opened largely forward and the upper case is set to a substantially vertical posture, the upper surface of the main lower case can be opened in a large range,
This has the effect of making maintenance and inspection work of the recording section and the like in the main lower case extremely easy. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, various keys and a display unit are disposed on an upper surface of the operation panel unit. At the time of maintenance and inspection, there is an effect that the key operation can be easily performed by the maintenance worker and the display unit can be easily viewed only by changing the rotation posture of the operation panel with respect to the rotatable upper case.

Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the operation panel portion rotates up and down with respect to the upper case about a rear end side. Since it is mounted as possible, the work of removing the document jam can be easily performed by simply opening the front side of the operation panel portion with respect to the upper case in a substantially horizontal state, while the upper case is in a substantially vertical posture during maintenance and inspection. It is extremely easy to set the operation panel unit in a substantially horizontal state and to set the key operation and the display unit in an easy-to-see posture while keeping the operation panel unit in an easy-to-view position.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a facsimile machine.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of the facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the upper case of the facsimile apparatus without an operation panel unit.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of a rotating part of an upper case and a lower main case.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a recording unit.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side sectional view of an upper case, a document reading unit, and a unit case.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a state where an upper case is opened with respect to a main lower case.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of a control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 P paper 1 facsimile machine 1a main lower case 1b upper case 2 recording unit 3 paper feed cassette 4 rotating cylinder shaft unit 5 document reading unit 6 operation panel unit 6a operation key unit 6b display unit 7 pivot support unit 8 torsion spring 9 original mounting Stand 34 Contact Image Sensor (CIS) 42 Unit Case

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An upper surface of an upper case of an image forming apparatus, wherein a recording unit for recording an image on a sheet is accommodated in a main lower case having an open upper surface, and the upper case covers the upper surface of the main lower case. The document reading unit is placed on the control panel, and an operation panel for covering the document reading unit is mounted openably and closably. Wherein the upper case is mounted on the image forming apparatus, and the upper case is selectable between a substantially horizontal position in which the upper surface of the upper case faces the front of the image forming device. . 2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein various keys and a display unit are arranged on an upper surface of the operation panel unit.
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation panel unit is mounted so as to be vertically rotatable about a rear end side.