JP2000305333A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the shake of the whole of an image forming device at the time of image reading operation by providing a housing frame body for housing an image reading part, an image forming part and an operation part which are respectively provided independently of each other. SOLUTION: A reader 1 and a printer 2 are respectively independently installed on a reader placing table 4 and a printer placing table of a housing rack 3. A fixing member 27 for coupling and fixing the placing table 4 and the printer 2 is provided and the rack fixed surface 27a of the member 27 is parallel with the placing table 4 of the rack 3 and fixed on the upper front of a top cover 21. The operation part 8 is fixed on the member 27 through a supporting part. Since the placing table 4 of the rack 3 is fixed on the printer 2 through the member 27, rolling is prevented by the weight and the lowness of the center of gravity of the printer 2 fixed on the printer placing table. Then, the operation part 8 is also fixed on the member 27, so that the rolling in the midst of image reading operation can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reading section, an image forming section, and an operation section which are provided independently and arranged, and an image is formed in a space provided between the image forming section and the image reading section. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus configured to discharge a sheet on which an image is formed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus having a structure in which an image forming section and an image reading section are independently arranged and are respectively held in a housing frame.
FIGS. 11 and 12 show 100 conventional examples. As shown in the figure,
A conventional image forming apparatus 100 includes an image reading unit 101 that reads image information of a document and processes the image information with a digital signal.
An image forming unit 102 that forms an image on a sheet based on image information read by the image reading unit 101 or image information transmitted via a network, a storage rack 103 that stores the image reading unit 101 and the image forming unit 102 , The user reads the image
An operation unit 108 for operating the image forming unit 102 is provided.

The storage rack 103 is provided with an image reading unit mounting table 104 on which the image reading unit 101 is mounted, and an image forming unit mounting table 105 on which the image forming unit 102 is mounted.
Is configured to be movable on the rack bottom plate 106.

The image reading unit 101 is mounted on the image reading unit mounting table 104, and the image forming unit 102 is mounted on the image forming unit mounting table 105 at predetermined positions by a positioning member (not shown).
The image forming unit 102 is configured to form a paper discharge tray 107 with a part of the top cover 121 on the upper surface thereof and discharge a sheet on which an image is recorded.

As described above, the image reading unit 101 and the image forming unit 1
02 are provided independently, and they are housed in a rack, and a configuration in which an image-formed sheet is discharged to a space provided between the image reading unit 101 and the image forming unit 102 is adopted. The occupied area of the device can be reduced.

A sheet feeding unit 115 for stacking sheets on which images are formed is provided on the front side of the apparatus main body so as to be able to be taken out. Further, the operation unit 108 is attached to a support unit 108a provided on the upper surface of the storage rack 103, and the image reading unit 10
It is provided at a position higher than 1.

Next, an image forming operation of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. When the image reading unit 101 reads image information from a document, a scanning operation is performed by an optical system (not shown) provided in the image reading unit 101, and the image information of the document is read. The scanning operation is performed by the image forming apparatus.
This is performed by scanning the optical system in the left-right direction in FIG. The read image information is converted into a digital signal by a control unit (not shown) and transmitted to the image forming unit 102.

In the image forming unit 102, a signal of the transmitted image information is received by a controller (not shown), and a sheet supported by the sheet feeding unit 115 is fed based on a start signal of an image forming operation from the controller. Then, an image forming operation is performed, and the sheet on which the image is formed is fixed with an image by a fixing unit (not shown), and is discharged to a discharge tray 107 in a space provided between the image reading unit 101 and the image forming unit 102. Is done.

[0009] Further, by receiving the image information signal transmitted via the network by the controller of the image forming unit 102, it is possible to form an image based on the image information on a sheet.

[0010]

However, the above-described configuration has the following problems. The accommodation rack 103, as shown in FIGS.
Since the 04 is supported by only one support member in the depth direction of the storage rack, the load of the image reading unit 101 is concentrated near the rear surface 103a of the storage rack 3.

As described above, the scanning operation in reading an image of a document is performed by scanning the optical system in the left and right directions in FIG. With the part 103a as a fulcrum, the upper part of the storage rack 103 is shaken. As a result, there has been a problem that image reading becomes unstable and image reading accuracy is reduced.

Also, as shown in FIG. 12, the apparatus is unstable in the front-rear direction of the apparatus.
The swing also occurs in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 2, which is a problem in terms of image reading accuracy.

Further, since the storage rack 103 swings, the operation unit 108 also swings right and left. The operation unit 108 is attached to the upper surface of the storage rack 103 via the support unit 108a, and is higher than the image reading unit 101 as shown in FIG. For this reason, the button operability during the scanning operation and the visibility of the screen and the like have been reduced.

[0014] Further, there is a concern that the user may feel unstable due to swinging in the left-right direction every time the storage rack 103 performs the scanning operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has been described in connection with an image forming apparatus having a configuration in which an image reading unit and an image forming unit are independently installed in a housing frame during an image reading operation. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing the entire image forming apparatus from shaking.

[0016]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image reading section for reading an image of a document, and image information of the document read by the image reading section or an image processed by a digital signal transmitted via a network. Based on the data, an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, and an operation unit that is operated by a user, a space is provided between the image reading unit and the image forming unit, and the space is In an image forming apparatus that discharges a sheet on which an image is formed, the image forming apparatus includes a housing frame body that houses the image reading unit, the image forming unit, and the operation unit that are independently provided, and the housing frame body includes: An image reading unit mounting table on which the image reading unit is mounted, an image forming unit mounting table on which the image forming unit is mounted and which can be pulled out from the housing frame, the image reading unit mounting table, Fixing the image forming unit And having a member.

Further, the operating portion can be attached to the fixing member.

Further, the fixing member includes a first fixing member fixed to the image reading unit mounting table of the housing frame,
A second fixing member for fixing the image forming section and the first fixing member.

Further, the fixing member is fixed by using a screw.

The screw fixing hole provided in the first fixing member fixed to the image reading section mounting table has an elongated hole shape elongated in a direction perpendicular to the image reading operation direction of the image reading section. In addition, the screw fixing hole provided in the second fixing member for fixing the second fixing member to the first fixing member has a shape in which a fixing screw is loosely fitted. It is characterized by.

Further, the loose fitting shape of the screw fixing hole provided in the second fixing member is such that the image reading unit mounting table and the image forming unit are connected to the first fixing member and the second fixing member. It is characterized in that it has a shape that allows a maximum positional displacement that occurs when it is fixed by a fixing member.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus embodying the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a storage rack 3 as a storage frame, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a storage rack 3 that stores the image reading unit 1 and the image forming unit 2, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of the image forming apparatus as viewed from the front, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the image forming apparatus as viewed from the left side of the apparatus with respect to the front.

The image forming apparatus reads image information of a document by scanning an optical system and processes the image information with a digital signal (hereinafter referred to as a reader), image information read by the reader 1, or a network. Forming unit 2 (hereinafter, referred to as a printer) for forming an image on a sheet based on image information transmitted via the printer, a reader 1 and a printer
It comprises an accommodation rack 3 as an accommodation frame for accommodating and fixing the 2, and an operation unit 8 in which a user operates the reader 1 and the printer 2.

(Construction of Storage Rack 3) The storage rack 3 shown in FIG. 1 is made of a sheet metal, and the pillar portions are formed by using square members.

The accommodation rack 3 has a reader mounting table 4 on which the reader 1 is mounted and a printer mounting table 5 on which the printer 2 is mounted.
The printer mounting table 5 is provided with casters 22 so that the printer 2 can be pulled out to the front side of the apparatus main body. An adjuster (not shown) is provided so that the rack does not move in consideration of safety when the pull-out operation is not performed.

Then, the reader 1 is placed on the reader mounting table 4,
The printer 2 is fixed to a predetermined position on the printer mounting table 5 by a positioning member (not shown) and installed.

(Structure of Reader 1) The reader 1 has a platen cover 10 for setting a document thereon and pressing and holding the document, and an image scanning mechanism 9 for scanning a document image.
And a reader controller 11 for processing image information of a document by a digital signal.

The image scanning mechanism 9 has a first mirror base 28 and a second mirror base 29, and each of the mirror bases moves rightward in FIG. Is reading the image. When the image reading operation is completed,
The mirror base returns to the home position shown in FIG.

(Configuration of Printer 2) As shown in FIG. 3, the printer 2 irradiates a laser beam to the image forming section 13 based on a digital signal of image information transmitted from the reader 1 to a printer controller (not shown). A laser scanner 12, a cartridge having a photosensitive drum that forms an electrostatic latent image by irradiating the laser and forms a toner image by applying toner by a developing unit, and transfers the toner image to a sheet; And a developing process unit such as a fixing unit 14 for permanently fixing the toner image on the sheet.

A sheet feeding unit 15 for feeding a sheet to the image forming unit 13 and a conveying unit 16 for conveying the sheet fed from the sheet feeding unit 15 to the image forming unit 13 in synchronization with the image forming operation. A discharge path 17 that conveys the sheet on which the image is fixed by the fixing unit 14 is provided.

The printer 2 is configured so that a paper discharge tray 7 is formed by a part of the top cover 21 on the upper surface thereof, and a sheet on which an image is recorded is discharged there. Conventionally, by installing the present image forming apparatus in the accommodation rack 3 so as to discharge a sheet on which an image is formed in a space formed between the reader 1 and the printer 2, conventionally, the image forming apparatus protrudes to the side of the image forming apparatus. The paper discharge tray can be eliminated, and the area occupied by the apparatus can be reduced.

(Image Forming Operation) When the user instructs the start of the image forming operation with the operation unit 8, the image scanning mechanism 9 reads the image of the document pressed on the platen cover 10.
The read image information is input to the reader controller 11 and subjected to digital signal processing. Further, at the same time as performing an image forming operation such as enlargement or inversion specified by the user from the operation unit 8, the image information of the document is transmitted as a digital signal to the printer controller of the printer 2.

The printer controller having received the image information signal starts an image forming operation. The image information that has been subjected to the digital signal processing is irradiated as laser light onto a photosensitive drum that has already been primary charged by the laser scanner 12, and an electrostatic latent image of the image is formed. This electrostatic latent image is turned into a visible image by a developing unit to which toner is attached.

In synchronization with the operation of forming a visible image on the photosensitive drum, one sheet is fed from the sheet feeding unit 15 and is conveyed to the image forming unit 13 by the conveying unit 16, and is connected to the image forming unit 13. The image is transferred to the sheet at the timing of image formation.

The sheet on which the image has been transferred is directly conveyed to the fixing unit 14, where the image is permanently fixed on the sheet.
The sheet on which the image is fixed passes through a discharge path 17 and is discharged to a discharge tray 7 provided on a top cover 21 of the printer 2.

In the above image forming operation, the original is
The printer 2 is connected to a network and the image information is sent not by the image information of the original but by a digital signal from an information terminal or the like. Needless to say, the image can be formed on the sheet.

(First Embodiment) FIGS. 2 to 4
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

As described above, the reader 1 and the printer 2
Are the reader mounting table 4 and the printer mounting table 5 of the accommodation rack 3.
Are installed independently of each other.

Further, a fixing member 27 for connecting and fixing the reader mounting table 4 and the printer 2 is provided, and a rack fixing surface 27a of the fixing member 27 is parallel to the reader mounting table 4 of the accommodation rack 3; It is fixed by screwing on the upper front surface of the cover 21. The operation section 8 is fixed to the fixing member 27 via a support section 8a with screws (not shown).

The reading operation of the original by the reader 1 is performed by moving the image scanning mechanism 9 in the left-right direction in FIG. 3 when the apparatus is viewed from the front as described above. At this time, an attempt is made to swing right and left around the lower part 3a of the column supporting the reader mounting table 4. Operation unit 8
Is far from the fulcrum 3a, the amplitude is further increased.

However, since the reader mounting table 4 of the storage rack 3 is fixed to the printer 2 via the fixing member 27, the reader mounting table 4 is fixed to the printer mounting table 5 by the weight and the low center of gravity of the printer 2. Shaking can be prevented.

Further, since the operating section 8 is also fixed to the fixing member 27, it is possible to prevent the lateral shaking during the image reading operation.
The visibility of the operation unit 8 can be prevented from being lowered.

Next, jam clearance and maintenance of the printer 2 will be described.

On the front side of the printer 2, a front door 20 is provided so as to be openable and closable. Further, the paper feeding unit 15 is also configured to be pulled out to the front side of the apparatus main body. Thus, by opening the front door 20, maintenance of the image forming unit 13, jam clearance, and pulling out the sheet feeding unit 15 to the front side can replenish sheets.

The right side door 1 is provided on both sides of the apparatus main body.
8, the left side door 19 is provided to be openable and closable,
6. Sheets staying due to jams generated in the discharge path 17 or the like can be removed. Further, the top cover 21 on the upper surface of the apparatus main body is provided so as to be detachable, and maintenance work of the laser scanner 12 can be performed by removing the top cover 21.

Further, by removing the screw fixing the fixing member 27 and the reader mounting table 4 and the screw fixing the fixing member 27 and the top cover 21, the printer 2 can be pulled out to the front side of the apparatus main body. It is possible.

(Second Embodiment) FIGS. 5 to 10 show a second embodiment of the present invention, which will be described in detail below. However, the same members as those described in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. Further, since the same applies to the image reading operation and the image forming operation, the description is omitted.

The first fixing member 32 attached to the reader mounting table 4 is screwed and fixed to the mounting table 4. The screw hole 32a of the first fixing member 32 has a , Is a long hole in the front-rear direction of the device body (Fig.
8 arrow Z direction).

The second fixing member 33 is screwed and fixed to the top cover 21 and the first fixing member 32 of the printer 2. The first fixing member 32 and the second fixing member 33 are also fixed by the screws 30 through screw holes 33b provided in the second fixing member 33.As shown in FIG. 10, the screw holes 33b are On the other hand, it has a gap of Sx in the horizontal direction and a gap of Sy in the vertical direction.

The reason why the elongated hole of the first fixing member 32 and the gap between the second fixing member 33 are provided will be described below.

The storage rack 3, the reader 1, and the printer 2
Each of them is configured independently, and they are transported to the place where the device main body is installed, and the reader 1 and the printer 2 are fixed to the storage rack 3 using fixing members at that place. It is necessary to consider errors and slight deviations in the formation accuracy of each member. Therefore, the shape of the hole is adjusted so that a certain degree of displacement can be tolerated when assembling the members.

Sx is a gap that is equal to or more than the maximum displacement of the reader mounting table 4 and the printer 2 in the left-right direction, and Sy is a gap that is equal to or more than the maximum displacement of the reader mounting table 4 and the printer 2 in the vertical direction. . Further, the elongated hole 32a allows displacement between the reader mounting table 4 and the printer 2 in the front-rear direction.

The maximum displacement displacement is, specifically,
In FIG. 6, when the second fixing member 33 is fixed to the first fixing member 32, the upper surface of the printer fixed to the second fixing member 33 from the center of the hole 33b of the second fixing member 33, the printer 2
Means the amount of deviation of the component tolerances caused by fixing the columns of the printer mounting table 5 and the storage rack 3 that fix the bottom surface of the storage rack 3 to adjacent members.

When assembling the apparatus, it is necessary to make sure that there is no gap in the screw holes, so that no rolling occurs.
The tightening force of the screw 30 is adjusted.

As described above, the screw holes of the first fixing member 32 and the second fixing member 33 are set up and down so that the displacement of the reader mounting table 4, the printer 2, and the storage rack 3 can be allowed. When there is a gap in the positional accuracy between the reader mounting table 4 and the top cover 21 of the printer 2 because there are gaps in three directions: the direction (X), the horizontal direction (Y), and the front-back direction (Z). However, each can be fixed without difficulty, and the assemblability can be greatly improved.

As shown in FIG. 9, even when the printer 2 is pulled out from the storage rack 3 during maintenance, the first fixing member 32 and the second fixing member 33 are detached only by removing the screw 30 from the front of the apparatus. The printer 2 can be pulled out to the front side without any maintenance, so that maintenance can be performed very easily and in a short time.

As described above, by fixing the reader 1 and the printer 2 to the storage rack 3 and connecting them with the fixing member, it is possible to prevent the roll caused by the image reading operation.

Further, by using the fixing member, it is possible to prevent the apparatus from swinging in the front-rear direction, and it is possible to prevent the accuracy of image reading from lowering.

In the present embodiment, each member is fixed with a screw. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If a member that can be removed and can firmly fix each member is used, The same effect as the effect obtained by the present invention can be obtained.

[0060]

As described above, the image reading unit and the image forming unit are installed in the housing frame as described in detail in the present invention.
By fixing the image forming unit and the image reading unit mounting table on which the image reading unit is mounted by using a fixing member, it is possible to prevent the housing frame from shaking during the image reading operation.
An extremely stable image reading operation can be performed.

Since the operation section of the image forming apparatus is attached to the fixing member, the operation section can be prevented from shaking, so that the operability of the user can be improved.

Further, by dividing the fixing member into two parts and providing a certain amount of play in the screw holes, the assemblability of the apparatus can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a housing frame according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front;

FIG. 4 is a left side view of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front;

FIG. 7 is a left side view of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a top view of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a method of moving an image forming unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a fixing position of a first fixing member and a second fixing member according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional image forming apparatus viewed from the front.

FIG. 12 is a right side view of a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reader (image reading part) 2 Printer (image forming part) 3 Housing rack (housing frame) 4 Leader mounting base (image reading part mounting base) 5 Printer mounting base (image forming part mounting base) 8 Operation part 27 Fixing member 32 first fixing member 33 second fixing member

Claims (6)

[Claims] An image reading unit for reading an image of a document, and an image on a sheet based on image information of the document read by the image reading unit or image data processed by a digital signal transmitted via a network. An image forming unit for forming an image, and an operation unit operated by a user. A space is provided between the image reading unit and the image forming unit, and a sheet on which an image is formed is discharged in the space. The image forming apparatus includes a housing frame that houses the image reading unit, the image forming unit, and the operation unit that are independently provided, and the housing frame mounts the image reading unit. An image reading unit mounting table, an image forming unit mounting table on which the image forming unit is mounted, and which is provided so as to be able to be pulled out from the housing frame; and a fixing unit for fixing the image reading unit mounting table and the image forming unit. Having a member and An image forming apparatus comprising. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation unit can be attached to the fixing member. 3. A fixing member, comprising: a first fixing member fixed to the image reading unit mounting table of the housing frame; and a second fixing member fixing the image forming unit and the first fixing member. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a fixing member. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixing of the fixing member is performed using a screw. 5. A screw fixing hole provided on the first fixing member fixed to the image reading unit mounting table, the screw fixing hole having an elongated hole shape elongated in a direction perpendicular to an image reading operation direction of the image reading unit. Yes, and provided on the second fixing member,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a screw fixing hole for fixing the second fixing member to the first fixing member has a shape in which a fixing screw is loosely fitted. 6. A loose fitting shape of a screw fixing hole provided in the second fixing member, wherein the image reading unit mounting table and the image forming unit are connected to the first fixing member and the second fixing member. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image forming apparatus has a shape that allows a shift generated when the image forming apparatus is fixed by the fixing member.