JP2002292972A - Switch operating unit and imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a switch on/off operating unit and an imaging apparatus comprising an arrangement for operating individual switches independently for each cover in which the size of the unit can be reduced when a switch being operated by opening/closing a plurality of covers is provided. SOLUTION: In a unit 2 comprising covers 1B and 1C opening/closing in different direction provided at a plurality of positions on the housing and turning a switch S on/off in correspondence with opening/closing of the covers 1B and 1C, the switch S is provided independent at a position separated from the covers 1B and 1C. Between the switch S and the covers 1B and 1C, an open/close operation receiving part 3 subjected directly to open/close operation of the covers 1B and 1C and a part 4 for transmitting the operation of the open/close operation receiving part 3 to the switch S are provided. The unit 2 further comprises an arrangement 5 for controlling on/off operation of the switch S by performing open/close operation of the covers 1B and 1C remotely with respect to the switch S.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a switch actuating device and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to mechanisms for setting the switch on-off operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an apparatus such as a copier, a printer, or a printing machine, in which various devices are provided in a housing, such as an image forming device, maintenance of the devices or a jam in the case of the image forming device. When the recording paper is taken out at the time of occurrence, the opening / closing cover provided on a part of the housing may be opened. In the case of the image forming apparatus, the operation of the installed devices is stopped in accordance with the opening of the opening / closing cover, thereby ensuring safety when a hand is inserted inside.

Conventionally, as a configuration for stopping the operation of devices, a configuration in which a switch for opening and closing a power supply path to a drive source of the devices is set to an off state has been widely used. As a configuration for setting the switch to the off position, there is a configuration in which the switch is disposed at the open / close position of the open / close cover. When a switch is provided at the open / close position of the open / close cover, for example, when the open / close cover is provided in a plurality of directions, switches corresponding to the number of covers are required. Therefore, there is a possibility that the cost is increased due to increase in the number of parts.

In order to solve such a problem, assuming a configuration having a plurality of covers that can be opened and closed in a plurality of directions, the opening and closing operations of the covers are collectively detected or linked to the opening and closing operations of any of the covers. arrangement for turning on and off the switch has been proposed (e.g., JP-a-10-162
684, JP-A-10-199364, JP-A-7-156510).

The above publications disclose a configuration in which a relay member to which the operations of a plurality of opening / closing covers are transmitted is provided, and a part of the relay member performs on / off operation of a switch.

[0006]

The configurations disclosed in the above publications are based on the premise that there is a space in the vicinity of the opening / closing cover where a switch can be arranged. However, when promoting the miniaturization of the apparatus, for example, in the case of an image forming apparatus, when the transport unit and the image forming unit are arranged in a state of being close to each other, the members of these units are arranged near the opening / closing cover. In some cases, this makes it impossible to install the operating part of the switch. For this reason, as described above, it may be necessary to adopt a configuration in which a switch is arranged for each opening / closing cover, and it may not be possible to reduce the size of the device and increase the number of components.

An object of the present invention, the conventional device structure, particularly in view of the problems in the image forming apparatus, a compact device when installing a switch operated by the opening and closing of these cover the structure having a plurality of cover premise It is an object of the present invention to provide a switch-on / off operation device and an image forming apparatus having a configuration that can be operated independently and each switch can be operated independently for each cover.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
An opening / closing cover having different opening / closing directions is provided at a plurality of positions of a housing, and is an apparatus for performing an on / off operation of a switch according to opening / closing of the opening / closing cover, wherein the switch is located at a position away from the opening / closing cover. provided alone, between the switch and the closing cover, and the opening and closing operation receiving unit opening and closing operation of the cover acts directly, the operation of the opening and closing operation receiving portion and a transmitting portion that transmits to the switch provided, it is characterized in that it comprises an arrangement for controlling the on-off operation of the switch by remote control the opening and closing operation of the cover relative to the switch.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the opening / closing operation receiving portion is constituted by a swing member capable of swinging in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing cover, and the transmission portion is provided on the opening / closing operation receiving portion. An extension member having a bendable link member having one end connected thereto is provided at one end in the extension direction, and an operation member capable of contacting the actuator of the switch is provided at the other end in the extension direction so as to be interlocked therewith. The actuator of the switch is operated by sliding the transmission unit by changing the length in the extension direction according to the bending operation of the link member that occurs when the opening / closing operation receiving unit swings.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the transmission portion and the link member are initially urged toward the opening / closing cover by the opening / closing operation receiving portion by an elastic reaction force from the switch. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the link member, an angle of an extension line based on the bending position is set to be smaller than 180 degrees as an initial position before bending.

[0012] According to a fifth aspect, the link member at least in the opening and closing operation receiving unit and the transmitting unit,
It is characterized in that attached to the resin molded frame is supported.

[0013] According to a sixth aspect of the invention is characterized in that provided in the image forming apparatus switches operation device according to one of claims 1 to 5.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of an image forming apparatus 1 to which a switch operating device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a copying machine provided with a document table 1A on the upper surface of a housing. The present invention is not limited to this, and it is of course possible to target a printer, a facsimile machine, a printing machine, or the like.

[0015] case of the image forming apparatus 1 in FIG. 1,
Openable and closable covers 1B and 1C are provided at a plurality of locations on the side wall. In this embodiment, cover 1B, and so 1C can open and close in a direction perpendicular to each other, by being opened, thereby exposing the enclosure to the outside. The timing of opening cover 1B, the 1C,
There are times when maintenance or clearing of jams in the internal recording paper transport path is performed.

The cover 1B, the 1C, is provided protruding 1B1,1C1 respectively on inner surfaces, each of these projections 1B1,1C1 is to function the switching actuator 2 having the configuration shown in FIG. 2 onward used to. The switch actuating device 2 is provided not for the vicinity of the opening / closing covers 1B and 1C but for setting the operating position of the switch S provided at a position apart from this position. Below, a description will be given of the configuration.

In FIG. 2, the switch actuating device 2 includes a swingable opening / closing operation receiving portion 3 on which the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing cover directly acts, and a transmitting portion 4 for transmitting the operation of the opening / closing operation receiving portion 3 to the switch S. It is provided as a main unit.

The opening and closing operation receiving unit 3 is a swing member having a base end is supported on the support shaft 3A, the oscillation end, as shown in FIG. 1, is provided on the inner surface of the cover 1B Projection 1B
1, a link member 5 disposed between the swinging end and the base end is disposed between the swinging end and the base end.

[0019] in the vicinity of the opening and closing operation receiving unit 3, swingable swing lever 6 is disposed which has a base end at which the oscillating end side vicinity is supported by the pin 6A. The swing lever 6 has one of the swing ends opposed to a projection 1C1 (see FIG. 1) provided on the inner surface of the openable / closable cover 1C, which is different from the above, and the other of the swing ends is a link to be described later. The member 5 is opposed to the upper surface of one link lever 5B. When the swing lever 6 is pushed and moved by the projection 1C1 of the opening / closing cover 1, the other swing end of the swing lever 6 comes into contact with the upper surface of one link lever 5B of the link member 5 to bend the link member 5. It is blocking.

The transmission part 4 is a slide for transmitting the operation of the opening / closing operation receiving part 3 according to the opening / closing state of the opening / closing covers 1B, 1C to the switch S arranged at a position distant from the opening / closing covers 1B, 1C. It is composed of a moving member. Transmission unit 4,
The link member 5 is connected to one end in the extension direction parallel to the sliding direction via the relay member 7, and the switch S is connected to the other end in the extension direction.
The operating member 8 which is in contact with the actuator S1 is provided so as to be interlocked.

As shown in FIG. 2 (B), the relay member 7 located at one end in the extension direction of the transmission portion 4 moves the transmission lever 7B swingable via the support pin 7A to the connection position with the transmission portion 4. The operation of the opening / closing operation receiving portion 3 via the link member 5 is transmitted to the transmission portion 4 by swinging the transmission lever 7B in conjunction with the sliding of the link member 5 described later. I have.

The link member 5 includes a pair of link levers 5B and 5C connected by a pin 5A. One link lever 5B, in this embodiment, the open / close cover 1B
A link lever 5B located on the side of the projections 1B1 and 1C1 of the opening and closing members 1 and 1C is connected between a swing end and a base end of the opening / closing operation receiving portion 3 via a connection pin 5B1, and the other link lever 4C
Are connected to the relay member 7 via the connection pins 5C1.

The link member 5 can be bent with the pin 5A as a fulcrum, and receives an elastic reaction force of the switch S acting on the transmission portion 4 as an initial urging force. As shown in FIG. 5, the link levers 5B and 5C of the link member 5 are in their initial positions such that the angle (θ) between the extension lines to the respective ends with respect to the pin 5A is smaller than 180 °. Is set. Therefore, when there is no member that prevents bending due to the elastic reaction force from the switch S,
When receiving the elastic reaction force from the switch S side, the pin 5A can be bent in the lifting direction (the direction indicated by the arrow attached to the pin 5A in FIG. 5). The elastic reaction force to the link member 5, in addition to the elastic force of the switch S,
It is also possible to use other urging means not shown.

The actuating member 8 located at the other end of the transmitting portion 4 in the extension direction is constituted by a pivoting lever having pivoting ends on both sides with reference to the fulcrum pin 8A.
A transmission pin 9 fitted into an elongated hole formed at the other end in the extending direction of the switch S, and the other end of the swinging end is in contact with the actuator S1 of the switch S. With this configuration, an elastic reaction force from the switch S side acts on the operating member 8 in contact with the actuator A1 of the switch S, and presses the transmission unit 4 toward the opening / closing operation receiving unit 3 side.

The operating member 8 is, as shown in FIG.
Since the transmission unit 4 is connected via the relay member 7 composed of a swing member, the transmission unit 4 swings in conjunction with the transmission unit 4 that slides in a direction opposite to the opening direction of the open / close covers 1B and 1C, and opens and closes. When one of the covers 1B and 1C is opened, the switch S swings in a direction to weaken the contact force of the switch S with the actuator S1.

The switch S, in Figure 2 the actuator S1 by the elastic force applied to the actuator S1, may be protruding in a state shown by a two-dot chain line, when the cover 1B, 1C is closed, transfer Part 4 is FIG.
In FIG. 2, the movable member 8 is pushed back by the other swinging end after moving toward the left side, and the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 is reached, and the elastic reaction force is accumulated. The ON / OFF state of the switch S is an OFF state when the actuator S1 is overhanging, and an ON state when the switch S is pushed and moved against its own elastic force.

Since the present embodiment has the above configuration,
When both the open / close covers 1B1 and C are closed, the state shown in FIG. 2 is established. That is, the opening / closing cover 1B
The opening / closing operation receiving portion 3 swings clockwise in FIG. 2 by the projection 1B1, and the swing lever 6 swings counterclockwise in FIG. 2 by the projection 1C1 of the opening / closing cover 1C.

The link member 5 on the other by a state of being prevented bending of swinging end of the swing lever 6, since opening and closing operation receiving unit 3 are pressed by the projections 1B1, to put the sliding against transmission section 4 I will not let you. Thus, transfer unit 4 is actuated member 8 so moves to the right in FIG. 2 is swung in a direction to press the actuator S1 of the switch S. As a result, the switch S is maintained in the ON state when the actuator S1 is pushed back.

On the other hand, when one of the open / close covers is opened, the state is as shown in FIGS. FIG. 3 shows a case where the open / close cover 1B is opened.
When B is released, the projection 1B1 separates from the opening / closing operation receiving portion 3, and the opening / closing operation receiving portion 3 swings counterclockwise as shown by an arrow C1 in FIG. At this time,
When the opening / closing cover 1C is kept closed, the link member 5 does not bend because the upper surface is pressed by the swinging end of the opening / closing cover 1C, but the opening / closing operation receiving portion 3 is swung with the swinging of the opening / closing operation receiving portion 3. 3 (the position where the connecting pin 4B1 is provided) is displaced rightward from the position shown in FIG. Thereby, the transmission unit 4 moves to the left via the relay member 7 connected to the link member 5, and moves the operating member 8 located at the other end in the extension direction away from the actuator S1 of the switch S (in FIG. (In the direction indicated by arrow C1 '). As a result, the switch S
Is turned off because the actuator S1 projects by its own elastic force. FIG. 4 shows a case where the opening / closing cover 1C is opened. In this case, when the opening / closing cover 1C is opened, the projection 1C1 moves the swing lever 6A.
Away from, the pivot lever 6 is as indicated by the arrow C2, swings clockwise. In this case, although the cover 1B is kept closed is opened and closed part 3 does not swing, the link member 5, the swing lever 6 is a member that restricts the upper surface of the link lever 5B is not present, Since the elastic reaction force is received from the switch S side and the angle formed by the extension line between the link levers is smaller than 180 °, the pin 5A is pushed and moved by the elastic reaction force so that the pin 5A is pushed upward. I do.

When the link member 5 is bent, the distance to the connecting position between the link lever and the relay member 7 is reduced, and the transmission portion 4 slides to the right in FIG. 4 as in the case shown in FIG. I do. As a result, the operating member 8 in which one of the swinging ends is fitted to the transmission portion 4 is in the direction of switching the switch S to the off state as in the case shown in FIG. (In the direction shown).

Next, another embodiment according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is characterized in that the above-described members are installed on a resin-molded frame. 6, each component shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 is attached to the mounting portion provided in the frame 100 which is previously molded. Thereby, it is not necessary to perform an operation of assembling the mounting support part. Moreover, since only a frame corresponding to the specifications of the image forming apparatus 1 is prepared, the members attached to the frame can be shared, so that errors in assembly work and complicated parts management can be eliminated.

[0032]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation of the opening / closing cover acts directly or by providing the Hiei operation receiving portion and the transmitting portion. Even if there is no switch near the opening / closing cover, the on / off operation of the switch can be controlled by a smooth operation. This makes it possible to optimize the operation of the switch irrespective of the positional relationship between the opening / closing cover and the devices arranged in the vicinity of the opening / closing cover, thereby achieving a demand for a smaller housing for the switch. can do.

According to the invention of claim 2 and 3, wherein the opening and closing operation receiving unit is swung in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the opening and closing cover, transmitted by the transmitting side of the link member capable of bending operation by that the swing Since the unit can be slid, the on / off operation of the switch for the opening / closing covers in different opening / closing directions can be reliably performed. In particular, according to the third aspect of the invention, since the transmission portion and the link member are initially biased toward the opening / closing cover by the elastic reaction force of the switch, the bending operation of the link member due to the swing of the opening / closing operation receiving portion is ensured. The ON / OFF control of the switch can be accurately executed by reliably performing the push / pull operation of the transmission unit caused by the bending operation.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the angle of the extension line based on the bending position of the bendable link member is 1
Since the initial position is set to be an angle smaller than 80, the bending operation when receiving the swing of the opening / closing operation receiving portion can be easily performed. made to perform and it is possible to perform accurately the setting of the on-off state position of the switch.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, at least the link members in the opening / closing operation receiving portion and the transmitting portion are mounted and supported on the resin-molded frame. it is possible to reduce the number, it is possible to allow the placement of the switch-off control mechanism corresponding to the layout of the device class which is disposed near the opening and closing cover.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to secure a structure for performing on-off control of the switches in accordance with the opening and closing operation of the cover regardless of the arrangement of the apparatus such in opening and closing the cover near the Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an image forming apparatus according to an example according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a main configuration of a switch operating device used in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1; FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating an entire configuration; FIG. ) is a partial view taken along in the direction indicated by.

3A and 3B are diagrams showing one embodiment of the switch operating device shown in FIG. 2, wherein FIG. 3A shows the entire configuration, and FIG.
In a partial view taken along in the direction indicated by reference numeral (B).

4A and 4B are diagrams showing another embodiment of the switch operating device shown in FIG. 2, wherein FIG. 4A shows the entire configuration, and FIG.
It is a partial arrow view in the direction shown by the code | symbol (B) inside.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a part of a main part configuration shown in FIG. 2;

6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining another example according to the embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 6A shows the entire configuration, and FIG. 6B shows an arrow in a direction indicated by reference numeral (B) in FIG. it is a visual diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 an image forming apparatus 1B, 1C cover 1B1,1C1 protrusions 2 switch actuating device 3 opening and closing the receiving part 4 transmission part 5 link member 6 swing lever 7 relay member 8 actuating member S switches S1 actuator

Continued on front page F term (reference) 2C061 AP03 AP04 CD07 CD14 CD15 2H027 DA26 ZA04 2H071 AA17 EA16 5G006 AA02 AB01 BA01 CB04 CD07 DD02 DD12 DD13 DD14 DD15 5G019 CY01 CY06 LL01 LL10 LL14 SK03 SY05

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A cover opening and closing directions are different are provided at a plurality of locations of the housing, an apparatus for performing on-off operation of the switch in response to the opening and closing of said cover, said switch said cover And an opening / closing operation receiving portion on which the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing cover directly acts, and transmitting the operation of the opening / closing operation receiving portion to the switch between the switch and the opening / closing cover. A switch actuating device, comprising: a transmission unit for controlling the on / off operation of the switch by remote control of the switch for opening and closing the open / close cover. 2. The switch actuating device according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing operation receiving portion is constituted by a swinging member which can swing in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing cover; A sliding member having a bendable link member having one end connected to the operation receiving portion at one end in the extension direction, and an operation member capable of abutting on the actuator of the switch being provided at the other end in the extension direction so as to be interlocked therewith; And operating the switch actuator by sliding the transmission unit by a change in length in the extension direction according to the bending operation of the link member that occurs when the opening / closing operation receiving unit swings. Switch actuating device. 3. The switch actuating device according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting portion and the link member are initially urged toward the opening / closing cover by the elastic reaction force from the switch. switch actuating device, characterized in that there. 4. The switch actuating device according to claim 2, wherein an angle of an extension line of the link member with respect to the bending position is set to be smaller than 180 degrees as an initial position before bending. A switch actuating device characterized by the above-mentioned. 5. The switch actuating device according to claim 1, wherein at least the link members of the opening / closing operation receiving portion and the transmitting portion are attached to and supported by a resin molded frame. A switch actuating device, characterized in that: 6. The image forming apparatus characterized by comprising a switch actuating device according to one of claims 1 to 5.