JP2003005309A - Hinge device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hinge device capable of opening/closing with a small lifting operation force as a whole by reducing a lifting operation force when a book original placed on the upper surface of an image forming apparatus is thin when pressing the book original on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus after lifting an original pressing plate, and also, by suppressing a difference of the lifting operation force due to the thickness of the book original as small as possible. SOLUTION: The device is provided with a base member 15 fixed to the image forming apparatus 11, a supporting member 16 turnably and pivotally attached to the base member 15 by means of a shaft, a lifting member 17 to which the original pressing plate 13 is attached, a linking means 23 which is attached to the base member 15 or the supporting member 16 so as to rockably supporting the lifting member 17, and a control means 22 for controlling the inclination of the lifting member 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hinge device for opening and closing a lid of an image forming apparatus such as a printing machine or a copying machine, and more particularly to a hinge device having a mechanism accompanied by a lift operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-14451 is known as a hinge device for a lid of this type. As shown in FIG. 18, this includes a base member 2 attached to the apparatus main body 1 side, a support member 3 whose end portion is rotatably attached to the base member 2, and the support member 3 and A coil spring 4 elastically provided between the base member 2 and the base member 2 to urge the support member 3 to rotate in one direction, and a lift member 5 rotatably attached to the free end side of the support member 3.
And a document pressure plate 6 having a rear portion attached to the lift member 5, and an adjusting means 7 provided between the lift member 5 and the support member 3 for adjusting the height of the lift member 5. It is something.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional hinge device for the lid, the coil spring 4 is stretched between the lift member 5 fixed to the original pressure plate 6 and the base member 2. When the document pressing plate 6 is lifted, the coil spring 4 is always compressed, so that the lift operation force largely depends on the thickness of the document. In particular, the thinner the document is, the more the lift operation is performed. Therefore, the coil spring 4 must be strongly compressed, and the lift operation force for thin documents must be increased.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the lift operation force when the original is thin and to suppress the difference in the lift operation force due to the thickness of the original as much as possible, so that the operation can be performed with a small lift operation force as a whole. A hinge device is provided.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a hinge device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a hinge device for supporting a lid body in an openable and closable manner with respect to a main body device.
A base member fixed to the main body device side, a support member pivotally attached to the base member, a lift member to which the lid is attached, and a base member or a support member attached to the lift member. Linking means for swingably supporting the lift member and restriction means for restricting the inclination of the lift member are provided.

According to this invention, the lift member is lifted by the link means for swingably supporting the lift member and the restricting means for restricting the inclination of the lift member. Since it is not necessary to press, the lift operation force for a thin original document can be small, and the operation can be performed with a small lift operation force as a whole regardless of the thickness of the original document.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the hinge device according to the first aspect, the regulating means engages with the guide shaft projecting from the supporting member and the lift member is slidable. And a long groove portion for supporting.

According to this invention, since the regulating means is constituted by the guide shaft projecting from the support member and the long groove portion which slidably supports the lift member by engaging with the guide shaft, the lift member is provided. Will always lift on a fixed trajectory.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the hinge device according to the first aspect, one end portion of the link means is pivotally supported by the base member or the support member, and the other end portion swings the lift member. It is characterized by movably supporting the shaft.

According to the present invention, since the lift member can be swung by the link operation, the lift operation can be performed lightly and smoothly.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the hinge device according to the second aspect, the long groove portion has a bent portion,
The bent portion increases the slide resistance of the guide shaft.

According to the present invention, by providing the bent portion in the long groove portion, the sliding resistance of the guide shaft in the initial stage of the lift is increased, and the integral lift operation of the support member and the lift member is enabled.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the hinge device according to the first aspect, a spring device is provided between the base member and the support member to urge the support member to rotate in one direction. It is characterized by

According to the present invention, by providing the spring device for urging the support member to rotate in one direction, the opening / closing operation of the lid is extremely facilitated.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the hinge device according to the first aspect, the lid is an original pressing plate for pressing an original placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body. .

According to the present invention, it is useful as a hinge device for opening and closing and supporting an original pressing plate of an image forming apparatus such as a printing machine or a copying machine.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a hinge device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1
Is a schematic view of the hinge device according to the present invention mounted on a document pressure plate of an image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the hinge device, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the hinge device, and FIG. 4 is the hinge device. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing a lifted state of the hinge device.

The hinge device 10 in this embodiment is
As shown in FIG. 1, the document pressure plate 13 is provided at the rear end of the document pressure plate 13 that opens and closes the upper surface 12 of the image formation device 11, and rotatably supports the document pressure plate 13 with respect to the image formation device 11. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the hinge device 10 includes a base member 1 fixed to the image forming device 11 side.
5, a support member 16 rotatably attached to the base member 15, and a lift member 17 to which a rear portion of the original document pressure plate 13 is attached. The base member 15 includes a bottom surface portion 18 fixed to the image forming apparatus 11, and a bottom surface portion 18.
And a pair of side surface portions 19a and 19b standing up from both sides of the side surface 19a and 19b.
The support member 16 is rotatably attached to the support shaft 20.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the support member 16 has side surface portions 19a and 19b of the base member 15.
The lower part of the support member 16 is pivotally attached to the upper parts of the side surface parts 19a and 19b.

The lift member 17 is a U-shaped member disposed above the support member 16, and the rear end portion of the original document pressure plate 13 is fixed to the upper surface portion thereof.
A lift mechanism is provided between the side surface portion and the support member 16. The lift mechanism includes a regulation unit 22 that slidably supports the front end side of the lift member 17 to regulate the tilt of the lift member 17, and a link unit 23 that swingably supports the rear end side of the lift member 17. Composed of.

The regulating means 22 has a guide shaft 24 protruding outward at the upper portion of the support member 16 and the lift member 1.
7 and a long groove portion 25 formed at the front end portion of the guide shaft 7, and the distal end portion of the guide shaft 24 is slidably fitted into the long groove portion 25. A bent portion 26 is formed on the upper portion of the long groove portion 25. The bent portion 26 increases the sliding resistance of the guide shaft 24 in the initial stage of the lift, thereby enabling the lift operation of the support member 16 and the lift member 17 as a unit. After the guide shaft 24 gets over the bent portion 26, the lift operation becomes light. The inclination angle and the length dimension of the long groove portion 25 are properly designed, and the lift operation force can be adjusted by the inclination angle, and the lift amount can be set by the length dimension. By the way, if the tilt angle is increased, the lift operation force is increased, and if the tilt angle is decreased, the opposite is true.

One of the link means 23 is the supporting member 1
A pair of left and right link members 27a, 2 rotatably bridged between the front end of the lift member 17 and the rear end of the lift member 17.
7b. This link member 27a,
27b is a support shaft 2 that penetrates the support member 16 in the left-right direction.
The upper end is rotatably supported by 8, and the lower end is rotatably supported by a support pin 29 at the rear end of the lift member 17.

By providing the lift mechanism having different lift operations as described above, the lift member 17 can be smoothly moved up and down, and the lift operation is restricted so that a constant locus is always secured.

Further, the hinge device 1 according to this embodiment.
At 0, the spring device 30 is bridged between the base member 15 and the support member 16. The spring device 30 is composed of a piston 31 bridged between the support member 16 and the base member 15, and a coil spring 32 mounted around the piston 31. Both ends of the piston 31 are supported by holders 33 and 34, the upper holder 33 is supported by the guide shaft 24 penetrating the upper portion of the support member 16, and the lower holder 34 is supported by the side surface portions 19a and 19b of the base member 15. ing. The coil spring 32 is mounted in a compressed state between the holders 33 and 34 and constantly urges the support member 16 upward.

Further, the hinge device 10 according to this embodiment.
Then, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the lower holder 3
A half-moon-shaped rotating gear 37 is attached downward to the gear 4, and is meshed with a transmission gear 39 of a rotary damper 38 arranged below the base member 15. The rotary damper 38 includes a casing 40 having a drive unit (not shown) built therein and an output shaft 41 projecting from the casing 40, and the cylindrical transmission gear 39 is fitted to the output shaft 41. . Further, in the rotary damper 38, the casing 40 is fixed to one side surface portion 19 a of the base member 15, and the tip of the output shaft 41 is rotatably supported by the other side surface portion 19 b of the base member 15. Therefore, when closing the document pressure plate 13, the output shaft 41 is rotated from the rotary gear 37 through the transmission gear 39 in accordance with the rotation of the support member 16, and the rotary damper 38 is operated. The rotation speed of 13 is suppressed and it descends slowly, preventing a sudden drop. Particularly, in this embodiment, the rotation gear 3 is rotated with respect to the rotation radius of the transmission gear 39.
Since the rotation radius of 7 is larger, the output rotation speed of the transmission gear 39 is amplified with respect to the input rotation speed from the rotation gear 37, and the damping effect by the rotary damper 38 is large.

Next, the operation of the hinge device 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 shows the image forming apparatus 1.
3 shows the operation of the hinge device 10 when the original pressure plate 13 is lifted from the upper surface 12 of FIG. In this case, when the operator applies a force F1 to the original pressure plate 13, the lift member 1
The force F1 also acts on 7 in the same direction. Further, when the original pressing plate 13 is opened, a force Fg is exerted on the support pin 29 side of the link member 27 by its own weight.
The guide shaft 24 abuts on one side surface 25a of the long groove portion 25, and the slide of the guide shaft 24 is restricted. as a result,
The link member 27 and the lift member 17 are fixed to the support member 16, and as shown in FIG. 9, rotate integrally with the support member 16 with the support shaft 20 as a fulcrum. At this time, since the upward biasing force of the spring device 30 acts, the operating force is small.

Next, as shown in FIG.
A case will be described in which the original pressure plate 13 is closed again from the above state to the state of FIG. 8 in which the thin sheet original 42 is placed on the upper surface 12 of the image forming apparatus 11. In this case, as shown in FIG.
When the operator applies a downward force f1 to the original pressure plate 13,
The force f1 exerted on the original pressing plate 13 also on the lift member 17
And the original weight fg of the original pressure plate acts. And
In this case, the other side surface 25 of the long groove portion 25 of the lift member 17
The guide shaft 24 abuts against b, and the sliding resistance of the guide shaft 24 restricts the slide of the guide shaft 24. As a result, the link member 27 and the lift member 17 are fixed to the support member 16 in the same manner as described above, and as shown in FIG. The original is pressed on the sheet original 42 as it is rotated.
Is covered. At this time, as described above, due to the action of the rotary damper 38, the original pressure plate 13 is slowly lowered from the middle of the rotation and gently presses the sheet original 42.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned hinge device 10 during the lift operation will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 10
As shown in FIG. 7, when a thick book original 43 is placed on the upper surface 12 of the image forming apparatus 11, the lower surface of the original original pressing plate 13 is placed on the lower surface of the book original 43 during the process of closing the original original pressing plate 13.
Hit one end 43a. Next, when the upper end of the original pressure plate 13 is further pressed, the original pressure plate 13 is moved to the book original 4
3 receives a rotational force in the clockwise direction with one end 43a of 3 as a fulcrum. As a result, the lift member 17 to which the rear portion of the original document pressing plate 13 is fixed also receives the rotational force in the clockwise direction similarly to the original document pressing plate 13, and therefore, as shown in FIG. The tilt angle is regulated by 22 and the rear end side starts the lift operation via the link means 23. Since the link member 27 rotates about the support shaft 28 on the front end side, the rear end side of the lift member 17 is lifted while receiving a rotating action. Further, on the tip end side of the lift member 17, the guide shaft 24 protruding toward both sides of the tip end of the support member 16 is constrained by the long groove portion 25 of the lift member 17, and thus lifts while sliding.

As described above, since the lift members 17 perform the lift operation by the two kinds of lift mechanisms 22 and 23 different from each other, a smooth lift operation of the lift member 17 can be obtained only by applying a small force to the original pressure plate 13. At the same time
Since the locus of the lift member 17 during the lift is always constant, a stable lift operation can be obtained. Also,
Since the lift mechanisms 22 and 23 of the present invention are different from the conventional lift operation utilizing the pressing force of the coil spring, the lift operation force does not greatly differ due to the difference in the thickness of the book document 43. As shown in FIG. 12, the lift member 17 continues the lifting operation to a position where the upper surface of the book original 43 is pressed by the original pressure plate 13, so that the lift member 17 and the original pressure plate 13 are kept horizontal. In addition,
Although the rotation angle of the support member 16 varies depending on the thickness of the book document 43, the lift members 22 and 23 keep the lift member 16 horizontal.

13 to 17 show the operation of the hinge device 10 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Like the hinge device 10 according to the previous embodiment, the hinge device 10a includes a base member 15, a support member 16 and a lift member 17, and the rear end of the base member 15 has a rear end of the support member 16 as a spindle. Although it is rotatably supported by 20, the base member 15 is different from the hinge device 10 described above.
The link member 27 is provided between the lift member 17 and the lift member 17. The restricting means 22 for restricting the tilt angle of the lift member 17 has the guide shaft 24 provided at the tip of the support member 16 and the lift member 17 as in the previous embodiment.
It is composed of a long groove portion 25 which is opened in.

The hinge device 10 having the above structure
In the case of a, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, there is no difference from the operation of the hinge device 10 in the first embodiment when the document pressure plate 13 is opened and when the sheet document 42 is pressed. The support member 16 rotates with respect to the base member 15 by the expansion and contraction operation of the spring device 30, and the support member 16 and the lift member 17 always rotate together.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS.
The operation of the hinge device 10a when the book original 43 placed on the image forming apparatus 11 is pressed by the original pressure plate 13,
Basically, it is similar to the first embodiment. However, in this hinge device 10a, the link member 27 is
Since it is bridged between the 5 and the lift member 17, as shown in FIG. 15, after the lower surface of the document pressure plate 13 comes into contact with one end 43a of the book document 43, the document pressure plate 13 is further pushed down. Then, as shown in FIG. 16, the link member 27 rotates about the support shaft 28 supported by the base member 15 to push up the rear end side of the lift member 17. Further, at the tip end side of the lift member 17, the lift member 17 slides upward while being restrained by the guide shaft 24 of the support member 16 and the long groove portion 25 of the lift member 17. In this way, as shown in FIG.
The lift member 17 is maintained in a horizontal state when 3 is pressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a mounting position of a hinge device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a hinge device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the hinge device.

4 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge device when cut along the line AA of FIG.

5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing a lifted state of the hinge device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a mounting portion of a rotary damper of the hinge device.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting portion of a rotary damper of the hinge device.

FIG. 8 is an operation diagram of the hinge device when opening the original cover.

FIG. 9 is an operation diagram of the hinge device when the document pressure plate is closed to cover a thin document.

FIG. 10 is an operation diagram of the hinge device when the original pressure plate contacts one end of a thick original.

FIG. 11 is an operation diagram of the hinge device showing a state during a lift operation.

FIG. 12 is an operation diagram of the hinge device when the lift operation is completed and the thick original is covered with the original pressure plate.

FIG. 13 is an operation diagram of the hinge device according to the second embodiment when the document pressure plate is opened.

FIG. 14 is an operation diagram of the hinge device when a document pressure plate is put on a thin document.

FIG. 15 is an operation diagram of the hinge device when a document pressure plate contacts one end of a thick document.

FIG. 16 is an operation diagram of the hinge device showing a state during a lift operation.

FIG. 17 is an operation diagram of the hinge device when the lift operation is completed and the thick original is covered with the original pressure plate.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view showing an example of a conventional hinge device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Hinge device 11 Image forming apparatus 12 Upper surface 13 Original pressing plate (lid) 15 Base member 16 Support member 17 Lift member 22 Control measures 23 Linking means 24 Guide shaft 25 long groove 26 Bend 27 Link members 30 spring device 42 sheet manuscript 43 book manuscripts

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H012 CA01 CB12                 2H076 BA08                 3J105 AB02 AB24 AC01 BC01 DA50                 4E360 AB12 AB17 AB22 BA02 BA08                       BB02 BB04 BB12 BB19 BB20                       BB22 BC05 ED17 ED27 GA02                       GA04

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A hinge device for supporting a main body device so that a lid can be opened and closed, a base member fixed to the main body device side, and a support member pivotally attached to the base member. A lift member to which the lid is attached; link means attached to the base member or a support member to swingably support the lift member; and a regulation unit to regulate the inclination of the lift member. A hinge device characterized by the above. 2. The regulating means comprises a guide shaft projecting from the support member, and a long groove portion which engages with the guide shaft and slidably supports the lift member. Hinge device. 3. The hinge device according to claim 1, wherein one end of the link means is pivotally supported by the base member or the support member, and the other end pivotally supports the lift member. 4. The long groove portion has a bent portion, and the bent portion increases sliding resistance of the guide shaft.
The hinge device described. 5. The hinge device according to claim 1, further comprising a spring device provided between the base member and the support member to urge the support member to rotate in one direction. 6. The cover is a document pressure plate for pressing a document placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body.
The hinge device described.