JP2004318022A - Electronic device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic device capable of preventing a foreign matter from intruding into an image forming apparatus main body without impairing its appearance in terms of design and having an excellent ventilation performance, and to provide an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A vent hole 152 is formed at the joint part 140 of the apparatus main body 12. A plurality of vent holes 152 are consecutively formed in the longitudinal direction of the joint part 140. The vent hole 152 is made to open in a gap 150 formed between the joint part 140 of the main body 12 and the joint part 142 of an opening/closing door 130, and vapor or the like from the main body 12 is discharged to the outside through the gap 150 and the vent hole 152. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus having a fixing device.
[0002]
2. Description of the Related Art For example, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus transfers a toner image onto a sheet and fixes the toner image onto the sheet. In order to fix the sheet, a fixing device of a heat fixing system is used. In this fixing device, it is known that water vapor in the fixing device causes paper wrinkles, image defects and jams. For this reason, various means have conventionally been proposed for discharging water vapor generated in the fixing device to the outside of the apparatus, but the simplest and least costly means is to pass through the surface of the outer cover covering the fixing device. Generally, pores are formed, and steam is discharged to the outside through the ventilation holes (Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-27532
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when the ventilation holes are formed in the surface of the outer cover as in the above-described conventional example, the appearance of the design is impaired, and foreign matter easily enters the apparatus main body. Further, in order to prevent foreign matter from entering, it is necessary to reduce the size of the ventilation hole. However, if the ventilation hole is reduced, the ventilation performance decreases.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, to prevent foreign substances from being mixed into the main body of the apparatus without deteriorating the aesthetics of the design, and to provide an electronic device and an image having good ventilation performance. An object of the present invention is to provide a forming apparatus.
[0006]
In order to achieve the above object, a first feature of the present invention is to provide a device main body having a built-in electronic device and a mating portion facing each other with a gap. An electronic device is provided, wherein at least one of the parts has a ventilation hole that opens into a gap in the device body. Therefore, since the ventilation hole is formed in the mating portion, the ventilation hole is difficult to see from the external appearance, and the appearance can be maintained, and since the ventilation hole is formed in the concave portion, foreign matter can be prevented from being mixed. Since the cross-sectional area of the ventilation hole can be increased, the ventilation performance can be improved.
According to a second feature of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus main body having a built-in electronic device. The apparatus main body has a first member and a second member, and the first member and the second member are connected to each other. The second member has a mating portion facing each other with a gap, and at least one of the mating portion of the first member and the mating portion of the second member has a ventilation hole opened to the gap of the apparatus main body. Electronic devices.
Preferably, the first member or the second member is an opening / closing door, and when the opening / closing door is closed, the mating portion of the first member and the mating portion of the second member face each other. The configuration is as follows. Generally, the gap between the opening and closing door is larger than that of the fixing member. This is because, if the gap is set too narrow, a malfunction is supposed that the opening / closing door interferes with the apparatus main body due to variations in component dimensions and the opening / closing door does not close. Therefore, if a ventilation hole is provided in the joint portion of the opening / closing door, the opening area of the ventilation hole and the gap can be increased, and the air permeability can be improved.
Preferably, a plurality of the ventilation holes are formed continuously in the longitudinal direction of the mating portion. As a result, the cross-sectional area of the entire ventilation hole can be increased, and exhaust or intake can be performed more effectively.
According to a third feature of the present invention, a fixing device for heating and fixing an unfixed image on a sheet to a sheet, and an image forming apparatus having at least the fixing device and a joining portion facing each other with a gap are provided. An image forming apparatus comprising: a main body; and a vent formed in at least one of the mating portions to open into a gap in the image forming apparatus main body. The water vapor in the fixing device is discharged to the outside through the ventilation holes. Since the ventilation holes are formed in the mating portion, the ventilation holes are difficult to see from the external appearance, so that the aesthetic appearance can be maintained. Since the ventilation holes are formed in the concave portions, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from being mixed. Since the cross-sectional area of the ventilation hole can be made larger than that formed on the surface of the image forming apparatus main body, the water vapor of the fixing device can be effectively discharged to the outside.
According to a fourth feature of the present invention, there is provided a fixing device for heating and fixing an unfixed image on a sheet to a sheet, and an image forming apparatus main body including at least the fixing device. The apparatus main body has a first member and a second member, and the first member and the second member each have a mating portion facing each other with a gap therebetween. An image forming apparatus is provided in which at least one of the mating portions of the two members is provided with a ventilation hole that opens into a gap in the image forming apparatus main body.
Preferably, a plurality of the ventilation holes are formed continuously in the longitudinal direction of the mating portion. As a result, the cross-sectional area of the entire ventilation hole can be increased, and the water vapor of the fixing device can be more effectively discharged to the outside.
[0013]
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an actual image forming apparatus will be described.
1 to 3, an image forming apparatus 10 has an image forming apparatus main body 12, and a discharge unit 14 is provided at an upper part of the image forming apparatus main body 12, and a discharge part 14 is provided at a lower part of the image forming apparatus main body 12. For example, two-stage paper cassettes 16a and 16b are arranged.
Pickup rolls 18a, 18b are arranged above the sheet feed cassettes 16a, 16b near the inner ends thereof, and retard rolls 20a, 20b and feed rolls 22a, 22b are arranged behind the pickup rolls 18a, 18b. ing.
The conveyance path 24 is a sheet path from the pickup roll 18b of the sheet cassette 16b at the lower end to the discharge port 26. The conveyance path 24 is near the back surface (the right side surface in FIG. 1) of the image forming apparatus main body 12. And a portion formed substantially vertically up to a fixing device 28 described later. A transfer device 32 and an image carrier 34 which will be described later are disposed on the upstream side of the fixing device 28 of the transport path 24 via a sheet transport guide 30, and a registration roll 36 is provided upstream of the transfer device 32 and the image carrier 34. Are located. A discharge roll 38 is disposed near the discharge port 26 of the transport path 24.
Therefore, the sheets selectively sent out from one of the paper feed cassettes 16a, 16b by the pickup rolls 18a, 18b are separated by the retard rolls 20a, 20b and the feed rolls 22a, 22b and guided to the transport path 24. Then, the toner image is temporarily stopped by a registration roll 36, and a toner image is transferred at a time between a transfer device 32 and an image carrier 34, which will be described later, and the transferred toner image is fixed by a fixing device 28. The paper is discharged from the discharge port 28 to the discharge part 14 by the discharge roll 38.
The discharge section 14 is inclined such that the discharge port portion is low and gradually increases toward the front (to the left in FIG. 1). The discharge unit 14 is supported by the image forming apparatus main body 12 so as to be rotatable about a lower end. By rotating the discharge unit 14 upward and opening it, a process cartridge 44 described later can be attached and detached.
The fixing device 28 is composed of, for example, a heating roll 40 and a pressure roll 42. The heating roll 40 and the pressure roll 42 come into pressure contact with each other to form a nip portion. By passing, the toner image is fixed on the sheet. The fixing roll 28 is located in the vicinity of a later-described process cartridge 44, and particularly in this embodiment, the heating roll 40 is disposed to face the process cartridge 44.
The process cartridge 44 has a process cartridge body 46, in which the image carrier 34, the charging device 48, the developing device 50, and the cleaning device 52 are housed and integrated. The image carrier 34 is made of, for example, a photoconductor, and a latent image is formed by an optical writing device 54 described later. Further, a transfer device 32 composed of, for example, a transfer roll is disposed to face the image carrier 34. The charging device 48 includes, for example, a charging roll, rotates while being in contact with the image carrier 34, and uniformly charges the image carrier 34.
The developing device 50 visualizes the latent image formed on the image carrier 34 with toner, and has a first toner storage chamber 56, a second toner storage chamber 58, and a developing chamber 60. . The first toner storage chamber 56 and the second toner storage chamber 58 are vertically arranged with an opening 62 interposed therebetween. In the first toner storage chamber 56, a first toner stirring and conveying member 64 is provided. In the second toner storage chamber 58, second to fourth toner stirring and conveying members 66, 68 and 70 are arranged, respectively, and convey the toner to the developing chamber 60. The opening 62 is formed so that scanning light from an optical writing device 54 described later passes therethrough. The first toner storage chamber 56 and the second toner storage chamber 58 communicate with each other through both sides of the opening 62. Then, the toner in the first toner storage chamber 56 is transported to the second toner storage chamber 58. A developing roll 72 is disposed in the developing chamber 60, and the developing roll 72 carries a toner image on a latent image on the image carrier 34.
The cleaning device 52 has, for example, a cleaning blade 74 and a toner collecting chamber 76, and the toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 74 is collected in the toner collecting chamber 76.
The optical writing device 54 is disposed in the image forming apparatus main body 12 and near the front of the image forming apparatus main body 12 (near the right end in FIG. 1) in parallel with the paper feed cassettes 16a and 16b. The optical writing device 54 has an optical writing device main body 78, in which a polygon unit 80 including a polygon mirror and a motor for rotating the polygon mirror, a semiconductor laser (not shown), and others. Are emitted from the emission window 82 formed on the process cartridge side of the optical writing device main body 78, and the scanning light passes through the opening 62 of the process cartridge 44. Irradiation is performed on the image carrier 34.
Further, the process cartridge 44 has a shutter 84 for opening and closing the side surface of the image carrier 34 on the transfer device 32 side. The shutter 84 is opened and closed in conjunction with attachment and detachment of the process cartridge 44. The shutter 84 is provided with a shielding portion 88, and when the process cartridge 44 is mounted, the shielding portion 88 faces the heating roll 40 of the fixing device 28 and blocks radiant heat from the heating roll 40. This prevents the process cartridge 44 from being heated.
The shutter 84 has a large number of through holes 90 formed in the shielding portion 88. When the shutter 84 is at the retracted position, a first gap 92 is formed between the shutter 84 and the process cartridge body 46. The through-hole 90 communicates with the first gap 92, and the first gap 92 forms a part of an air passage 94 described later, and the first gap 92 is formed by air guided through the through-hole 90. An air flow is generated in the first gap portion 92 to cool the process cartridge 44.
The intake fan 96 is disposed inside the image forming apparatus main body 12 and above the optical writing device 54. The exhaust fan 98 is disposed substantially at the center on the back side of the image forming apparatus main body 12. Therefore, the intake fan 96 and the exhaust fan 98 are arranged on both sides of the process cartridge 44 so as to face each other at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the process cartridge 44 with the process cartridge 44 interposed therebetween. The air flow indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1 is formed by the intake fan 96 and the exhaust fan 98. The air passage 94 is a passage that forms this air flow.
A suction port 99 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) is formed on a side surface of the image forming apparatus main body 12. The suction port 99 is connected to the first duct 102 via, for example, a power supply device 100 arranged in parallel with a side surface of the image forming apparatus main body 12. An electric wiring board may be arranged instead of the power supply device 100, or an electric wiring board may be arranged together with the power supply device 100.
The first duct 102 has at one end an entrance portion 104 facing the power supply device 100. The first duct 102 extends from the entrance 104 to almost the center of the optical writing device 54, and a projection 106 is formed on the front side (the left side in FIG. 1) of the extended portion. The protruding portion 106 faces the polygon unit 80 of the optical writing device 54, and guides air to the protruding portion 106 to particularly cool the polygon unit 80 efficiently. An intake fan 96 is disposed on the back side of the first duct 102 (the right side in FIG. 1).
The second duct 110 is connected to the first duct 102 and is mounted on the optical writing device 54 together with the first duct 102. The second duct 110 sends out the airflow from the intake fan 96 to the process cartridge 44 side.
A second gap 118 is formed above the first toner storage chamber 56 between the process cartridge body 46 and the discharge section 14. A large number of air guide ribs 120 projecting toward the second gap 118 are formed in the discharge portion 14 in parallel with the air flow direction. Air flows to the sheet conveying guide 30 through the second gap 118 and the first gap 92 described above.
The sheet transport guide 30 has a number of vents 126 formed therein. The total opening area of the vent 126 is larger than the diameter area of the exhaust fan 98, and the air flows smoothly through the vent 126. An exhaust port 128 is formed outside the exhaust fan 98, and air is exhausted from the exhaust port 128.
The opening / closing door 130 is provided at an upper portion on the back side (the right side in FIG. 1) of the image forming apparatus 10. The opening / closing door 130 has a side surface portion 132 and an upper surface portion 134 which is bent from the side surface portion 132 and extends to the front side. Support portions 136 are provided on both lower ends of the side surface portion 132. The opening is openably and closably supported by the image forming apparatus main body 12 at substantially the center of the back surface of the image forming apparatus main body 12 via the. The front side edge of the upper surface portion 134 of the opening / closing door 130 is adapted to be aligned with the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 12. The opening / closing door 130 is for taking out the sheet jammed in the vicinity of the fixing device 28 or taking out the fixing device 28 by opening the opening / closing door 130. A large number of ribs 138a, 138b are formed in parallel on the inner surfaces of the image forming apparatus main body 12 and the opening / closing door 130, respectively, so as to protrude in the vertical direction.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the image forming apparatus main body has a first fitting portion 140 formed on the image forming device main body 12, and a second fitting portion 142 formed on the opening / closing door 130, respectively. In a state where 130 is closed, the first mating portion 140 and the second mating portion 142 face each other. The first mating portion 140 includes a standing portion 144 extending downward from an end of the image forming apparatus main body 12, and a receiving portion 146 extending from the standing portion 144 toward the rear surface of the image forming apparatus 10. . The upright portion 144 of the first fitting portion 140 and the receiving portion 146 face each other near the end of the second fitting portion 142, and a gap 150 is provided between the first fitting portion 140 and the second fitting portion 142. Is formed. In this embodiment, a ventilation hole 152 is formed in the first mating portion 140 over the upright portion 144 and the receiving portion 146. The ventilation hole 152 opens into the gap 150, and the inside and the outside of the image forming apparatus main body 12 communicate with the clearance 150 and the ventilation hole 152. A large number of ventilation holes 152 are formed continuously in the longitudinal direction of the first mating portion 140. The water vapor in the fixing device 28 is discharged to the outside through the gap 150 and the ventilation hole 152.
In this embodiment, the ventilation hole 152 is formed in the first mating portion 140. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in another embodiment, the vent hole 152 is formed in the second mating portion 142. Alternatively, it may be formed on both the first joint 140 and the second joint 142.
Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
The image carrier 34 is uniformly charged by the charging device 48, and the charged image carrier 34 is irradiated with light emitted from the optical writing device 54 based on an image signal to form a latent image. Light from the optical writing device 54 passes through the opening 62 of the process cartridge 44. The latent image on the image carrier 34 formed by the optical writing device 54 is visualized by the toner of the developing device 50.
One of the paper feed cassettes 16a and 16b is selected by a size signal or the like, and the sheets stored in one of the paper feed cassettes 16a and 16b are sent out by pickup rolls 18a and 18b, and are fed to the retard rolls 20a and 20b and the feed rolls. The paper is separated by the rolls 22 a and 22 b and guided to the transport path 24, temporarily stopped by the registration roll 36, and guided between the transfer device 32 and the image carrier 34 in a timely manner.
When the sheet is guided between the transfer device 32 and the image carrier 34 in this way, the toner on the image carrier 34 is transferred to the sheet by the transfer device 32. The sheet to which the toner has been transferred passes through a fixing device 28, where the toner is fixed to the sheet by the fixing device 28, and is discharged from the discharge port 26 to the discharge unit 14.
When the air fan 96 and the exhaust fan 98 rotate, air is sucked from an air inlet 99 formed on the side surface of the image forming apparatus main body 12, and the air is supplied to the first duct 102 via the power supply device 100. enter. At this time, the heat of power supply device 100 is taken away by the inhaled air, and power supply device 100 is cooled. The air that has entered the first duct 102 is guided to the protruding portion 106 and removes the heat of the optical writing device 54, particularly the polygon unit 80, and cools the optical writing device 54. Next, the air passes through the intake fan 96 and enters the second duct 110. In the second duct 110, the flow of the air is spread on both sides, and the air exits the upper part of the second duct 110 toward the process cartridge 44. Since the second gap 118 is formed between the process cartridge 44 and the discharge unit 14, air passes through the second gap 118. Further, since a through hole 90 is formed in the shutter 84 and a first gap 92 is formed between the process cartridge main body 46 of the process cartridge 44 and the shutter 84, air passes through the first gap 92. . Although the radiant heat from the fixing device 28 is blocked to some extent by the shielding portion 88 of the shutter 84, the heat of the process cartridge 44 is taken away by the airflow passing through the first gap 92, and the process cartridge 44 is cooled. Then, the air passes through a lattice-shaped ventilation hole 126 formed in the sheet conveyance guide 30, and is discharged to the outside of the image forming apparatus from the exhaust port 128 via the exhaust fan 98.
A part of the air sent from the blower fan 96 flows to the outside through the gap 150 and the ventilation hole 152 through the fixing device 28, and discharges the water vapor in the fixing device 28 to the outside together with the air. . Therefore, it is possible to prevent the sheet from wrinkling, image defects and jams due to the water vapor in the fixing device 28.
Since the above-described ventilation hole 152 is formed in the first mating portion 140, the ventilation hole 152 is difficult to be seen from the external appearance of the image forming apparatus 10, so that the aesthetic appearance can be maintained. Is formed in the concave portion, foreign matter can be prevented from being mixed, and therefore the cross-sectional area of the ventilation hole 152 can be increased. In particular, by forming a large number in the longitudinal direction of the first mating portion 140, the through hole can be formed. The entire cross-sectional area of the pores 152 can be increased, the air permeability is good, and the water vapor in the fixing device 28 can be efficiently discharged to the outside.
Although the above embodiment has been described by taking an image forming apparatus as an example, the present invention is not limited to the image forming apparatus, but may be applied to electronic devices other than the image forming apparatus. it can.
[0041]
As described above, according to the present invention, since the ventilation holes are formed in the facing mating portions, it is possible to prevent foreign matters from entering the apparatus main body without impairing the design appearance. Can increase the air permeability.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state in which an opening / closing door is closed.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where an opening / closing door is opened.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a portion A in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a joining unit in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 10 Image forming apparatus 12 Image forming apparatus main body 28 Fixing device 130 Opening / closing door 140 First joining section 142 Second joining section 150 Gap 152 Vent hole

Claims (7)

An electronic device, comprising: a device main body having a built-in electronic device and a mating portion facing each other with a gap, wherein at least one of the mating portions is formed with a ventilation hole that opens into a gap in the device main body. An electronic device is provided with a device main body having a built-in electronic device. The device main body has a first member and a second member, and the first member and the second member each have a mating portion facing each other with a gap. An electronic device, comprising: at least one of a mating portion of a first member and a mating portion of a second member, a ventilation hole that opens into a gap in the device main body. The said 1st member or the 2nd member is an opening / closing door, When the said opening / closing door is closed, the joining part of the said 1st member and the joining part of a 2nd member oppose. 3. The electronic device according to 2. 4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the air holes are formed continuously in a longitudinal direction of the mating portion. 5. A fixing device for heating and fixing an unfixed image on a sheet to a sheet, and an image forming apparatus main body including at least the fixing device and having a joining portion opposed to each other with a gap, at least one of the opposed joining portions are provided. An image forming apparatus, wherein a ventilation hole is formed in the gap of the image forming apparatus main body. A fixing device that heat-fixes an unfixed image on the sheet to the sheet; and an image forming apparatus main body including at least the fixing device. The image forming apparatus main body includes a first member and a second member. The first member and the second member each have a mating portion facing each other with a gap therebetween, and the image forming apparatus is attached to at least one of the mating portion of the first member and the mating portion of the second member. An image forming apparatus, wherein a ventilation hole that opens in a gap of a main body is formed. The first member or the second member is an opening / closing door, at least a part of the fixing device is opened to the outside when the opening / closing door is opened, and the first member is opened when the opening / closing door is closed. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the mating portion of the second member and the mating portion of the second member face each other.

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