JP2006044128A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation device for avoiding the inconvenience caused by unnecessary cover-opening during operation. <P>SOLUTION: The image formation device is equipped with an upper-cover locking mechanism 80 including a lock member 81, which engages with the upper cover 5 and performs a locking with a closed state, and a solenoid 84 for driving the lock member 81. When the operation of image formation or maintenance-retrieval of head is performed, the upper cover 5 is prohibited from being kept opened by making the solenoid 84 driven and making the lock member 81 moved to the locking position where the member engages with the upper cover 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

Inkjet recording apparatuses used as various image forming apparatuses such as printers, facsimiles, copying apparatuses, plotters, and printer / facsimile / copier multifunction machines have a body cover that can be opened and closed with respect to the apparatus body. In the open state, maintenance work such as attachment / detachment of the recording liquid cartridge for storing the recording liquid or removal of the paper when the paper is jammed can be performed.
JP 2004-106475 A

As a conventional inkjet recording apparatus, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, when the cover is opened during the operation of the image forming apparatus, the operation is stopped, and the carriage on which the recording head is mounted is brought to the home position. There is a recording head that is capped.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-218936

Further, as disclosed in Patent Document 3, when the cover is opened in a standby state in which print data is not received and no error has occurred, the carriage is allowed to move to the head replacement position to form an image. In some cases, when the cover is opened during operation, the operation stops in that state and waits for the next operation until the cover is closed.
JP 2001-071587 A

  However, in the conventional image forming apparatuses disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 3 described above, there is a time lag between the opening operation of the cover and the time when the movable part such as the carriage actually stops. If the operator touches the movable part inside the image forming apparatus in the meantime, there is a problem that the paper during image formation is displaced or the carriage is displaced and the image quality is deteriorated. Even if there is no problem in image formation, if the image forming operation is stopped just by opening the cover, the image forming speed is lowered as a result.

  In addition, in an ink jet recording apparatus as an image forming apparatus, the nozzles of the recording head are formed at a required timing in order to prevent ejection failure due to clogging of the nozzles of the recording head that ejects recording liquid droplets. The head surface (nozzle surface) is capped with a cap member, and the head is maintained and recovered by performing suction from the nozzles of the recording head.

  When such a head maintenance / recovery operation is performed, when the cover of the cartridge loading section for loading the recording liquid cartridge for supplying the recording liquid is opened and the recording liquid cartridge is detached, the air is introduced into the recording head. Is mixed to cause ejection failure, resulting in a decrease in image quality.

  Also, when the recording liquid cartridge is provided with an ID chip, the cover of the cartridge loading section is opened during reading or writing of information to the ID chip, and the recording liquid cartridge is replaced. There is a problem that inconvenience such as loss of information occurs.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus that avoids inconvenience due to unnecessary opening of a cover during operation.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a cover open prohibiting unit that prohibits the cover from being opened when a predetermined operation is performed. Note that prohibiting the cover from being opened means that the cover cannot be opened even by manual operation.

  Here, it is preferable that the cover open prohibiting means includes a lock member that locks the cover in a closed state and a means that prohibits unlocking by the lock member. Alternatively, the cover open prohibiting means is preferably a locking means for locking the cover in the closed state.

  Further, the cover can be a cover of a cartridge loading section for loading a recording liquid cartridge for storing the recording liquid.

  Further, the cover open prohibiting unit prohibits the cover from being opened when an image forming operation is performed or when the recording head performance is maintained or restored. Is preferred.

  Further, it is preferable that the cover opening unit cancels the state in which the cover is prohibited from being opened in the standby state before image formation or after completion of image formation. Further, it is preferable that the cover opening means cancels the operation for prohibiting the cover from being opened when a predetermined operation is stopped by detecting a predetermined error. In this case, a paper jam error or a recording liquid end It is preferable to cancel the state of prohibiting the cover from being opened by stopping the operation due to error detection.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the predetermined operation is performed, the cover open prohibiting unit prohibits the cover from being opened, so that the cover is unnecessarily opened during the image forming operation. Alternatively, the cover cannot be unnecessarily opened during the operation of maintaining and recovering the recording head, and the inconvenience due to the unnecessary cover opening can be avoided.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view of the image forming apparatus as an example of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention as viewed from the front side.
The image forming apparatus includes an apparatus main body 1, a paper feed tray 2 for loading paper loaded in the apparatus main body 1, and a discharge for stocking paper on which an image is recorded (formed) mounted on the apparatus main body 1. And a paper tray 3.

  An upper cover 5 is provided on the upper side of the apparatus body 1 so as to be openable and closable. Further, one end side of the front surface 4 of the apparatus main body 1 protrudes forward from the front surface 4 and has a cartridge loading portion 6 at a position lower than the upper cover 5. An operation unit 7 such as a display is arranged. The cartridge loading unit 6 is provided with a front cover 8 that can be opened and closed on the front surface thereof, and the ink cartridge 10 that is a recording liquid cartridge can be attached and detached by opening the front cover 8.

Next, the mechanism of this image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the overall configuration of the mechanism unit, and FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining a main part of the mechanism unit.
The mechanism of this image forming apparatus holds the carriage 13 slidably in the main scanning direction by a guide rod 11 and a stay 12 which are horizontally mounted on left and right side plates (not shown), and is driven by a main scanning motor (not shown). In FIG. 3, the scanning is moved in the carriage main scanning direction (arrow direction).

  The carriage 13 has a recording head 14 composed of four ink jet heads for ejecting ink droplets of each color of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk). They are arranged in a direction crossing the main scanning direction, and are mounted with the ink droplet ejection direction facing downward.

  As the ink-jet head constituting the recording head 14, a piezoelectric actuator such as a piezoelectric element, a thermal actuator that utilizes a phase change caused by film boiling of a liquid using an electrothermal transducer such as a heating resistor, and a metal phase change caused by a temperature change. Although a shape memory alloy actuator to be used, an electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic force, or the like provided as energy generating means for ejecting ink can be used. Here, a head using a piezoelectric actuator (piezoelectric element) as energy generating means It is equipped with.

  Further, the carriage 13 is equipped with a sub tank 15 which is a liquid container of each color for supplying ink of each color to the recording head 14. Ink is supplied to the sub tank 15 from the main tank (ink cartridge) 10 for each color through the ink supply tube 16. Here, the main tank 10 stores ink of each color of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk) corresponding to each color, but the main tank 10 stores black ink. The tank 10 has a larger ink storage capacity than the main tank 10 that stores other color inks.

  On the other hand, as a paper feeding unit for feeding the paper 22 stacked on the paper stacking unit (pressure plate) 21 of the paper feeding tray 3, a half-moon roller (feeding) that separates and feeds the paper 22 from the paper stacking unit 21 one by one. A separation pad 24 made of a material having a large friction coefficient is provided opposite to the sheet roller 23 and the sheet feeding roller 23, and the separation pad 24 is biased toward the sheet feeding roller 23 side.

  As a transport unit for transporting the paper 22 fed from the paper feed unit on the lower side of the recording head 14, a transport belt 31 for transporting the paper 22 by electrostatic adsorption, and a paper feed unit The counter roller 32 for transporting the paper 22 fed through the guide 25 while sandwiching it between the transport belt 31 and the paper 22 fed substantially vertically upward are turned approximately 90 ° and copied onto the transport belt 31. A conveying guide 33 for adjusting the pressure and a tip pressing roller 35 urged toward the conveying belt 31 by a pressing member 34. In addition, a charging roller 36 that is a charging unit for charging the surface of the transport belt 31 is provided.

  Here, the conveyance belt 31 is an endless belt, and is configured to be looped around the conveyance roller 37 and the tension roller 38 in the belt conveyance direction of FIG. The charging roller 36 is disposed so as to contact the surface layer of the conveyor belt 31 and rotate following the rotation of the conveyor belt 31, and applies 2.5 N to both ends of the shaft as a pressing force.

  In addition, a guide member 41 is disposed on the back side of the conveyance belt 31 so as to correspond to a printing area by the recording head 14. The upper surface of the guide member 41 protrudes toward the recording head 14 from the tangent line of the two rollers (the conveyance roller 37 and the tension roller 38) that support the conveyance belt 31. As a result, the conveyance belt 31 is pushed up and guided by the upper surface of the guide member 41 in the printing region, so that highly accurate flatness is maintained.

  Further, as a paper discharge unit for discharging the paper 22 recorded by the recording head 14, a separation claw 51 for separating the paper 22 from the conveyance belt 31, a paper discharge roller 52, and a paper discharge roller 53 are provided. The paper discharge tray 3 is provided below the paper discharge roller 52. Here, the height from the sheet discharge roller 52 and the sheet discharge roller 53 to the sheet discharge tray 3 is increased to some extent in order to increase the amount that can be stored in the sheet discharge tray 3.

  A double-sided paper feeding unit 61 is detachably mounted on the back surface of the apparatus body 1. The double-sided paper feeding unit 61 takes in the paper 22 returned by the reverse rotation of the transport belt 31, reverses it, and feeds it again between the counter roller 32 and the transport belt 11. A manual paper feed unit 62 is provided on the upper surface of the double-sided paper feed unit 61.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a maintenance recovery mechanism 71 for maintaining and recovering the nozzle state of the recording head 14 is arranged in one non-printing area of the carriage 13 in the scanning direction, and the other non-printing area. An empty discharge receiving member 81 is disposed in the region.

  The maintenance and recovery mechanism 71 includes cap members 72a, 72b, 72c, and 72d that are capping means for capping the nozzle surface of the recording head 14, a wiper blade 73 that is a wiping means for wiping the nozzle surface, A discharge receiving member 74 and the like are provided.

Next, an example of the lock mechanism constituting the lock means constituting the cover open prohibiting means for prohibiting the opening of the upper cover 5 will be described with reference to FIG.
The upper cover lock mechanism 80 includes a lock member 81 having a locking portion 81a that can be engaged with an engagement member 5a provided on the inner surface side of the upper cover 5 provided to be openable and closable with respect to the apparatus main body 1. ing.

  The lock member 81 is provided so as to be movable in the directions indicated by arrows A and B by fitting the elongated holes 81b and 81b to the pins 112 and 112 provided on the inner surface of the main body cover 111. Then, a tension spring 83 is interposed between one end of the lock member 81 and the fixing member 82, and in the direction indicated by the arrow B, that is, the lock member 81 is engaged with the engagement member 81 a of the upper cover 5. It is biased to a position (lock release position, illustrated position) that is not engaged with 5a. On the other hand, the plunger 84a of the solenoid 84 is connected to the other end of the lock member 81, and the solenoid 84 is driven so that the lock member 81 is pulled in the direction indicated by the arrow A so that the locking portion 81a is engaged with the upper cover 5. The position can be set to the position where the member 5a is engaged (lock position).

Next, an example of the lock mechanism constituting the lock means constituting the cover open prohibiting means for prohibiting the opening of the front cover 4 will be described with reference to FIG.
The front cover lock mechanism 90 includes a lock member 91 having a locking portion 91a that can be engaged with an engagement member 8a provided on the inner surface side of the front cover 8 that can be opened forward with respect to the cartridge operation portion. Yes.

  The lock member 91 is provided so as to be movable in the directions indicated by arrows C and D by fitting the elongated holes 91b and 91b to the pins 114 and 114 provided on the inner surface of the cover 113 of the cartridge loading unit 6. Then, a tension spring 93 is interposed between one end of the lock member 91 and the fixing member 92 so that the lock member 91 is engaged with the engagement member 91a of the front cover 8 in the arrow D direction. It is biased to a position not engaged with 8a (lock release position, position shown in the figure). On the other hand, the plunger 94a of the solenoid 94 is connected to the other end portion of the lock member 91, and the solenoid 94 is driven so that the lock member 91 is pulled in the direction indicated by the arrow C so that the locking portion 91a is the engagement member of the front cover 8. It can be set to the position (lock position) engaged with 8a.

  Although not shown, it has a lock means for holding the upper cover 5 in a closed state by manual operation. The lock mechanism constituting the cover open prohibiting means in this embodiment is separate from the manually operated locking means, and the upper cover 5 cannot be opened even when the manually operated locking means is in the unlocked position. It is for locking. The same applies to the case where the front cover 8 of the cartridge loading unit 6 has a locking means for manually holding the front cover 8 in the closed state.

Next, an outline of the control unit of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. This figure is an overall block diagram of the control unit.
The control unit 280 includes a CPU 281 that controls the entire apparatus, a ROM 282 that stores programs executed by the CPU 281 and other fixed data, a RAM 283 that temporarily stores image data, and the like, while the apparatus is powered off. And a non-volatile memory (NVRAM) 284 for holding data, an image processing for performing various signal processing and rearrangement on image data, and an ASIC 285 for processing input / output signals for controlling the entire apparatus. Yes.

  The control unit 280 also includes an I / F 286 for transmitting and receiving data and signals to and from the host, a head drive control unit 287 and a head driver 288 for driving and controlling the recording head 14, and a main scanning motor 290. The main scanning motor driving unit 291 for driving the sub scanning motor, the sub scanning motor driving unit 293 for driving the sub scanning motor 292, the solenoid 84 of the upper cover locking mechanism 80, and the solenoid 94 of the front cover locking mechanism 90 are driven. For example, a solenoid driving unit 294 is provided, and an AC bias supply unit that applies a high voltage to the charging roller 36 is provided.

  Further, the control unit 280 includes an upper cover open sensor 295 that detects that the upper cover 5 is opened, a front cover open sensor 296 that detects that the front cover 8 is opened, and other various sensors (not shown). I / O297 etc. for inputting the detection signal from is provided. The control unit 280 is connected to an operation panel 298 (operation unit 7) for inputting and displaying information necessary for the apparatus.

  The control unit 280 receives print data and the like from the host side such as an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, an image reading apparatus such as an image scanner, and an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera, via the cable or the network by the I / F 286.

  The CPU 281 reads and analyzes the print data in the reception buffer included in the I / F 286, performs necessary image processing, data rearrangement processing, and the like in the ASIC 285, and transfers the image data to the head drive control unit 287. To do. The generation of dot pattern data for image output may be performed by storing font data in the ROM 282, for example, or image data is developed into bitmap data by a host-side printer driver and transferred to this apparatus. You may do it.

  When the head drive control unit 287 receives image data (dot pattern data) corresponding to one line of the recording head 14, the dot pattern data for one line is serialized to the head driver 288 in synchronization with the clock signal. Data is transmitted, and a latch signal is transmitted to the head driver 288 at a predetermined timing.

  The head drive control unit 287 includes a ROM (which can also be configured by a ROM 282) storing pattern data of a drive waveform (drive signal), and a D / A converter for D / A conversion of drive waveform data read from the ROM. A waveform generation circuit including an A converter and a drive waveform generation circuit including an amplifier and the like are included.

  The head driver 288 also receives a clock signal from the head drive controller 287 and serial data as image data, and a latch circuit that latches the register value of the shift register with a latch signal from the head drive controller 287. A level conversion circuit (level shifter) that changes the output value of the latch circuit, an analog switch array (switch means) that is controlled to be turned on / off by the level shifter, and the like, and controls on / off of the analog switch array. In this way, a required drive waveform included in the drive waveform is selectively applied to the actuator means of the recording head 14 to drive the head.

  Further, the control unit 280 drives the solenoid 84 of the upper cover locking mechanism 80 and the solenoid 94 of the front cover locking mechanism 90 via the solenoid driving unit 294 based on the operation state of the image forming apparatus, and the locking member 81. , 91 is moved to the lock position, and control is performed to prohibit the upper cover 5 and the front cover 8 from being opened (opened). That is, the control unit 280, the above-described upper cover lock mechanism 80, and the front cover lock mechanism 90 constitute cover open prohibiting means in the present invention.

  In the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the sheets 22 are separated and fed one by one from the sheet feeding tray 2, and the sheets 22 fed substantially vertically upward are guided by the guide 25, and the conveying belt 31 and the counter roller 32, and the tip is guided by the transport guide 33 and pressed against the transport belt 31 by the tip pressure roller 35, and the transport direction is changed by approximately 90 °.

  At this time, a positive output and a negative output are alternately and repeatedly applied to the charging roller 36 from a high voltage power source (not shown), that is, an alternating voltage is applied, and a charging voltage pattern in which the conveying belt 31 alternates, that is, in the circumferential direction. In a certain sub-scanning direction, plus and minus are alternately charged in a band shape with a predetermined width. When the sheet 22 is fed onto the conveyance belt 31 that is alternately charged with plus and minus, the sheet 22 is electrostatically attracted to the conveyance belt 31, and the sheet 22 is moved in the sub scanning direction by the circular movement of the conveyance belt 31. Be transported.

  Therefore, by driving the recording head 14 according to the image signal while moving the carriage 13, ink droplets are ejected onto the stopped paper 22 to record one line, and after the paper 22 is conveyed by a predetermined amount, Record the next line. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal that the trailing edge of the paper 22 has reached the recording area, the recording operation is finished and the paper 22 is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 3.

  Further, during printing (recording) standby, the carriage 13 is moved to the maintenance / recovery mechanism 71 side, the recording head 14 is capped by the caps 72a to 72d, and the nozzles are kept in a wet state to prevent ejection failure due to ink drying. In addition, nozzle suction is performed to recover the state of the nozzle, and further, recovery operation such as idle ejection that ejects ink that is not related to recording is performed before the start of recording or during recording to maintain stable ejection performance. .

  Thus, control related to cover locking and unlocking executed by the control unit will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the cover lock is a state where the cover is prohibited from being opened (opened), and the unlocking is a state where the state where the cover is prohibited from being opened is released. Means that.

  First, as shown in FIG. 7, when there is a print request (image formation request) from the host side or when the maintenance and recovery operation of the recording head 24 is started, the upper cover open sensor 295 and the front cover open sensor 296 Based on each detection result, it is determined whether or not the upper cover 5 and the front cover 8 are closed.

  When it is determined that the upper cover 5 and the front cover 8 are closed, the solenoids 84 and 94 of the cover lock mechanisms 80 and 90 are driven to move the lock members 81 and 91 to the lock position. After the cover 5 and the front cover 8 are locked to the closed state and prohibited from being opened, image forming or recording head maintenance and recovery operations are started.

  After that, it is determined whether or not the image forming or recording head maintenance / recovery operation has been completed without causing a paper jam error or an ink out (recording liquid end) error. When completed, the solenoids 84 and 94 of the cover lock mechanisms 80 and 90 are not driven, whereby the lock members 81 and 91 are returned to the unlocked position, and the upper cover 5 and the front cover 8 are opened. Unlock to release the locked state that is prohibited.

  As described above, when a normal image forming operation is performed without an error, the upper cover 5 that opens the inside of the apparatus main body 1 is prohibited from being opened. As a result, the upper cover 5 is not opened during the image forming operation, and the image forming operation is not stopped, and the subsequent image formation is resumed while the image forming paper is moved by the user. It is possible to prevent the quality from being lowered, and it is possible to prevent the printing speed from being lowered when the operation is stopped.

  Further, when a normal image forming operation without error occurs or when a head maintenance / recovery operation is performed even during standby, the front cover 8 of the cartridge loading unit 6 for loading the ink cartridge 10 is opened. It is prohibited to be in a state. As a result, the front cover 8 is unnecessarily opened and the maintenance / recovery operation is not stopped, and the ink cartridge is detached and air is mixed into the recording head 14 to cause ejection failure. In addition, when the ink cartridge 10 is provided with an ID chip, the ink cartridge 10 is exchanged during reading or writing of information to the ID chip, thereby preventing the information on the ID chip from being lost. it can.

  As described above, when a predetermined operation is performed, the cover open prohibiting means for prohibiting the cover from being opened is provided during printing or during the head maintenance / recovery operation. It is possible to avoid inconvenience caused by opening the cover as necessary.

  In addition, as described above, in the standby state before the start of image formation or after the end of image formation, the locked state prohibiting the upper cover 5 and the front cover 8 from being opened is released. In a state that does not affect the maintenance and recovery operation, the upper cover 5 and the front cover 8 can be opened as necessary.

  On the other hand, when a paper jam error occurs during the image forming or recording head maintenance / recovery operation, as shown in FIG. 8, it is determined whether or not the operation is stopped, and the operation is stopped. When the stop state is entered, unlocking is performed to release the locked state that prohibits the upper cover 5 from being opened. Thereafter, when the paper jam error is resolved and the upper cover 5 is closed, the cover is locked again to prohibit the upper cover 5 from being opened again, and the process returns to the process of FIG.

  As described above, when a paper jam error is detected, by releasing the state of prohibiting the cover from being opened, it is possible to perform jam processing such as opening the cover and removing internal jammed paper. .

  Similarly, when an ink out error occurs during the image forming or recording head maintenance / recovery operation, as shown in FIG. 9, it is determined whether or not the operation is stopped, and the operation is stopped. When the state is stopped, unlocking is performed to release a state in which opening the front cover 8 is prohibited. Thereafter, when the cartridge replacement is completed and the front cover 8 is closed, after the front cover 8 is again prohibited from being opened (cover lock state), an ink replenishing operation is performed. When the ink out is resolved, the process returns to the process of FIG.

  In this way, when an ink out error is detected, the cover can be opened and the ink cartridge can be replaced by releasing the state that prohibits the cover from being opened.

  In other words, when the operation is stopped due to error detection even during a predetermined operation, the cover can be opened to perform necessary measures to solve the error by releasing the state prohibiting the cover from being opened. become able to.

  In the above embodiment, the cover open prohibiting means is constituted by the locking means. However, the lock member (locking means) capable of manual operation for locking the cover in the closed state and the manual operation of the lock member with a predetermined operation. It is also possible to have a configuration that includes a means for prohibiting when the operation is performed.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the upper cover 5 is provided with a lock member 301 that can be slid by manual operation in the directions of arrows E and F. The locking member 301 is integrally provided with a locking portion 301 a on the inner surface side of the upper cover 5, and the locking member 301 is slid in the direction of arrow E so that the locking portion 301 a is provided on the main body cover 111. The upper cover 5 can be locked in a closed state by being engaged with 302. The lock position is when the lock member 301 is in the position shown in FIG.

  Then, a push-type solenoid 303 is provided, and when the solenoid 303 is driven, the plunger 303a protrudes to the position indicated by the broken line, whereby the lock member 301 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow F and the locking portion 301a is engaged with the engaging portion 302. It is possible to prohibit manual movement to a position deviating from the position (unlock position).

  According to this configuration, as in the above embodiment, the controller 303 drives the solenoid 303 when a predetermined operation is being performed, so that the lock member 301 is moved to the unlock position by manual operation. It is possible to prohibit the cover 5 from being opened.

  Note that the same configuration as described above can be applied to the front cover 8 of the cartridge loading unit 6.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention as viewed from the front side. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an outline of a mechanism unit of the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is principal part plane explanatory drawing of the mechanism part. It is explanatory drawing of the upper cover lock mechanism of the image forming apparatus. It is explanatory drawing of the front cover lock mechanism. FIG. 2 is a schematic block explanatory diagram of a control unit of the image forming apparatus. It is a flowchart with which it uses for description of the process of the cover lock and lock release which the control part performs. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining processing when a paper jam error occurs. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining processing when an out-of-ink error occurs. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of the other example of a cover open prohibition means.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus main body 5 ... Upper cover 5a ... Engagement part 6 ... Cartridge loading part 7 ... Operation part 8 ... Front cover 8a ... Engagement part 10 ... Ink cartridge 14 ... Recording head 80 ... Upper cover lock mechanism 81 ... Lock Member 84 ... Solenoid 90 ... Front cover lock mechanism 91 ... Lock member 94 ... Solenoid 280 ... Control unit

Claims (10)

  An image forming apparatus having a cover that can be opened and closed with respect to the apparatus main body is provided with a cover open prohibiting unit that prohibits the cover from being opened when a predetermined operation is being performed. An image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover open prohibiting unit includes a lock member that locks the cover in a closed state, and a unit that prohibits unlocking by the lock member. Image forming apparatus.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover open prohibiting unit is a lock unit that locks the cover in a closed state.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover is a cover of a cartridge loading unit for loading a recording liquid cartridge for storing a recording liquid.   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover open prohibiting unit prohibits the cover from being opened when an image forming operation is being performed. Image forming apparatus.   6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover open prohibiting unit is configured to open the cover when an operation for maintaining or recovering the performance of the recording head is performed. An image forming apparatus that is prohibited.   7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover open prohibiting unit opens the cover in a standby state before performing the image forming operation or after performing the image forming operation. An image forming apparatus that cancels the state of prohibiting the image.   8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover open prohibiting unit prohibits the cover from being opened when a predetermined operation is stopped by detecting a predetermined error. An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus is released.   9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the cover open prohibiting unit cancels a state of prohibiting the cover from being opened when a predetermined operation is stopped by detecting a paper jam error. An image forming apparatus. 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the cover open prohibiting unit cancels a state of prohibiting the cover from being opened when a predetermined operation is stopped by detecting an error at the recording liquid end. An image forming apparatus.

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