JP2006054120A - Operating device of electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove static electricity without increasing the number of components and without giving an operator discomfort. <P>SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 1 is provided with an operating panel 30 fitted to an operating face of an image forming apparatus body 2, a printed board 40 fitted to a rear-face side of the operating panel, and ten keys 33 capable of controlling a switch 41 by a pressing the switch arranged on the printed board 40. The ten keys 33 are constituted of a conductive material, which is grounded through a grounding pattern 48 of the printed board 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation device for an electronic apparatus such as an image forming apparatus, a printer, a scanner, and a fax machine having operation buttons that can be pressed or touched.

  Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine as an electronic apparatus has an operation panel on the operation surface of the main body, and this operation panel has a display screen for performing a display indispensable for a copying operation, a copy function setting key, and the like. is doing.

  The copying function of the image forming apparatus as described above is set in advance by the operator using the display screen or copying function setting key provided on the operation panel before the copying operation. After the settings are confirmed, the print switch is pressed to perform the copying operation. When the paper is jammed along the transport path, JAM is displayed on the display screen to prompt the operator for a paper processing message.

  By the way, in the conventional image forming apparatus, static electricity accumulated in the operator's body is discharged to the copy function setting key or the like, and a circuit on the printed circuit board attached to the back side of the operation panel by the discharge current at that time In order to give an unpleasant feeling (shock) to an operator by destroying parts or discharging static electricity instantaneously, a technique for electrically releasing static electricity has been proposed. As a result, the shock that the operator receives due to static electricity is avoided and damage to the internal electronic circuit is prevented.

As such a static electricity removing technique, for example, an open / close button made of a conductive material is provided on the outer surface of a casing of an electronic device, and the open / close button is connected via a resistor having a resistance value of 10 ⁷ to 10 ¹¹ Ω. The thing connected to the earth wire is well-known (refer patent document 1).

  As another conventional technique, a cover opening switch that is operated when the cover of the printer device is opened is formed of a conductive material, and a conductive property is provided between the cover opening switch and the FG (frame ground) terminal of the AC outlet. A technique is known in which static electricity accumulated in an operator is caused to flow to the ground via the FG line (see Patent Document 2).

  Furthermore, when the operating device in the electronic device is composed of a metal plate, a resistor is connected between the metal plate and the signal ground line, and the operator's hand charged with static electricity touches the metal plate, a discharge current is generated. Although it occurs, a technique is known in which malfunction of the control circuit and destruction of the element are prevented by flowing this discharge current through a resistor to a signal ground line (see Patent Document 3).

  Furthermore, a plurality of columnar support legs are provided on the back side of the operation panel in the electronic device, and a tip protrusion is provided at the tip of the support leg. From the outer peripheral surface of the support leg and the tip protrusion, A conductive layer is formed by metal plating over the back side of the operation panel, and a ground wire is connected to the above-described tip protrusion by a screw (fixing tool), and the metal-plated conductive layer and the ground wire are connected. This technique is known (see Patent Document 4).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-87899 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-210885 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-40388 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-119884

However, in each of the above-described conventional techniques, the techniques of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 3 can newly prevent the operator from feeling uncomfortable (shock), and a new resistance member separate from the open / close button is newly provided. Since this is necessary, the number of parts increases and the manufacturing cost increases. Further, as in Patent Document 1, when a resistor having a resistance value of 10 ¹¹ Ω is used, static electricity may not flow to the ground wire side and may be accumulated.

  Further, in the technique of Patent Document 2, even though the electronic circuit can be prevented from being destroyed, the static electricity accumulated in the operator suddenly flows to the ground side via the FG line, so that the operator feels uncomfortable (shock). It will be.

  Furthermore, in the technique of Patent Document 4, even though the electronic circuit can be prevented from being destroyed, the static electricity accumulated in the operator suddenly flows to the ground side via the FG line, so that the operator feels uncomfortable (shock) ) And the number of work steps and the number of parts increase.

  In order to solve such a problem, an object of the present invention is to provide an operating device for an electronic device that can remove static electricity without increasing the number of parts and without causing discomfort to an operator.

The invention according to claim 1 includes an operation panel attached to the operation surface of the device main body, and a control board attached to the back side of the operation panel, and by pressing the switches disposed on the control board. In an operation device of an electronic device having an operation button that can be controlled on / off,
The operation button is formed of a conductive member, and the conductive member is grounded via a ground pattern formed on the control board.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device operating device according to the first aspect, the resistance value of the conductive member is 10 ⁷ to 10 ⁹ Ω.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the operation button to be pushed is composed of a conductive member, and the conductive member is grounded via the ground pattern formed on the control board, the number of parts is not increased. With a simple structure, static electricity accumulated in the operator can be released through the operation buttons and the ground pattern.

According to the invention of claim 2, since the resistance value of the conductive member is 10 ⁷ to 10 ⁹ Ω, static electricity accumulated in the operator can be gradually released, and the operator feels uncomfortable (shock). Can be prevented.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the appearance of an image forming apparatus as an electronic apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

  In the figure, the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with an operation device 28 on the operation surface on the upper front side of the image forming apparatus main body 2. The operation device 28 has an operation panel 30, a function selection key 31 on the left end side of the operation panel 30, a display panel 32 using a liquid crystal display unit on a substantially central side, a numeric keypad 33 as an operation button on the right end side, and the like. It has. The display panel 32 informs the operator of various types of information related to the image forming operation using characters, icons, and the like, and allows the operator to select and designate arbitrary information from the displayed information by a touch operation. The numeric keypad 33 and the like will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a printer unit 3 and a scanner unit 4 inside an image forming apparatus main body 2. An automatic document feeder 6 for automatically feeding documents one by one to the contact glass (image reading unit) 5 is attached to the upper portion of the image forming apparatus main body 2 on the depth side.

  In this image forming apparatus 1, image information of a document sent to a contact glass (image reading unit) 5 by an automatic document feeder 6 is read by a scanner unit 4 and subjected to photoelectric conversion, and the digital data obtained by the photoelectric conversion is converted to a printer unit 3. Are output to the image forming unit 7.

  The printer unit 3 forms (transfers) a toner image on the sheet material P (recording material such as paper, plastic film, or OHP sheet) sent from the paper feed tray 14 by the image forming unit 7, and the toner image is transferred. The printed sheet material P is heated and pressed by the fixing unit 10 to fix the toner image on the sheet material P, and then the printed sheet material P is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 15.

  The scanner unit 4 has the scanning unit 12 fixed at the image reading position (HP) and reads the original conveyed by the automatic document feeder 6, and the scanning unit 12 starts from the image reading position (HP). It is also possible to scan the image surface of the original fixed on the upper surface of the platen glass (image reading unit) 13 by moving in the right direction in FIG.

  The automatic document feeder 6 is attached to the upper part of the back side (the depth side in FIG. 1) of the image forming apparatus main body 2 so as to be rotatable up and down, and is rotated so as to be lifted upward from the image forming apparatus main body 2. Thus, the upper surface of the platen glass 13 fixed to the upper part of the image forming apparatus main body 2 can be opened.

By this automatic document feeder 6, the originals on the paper feed tray 8 are sent out one by one by the paper feed unit 17 to the document transport path, and the document thus sent is contact glass (image reading unit) 5 by the transport unit 18. Here, the image information is read by the scanning unit 12, and the read original is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 11 by the paper discharge unit 20.
[Configuration of operation device]
FIG. 3 shows details of the operation device 28. That is, a function selection key 31 such as “copy”, “printer”, “scanner”, “fax” or the like is provided on the left end side of the operation panel 30, and a display screen of the liquid crystal display device is provided on the center side of the operation panel 30. A display panel 32 having a touch panel is provided on the upper surface, and a numeric keypad 33 and a start key 34 are provided on the right end side of the operation panel 30. The numeric keypad 33 and the start key 34 are turned on by pressing a lower switch by a pressing operation.

Further, the display panel 32 performs an image forming operation according to the selected function by touching a touch key (reference numerals 35 to 38) displayed on the operation surface. Specifically, the display panel 32 includes a paper feed stage setting display key 35, a screen enlargement / reduction magnification display key 36, an image density setting display key 37, a sort mode setting display key 38, and the like.
[Internal configuration of operation panel]
FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the main part of the operation panel 30 in the present embodiment.

  In the figure, a printed circuit board 40 as a control board is attached to the back side of the operation panel 30. The various switches 41 arranged on the printed circuit board 40 can be turned on / off by pressing the numeric keypad 33. That is, a guide portion 42 projects from the back surface side of the operation panel 30, and a circular opening 43 in plan view is formed by the guide portion 42, and the numeric keypad 33 is movable up and down in the opening 43. It is arranged.

  A protruding portion 52 protrudes from the guide portion 42 toward the printed circuit board 40, and a mounting shaft 53 protrudes from the protruding portion 52 toward the printed circuit board 40. The mounting shaft 53 is fitted in a through hole 40 a formed in the printed circuit board 40. The mounting shaft 53 and the printed circuit board 40 are fixed by screws 46.

  The numeric keypad 33 has a hollow cylindrical shape with a flange made of an elastic body such as a synthetic resin, and the key surface as an operation surface thereof is formed into a smooth curved surface. The numeric keypad 33 has a protruding portion 44 projecting from the center back side, and a switch 41 disposed on the printed circuit board 40 is disposed directly below the protruding portion 44. Further, in the drawing, a collar portion 45 is projected outward (substantially in the horizontal direction) at the lower end portion (printed circuit board 40 side) of the numeric keypad 33. The upper surface of the flange portion 45 is in contact with the lower surface 42c of the guide portion 42 that protrudes from the operation panel 30 on the back surface side. Furthermore, a contact 47 that curves toward the printed circuit board 40 is formed on the outer side of the flange 45 as a solid line (and a dashed line), and the contact 47 contacts the surface of the printed circuit board 40. is doing. The contact 47 is provided outside the flange 45 as long as it does not contact the projection 52 and the mounting shaft 53.

  On the other hand, a ground pattern 48 is formed on the printed circuit board 40 by plating or vapor deposition, and the ground pattern 48 is connected to the ground via an earth wire 50. The contact 47 and the ground pattern 48 of the printed circuit board 40 are in contact with each other in an electrically conductive state. The numeric keypad 33 is restricted in movement by appropriate stopper means so as not to rotate with respect to the printed circuit board 40. Further, the contact 47 is in electrical contact with the ground pattern 48, but avoids a short circuit by not making contact with other signal lines.

  In the above, when the operator presses the numeric key 33 downward, the numeric key 33 bends downward with the contact 47 as a fulcrum by its own elasticity. Then, the projection 44 at the center of the back surface of the numeric keypad 33 presses the switch 41 to turn it on. When the operator releases his / her hand from the numeric keypad 33, the numeric keypad 33 returns to its original position due to its own elasticity.

In the present embodiment, the numeric keypad 33 is formed of a conductive member, and the conductive member is grounded via a ground pattern 48 formed on the printed circuit board 40. Further, the resistance value of the conductive member is set to 10 ⁷ to 10 ⁷ . 10 ⁹ Ω. As the conductive member, for example, a plastic member made of conductive plastic obtained by adding a predetermined amount of powder such as carbon or silver to a plastic member was used.

With this configuration, the numeric keypad 33 is grounded via the flange 45 → the contact 47 → the ground pattern 48 → the ground wire 50. For this reason, when the operator presses the numeric keypad 33, the static electricity charged to the operator flows from the numeric keypad 33 to the ground through the flange 45 → the contact 47 → the ground pattern 48 → the ground wire 50. Since the resistance value of the conductive member constituting the numeric keypad 33 is set to 10 ⁷ to 10 ⁹ Ω, current due to static electricity accumulated in the operator does not flow rapidly to the ground but gradually flows. As a result, no spark is generated between the operator's fingers and the numeric keypad 33, and the operator is not uncomfortable (shocked).

In addition, according to an experiment conducted by the inventor, whether or not an unpleasant sensation (shock) is felt due to static electricity is sensuous and has a large individual difference. For example, the resistance value of the conductive member is 10 ^7. When it is less than Ω, the static electricity current accumulated in the operator suddenly flows through the numeric keypad 33, and a spark is generated between the operator's fingers and the numeric keypad 33, causing discomfort (shock). Further, when the resistance value of the conductive member is set to 10 ⁹ Ω or more, the static electricity accumulated in the operator does not flow from the numeric keypad 33 to the ground but is accumulated in the human body, the numeric keypad 33 or the like.

On the other hand, when the resistance value of the conductive member is 10 ⁷ to 10 ⁹ Ω, a current due to static electricity accumulated in the operator gradually flows, and as a result, sparks may be generated between the operator's fingers and the numeric keypad 33. There was no discomfort (shock).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, static electricity accumulated in the operator can be caused to flow from the numeric keypad 33 to the ground through the ground pattern 48 of the printed circuit board 40 without increasing the number of parts, and the operator is uncomfortable. Never give. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the electronic components attached to the printed circuit board 40 from being destroyed by static electricity accumulated in the operator.

  The present invention can be used in the field of image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, facsimile machines, printers, or multifunction machines having both functions.

1 is an overall perspective view of an image forming apparatus as an electronic apparatus. 1 is a side sectional view of an image forming apparatus. It is a top view of an operating device. It is a cross-sectional side view of an operating device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 2 ... Image forming apparatus main body (equipment main body), 28 ... Operation device, 30 ... Operation panel, 33 ... Numeric keypad (operation button), 40 ... Printed circuit board (control board), 41 …… Switch, 48 …… Grounding pattern

Claims (2)

An operation button that includes an operation panel attached to the operation surface of the device main body and a control board attached to the back side of the operation panel, and can be turned on and off by pressing a switch disposed on the control board. In an operating device of an electronic device having
The operation button is composed of a conductive member, and the conductive member is grounded via a ground pattern formed on the control board.
An electronic device operating device. The resistance value of the conductive member was 10 ⁷ to 10 ⁹ Ω.
The operating device for an electronic apparatus according to claim 1.

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