JP2007139873A - Holding mechanism for plate member, image reader and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a holding mechanism for a plate member for easily and surely fixing a mirror for a reading mechanism of an image reader or a copying machine, the image reader and an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A spring clip 51 is a die-out press molding having nearly S-shaped cross section using a spring steel plate thin in thickness as material, and is constituted of: a pressing wall 52 facing to the back surface 8b of a mirror 8 nearly in parallel therewith; an engaging wall 53 extended obliquely downward to be bent in V shape from the right end of the pressing wall 52 and engaged with a mirror holding aperture 46; a locking wall 54 extended just upward from the left end of the pressing wall 52 and facing to the left end face of the mirror 8; and a pair of front and rear locking lips 55 extended rightward from the upper end of the locking wall 54 and facing to the front surface 8a of the mirror 8. A hemispherical pressing projection 56 abutting on the back surface 8b of the mirror 8 is formed to be swollen on the upper surface of the left end side of the pressing wall 52. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a plate member holding mechanism, an image reading apparatus, and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for easily and reliably fixing an image reading apparatus, a mirror for a reading mechanism of a copying machine, and the like.

  Image readers and copiers are equipped with a light source that irradiates light on the document and a mirror that guides the reflected light from the document to the image sensor in order to scan the image information of the document placed on the platen glass. A carriage and a reading carriage driving mechanism for moving the reading carriage along the platen glass are provided. In the reading carriage, since it is necessary to fix the mirror to the carriage body (bracket) with an accurate angular attitude, mirror support openings are formed in both side surfaces of the carriage body, respectively, and holding members made of spring steel plates (hereinafter referred to as spring clips). In general, a holding mechanism for fixing the mirror to these mirror support openings is used.

As this type of holding mechanism, for example, a total of three support protrusions that contact the surface of the mirror are provided on the inner side of one side of both mirror support openings, and the inner side of the other side of both mirror support openings and the rear surface of the mirror There is one in which a wavy spring clip is press-fitted between the two to support the mirror at three points on the bracket (see Patent Document 1). In addition, in the case of fixing by inserting a spring clip having a substantially U-shaped cross section into the gap between the mirror support opening and the mirror, ensuring the support by setting the diameter of the U-shaped cross section larger than the width of the gap. And a spring clip that prevents a spring clip (see Patent Document 2) and a spring clip that has a pressing protrusion that elastically contacts the mirror to prevent a pressure failure on the mirror (see Patent Document 3). .
JP 58-169111 A JP-A-6-3576 JP-A-11-352602

  However, in the holding mechanism of Patent Document 1, since the spring clip is not provided with a knob or the like, the spring clip cannot be gripped in a compressed state, and an operation of mounting a mirror at a predetermined position of the reading carriage is performed. It was difficult. In addition, since the spring clip is not provided with a locking portion that restricts the movement of the mirror in the left-right direction (longitudinal direction), there is a problem in that the mirror cannot be held in a proper position by design. On the other hand, the holding mechanisms of Patent Documents 2 and 3 are provided with a locking portion for restricting the movement of the mirror in the left-right direction, but this locking portion is used when gripping the compressed spring clip. There was a problem that the edge became an edge and bite into the fingertip. For this reason, when the mirror mounting operation is continuously performed on the production line or the like, there is a problem that the fatigue level of the assembling worker is increased, and the reliable mounting is difficult due to poor operability.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and includes a plate-like member holding mechanism, an image reading apparatus, and an image forming apparatus for easily and reliably fixing an image reading apparatus, a mirror for a reading mechanism of a copying machine, and the like. The purpose is to provide.

  The plate-like member holding mechanism according to the present invention is a holding mechanism for fixing the plate-like member to a holding opening formed in a support, and the holding opening abuts against the surface of the plate-like member. A contact portion is formed, and a leaf spring member that urges the plate member toward the contact portion is inserted between the plate member and the holding opening from the outside to the inside of the support body. The leaf spring member is formed by a pressing wall that presses the back surface of the plate-like member, and is bent outward from the inner end portion of the pressing wall to give elasticity to the pressing wall. An engagement wall that engages with the holding opening in a state of being elastically displaced, and is bent from the outer end portion of the pressing wall to the surface side of the plate-like member and faces the end portion of the plate-like member. The locking wall is bent inward from the end of the locking wall and faces the surface of the plate-like member Characterized in that a stop lip.

  In addition, an image reading apparatus according to the present invention includes the above-described plate member holding mechanism.

  In addition, an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes the above-described plate member holding mechanism.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the leaf spring member can be held in a compressed state by sandwiching the engagement wall and the locking lip with fingers, so that it is very easy to attach the plate member to the holding opening. And there is an excellent effect that it can be done reliably.

  A first invention made to solve the above problems is a holding mechanism for fixing a plate-like member to a holding opening formed in a support, and the holding opening has a surface of the plate-like member. A leaf spring member that urges the plate-like member toward the abutment portion is provided between the back surface of the plate-like member and the holding opening from the outside of the support body. The leaf spring member is inserted into the inner side, and the leaf spring member is formed to be bent outward from the inner wall of the pressing wall and the pressing wall that presses the back surface of the plate-like member, and is elastically applied to the pressing wall. An engagement wall that engages with the holding opening in an elastically displaced state in a manner of imparting force, and is bent from the outer end of the pressing wall to the surface side of the plate-like member; A locking wall opposite to the end of the plate, and bent from the end of the locking wall to the inside, the plate A configuration that includes a locking lip which faces the surface of the member.

  According to this, since the assembly operator can hold the leaf spring member elastically displaced by pinching the engagement wall and the locking lip with fingers, the leaf spring is inserted into the holding opening of the support body on which the plate-like member is set. The member can be easily inserted. Further, when the leaf spring member is mounted, the locking wall faces the end portion of the plate member, so that the displacement of the plate member with respect to the support is suppressed.

  The second invention made to solve the above-mentioned problem is that the pressing wall is formed with a pressing protrusion that contacts the back surface of the plate-like member at a portion facing the holding opening of the support. Can do.

  According to this, since the leaf spring member comes into contact with the plate-like member by the pressing protrusion formed at the position facing the holding opening of the support body, it is difficult for the bending force to act on the mirror.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problems, a gripping tab substantially parallel to the engagement wall is projected from the outside of the engagement wall.

  According to this, the assembly worker can hold the elastically displaced leaf spring member more easily by gripping the grip tab and the engagement wall.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention for solving the above problems, the abutting portion is at least one locking projection, and the locking lip is formed at a position where the locking lip does not interfere with the locking projection. Can do.

  According to this, a leaf | plate spring member can be inserted easily, hold | maintaining a plate-shaped member with respect to a support body with high precision.

  According to a fifth aspect of the invention made to solve the above-described problems, an engagement recess that engages with the holding opening is formed in the engagement wall.

  According to this, when the leaf spring member is attached to the holding opening of the support body, the leaf spring member can be easily and reliably engaged with the regular position by fitting the engaging recess into the holding opening. .

  According to a sixth aspect of the invention made to solve the above-mentioned problems, an image reading apparatus can be provided with the plate member holding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5. .

  According to this, the assembly workability of the apparatus is improved and the positioning accuracy of the mirror and the like is improved.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, an image forming apparatus can be provided with the plate member holding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5. .

  According to this, the assembly workability is improved and the positioning accuracy of the mirror and the like is improved.

Hereinafter, two embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
<< First Embodiment >>
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a document reading unit according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram according to the first embodiment. It is a perspective view of the reading carriage which concerns.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the copying machine according to the first embodiment includes a document reading unit 1 that reads an image of a document A, and an image that forms an image of a document on recording paper based on image data generated by the document reading unit 1. It consists of a forming part 2.

  The document reading unit 1 includes a light source 4 that irradiates light on the document A placed on the platen glass 3, three mirrors 6 to 8 that guide reflected light from the document A to the imaging lens 5, and an imaging lens. And an image sensor 9 for converting the light imaged by 5 into an electrical signal. The light source 4 and the mirror 6 are mounted on the first reading carriage 11, while the mirrors 7 and 8 are mounted on the second reading carriage 12. The first reading carriage 11 is connected to a wire 15 wound around a wire drum 13 and a driven pulley 14, and is pulled and driven in the sub-scanning direction as the wire drum 13 rotates. The wire 15 is wound around a half-speed pulley 16 provided on the second reading carriage 12, and when the wire drum 13 rotates, the second reading carriage 12 is half of the moving distance of the first reading carriage 11. It moves with the movement distance of.

  In the image forming unit 2, a charger 22 for uniformly charging the image forming surface of the photoconductive drum 21 around the photoconductive drum (image carrier) 21, and exposure on the image forming surface of the photoconductive drum 21. The optical scanning device 23 that forms an electrostatic latent image by irradiating the light beam, the developing process unit 24 that develops the electrostatic latent image on the image forming surface of the photosensitive drum 21 with toner, and the photosensitive drum 21 A cleaning unit 25 for cleaning the image surface is provided. The recording paper is conveyed from the paper supply unit 26 to the image forming unit 2, and a toner image formed on the image forming surface of the photosensitive drum 21 is transferred to the surface of the recording paper. To be discharged.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the first and second reading carriages 11 and 12 are supported by a pair of rails 32 fixed inside the support frame 31 so as to be movable in the sub-scanning direction. Between the rails 32 and the support frame 31, drive mechanisms including the wire drum 13, the driven pulley 14, the wire 15, and the like are disposed. The wire drum 13 is provided on the drive shaft 33 so as not to rotate relative to the drive shaft 33, and rotates integrally with the drive shaft 33. A drive pulley 33 is connected to an end of the drive shaft 33, and a drive pulley 37 connected to an output shaft of a stepping motor (drive source) 35 via a reduction gear mechanism 36 and the driven pulley 34. The belt is driven to rotate by a timing belt 38 that is stretched.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the second reading carriage 12 includes a carriage body 41 having a substantially U-shaped cross-section, and left and right side plates (supports) 42, 43 fixed to both ends of the carriage body 41. It is a structural product. Guide plates 44 and 45 used for rolling contact with the rail 32, support of the half-speed pulley 16 and the like are fixed to the left and right plates 42 and 43, respectively, and upper and lower mirrors (plate members) 7 and 8 are provided. It is fixed by a spring clip (leaf spring member) 51.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 7, a fixing form of the lower mirror 8 to the second reading carriage 12 in the first embodiment will be described. 4 is a perspective view showing a fixed state of the mirror to the reading carriage according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a developed perspective view of a portion V in FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along arrow VI in FIG. 4, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. In the following description, for the sake of convenience, the right direction in FIG. 6 is the front, the upward direction is the top, and the right direction in FIG. 7 is the right.

  As shown in FIG. 4, mirror holding openings 46 and 47 are formed in the left and right side plates 42 and 43, respectively. The mirror 8 is formed in such a manner that both ends thereof protrude from the mirror holding openings 46 and 47 by a predetermined amount. 2 It is fixed to the reading carriage 12. A single locking projection 48 is formed at the center in the front-rear direction on the upper part of the mirror holding opening 46 of the left side plate 42, while a pair of front and rear locking projections 49 are provided on the upper side of the mirror holding opening 47 of the right side plate 43. , And the mirror 8 is supported at three points by these three locking projections 48 and 49.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the mirror 8 is made of a plate glass polished with high accuracy, and a metal reflective layer such as silver or aluminum is formed on the surface 8a thereof. The mirror 8 is urged upward by a spring clip 51 interposed between the rear surface 8b and the mirror holding opening 46, whereby the front surface 8a is formed on the locking projections 48, 49 of the mirror holding openings 46, 47. Elastic contact.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the mirror holding opening 46 of the left side plate 42 has a long rectangular shape in the front-rear direction, and has a locking claw portion 50 in the lower part in the front-rear direction. Although not shown, the mirror holding opening 47 of the right side plate 43 has the same shape as the mirror holding opening 46 of the left side plate 42 except that the number and position of the locking projections 49 are different.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the spring clip 51 is a stamped press-formed product having a substantially S-shaped cross section made of a thin spring steel plate, and a pressing wall 52 facing the back surface 8 b of the mirror 8 substantially in parallel. , An engagement wall 53 that extends obliquely downward from the right end of the pressing wall 52 and engages with the mirror holding opening 46, and extends from the left end of the pressing wall 52 directly above the mirror 8. And a pair of front and rear locking lips 55 extending rightward from the upper end of the locking wall 54 and facing the surface 8 a of the mirror 8. On the upper surface on the left end side of the pressing wall 52, a hemispherical pressing protrusion 56 that abuts against the back surface 8 b of the mirror 8 is bulged. The engagement wall 53 is widened toward the left, and an engagement recess 57 is formed at each of the front and rear side ends so as to be positioned below the pressing protrusion 56.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, in the state where the mirror 8 is assembled to the second reading carriage 12 by the spring clip 51, the angle between the engagement wall 53 and the pressing wall 52 is reduced. Is elastically deformed, and a resilient force is generated on the pressing wall 52 in a direction away from the engaging wall 53 (that is, upward). As a result, the pressing protrusion 56 of the pressing wall 52 presses the back surface 8b of the mirror 8, and the front surface 8a of the mirror 8 is elastically contacted / locked to the locking protrusion 48 of the mirror holding opening 46 with a predetermined elastic contact force. The

  The spring clip 51 is fixed to the left side plate 42 in such a manner that the engaging claw portion 50 of the mirror holding opening 46 is fitted into the engaging recess 57 of the engaging wall 53, and the center of the pressing projection 56 of the pressing wall 52 and the left side plate 42. Are substantially the same position in the left-right direction. A relatively large gap S1 is formed between the locking wall 54 and the left end of the mirror 8, and a relatively small gap S2 is formed between the locking lip 55 and the surface 8a of the mirror 8. . As shown in FIG. 6, the locking projection 48 on the mirror holding opening 46 side is located between the locking lips 55 without interfering with the locking lips 55. As indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 6, both locking projections 49 on the mirror holding opening 47 side are positioned before and after both locking lips 55 without interfering with these locking lips 55.

  In assembling the mirror 8 to the second reading carriage 12, as shown in FIG. 9, the assembling operator grasps the locking lip 55 and the locking wall 54 with his / her fingers and presses and retracts the spring clip 51 up and down. After gripping, the pressing wall 52 and the engaging wall 53 are inserted into the lower part of the mirror 8 set in the mirror holding opening 46 of the left side plate 42. At this time, since the locking lip 55 and the locking wall 54 are substantially parallel to each other, the gripping and inserting operations can be easily performed without biting into the fingertips. Then, when the assembly operator pushes the spring clip 51 into the mirror holding opening 46, the engaging claw portion 50 of the mirror holding opening 46 is fitted into the engaging recess 57 of the spring clip 51, and the spring clip 51 is shown in FIGS. It is fixed to the left side plate 42 in the state shown in FIG. In the state where the mirror 8 is assembled to the second reading carriage 12, even if some external force is applied and the mirror 8 moves in the left-right direction, the end of the mirror 8 is moved as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. The movement is regulated by contacting the locking wall 54.

In the state where the mirror 8 is assembled to the second reading carriage 12, some external force is applied, and the spring clip 51 may be inclined with respect to the mirror 8. In this embodiment, the bending of the mirror 8 due to this is as follows. To be suppressed. For example, when the spring clip 51 is tilted downward as shown in FIG. 10, the tip of the locking lip 55 comes into contact with the surface 8 a of the mirror 8, and the spring clip 51 does not tilt further. When the spring clip 51 is tilted to the left as shown in FIG. 11, the vicinity of the base of the locking lip 55 comes into contact with the surface 8a of the mirror 8, and the spring clip 51 does not tilt further. As can be seen from FIGS. 10 and 11, even when the spring clip 51 is tilted to the limit, the locking protrusion 48 and the pressing protrusion 56 are substantially in the same position in the left-right direction. Combined with the formation, almost no bending force is generated on the mirror 8, and the mirror 8 is supported in substantially the same assembled state as shown in FIGS.
<< Second Embodiment >>
FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a spring clip according to the second embodiment.

  The spring clip 51 of the second embodiment also has substantially the same configuration as that of the first embodiment described above, but includes a grip tab 58 extending leftward from the top of the locking wall 54. Is different. As shown in FIG. 13, the assembling operator can more easily grip the spring clip 51 in a state of being compressed up and down by pinching the grip tab 58 and the locking wall 54.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail based on specific embodiments, these embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to fixing a mirror to a reading carriage of a copying machine. However, the present invention may be applied to fixing a mirror in a scanner or the like, or to fix a plate-like member other than a mirror. You may apply. In the above embodiment, the mirror (plate-like member) is pressed by the hemispherical pressing protrusion protruding from the pressing wall, but the plate-like member is pressed by the hook-shaped pressing protrusion that is long in the front-rear direction. Alternatively, the plate member may be pressed by the entire surface of the pressing wall. Further, the engagement between the engagement wall and the holding opening may be performed by forming a convex portion at the lower portion of the holding opening and fitting the convex portion into a hole formed in the engaging wall. In addition, the specific shapes and the like of the holding opening and the spring clip can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  Since the plate member holding mechanism, the image reading apparatus, and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention can easily and reliably attach and detach the leaf spring member when the plate member is attached, a method for attaching a mirror in a copying machine or a scanner, etc. Useful as.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a copier according to a first embodiment. 1 is a perspective view of a document reading unit according to the first embodiment. 1 is a perspective view of a reading carriage according to a first embodiment. The perspective view which shows the fixed state of the mirror to the reading carriage which concerns on 1st Embodiment. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a portion V in FIG. VI arrow view in FIG. VII-VII sectional view in FIG. VIII-VIII sectional view in FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of 1st Embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of 1st Embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of 1st Embodiment. The perspective view which shows the spring clip which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

8 Mirror (plate member)
8a Front surface 8b Back surface 42 Left side plate (support)
43 Right side plate (support)
46 Mirror holding opening 47 Mirror holding opening 48 Locking protrusion 49 Locking protrusion 50 Locking claw part 51 Spring clip (leaf spring member)
52 Pressing wall 53 Engaging wall 54 Locking wall 55 Locking lip 56 Pressing protrusion 57 Engaging recess 58 Grip tab

Claims (7)

A holding mechanism for fixing a plate-like member to a holding opening formed in a support,
The holding opening is formed with a contact portion that contacts the surface of the plate-like member,
Between the plate-like member and the holding opening, a leaf spring member that urges the plate-like member toward the contact portion is fitted and inserted from the outside to the inside of the support.
The leaf spring member is
A pressing wall for pressing the back surface of the plate-like member;
An engagement wall that is bent from the inner end of the pressing wall to the outer side and engages with the holding opening in a state of being elastically displaced in a manner that provides elastic force to the pressing wall;
A locking wall that is bent from the outer end of the pressing wall to the surface side of the plate-like member and faces the end of the plate-like member;
A holding mechanism for a plate-shaped member, comprising a locking lip that is bent inward from the end of the locking wall and faces the surface of the plate-shaped member.   2. The plate-shaped member holding mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a pressure protrusion is formed on the pressure wall so as to contact the back surface of the plate-shaped member at a portion facing the holding opening of the support.   The holding mechanism for a plate-shaped member according to claim 1, wherein a grip tab substantially parallel to the engagement wall is provided on the outer side of the engagement wall. The contact portion is at least one locking projection;
The plate member holding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the locking lip is formed at a position where the locking lip does not interfere with the locking protrusion.   The plate-like member holding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an engagement concave portion that engages with the holding opening is formed in the engagement wall.   An image reading apparatus comprising the plate member holding mechanism according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus comprising the plate member holding mechanism according to claim 1.

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