JP2007160631A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image recorder which suppresses an increase of the number of parts and enlargement of an electric substrate, and also improves the easiness of operation and decorativeness of an appearance part. <P>SOLUTION: The image recorder is equipped with: a display member (state display part 810c) which displays a state of the apparatus; a light source (power source LED 853) for shining the display member, and a light guide means (power source light guide 810) which guides and shines the light from the light source to the display member. The light is split in a light guide process (light guide path 810b) of the light guide means, thereby shining an object to be illuminated (engrave 805a of a decorative laminate 805) different from the display member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by recording means based on image information.

  Image recording apparatuses having functions such as printers, copiers, and facsimiles record images (including characters and symbols) on recording media such as paper, cloth, plastic sheets, and OHP sheets based on image information. It is configured as follows. There are a serial type and a line type as a recording method in the image recording apparatus. The serial type is a method of recording an image while alternately repeating main scanning for moving the recording head along the recording medium and paper feeding (sub scanning) of the recording medium. On the other hand, in the line type, by using a long recording head extending in the width direction of the recording medium, an image is recorded only by paper feeding (sub scanning) of the recording medium while recording one line at a time. It is a method. Various image recording methods for recording means have been put into practical use, and for example, an ink jet method, a wire dot method, a thermal transfer method, a thermal method, a laser beam method, and the like are used. Among them, the ink jet type (ink jet recording apparatus) is widely used for reasons such as low noise, low running cost, ease of downsizing of the apparatus, and ease of colorization.

  In such an image recording apparatus, a light emitting member such as an LED (light emitting diode) mounted on an electric board disposed in a casing forming an exterior portion is used as a light source, and the LED is turned on or blinked. Displaying the status of is being done. Such a light source is used for displaying, for example, a power-on state of the image recording apparatus, a data transfer state from an external host computer, or an abnormal state of the apparatus. In this case, various states of the image recording apparatus are also displayed to the user by providing a light guide that is a light guiding unit that guides the light of the LED to the outside of the housing.

In addition, with the recent spread of digital cameras, there is an increasing demand for easily printing photo image data at home. In response to this demand, A6 size (photo / postcard size compatible) photo printers capable of direct memory card printing and digital camera direct printing without using a personal computer are used. Such a photo printer is required to have a familiar appearance and easy-to-understand operability that blends into the home. As an example, it is possible to use a light emitting member for the appearance part and the operation part to appeal the decorativeness and the simplicity of operation.
JP 2005-327918 A

  In the image recording apparatus, a power LED for displaying a power-on state, an error LED for displaying an abnormal state of the apparatus, and the like are used. In addition, an LED or a light guide serving as a light source is associated with each of the exterior decoration portion and the operation key. However, associating the LED and the light guide with each of the exterior decoration portion and the operation key has caused an increase in the number of parts, an increase in the size of the electric board, and an increase in the cost of the apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of such technical problems. An object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus capable of suppressing an increase in the number of components and an increase in the size of an electric substrate, and improving the ease of operation and the decorativeness of an appearance portion.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by recording means based on image information, a display member for displaying the state of the apparatus, and a light source for illuminating the display member. A light guide means for guiding the light from the light source to the display member and causing the light to shine, and irradiating an object to be irradiated different from the display member by performing spectroscopy in the light guide process of the light guide means. Features.

  According to the present invention, since the light source from the light source guides the light to the display member and splits the light in the light guide process, the irradiated object different from the display member is made to emit light. Provided is an image recording apparatus capable of suppressing an increase in the size and size of an electric substrate and improving the ease of operation and the decorativeness of an appearance portion.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the same reference numerals denote the same or corresponding parts throughout the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the case where the image recording apparatus is an inkjet recording apparatus will be described as an example. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a paper supply / discharge tray unit, and 200 denotes a separate paper supply / discharge unit. The paper supply / discharge tray unit 100 is a portion on which a plurality of recording media before recording are stacked. As the recording medium, various sheet-like materials such as recording paper and film are used. The separation feeding / discharging unit 200 is a part that separates recording media one by one and feeds them to the image forming unit and discharges the recording medium after recording to the feeding / discharging tray unit 100. The illustrated image recording apparatus employs so-called switchback conveyance in which an image is recorded on a recording medium sent from the near side to an image forming unit inside the housing and then discharged to the near side again.

  A casing constituting the exterior portion of the apparatus includes an upper case 801, a lower case 802, a side cover 803, and a front cover 804, and an apparatus main body such as an image forming section is housed in the casing. The paper supply / discharge tray unit 100 is configured to be openable and closable with respect to the housing, and is open as shown in FIG. 1 when the apparatus is used. On the top surface of the upper case 801, an access cover 805 for exchanging an ink tank or the like attached to the apparatus main body housed in the housing is attached so as to be openable and closable. The access cover 805 is formed of a transparent material and also functions as a decorative board that decorates the image recording apparatus. In addition, a logo engraving 805 a that represents a product brand or the like with a concave character is formed on the surface of the access cover 805.

  The front cover 804 is provided with an operation unit for operating the apparatus. In the illustrated operation unit, a power key 806 for turning on / off the power of the device and a cancel key 807 for canceling the error state of the device are arranged on the front of the device that is easy for the user to operate. Further, a print key 808 for starting printing under predetermined conditions, a cover release key 809 for opening the access cover 805, and the like are also arranged. The power key 806 is integrally provided with a power light guide 810 having a status display unit for indicating to the user the power on / off state of the apparatus. The power light guide 810 constitutes display means for displaying the state of the apparatus using light.

  Further, a memory card slot portion 804a / 804b for inserting a memory card used in a digital camera or the like is formed on the front portion of the front cover 804. By inserting a memory card with recorded image files into the memory card slot, memory card direct printing can be performed without using a personal computer. Further, an interface cover 811 having a cable slot portion 811a for connecting a cable to the digital camera is provided on the left front side of the apparatus. Thus, direct camera direct printing can be performed without using a personal computer by directly connecting a cable to a predetermined digital camera.

  FIG. 2 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of the main part of the image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 2, an arrow A indicates the feeding direction of the recording medium, an arrow B indicates the discharging direction of the recording medium, and the left side of the sheet is the front direction of the apparatus. On the front side of the apparatus, there is provided a paper supply / discharge tray unit 100 including a paper feed tray 101 for stacking and holding recording media and a paper discharge tray 102 for holding recording media after recording. The separation feed / discharge unit 200 includes a pickup roller 201, a pressure plate 202, a feed roller 203, a separation mechanism 204, a first discharge roller 205, a second discharge roller 208, and a path switching flapper 211. ing.

  The pickup roller 201 is a roller that picks up and sends out the recording medium loaded on the paper feed tray 101. The pressure plate 202 is mounted so as to be able to swing so that the recording medium is loaded and the loaded recording medium is pressed against the pickup roller 201. The feed roller 203 feeds the recording medium that is separated one by one by the separation mechanism 204 to the image forming unit 400. The first paper discharge roller 205 and the second paper discharge roller 208 are rollers that are in contact with and follow the pickup roller 201 and the feed roller 203, respectively. The path switching flapper 211 constitutes a guide surface that switches the transport path between paper feed and paper discharge.

  In the image forming unit 400 in the apparatus, an image is recorded by a recording head 305 serving as a recording unit on a recording medium conveyed from the right side to the left side in the drawing. The image forming unit 400 is provided with an upstream platen 401 and a downstream platen 402 as viewed from the conveyance direction. A carriage 301 that can reciprocate in the width direction of the recording medium is equipped with a recording head 305 that records an image by ejecting ink onto the recording medium based on image information. The platens 401 and 402 are arranged at positions facing the discharge surface 306 on the carriage where the discharge ports of the recording head 305 are arranged at a predetermined distance.

  These platens hold a recording medium on which an image is recorded and constitute a conveyance path. In addition, an ink absorber 403 for receiving ink ejected to the outside of the recording medium when printing without margins (no margins) is provided between both platens. An upstream conveyance roller pair including a conveyance roller 501 and a pinch roller 502 is disposed on the upstream side of the upstream platen 401. On the other hand, on the downstream side of the downstream side platen 402, a downstream side conveyance roller pair including a conveyance roller 601 and a pinch roller 602 is disposed. An image is recorded by the recording head 305 on the carriage 301 on the recording medium conveyed by the pair of conveying rollers.

  A card control board 850 having a memory card connector 851 for supporting memory card direct printing is disposed above the separation / discharge unit 200. A memory card can be inserted into and removed from the memory card connector 851 through a memory card slot 804a provided in the front cover 804. The card control board 850 also serves as an operation board. A power tact switch 852 and a power LED 853 are arranged at positions on the card control board 850 corresponding to the power key 806 and the power light guide 810 constituting the key buttons. The power key switches on / off of the power source, and is a kind of key button for changing the state of the apparatus. Further, a cancel tact switch 854 is disposed at a position on the card control board 850 and corresponding to the cancel key 807.

  FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing the power key and power light guide in FIG. 2 and the periphery thereof. In FIG. 3, a power control tact switch 852 and a power LED 853 are mounted on a card control board 850 having a memory card connector 851. In the present embodiment, the power tact switch 852 constitutes a power switch. The power LED 853 is disposed at a position facing a power key 806 formed integrally with the power light guide 810. The power LED 853 is also a light source composed of a light emitting diode.

  Here, the power supply light guide 810 will be described. Light emitted from the power LED 853 serving as the light source is received from the incident end 810a of the power light guide 810 and guided to the outside of the housing of the image recording apparatus via the light guide path 810b serving as a light guide path (guide). ) As shown by an arrow C, the light guided or guided to the outside reaches the state display unit 810c which is the first emission end arranged with the face out from the front cover 804, and passes through this state display unit. To do. Thereby, the user can visually recognize the light of the power supply LED 853 from the outside of the image recording apparatus when the state display unit 810c which is the first irradiation object shines. As a result, the state of the image recording apparatus (in this case, the power on / off state) can be recognized.

  Furthermore, the power light guide 810 in this embodiment separates the light from the power LED 853 received from the incident end 810a in the light guide process in the light guide 810b. Then, the split light is guided (guided) to a cover irradiation unit 810d which is a second emission end different from the state display unit 810c. The state of the spectrum and emission is indicated by arrows D and E in FIG. The access cover 805 is a molded article made of a transparent material, and an engraving (logo engraving in this embodiment) 805a which is an irradiation target site (irradiated site) is formed on the surface of the access cover 805. The access cover 805 functions as a decorative board. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the cover irradiation portion 810 d that is the second emission end of the power light guide 810 faces the light receiving surface 805 b formed by the plate thickness end surface of the access cover 805.

  Light incident from the light receiving surface 805b is guided into the plate thickness of the access cover 805 which is a transparent member. The light is projected onto the standing wall (stepped portion) of the logo engraving 805a, which is an irradiation object formed on the surface of the access cover 805, so that the characters and symbols of the logo engraving 805a are raised from the outside. Looks. According to the above configuration, a single light source (power LED 853) can supply light to both the status display unit 810c, which is a display member of the image recording apparatus, and the access cover 305, which is an exterior decoration unit of the apparatus. . In the present embodiment, the power key 806 and the power light guide 810 are integrally configured.

  In addition, a switch access unit 810e serving as a switch access unit is provided integrally with the light guide path 810b of the power supply light guide 810 serving as a light guide unit. Therefore, when the user operates the power key 806, the power light guide 810 is pushed down, and the switch access unit 810e can be accessed to the power tact switch 852. As a result, the power source (not shown) is turned on / off, and the power source on / off display by the light source (power LED) 853 is performed.

  Here, the arrangement relationship between the power tact switch 852 accessed by the power light guide 810 and the power LED 853 as a light source will be described. The power tact switch 852 is preferably disposed between the power LED 853 that is a light emitting element and a decorative board (access cover 805) that is a second object to be irradiated. The reason is that if the power LED 853 is disposed between the power tact switch 852 and the access cover 805, the state display unit 810c that is the first object to be irradiated and the access cover 805 that is the second object to be subjected to spectroscopy. This is because the angle becomes steep and it is difficult to guide an appropriate amount of light to both. If the amount of light is increased in order to avoid this, there is a disadvantage that the cost of the LED is increased or the operational feeling is deteriorated because the position of the tact switch 852 is greatly deviated from the depressed position of the key 806. That is, such a problem can be solved by the arrangement of the present embodiment.

According to the embodiment described above, the light from the power LED 853 that is a light source is guided to the state display unit 810c that is a display member by the power light guide 810 that is a light guide, and is emitted. Therefore, the light emitted from the power LED is dispersed in the light guide process in the power light guide 810, and the irradiated object different from the state display unit 810c is illuminated by the dispersed light. According to this configuration, light from one light source can be supplied to both the display member and the access cover 305 that is an electrical decoration portion of the external appearance of the apparatus, and an increase in the number of components and an increase in the size of the electric board are suppressed. In addition, an image recording apparatus capable of improving the ease of operation and the decorativeness of the appearance portion is provided.

  FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing the main part of the image recording apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the card control board 850 is equipped with a warning LED 863 that indicates an error state of the apparatus together with the power tact switch 852 and the power LED 853 described above. The warning LED 863 is disposed at a position facing the warning light guide 820 that is a light guide means. At the upper end of the warning light guide 820, a warning state display part 820c, which is a display member arranged so as to protrude from the surface of the access cover 805, is integrally provided. The error state of the apparatus displayed on the warning state display unit 820c in the present embodiment is a state in which the ink capacity of the ink tank in the ink jet recording apparatus is below a certain level. Therefore, the warning LED 863 is an ink low warning LED that blinks when the ink capacity is lower than a certain level in the ink low state.

  The warning light guide 820 receives light emitted from the warning LED 863 that is a light source. The warning light guide 820 guides light from the front cover 804 to the warning state display unit 820c, which is a first emission end arranged with the face out, and at the same time outputs the light separated by the light guide path to the second emission. It leads to the cover irradiation part 820d which is an end. On the other hand, the access cover 805 is formed with a warning display mark 805c that is an irradiation target portion (irradiated portion). The warning display mark 805c is formed by engraving similar to the above-described logo engraving 805a. In particular, in this embodiment, the warning display mark 805c is formed by a mark expressing an ink drop in order to inform the user of the ink-low state.

  Here, the light split by the warning light guide 820 using the warning LED 863 as a light source and emitted from the cover irradiation unit 820d enters the thickness of the access cover 805 from the opposite light receiving surface 805b. This incident light is projected onto a stepped portion of a warning display mark 805c engraved on the surface of the access cover 805. As a result, the warning display mark 805c is visually recognized in a raised state, and the user can be clearly informed that the warning state is an ink-low state or the like. The second embodiment described with reference to FIG. 4 differs from the first embodiment described above in the points described above, but has substantially the same configuration in other points. Also according to the second embodiment, light from one light source can be supplied to both the display member and the access cover 305 that is an electrical decoration part of the external appearance of the device, which increases the number of components and enlarges the electric board. There is provided an image recording apparatus that can suppress and improve the ease of operation and the decorativeness of the appearance portion.

  Note that the second embodiment described with reference to FIG. 4 can be implemented independently of the first embodiment described above, but further usability can be achieved by implementing the second embodiment together with the first embodiment described above. Can also be improved. Further, in the warning state display unit 820c in the second embodiment, the case where the ink low state is displayed has been described as an example, but this can also be used when displaying the abnormal state of other devices. It is.

  In the above embodiment, the serial type image recording apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a line type image recording apparatus that forms an image only by sub-scanning. Is. In the above embodiment, the case where the image recording apparatus is an ink jet recording apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is an image recording using another recording system such as a wire dot type, a thermal transfer type, a thermal type, or a laser beam type. The same applies to the apparatus. Furthermore, the present invention can be similarly applied regardless of the number of recording heads, the type of ink to be used, and the like, and has the same effects.

1 is a perspective view of an image recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration of a main part of an image recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing a power key and a power light guide and their peripheral parts in FIG. 2. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows the principal part of the image recording apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Supply / discharge tray part 200 Separation supply / discharge part 301 Carriage 305 Recording means (recording head)
400 Image forming unit 401 Upstream platen 402 Downstream platen 804 Front cover 805 Access cover (object to be irradiated)
805a Engraving 805b Thick end face (light receiving surface)
805c Status display section (or warning display mark)
806 Key button (Power key)
810 Light guiding means (power light guide)
810a Incident end 810b Light guide 810c Display member (state display part, first emission end, irradiated object)
810d Cover irradiation part (second emission end)
810e Switch access unit 820 Light guiding means (warning light guide)
820c Display member (warning state display part, first emission end)
820d Cover irradiation part (second emission end)
850 card control board 852 power tact switch 853 light source (power LED)
863 Light source (warning LED)

Claims (7)

In an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by a recording means based on image information,
A display member for displaying the state of the device, a light source for illuminating the display member, and light guide means for guiding the light from the light source to the display member to illuminate,
An image recording apparatus characterized in that an object to be irradiated different from the display member is illuminated by performing spectroscopy in the light guiding process of the light guiding means.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a switch for changing a state of the apparatus is disposed between the light source and the object to be irradiated.   The display member is formed integrally with a key button for changing the state of the apparatus, the light guide means also serves as an access means to the switch when the key button is operated, and the irradiated object is The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image recording apparatus is a decorative board arranged on an external appearance of the apparatus.   The decorative board is formed of a transparent material, a logo engraving is formed on a surface of the decorative board, and light dispersed from the light guide means is applied to a thickness end surface of the decorative board. The image recording apparatus according to any one of 1 to 3.   The said light source is power LED which shows the ON / OFF state of the power supply of an apparatus, The said switch is a power switch which turns ON / OFF the power supply of an apparatus, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Image recording device.   5. The light source is a warning LED indicating an error state of the apparatus, and an engraving indicating the error state of the apparatus is formed on the surface of the decorative board, which is an object to be irradiated. The image recording apparatus according to item 1. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording unit is an inkjet recording unit that records an image by ejecting ink onto a recording medium.

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