JP2008083345A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow an operator to surely recognize a pressing operation of a pressing member by improving operating feel of the pressing member regardless of clicking feel felt when a switch mounted to an electric substrate is pressed. <P>SOLUTION: A shield plate 30 is provided with an elastic retaining part 30a provided with elasticity and retaining a function selection button 26 movably. The function selection button 26 is moved by elastic deformation of the elastic retaining part 30a to thereby press the switch 28, and thus the pressing feel of the function selection button 26 can be secured. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation unit of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium. Here, examples of the image forming apparatus include an electrophotographic copying machine, a printer, a word processor, a facsimile machine, a multifunction printer, and the like.

  Hereinafter, a laser beam printer will be described as an example of the image forming apparatus.

  As an example of an operation unit of a conventional image forming apparatus, a schematic configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional image forming apparatus.

  In FIG. 5, the image forming apparatus 101 includes a feeding cassette 102 provided at the bottom of the apparatus main body, and a process cartridge (not shown) that is a part of the image forming section and is detachable from the apparatus main body. . Reference numeral 123 denotes an open / close cover that can be opened and closed, and the process cartridge can be taken out by opening the open / close cover 123. Reference numeral 121 denotes a discharge tray formed integrally with the exterior cover 120, on which sheets on which images are formed are discharged and stacked. An operation unit 124 is provided on the surface of the exterior cover 120.

  In recent image forming apparatuses, a display unit 125 and a function selection button 126 are provided in an operation unit 124 for a user to select a function in order to execute the function of the image forming apparatus. An example of an image forming apparatus having an operation unit is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a main cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the operation unit 124.

  Reference numeral 127 denotes an electric board. On the electric board 127, an LED 129 that is a lighting unit and a switch 128 are mounted. The display unit 125 is light transmissive, and transmits and displays the light of the LED 129 that is turned on depending on the state of the image forming apparatus 101.

A function selection button 126 is provided on the switch 128. When the user presses the function selection button 126, the switch 128 is pressed via the function selection button 126, the function corresponding to each switch operates, and the apparatus main body operates. Reference numeral 130 denotes a conductive shield plate for preventing the electric substrate 127 from being damaged by static electricity, and is grounded.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-202697 (FIGS. 1 and 2)

  However, the configuration of the conventional example as described above has the following problems.

  Since the function selection button 126 (operation button) as a pressing member is held on the switch 128 mounted on the electric board 127, the touch when the user presses the function selection button 126 is the same as the click feeling of the switch 128. I feel it. For this reason, when a switch with a small size or low price and low operation feeling is employed, it may be difficult to understand the click feeling when the user presses the operation button.

  In addition, the amount of protrusion of the operation button with respect to the exterior cover varies due to the positional accuracy of the electric substrate and the exterior cover, and the operational feeling may change or the appearance may deteriorate.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and improves the operational feeling of the pressing member regardless of the click feeling when the switch mounted on the electric board is pressed. The purpose is to ensure that the operation is recognized. It is another object of the present invention to stabilize the protruding amount of the pressing member with respect to the exterior cover by reducing the influence of the positional accuracy of the electric substrate and the exterior cover.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides:
A pressing member pressed by an operator to operate the image forming apparatus;
An electric board on which a switch corresponding to the pressing member is mounted;
An electrical shield member for protecting the electrical substrate to prevent electrostatic breakdown of the electrical substrate;
In an image forming apparatus comprising:
The electric shield member includes an elastic holding portion that has elasticity and holds the pressing member movably.
The pressing member moves when the elastic holding portion is elastically deformed and presses the switch.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to improve the operation feeling of a press member and to make an operator recognize the press operation of a press member reliably irrespective of the click feeling at the time of the switch mounted on the electric board. . Furthermore, it is possible to stabilize the protruding amount of the pressing member with respect to the exterior cover by reducing the influence of the positional accuracy of the electric substrate and the exterior cover.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be exemplarily described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, and relative arrangements of the components described in this embodiment should be appropriately changed according to the configuration of the apparatus to which the invention is applied and various conditions. It is not intended to limit the scope to the following embodiments.

  A laser beam printer that employs an electrophotographic system that scans and records a laser beam on a photosensitive member will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an image forming apparatus 1 to which the present invention can be applied. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of an image forming apparatus 1 to which the present invention can be applied.

  The schematic configuration of the laser beam printer of this embodiment will be described below.

  In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a feeding cassette of recording material storage means for storing the recording material P fed into the image forming apparatus 1. The recording material P stored in the feeding cassette 2 is pressed and picked up by a pressing plate 4 serving as a pressing member against a feeding roller 3 serving as a feeding means disposed on the upper front end side of the feeding cassette 2.

  Then, the sheets are separated one by one by the separation pad 5 and the feeding roller 3 constituting the separating means and fed toward the first conveying roller pair 6. The first transport roller pair 6 is provided in the curved transport path 7 and transports the recording material P fed from the feeding device 8 to the second transport roller pair 9. Then, the recording material P is conveyed to the transfer unit by the second conveying roller pair 9.

  Reference numeral 10 denotes a registration sensor, which synchronizes the tip position of the recording material P and the light emission timing of the laser scanner 11 as an exposure light source, and draws an image from a predetermined position on the recording material P. Reference numeral 12 denotes a folding mirror.

  Reference numeral 13 denotes a process cartridge including image forming means such as a photoreceptor 14, a developing device, a cleaner, and a charging roller. Reference numeral 15 denotes a transfer roller for transferring a visible image on the photoreceptor 14 onto a recording material P.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes a conveyance guide for guiding the recording material P after transfer to the fixing device 17. The fixing device 17 heats and fixes the visible image on the recording material P. Reference numeral 18 denotes a discharge sensor that detects a jam by detecting the leading end position and the trailing end position of the recording material P after the heat fixing.

  The recording material P after heat fixing is discharged onto a discharge tray 21 formed integrally with the exterior cover 20 by a discharge roller pair 19.

(About the recording material conveyance path)
As shown in FIG. 1, the feeding cassette 2 is provided in the lower part (lower part of FIG. 1) of the main body of the image forming apparatus 1 (hereinafter referred to as the apparatus main body), and the discharge tray 21 is provided in the upper part of the apparatus main body. Yes. The leading end portion of the feeding cassette 2 and the trailing end portion of the discharge tray 21 are connected by a conveyance path including the image forming unit and the fixing device 17, and these generally form an S-shaped path. It is composed. By using the feeding cassette 2 as the lower part of the apparatus main body and the discharge tray 21 as the upper part of the apparatus main body, the apparatus main body is made compact and the installation area is reduced.

(About laser scanner arrangement)
As shown in FIG. 1, the laser scanner 11 is arranged in a unit-up arrangement from the scanner polygon 11a. Here, in order to make the size of the image forming apparatus 1 as small as possible, as shown in FIG. 1, the photosensitive member is exposed from a direction substantially perpendicular to the recording material conveyance path from the feeding device to the transfer unit to the fixing device. It is most effective to make the laser beam incident on the body 14.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to keep the depth and height of the image forming apparatus 1 within the minimum dimensions.

(About the electrical layout)
An electrical component 22 includes an AC power supply, a DC power supply, and a high-voltage power supply.

  As shown in FIG. 1, by disposing an electrical unit 22 below the recording material conveyance path from the developing unit to the fixing unit and above the feeding cassette 2, the electrical unit can be used without waste of the apparatus body. 22 prevents the installation area from increasing. Further, by arranging the electrical unit 22 below the recording material conveyance path from the developing unit to the fixing unit, it is possible to simplify the bundles necessary for electrical connection with the transfer roller 15 and the fixing unit 17. .

(About the operation unit)
As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a feeding cassette 2 provided at the bottom of the apparatus main body, and a process cartridge 13 that is a part of the image forming section and is detachable from the apparatus main body. The feeding cassette 2 is detachable in the direction of arrow A and can be filled with the recording material P.

  An open / close cover 23 opens and closes the process cartridge 13 by opening the open / close cover 23.

  An operation unit 24 is provided on the surface of the exterior cover 20. The operation unit 24 is provided with a display unit 25 that displays the standby state and jam state of the image forming apparatus 1 by lighting, and a function selection button 26 as a pressing member that selects a function of the image forming apparatus 1. In FIG. 2, two display units 25 and two function selection buttons 26 are shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the operation unit may include one or more function selection buttons.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the operation unit 24 of the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.

  Reference numeral 27 denotes an electric board on which a switch 28 whose function is selected by the user (operator) via the function selection button 26 and an LED 29 that is lit to indicate the state of the image forming apparatus 1 are mounted. . The display unit 25 transmits and displays the light of the LED 29 that is lit with light transmission.

  Reference numeral 30 denotes a shield plate as an electric shield member. In this embodiment, the plate is a thin metallic plate material and has a spring property (elasticity). The shield plate 30 is grounded to prevent electrostatic breakdown of mounted components on the electric board due to static electricity from outside the apparatus main body. The display unit 25 is locked to the exterior cover 20.

  The function selection button 26 is held by an elastic holding portion 30 a provided on the shield plate 30 so as to be movable with respect to the switch 28. Further, the function selection button 26 is provided with a protruding portion 26 a that is provided so as to protrude from the exterior cover 20 of the apparatus body, and a contact portion 26 b that is in contact with the inner wall 20 a of the exterior cover 20. Yes.

  As described above, in the operation unit 24 of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the function selection button 26 is held on the shield plate 30 having a spring property. When the user presses the function selection button 26, the function selection button 26 moves by the elastic holding portion 30a being elastically deformed and presses the switch 28. For this reason, the operational feeling when the user presses the function selection button 26 can be adjusted by changing the spring property of the shield plate 30.

  For this reason, by changing the spring property by changing the thickness of the shield plate 30 or the like, the operation feeling of the function selection button 26 can be improved regardless of the click feeling when the switch mounted on the electric board is pressed. Thus, it is possible to reliably recognize the operation of the function selection button 26.

  Next, an operation unit of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the operation unit 24 of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. Only components that are different from those of the first embodiment are described, and descriptions of similar components are omitted. To do.

  In the operation unit 24 of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 4, the function selection button 26 is held by a spring part 30 b as an elastic holding part provided on the shield plate 30 so as to be movable with respect to the switch 28. ing. The function selection button 26 is pressed against the exterior cover 20 (the inner wall 20a) by the elastic force of the spring portion 30b. In addition, the display portion 25 is also pressed against the exterior cover 20 by the elastic force of the spring portion 30 c of the shield plate 30.

  Also in the operation unit 24 of the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, since the function selection button 26 is held on the shield plate 30 having a spring property, when the user presses the function selection button 26 as in the first embodiment. The operational feeling can be adjusted by changing the spring property of the shield plate 30.

  For this reason, by changing the spring property by changing the thickness of the shield plate 30 or the like, the operation feeling of the function selection button 26 can be improved regardless of the click feeling when the switch mounted on the electric board is pressed. Thus, it is possible to reliably recognize the operation of the function selection button 26.

  Further, the display unit 25 and the function selection button 26 are pressed by the spring units 30 b and 30 c of the shield plate 30 and abut against the exterior cover 20. Thus, the protrusion amount of the display unit 25 and the function selection button 26 from the exterior cover 20 can be determined regardless of the positional accuracy of the shield plate 30, the electric substrate 27, and the exterior cover 20. For this reason, the effect which can improve the appearance of operation part 24 is acquired.

  In addition, although Example 1 and Example 2 demonstrated the case where the shield plate of the operation part 24 was comprised with the metal thin board | plate material, it does not restrict to this. The electric shield member may be conductive and grounded and may have any spring property. For example, even if it is made of a conductive resin material, the same effect as in the first and second embodiments can be obtained. Obtainable.

  In the first and second embodiments, the image forming apparatus has been described. However, the configuration of the operation unit according to the present invention is an original reading apparatus having an image reading unit instead of the image forming unit of the image forming apparatus. Is also applicable. In addition, the effects are the same as those of the first and second embodiments that improve the operational feeling of the function selection button 26 and improve the appearance of the operation unit 24.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an operation unit of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an operation unit of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional image forming apparatus. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an operation unit of a conventional image forming apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 20 Exterior cover 20a Inner wall 24 Operation part 25 Display part 26 Function selection button 27 Electric board 28 Switch 29 LED
30 Shield plate 30a Elastic holding part 30b Spring part 30c Spring part

Claims (4)

A pressing member pressed by an operator to operate the image forming apparatus;
An electric board on which a switch corresponding to the pressing member is mounted;
An electrical shield member for protecting the electrical substrate to prevent electrostatic breakdown of the electrical substrate;
In an image forming apparatus comprising:
The electric shield member includes an elastic holding portion that has elasticity and holds the pressing member movably.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member moves when the elastic holding portion is elastically deformed and presses the switch. The pressing member is
A protrusion provided to protrude from the exterior cover of the image forming apparatus, and pressed by an operator;
A contact portion that contacts the inner wall of the exterior cover;
With
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is pressed toward an inner wall of the exterior cover by an elastic force of the elastic holding portion.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electric shield member is made of a metal plate material. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electric shield member is made of a conductive resin member.

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