JP2009015068A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent rotating support member and guide member from interfering with each other without increasing the size of the main body of an image forming apparatus in its lengthwise and sidewise directions. <P>SOLUTION: The rotating support part 83 of the basal end of a cover member 10 is supported by a shaft member 84 so as to freely swing. The rotating support part 83 is reinforced by a guide aiding part 83b. The guide aiding part 83b is provide with a backward inclination guide 83c. When the cover member 10 is disposed in an opening position D2 and an opening 6a is opened, the guide aiding part 83b is disposed in a guide position E2, and consequently the backward inclination guide face 83c forms part of the guide member 86 in combination with a forward inclination guide face 86a. As the cover member 10 is moved toward a closing position D1, the guide aiding part 83b retracts in the retracting position E1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that opens a cover member that covers an opening on an upper surface of a main body frame and mounts an attachment in the main body frame from the opening.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine, an opening provided on an upper surface of a main body frame of an image forming apparatus main body is covered with a cover member (top cover) so that the cover member can be opened and closed. A device has been proposed in which a predetermined member (hereinafter referred to as “attachment”) is attached to and detached from a predetermined position in the main body frame (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  This has a rectangular opening on the upper surface of the main body frame, and this opening is rotatably supported by a shaft provided on the rear end side of the opening. Thus, the entire cover member is supported so as to be swingable. In addition, guide grooves in the vertical direction are formed on the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls of the main body frame, and a print head having protrusions at both ends in the left and right direction is guided by guiding the protrusions along the guide grooves. The main body frame can be attached to and detached from a predetermined position.

An image forming apparatus is also known in which a cover member is opened to open an opening on the upper surface of a main body frame, and a toner container (toner container) is attached / detached using the opening. Convex portions are formed on the left and right ends of the toner container, while convex guides for guiding the convex portions in the vertical direction are formed on the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls of the image forming apparatus main body. In such a configuration, in order to reduce the overall size, a guide may be disposed in the vicinity of the shaft that supports the cover member so as to be swingable.
JP 2000-181165 A

  By the way, for example, in a full-color image forming apparatus of four colors, four toner containers (for four colors) described above are mounted, and a wide opening is provided for attaching / detaching the toner containers, so that a large cover member is formed. Has been. In order to smoothly open and close such a cover member, it is necessary to sufficiently ensure the strength of the rotation support portion that is a portion directly supported by the shaft member on the main body frame side of the cover member. The rotating support tends to be large. For this reason, when the shaft member and the guide member as described above are disposed close to each other, the rotation support portion supported by the shaft member may interfere with the guide member. In order to avoid this interference, it is necessary to separate the rotation support portion and the guide in the front-rear direction or the left-right direction. In this case, the former increases the size of the image forming apparatus main body in the front-rear direction. There arises a problem that the size in the left-right direction increases.

  Therefore, the present invention can sufficiently ensure the strength of the rotation support portion of the cover member, and without increasing the size of the image forming apparatus main body in the front-rear direction or the left-right direction, It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that prevents such interference.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a main body frame having an opening on an upper surface, a cover member capable of opening and closing the opening, and a storage object that is attached to and detached from a predetermined position inside the main body frame through the opening. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the main body frame is provided so as to protrude inward from an inner wall surface, and is disposed in the vicinity of the guide member that guides attachment / detachment of the stored item with respect to the predetermined position. A cover member that swingably supports the cover member, the cover member having a closed position that covers the opening and an open position that opens the opening; and A rotation support portion that is formed integrally with a base end portion and is rotatably supported by the shaft member, the rotation support portion corresponding to the cover body being disposed at the closed position. And a guide auxiliary portion disposed at a guide position that constitutes a part of the guide member corresponding to the retreating position and the cover main body being disposed at the open position. .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the guide member has a vertical guide groove having a first inclined surface at an upper portion, and the guide auxiliary portion is located at the guide position. An insertion guide having a second inclined surface paired with the second inclined surface and having an upper end side widened by the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface in the disposed state; It is a feature.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, the guide member is formed with an escape portion for preventing interference when the rotation support portion is disposed at the retracted position. It is characterized by that.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, the shaft member is disposed at an end of the opening.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the size of the image forming apparatus main body in the front-rear direction or the left-right direction is reduced as compared with a conventional image forming apparatus in which a part of the rotation support portion does not constitute a part of the guide member. It is possible. That is, when the guide member and the rotation support portion are individually formed and are close to each other, in order to prevent the interference between the two, the guide member and the rotation support portion are arranged in a direction along the axis of the shaft member (for example, left and right direction) Accordingly, when the guide member is positioned outside the rotation support portion, the size of the image forming apparatus main body in the left-right direction is increased correspondingly. Further, in order to prevent the interference between the two, when the rotation support portion is positioned on the rear side (or front side) of the guide member along the direction orthogonal to the axial center (for example, the front-rear direction), The size of the image forming apparatus main body in the front-rear direction increases. On the other hand, if a part of the guide member is constituted by a part of the rotation support part, it is possible to prevent the interference between the two without increasing the size of the image forming apparatus main body in the front-rear direction or the left-right direction. The image forming apparatus main body can be configured compactly.

  According to the invention of claim 2, the guide auxiliary portion constitutes an insertion guide in which the second inclined surface is paired with the first inclined surface and the upper end side is widened. Since the object is roughly guided to the lower end portion of the guide member, it is not necessary to ensure high guide accuracy (position accuracy). Therefore, even if it is a rotation support part which moves between a retracted position and a guide position, the one part can comprise a part of guide member.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the relief portion is formed on the guide member, it is possible to prevent the size of the image forming apparatus main body from increasing in the axial direction (for example, the left-right direction). .

  According to the invention of claim 4, the fact that the shaft member is arranged at the end of the opening means that the rotation support part that is the swing center of the cover member is arranged at the end. In such a case, generally, the opening becomes larger, the cover body tends to be larger, and the weight of the entire cover member tends to be larger. In this case, it is necessary to make the rotation support portion large in order to sufficiently secure the strength of the rotation support portion. The present invention is particularly effective in such a case.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each drawing, the member etc. which attached | subjected the same code | symbol are the same structures, The duplication description about these shall be abbreviate | omitted suitably. Moreover, in each drawing, members and the like that are not necessary for the description are omitted as appropriate.

<Embodiment 1>
The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In these drawings, the front, rear, left, right, top and bottom of the image forming apparatus 1 and the like are appropriately indicated by arrows in the drawings. 1 to 8, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire image forming apparatus 1 as viewed from the upper left of the front side thereof. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the entire image forming apparatus 1 as viewed from the rear and obliquely upward on the left side. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the internal structure of the image forming apparatus 1 as viewed from the left side. 4 to 8 will be described later.

  Here, examples of the image forming apparatus 1 include a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction machine of these. In the following description, a case where the image forming apparatus 1 is a printer will be described as an example. The image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is a four-color full-color image forming apparatus 1 adopting an electrophotographic system, an intermediate transfer system, and a tandem system.

  With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the configuration of the entire image forming apparatus 1 as viewed from the outside will be described. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a substantially box-shaped (cuboid) image forming apparatus main body 2 and a front cover 3 supported by the image forming apparatus main body 2 so as to be freely opened and closed.

  The image forming apparatus main body 2 has a front surface (front side surface) covered with a front cover 3 and a left side surface and a right side surface covered with a left exterior panel 4 and a right exterior panel 5 made of synthetic resin. On the rear surface of the image forming apparatus main body 2, a rear plate 7 of a sheet metal constituting the main body frame 6 is exposed as a structure. Here, in addition to the rear side plate 7, the main body frame 6 includes a left side plate 74 exposed by removing the left exterior panel 4 and the like in FIG. 1, and a right side in FIG. A right side plate 75 exposed by removing the exterior panel 5 and the like, and a connecting plate (not shown) for connecting the left side plate 74 and the right side plate 75 on the front end side are provided. As shown in FIG. 4, a substantially rectangular opening 6 a is formed on the upper surface of the main body frame 6.

  A cover member (paper discharge tray) 10 having a sheet stacking surface 8 is disposed on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 2. The sheet stacking surface 8 is composed of an inclined surface that is gently inclined so that the rear end side is positioned higher, and a plane that continues to the rear end of the inclined surface, and is directed rearward from a sheet discharge port 11 described later after image formation. The discharged sheet is supported from below. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rear end 10 a side of the cover member 10 is supported by the image forming apparatus main body 2 so as to be swingable (openable and closable), and when opened, the front end is based on the rear end 10 a side. The side is held in a standing posture with the side lifted by approximately 90 degrees. As a result, an intermediate transfer unit 31A, toner containers 47, 48, 49, 50 and the like which will be described later can be attached and detached from above the image forming apparatus main body 2. The cover member 10 will be described in detail later.

  The front cover 3 has a swing center (not shown) set on the lower end 3a side shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 supported by a shaft (not shown) of the image forming apparatus main body 2 so as to be swingable. 1-3 between a closed position A1 that covers the front surface of the image forming apparatus main body 2 in an upright posture and an open position (not shown) that opens a sheet conveyance path 52 and a sheet re-conveyance path 53 described later in an inclined posture. Can be moved. As shown in FIG. 2, release levers 15 with buttons 14 are provided near the left and right ends on the upper end side and the rear side of the front cover 3. A hook member (not shown) is coupled to the release lever 15 via a connecting member (not shown). The hook member is disposed on the front cover 3 side. When the front cover 3 is closed, the hook member is engaged with a locking member (not shown) on the image forming apparatus main body 2 side to lock the front cover 3. When the front cover 3 is opened, when the button 14 is pulled forward, the hook member is swung via the connecting member and released from the locking member, so that the lock is released. In this state, it can be opened by pulling the upper end side of the front cover 3 forward, and can be arranged at the open position A2. The front cover 3 disposed at the open position is held at the open position by a holding link (not shown).

  An operation panel 12 is disposed on the upper end side of the front cover 3. A touch panel type liquid crystal display unit and various buttons are arranged on the operation panel 12, and an operator (for example, a user or a service person) stands on the front side of the image forming apparatus 1 and operates the operation panel. 12, the entire image forming apparatus 1 can be operated.

  The front cover 3 is provided with a manually accessible tray 13 that can be opened and closed on the front side. The manual feed tray 13 has a swing center (not shown) on the base end (lower end side) 13a side supported by the front cover 3 so as to be swingable, and the front cover 3 disposed at the closed position A1 shown in FIG. The storage position C1 stored in an upright position (solid line in FIG. 3) and the feeding position C2 in an inclined position with the upper end 13b side pulled out toward the front (two-dot chain line in FIG. 3) can be taken. it can. When the manual feed tray 13 is disposed at the paper feed position C2, the manual feed tray 13 has an inclined posture in which the front end 13b side (free end side) is positioned upward with respect to the base end portion 13a, and the upper surface is set with a manual feed sheet. Therefore, the sheet stacking surface 13c is provided.

  The front cover 3 and the manual feed tray 13 are formed with an engaging recess (not shown) and an engaging projection (not shown) that can be engaged and disengaged with each other. However, when they are stored in the storage position C1, they are engaged with each other and held in the storage position C1. In this state, even when the front cover 3 is opened and closed, the manual feed tray 13 maintains the state held at the storage position C1. For this reason, even when the front cover 3 is opened and closed with the manual feed tray 13 placed at the storage position C1, the manual feed tray 13 remains held at the storage position C1. On the other hand, when the manual feed tray 13 arranged at the storage position C1 is positively opened by pulling the upper end 13b side, the engagement between the engagement concave portion and the engagement convex portion is released. Opening is possible. Further, the front cover 3 is provided with a stopper (not shown) for holding the manual feed tray 13 at the paper feed position C <b> 2, so that the manual feed tray 13 is not opened any more with respect to the front cover 3. Yes.

  This is the end of the description of the configuration of the entire image forming apparatus 1 viewed from the outside.

  Next, the internal structure of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a sheet storage unit 20, a substrate storage unit 21, an image forming unit 22, a toner supply unit 23, and a cover member (paper discharge tray) 10 in order from the lower side to the upper side of the image forming apparatus main body 2. Is provided. A sheet conveying unit 24 is provided between the front side of the image forming apparatus main body 2 and the front cover 3.

  A sheet cassette 25 is disposed in the sheet storage unit 20. The sheet feeding cassette 25 stores a plurality of sheets in a stacked state, and biases the leading end side (the right side in the figure) of the stacked sheets upward by a lift plate 26 disposed at the bottom. Yes. As a result, the uppermost sheet in the sheet feeding cassette 25 is fed by a pickup roller 27 of a sheet transport unit 24 described later, and further, the feeding roller 28 and the retard roller 30 prevent double feeding, and only one sheet is downstream. To the side. The paper feed cassette 25 can be inserted / removed (detached) from the front side (front side) of the image forming apparatus 1. A substrate storage unit 21 is disposed above the paper feed cassette 25.

  The substrate storage unit 21 is provided with a substrate and electrical components (not shown) that control the entire image forming apparatus 1. An image forming unit 22 is disposed above the substrate storage unit 21.

  The image forming unit 22 includes an intermediate transfer belt 31 and four (four color) image forming stations aligned along the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 31 (arrow R31 direction), that is, magenta (M), Image forming stations 32, 33, 34, and 35 for forming toner images with cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (K) toners are provided. Since the four-color image forming stations 32 to 35 have the same configuration, the magenta image forming station 32 will be described below, and the description of the remaining three-color image forming stations 33 to 35 will be omitted as appropriate. .

  The intermediate transfer belt 31 is formed in an endless shape, and is stretched between the driving roller 43 and the driven roller 44. The intermediate transfer belt 31 is rotated in the direction of the arrow R31 by the rotation of the driving roller 43 in the direction of the arrow.

  The magenta image forming station 32 includes a photosensitive drum 36, and a charging device 37, an exposure device 38, a developing device 40, and a primary device that are arranged around the photosensitive drum 36 in the order of rotation (arrow direction). A transfer roller 41, a drum cleaner 42, and the like are included.

  The photosensitive drum 36 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow at a predetermined process speed. In this embodiment, an a-Si (amorphous silicon) photosensitive drum is used as the photosensitive drum 36.

  The charging device 37 uniformly (uniformly) charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 36 to a predetermined polarity and potential.

  The exposure device 38 is constituted by, for example, a laser scanner. The exposure apparatus 38 includes a laser oscillator (not shown), a polygon mirror 38a, lenses 38b and 38c, reflection mirrors 38d, 38e, and 38f, and these are integrally incorporated to constitute an exposure unit 38A. . The exposure device 38 reflects a laser beam L emitted from a laser oscillator (not shown) based on image information sent from a personal computer (not shown) or the like by a polygon mirror 38a that rotates at high speed, and lenses 38b, Then, the light is guided to the surface of the photosensitive drum 36 after uniform charging via a mirror 38c, reflecting mirrors 38d, 38e, 38f and the like. The surface of the photosensitive drum 36 is exposed to the laser beam L to remove the charge on the exposed portion, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image.

  The developing device 40 develops the electrostatic latent image. The developing device 40 includes a developing container 40a in which a developer is accommodated, a developing sleeve 40b, developer agitating members 40c and 40d, and the like, which constitute a developing unit 40A. The developer carried on the surface of the developing sleeve 40 b is selectively attached to the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 36 by applying a developing bias between the developing sleeve 40 b and the photosensitive drum 36. This is developed as a toner image. In the present embodiment, a two-component developer mainly composed of toner and carrier is used as the developer.

  The primary transfer roller 41 transfers the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 36 to the intermediate transfer belt 31. The primary transfer roller 41 presses the back side of the intermediate transfer belt 31 to bring the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 36. As a result, a primary transfer nip T <b> 1 is formed between the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 and the surface of the photosensitive drum 36. The toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 36 is conveyed to the primary transfer nip T1 as the photosensitive drum 36 rotates in the arrow direction. At this time, by applying a primary transfer bias to the primary transfer roller 41, the magenta toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 36 is primarily transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31. In the present embodiment, the intermediate transfer belt 31, the drive roller 43, the driven roller 44, the four primary transfer rollers 41, and the belt cleaner 46 are integrally incorporated in the transfer frame 39, and the intermediate transfer unit 31A as a whole. Is configured.

  The drum cleaner 42 removes toner (primary transfer residual toner) remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 36 without being transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the above-described primary transfer. In this embodiment, the photosensitive drum 36, the charging device 37, the drum cleaner 42, and the like are integrally configured to constitute the drum unit 36A.

  As described above, in the magenta image forming station 32, the magenta toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 36 is primarily transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31. Similarly, in the remaining three color (cyan, yellow and black) image forming stations 33, 34 and 35, toner images of cyan, yellow and black are formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum 36, respectively. The toner images are sequentially primary-transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 31 by the primary transfer roller 41 and superimposed. As will be described later, these four color toner images are secondarily transferred onto the sheet all at once by applying a secondary transfer bias to the secondary transfer roller 45 at the secondary transfer nip T2. Toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 after the secondary transfer of the toner image (secondary transfer residual toner) is removed by a belt cleaner 46 disposed in the vicinity of the driven roller 44. A toner replenishing unit 23 is provided above the image forming unit 22.

  The toner replenishing unit 23 is provided with four (four color) toner containers (toner containers) each containing toner of each color, that is, magenta, cyan, yellow, and black toner containers 47, 48, 49, and 50. It is installed. The developing devices 40 of the color image forming stations 32 to 35 described above are provided with a remaining amount sensor (not shown) for detecting the remaining amount of the developer. When it is detected that the amount of the developer is less than a predetermined value, toner is supplied to the developing device 40 of each color from the toner containers 47 to 50 of each color. Above the toner supply portion 23, the above-described cover member 10 that can be opened and closed with respect to the rear end 10a side is disposed.

  In the present embodiment, the sheet conveyance unit 24 is provided between the front side of the image forming apparatus main body 2 and the front cover 3, and a sheet conveyance path 52 that guides a sheet from below to above, and the sheet conveyance unit. It has a sheet re-conveying path 53 that is disposed on the front side of the path 52 and guides the sheet from the upper side to the lower side, and further has a manual feeding unit 54.

  The sheet conveyance path 52 rises upward from the vicinity of the above-described feeding roller 28, extends upward while gently curving backward, and extends upward in the vicinity of the secondary transfer nip T2 by changing the bending direction to the front. The sheet extends obliquely upward toward the rear and reaches the sheet discharge port 11. The sheet conveyance path 52 includes a rear guide 52a and a front guide 52b facing each other, and a part of the front guide 52b is formed in a conveyance unit 73 described later. In the sheet conveyance path 52, the pickup roller 27, the feeding roller 28, the retard roller 30, the conveyance roller pair 56, the registration roller pair 57, and the intermediate transfer belt 31 are sandwiched between the driving roller 43 in order from the bottom. A transfer roller 45, a fixing device (fixing unit) 58, a conveyance roller pair 60, a switching flapper 61, a paper discharge roller pair 62, and the like are provided. The above-described fixing device 58 includes a fixing roller (fixing member) 63 including a heating member (not shown), and a pressure roller (pressure member) 64 that forms a fixing nip N in pressure contact therewith. .

  The sheet fed by the pickup roller 27, the feeding roller 28, and the retard roller 30 from the sheet feeding cassette 25 is conveyed by the conveying roller pair 56 and the registration roller pair 57, and in the secondary transfer nip T2. The four color toner images on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 are secondarily transferred at once, and heated and pressurized when passing through the fixing nip N to fix the four color toner images on the surface. The sheet on which the toner image has been fixed is guided to the lower surface of the switching flapper 61 by the conveying roller pair 60 and conveyed to the paper discharge roller pair 62, and is moved rearward from the sheet discharge port 11 facing the back side by the paper discharge roller pair 62. Then, the sheet is discharged and stacked on the sheet stacking surface 8 of the cover member 10. In the figure, the sensor flag 65 of the paper discharge sensor disposed immediately downstream of the paper discharge roller pair 62 is operating with the sheet P being discharged.

  The sheet re-conveying path 53 extends obliquely from the upper side to the front side of the above-described sheet discharge port 11, is gently curved and extends to the rear side with a steep slope, and protrudes downward at the lower end portion. Then, the sheet merges with the sheet conveyance path 52 described above. The sheet re-conveying path 53 includes a rear guide 53a and a front guide 53b that face each other. A part of the rear guide 53a is formed in a transport unit 73 described later. Further, most of the front guide 53b is incorporated inside (rear end side) of the front cover 3. In the sheet re-conveying path 53, the reverse roller pair 66, the switching flapper 61, the first, second, third and fourth re-conveying roller pairs 67, 68, 70 and 71 are arranged.

  When images are formed on both sides of the sheet, the switching flapper 61 is switched to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line, and the sheet on which the toner image is fixed is conveyed to the conveying roller pair 60 and the switching flapper 61 It is conveyed along the upper surface and further conveyed rearward by the reverse roller pair 66. Then, the rear end of the sheet passes through the conveying roller pair 60, and the reverse roller pair 66 is reversely rotated before passing through the reverse roller pair 66, and the first to fourth re-conveying roller pairs 67, 68, 70, 71 The sheet is conveyed downward and conveyed to the sheet conveyance path 52. Then, the toner image is transferred and fixed on the back surface of the sheet in the same manner as on the front surface, and is discharged rearward from the sheet discharge port 11 and stacked on the sheet stacking surface 8 of the cover member 10. . A manual feed roller 72 is disposed immediately in front of the conveyance roller pair 56 in the sheet conveyance unit 24. The manual feed roller 72 feeds the sheet set on the sheet stacking surface 13d on the upper surface of the manual feed tray 13 disposed at the paper feed position C2 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Paper.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the above-described sheet conveyance unit 24 is provided with a conveyance unit 73 that can be freely opened and closed. The transport unit 73 is disposed between the sheet transport path 52 and the sheet re-transport path 53, and a part of the front guide 52 b in the sheet transport path 52 and a part of the rear guide 53 a in the sheet re-transport path 53. And the first roller 57a of the registration roller pair 57, the secondary transfer roller 45, and the first and second rollers 70a and 71a of the third and fourth re-conveying roller pairs 70 and 71, respectively. Yes. The transport unit 73 has a swing center on the lower end 73a side, and is supported by the image forming apparatus body 2 so as to be swingable (openable and closable).

  The transport unit 73 is opened and closed in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the front cover 3. That is, the transport unit 73 is disposed at the closed position B1 illustrated in FIG. 3 by disposing the front cover 3 at the closed position A1 illustrated in FIG. 1, and the front cover 3 is disposed at the open position (not illustrated). Accordingly, the sheet conveyance path 52 and the sheet re-conveyance path 53 are opened at the open position (not shown). Thereby, jammed paper jammed in the sheet conveyance path 52 and the sheet re-conveyance path 53 can be easily removed.

  This completes the description of the internal structure of the image forming apparatus 1.

  In the present invention, in the image forming apparatus 1, the rotation support portion 83 of the cover member 10 also serves as a part of the guide member 85 when the toner container 47 as the stored item is attached to and detached from the predetermined position of the main body frame 6. It is configured as follows. This prevents the size of the image forming apparatus 1 from increasing in the left-right direction or the front-rear direction.

  Hereinafter, this point will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the cover member 10 is disposed at the open position D2 and the opening 6a on the upper surface of the main body frame 6 is opened. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the guide auxiliary portion 83b arranged at the guide position E2 as viewed from the inside of the main body frame 6. FIG. In FIG. 7 and FIG. 7 to be described later, the cover main body 10 shows only a part on the right end side along the left-right direction. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the guide auxiliary portion 83b arranged at the guide position E2 as viewed from the outside of the main body frame 6. FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the guide auxiliary portion 83b arranged at the retracted position E1 as viewed from the inside of the main body frame 6. 8A and 8B are operation explanatory views of the rotation support portion 83 of the cover member 10.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a guided portion 47 a protrudes outward (right side) at the lower portion of the toner container 47 on the right end side. The guided portion 47a is guided to move in the vertical direction by a guide member 86 on the main body frame 6 side, which will be described later, and is positioned by contacting the lower end of the guide member 86.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an opening 6 a is formed on the upper surface of the main body frame 6. The main body frame 6 includes a left side plate 74 and a right side plate 75, and further includes a connecting member (not shown) for connecting these on the rear end side and a rear side plate 7 for connecting these on the rear end side. A substantially rectangular opening 6a is formed. The opening 6a is opened and closed by a cover member 10 which will be described later. When opened, the developing unit 40A, the drum unit 36A, the intermediate transfer unit 31A, the toner containers 47, 48, and the toner containers 47, 48, shown in FIG. 49 and 50 can be attached and detached. The guide member 86 according to the present invention guides attachment / detachment of the toner container 47 located on the most rear end side among the toner containers 47 to 50 described above.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the guide member 86 is configured by providing irregularities on the inner wall surface 85 on the rear end side of the right side plate 75. Here, the inner wall surface 85 in FIG. 5 is a wall surface 85a, 85b, 85c, 85d in order from the inside. The guide member 86 has a front inclined guide surface (first inclined surface) 86a, a front vertical guide surface 86b, and a rear vertical guide surface 86c. The front inclined guide surface 86a is inclined so that the upper end side is located on the front side. A rear inclined guide surface (second inclined surface) 83c that forms a pair with the front inclined guide surface 86a is formed in a rotation support portion 83 of the cover member 10 to be described later, and the cover member 10 is disposed at the open position D2. When the guide auxiliary portion 83b is disposed at the guide position E2, the guide auxiliary portion 83b is disposed at a paired position. The front vertical guide surface 86b is disposed so as to be continuous with the lower end of the above-described front inclined guide surface 86a, and the rear vertical guide surface 86c is disposed so as to face the front vertical guide surface 86b. The guide member 86 forms a substantially vertical guide groove by these guide surfaces. At the lower end side of the guide member 86, the guided portion 47a of the toner container 47 after being mounted is contacted from above, whereby the contact surfaces 86g, 86f for positioning the toner container 47 in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction. Is formed. Further, curved guide surfaces 86d and 86e are formed slightly above the contact surfaces 86g and 86f in order to prevent interference with the curved surface at the bottom of the toner container 47. The through holes 86h formed in the curved guide surfaces 86d and 86e allow a coupling (not shown) for rotating a stirring screw (not shown) in the toner container 47 to enter from the outside of the right side wall 75. Is. A step portion 86i is formed above the rear vertical guide surface 86c, and the inner surface 85d is positioned on the outer side (right side) of the inner surface 85c. Thereby, the escape portion 86e is formed, and the rotation support portion 83 is prevented from interfering with the right side wall 75 when a cover member 10 described later is disposed at the closed position D1.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, on the rear end side and the right end side of the main body frame 6, a shaft member 84 that supports a cover member 10 that will be described later in a swingable manner is disposed. The rear plate 7 of the main body frame 6 has a reinforcing portion 7a bent forward on the right end side, and has a columnar bent portion 7b on the upper end side. A gap is provided between the outer surface of the reinforcing portion 7a and the inner surface 85d of the right side wall 75, and a rotation support portion 83 of the cover member 10 described later is disposed in this gap. One end of the shaft member 84 is supported by the upper end side of the bent portion 7a on the right end side, the other end is supported by a portion located on the rear end side and the upper end side of the right side plate 75, and the intermediate portion is rotationally supported. The part 83 is penetrated in the left-right direction, and is supported rotatably. A similar shaft member is also arranged on the left end side and the upper end side of the rear plate 7.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the cover member 10 includes a cover main body 81 and rotation support portions 82 and 83 integral with the cover main body 81. In the cover body, an upper plate 81a, a left plate 81b, a right plate 81c, and a rear plate 81d whose upper surface is the above-described sheet stacking surface 8 are integrally formed. Reinforcing ribs (not shown) project in the front-rear direction. The upper plate 81a of the cover body 81 is formed in a size that can cover the entire opening 6a of the body frame 6 from above.

  The rotation support portions 82 and 83 are formed in a plate shape appropriately reinforced with reinforcing ribs, and are rotatably supported by a shaft member 84 and the like. Among these, the left rotation support part 82 is located on the back surface side on the base end side (rear end side) of the left plate 81b. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, the right rotation support portion 83 is located on the back surface side on the base end side (rear end side) of the right plate 81 c. The rotation support plate 83 has a main body 83a rotatably supported by a shaft member 84, and a guide auxiliary portion 83b provided so as to protrude forward from the main body 83a in the state shown in FIG. The guide auxiliary portion 83b reinforces the main body 83a around the axis and also acts as a part of the above-described guide member 86. That is, a rear inclined guide surface 83c is formed in the guide auxiliary portion 83b. As shown in FIG. 5, the rear inclined guide surface 83c is opposed to the front inclined guide surface 86a of the guide member 86 when the cover member 10 is opened and the guide auxiliary portion 83b is disposed at the guide position E2. Thus, the introduction guide 87 whose upper side is expanded is configured. As shown in FIG. 7, the guide auxiliary portion 83 b is disposed in a retracted position located below the front side of the shaft member 84 when the cover member 10 is closed. At this time, the main body 83a of the rotation support portion 83 enters the guide member 86 side. However, since the above-described relief portion 85e is formed on the guide member 86 side, the main body 83a interferes with the guide member 86. There is no such thing. The left rotation support portion 82 is also configured in the same manner as the right rotation support portion 83, and the left side plate 74 is formed with a guide member similar to the guide member 86 of the right side plate 75. Shall.

  With reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B, the operation of the rotation support portion 83 will be described. As shown in (a), the cover member 10 in which the rotation support portion 83a is rotatably supported by the shaft member 84 is rotated counterclockwise from the closed position D1 shown in (b) to (a). If it arrange | positions in the open position D2 shown, the rotation support part 83 will also rotate in the same direction in connection with this, and the guide auxiliary | assistant part 83b will be arrange | positioned in the guide position E2 shown to (a). As a result, the rear inclined guide surface 83c forms a pair with the front inclined guide surface 86a on the guide member 86 side to form the introduction guide 87. Since the introduction guide 87 is expanded upward, the guided portion 47a (see FIG. 6) of the toner container 47 can be smoothly guided to the guide member 86.

  When the toner container 47 is mounted on the main body frame 6, an operator such as a user holds the toner container 47 by hand above the opening 6 a so that the longitudinal direction thereof is in the left-right direction. At this time, the guided portion 47 a of the toner container 47 is positioned above the guide member 86. The operator lowers the toner container 47 so that the guided portion 47 a of the toner container 47 is aligned with the entrance of the upper end of the introduction guide 87. The guided portion 47a of the toner container 47 descends along the introduction guide 87, descends following the vertical guide surfaces 86b and 86c, and contacts the contact surfaces 86g and 86f. Thus, the toner container 47 is positioned in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction, and is mounted at a predetermined position.

  As described above, after the toner container 47 is mounted at a predetermined position, the cover member 10 is rotated clockwise from the open position D2 to be positioned at the closed position D1. At this time, the rotation support portion 83 also rotates in the same direction (arrow direction), and the guide auxiliary portion 83b having the rear inclined guide surface 83c is disposed at the lower retreat position E1.

  According to the image forming apparatus 1 having the above configuration, the main body 83a of the rotation support member 83 that supports the self-weight and the rotation operation of the cover member 10 can be reinforced by the guide auxiliary portion 83b. Can be secured. Further, the guide auxiliary portion 83b is configured such that when the cover member 10 is disposed at the open position D2, the inclined guide surface 83c thereafter constitutes a part of the guide member 86, so that the toner container 47 is attached to the main body frame 6. It can guide smoothly.

  As described above, the rotation support portion 83 can be prevented from interfering with the guide member 86 as compared with the conventional configuration in which the rotation support portion 83 is formed to be reinforced and the guide member 87 is formed completely separately. In order to prevent interference, it is not necessary to extend the front and rear dimensions or the left and right dimensions of the image forming apparatus main body 2.

  Although the case where the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus has been described above, the present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus, and is a general apparatus that requires a guide member to be disposed in the vicinity of the swing center of a cover member. It can also be applied to.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the entire image forming apparatus as viewed from the diagonally upper left side on the front side. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the entire image forming apparatus as viewed from the rear and obliquely upward on the left side thereof. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an internal structure of the image forming apparatus as viewed from the left side. It is a perspective view which shows the state which has arrange | positioned the cover member in the open position D2, and opened the opening part of the upper surface of a main body frame. It is the perspective view which looked at the guide auxiliary | assistant part arrange | positioned at the guide position E2 from the inner side of the main body frame. It is the perspective view which looked at the guide auxiliary | assistant part arrange | positioned at the guide position E2 from the outer side of the main body frame. It is the perspective view which looked at the guide auxiliary | assistant part arrange | positioned in the retracted position E1 from the inner side of the main body frame. (A), (b) is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the rotation support part of a cover member.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 2 ... Image forming apparatus main body, 6 ... Main body frame, 6a ... Opening part, 10 ... Cover member, 47 ... Toner container (containment), 81 ... Cover main body, 83 ...... Rotation support portion, 83a ....... main body, 83b ....... guide auxiliary portion, 83c ....... rear inclined guide surface (second inclined surface), 84 ... shaft member, 85 ... inner wall surface, 85e .... relief portion, 86 guide member, 86a: front inclined guide surface (first inclined surface), 87 ... introduction guide, D1 ... closed position, D2 ... opened position, E1 ... retracted position, E2 ... guide position,

Claims (4)

In an image forming apparatus comprising: a main body frame having an opening on an upper surface; a cover member that can open and close the opening; and a storage that is attached to and detached from the predetermined position inside the main body frame through the opening.
The main body frame protrudes inward from an inner wall surface, and is disposed in the vicinity of the guide member for guiding attachment / detachment of the stored item with respect to the predetermined position, so that the cover member can swing freely. A supporting shaft member,
The cover member is configured integrally with a cover main body that takes a closed position that covers the opening and an open position that opens the opening, and is configured to be rotatable by the shaft member. A supported rotation support, and
The rotation support part is retracted to a retracted position corresponding to the cover body being disposed at the closed position and a part of the guide member corresponding to the cover body being disposed at the open position. Having a guide auxiliary portion arranged at a guide position constituting
An image forming apparatus. The guide member has a vertical guide groove having a first inclined surface at an upper portion thereof,
The guide auxiliary portion has a second inclined surface that is paired with the first inclined surface in a state of being arranged at the guide position,
An insertion guide having an upper end side widened by the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The guide member is formed with a relief portion for preventing interference when the rotation support portion is disposed at the retracted position.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2. The shaft member is disposed at an end of the opening.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.

Images