JP2009069176A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent vibration generated in a printer part from being transmitted to an original reading part and to prevent deformation of the original reading means occurring when a load is given by a user to a corner of the original reading part which is not supported by the printer part in order to make access to an in-machine paper discharge part in an in-machine paper discharge type multi function printer. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus is provided with the original reading means for reading an image of an original, an image forming part arranged below the original reading means separated by a space and a discharged paper storing part provided in the space. The image forming apparatus is further provided with a supporting means for forming the space between the image reading means and the image forming part. The supporting means is fixed on a top part of the image forming part and is formed so as to surround the image reading means. In addition, a vibration absorption material is provided on a loading surface of the image reading means in the supporting means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile. In particular, a discharge unit that receives paper after image formation in a space formed at a central portion in the vertical direction of the main body of the image forming apparatus, called in-body discharge. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided.

  Some conventional image forming apparatuses have an original reading unit placed on the upper surface of the apparatus (printer unit) via a support member (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  According to this example of the background art, a spacer member is fixed on the upper surface of the printer unit, and a supporting member of the document reading unit is fixed on the spacer member. Then, a document reading means is placed thereon and fixed with screws.

Further, because of the in-body discharge type, the document reading means cannot be supported in the discharge access section, and has a three-point support structure. Here, the in-body discharge type is an apparatus that discharges recorded paper between the document reading unit and the printer unit.
JP-A-11-164076 (page 4, FIG. 2)

  However, in the above conventional example, the spacer from the printer unit to the upper part, the supporting member of the document reading unit, and the document reading unit are fastened by screws or the like.

  For this reason, when vibration is generated in the printer unit, the vibration is transmitted to the document reading unit.

  More specifically, vibrations caused by rotation of drive motors, gears, and the like of the image forming unit and the fixing unit are generated in connection with the printing operation of the printer unit. These vibrations are transmitted to the document reading means. At this time, when the document reading means is in the document reading operation, there is a problem that the vibration transmitted from the printer unit is directly connected to the disturbance of the read image.

  Since the document reading unit has a three-point support structure with respect to the printer unit, when the user applies a downward load to one corner that is not supported from the printer unit of the document reading unit, the document reading unit is deformed, There is also a possibility that the read image is distorted.

  An object of the present invention is to prevent transmission of vibration generated in the printer unit by disposing an elastic member between the supporting member of the document reading unit and the document reading unit. Another object of the present invention is to prevent deformation of the document reading means when a load is applied to the left front portion of the document reading means by the user.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to the present application is provided with a document reading unit that reads an image of a document, an image forming unit disposed below the document reading unit with a space therebetween, and the space. A paper discharge storage unit; and a support unit that supports the document reading unit so as to form the space between the document reading unit and the image forming unit, and the support unit is an upper part of the image forming unit. The document reading means is placed on an installation surface provided on the support means, and the installation surface is constituted by a vibration absorbing member.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is provided with the document reading unit that reads the image of the document, the image forming unit disposed below the document reading unit with a space therebetween, and the space. And a paper discharge storage unit. The image forming apparatus includes a support unit for forming the space between the document reading unit and the image forming unit, and the support unit is fixed to an upper portion of the image forming unit, and the document reading unit It is formed to surround. Further, in the image forming apparatus, a vibration absorbing member is provided on the placement portion of the document reading means of the support means. Therefore, vibration generated in the image forming unit can be prevented from being transmitted to the document reading apparatus. Further, even when a load is applied to the left front portion of the document reading unit by the user, deformation of the document reading unit can be prevented.

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a main cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an appearance. 3 is a perspective view showing the frame configuration, FIG. 4 is a left side view showing the frame configuration near the document reading means, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the frame configuration of the document reading means.

  In FIG. 1, the apparatus main body 1 includes a printer unit 13, a document reading unit 7, and automatic document feeding means (hereinafter abbreviated as ADF) 8. A document reading unit 7 is provided above the printer unit 13 with a space therebetween.

  The printer unit 13 as an image forming unit will be described. The paper S is fed and conveyed from the paper cassette 2 by the paper feed unit 3, the image is transferred to the paper S in the transfer unit 4, and the transferred image on the paper S is fixed by the fixing unit 5. Thereafter, the paper S is discharged by the paper discharge unit 6 to a paper discharge storage unit 14 where the document reading unit 7 is a space above the printer unit 13.

  The document reading unit 7 and the ADF 8 serving as an automatic document feeding means for automatically feeding a document have the same configuration as a general image reader and document transport device. Therefore, detailed description of the document reading unit 7 and the ADF 8 is omitted.

  Hereinafter, a method of installing the document reading unit 7 on the printer unit 13 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  3 and 4, the alternate long and two short dashes line represents the shape of the exterior cover. The printer unit 13 includes a front side plate 15 and a rear side plate 9. Although there are casing members other than the front side plate 15 and the rear side plate 9, illustration is omitted. Each element shown in FIG. 1 exists between the front side plate 15 and the rear side plate 9.

  A front relay member 16 is fixed to the upper right side of the front plate 15. Similarly, the rear relay member 10 is fixed over the entire upper portion of the rear plate 9.

  On the other hand, a front plate 18, a right plate 22, and a left plate 17 are present so as to surround the outer periphery of the document reading unit 11 as a casing configuration in the document reading unit 7. On the rear side of the document reading unit 11, the rear relay member 10 extends from directly above the rear side plate 9 to the vicinity of the upper surface of the document reading unit 11. A right plate 22 and a left plate 17 are fixed to the rear relay member 10, respectively. The front plate 18 is positioned and held by the front relay member 16. As a result, a housing structure in the document reading unit 7 is formed.

  Next, a method for supporting the document reading unit 11 will be described. The document reading means 11 itself is completed in the document reading function and has a box shape. That is, the document reading unit 11 includes an image sensor inside a box-shaped housing. An image of a document placed on a platen glass provided on the upper surface of a box-shaped housing is read by an image sensor.

  The document reading unit 11 is placed on a horizontal bending portion 18 a formed on the front plate 18 and a horizontal bending portion 10 a formed on the rear relay member 10.

  In other words, the document reading means 11 is a support constituted by the front plate 18, the right plate 22, the left plate 17, the rear relay member 10, the horizontal bending portion 18 a, and the rear relay member 10 constituting the support means. Supported by means. The supporting means constituted by these members is formed so as to surround the document reading means 11 as shown in FIG.

  Here, vibration absorbing members 12 and 19 are disposed between the horizontal bending raising portions 18 a and 10 a and the document reading unit 11. That is, the installation surface on which the document reading unit 11 is placed is composed of the vibration absorbing members 12 and 19. The vibration absorbing members 12 and 19 are elastic members.

  In the present embodiment, the vibration absorbing member 12 on the back side of the apparatus is positioned in the depth and the left-right direction of the document reading unit 11, and there are two on the left and right. The number of vibration absorbing members 19 on the front side of the apparatus is one, and the document reading means 11 is positioned in the height direction by a total of three. That is, the document reading unit 11 is placed on three placement surfaces.

  Here, the position of the center of gravity G of the document reading unit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a view of the document reading unit 7 as viewed from above.

  The center of gravity G (FIG. 5) of the document reading unit 11 is configured to be within a plane constituted by three portions of the vibration absorbing members 12 and 19. Therefore, the document reading unit 11 is held on the vibration absorbing members 12 and 19 in a stable state without fluttering.

  Further, a buffer member 23 such as a compression spring is provided on the left front side of the document reading means 11 between the horizontal bending portion 18a. As a result, it is possible to prevent rattling such as when the user places his / her hand on the document reading means 11 supported by three places. In other words, the buffer member 23 is provided in one corner other than the three places serving as the installation surfaces among the four corners of the image reading unit.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the document reading unit 11 is held by the three portions of the vibration absorbing members 12 and 19. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent inconveniences such as difficulty in height accuracy due to floating of one place and occurrence of tilt as disadvantages when the document reading unit 11 is held at four places. .

  Further, since the document reading unit 11 is placed on the vibration absorbing members 12 and 19 and the buffer member 23, the document reading unit 11 may be lifted or detached. Therefore, as shown in detail in FIG. 4, a restricting member 20 is provided on the left plate 17 in order to prevent the document reading unit 11 from being lifted up or removed. A hole shape 11 b having a slight gap in the width direction and the vertical direction is provided in the document reading unit 11 with respect to the restriction member 20. The restriction member 20 is similarly provided on the right side of the apparatus main body 1 and attached to the right plate 22.

  The reason why the hole shape 11b has a gap with respect to the restriction member 20 is to prevent vibration generated in the printer unit 13 from being transmitted from the hole shape 11b to the document reading means 11 via the restriction member 20. .

  Since the ADF 8 is particularly required to have a positional relationship with the document reading unit 11, the hinge portion 8 a of the ADF 8 is held not by the rear relay member 10 but by the hinge portion 11 a formed on the rear surface of the document reading unit 11. It has become. With this configuration, the ADF 8 is supported by the document reading unit 11 so that it can be opened and closed.

  As described above, the elastic member, which is a vibration absorbing member, is provided between the front plate 18 and the rear relay member 10 serving as a supporting unit for the document reading unit 11 and the document reading unit 11. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent vibration generated in the printer unit 13 from being transmitted to the document reading unit 11.

  Further, the document reading unit 11 is not directly connected to the front plate 18 and the rear relay member 10 as support units by providing vibration absorbing members 19 and 12 which are elastic members. Therefore, even when a load is applied to the left front portion of the document reading unit 7 by the user (a load in the direction of arrow A on the point 21 in FIG. 2), the document reading unit 11 can be prevented from being deformed.

1 is a main cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view of an appearance of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing a frame configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a left side view showing a frame configuration in the vicinity of the document reading unit of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a frame configuration of document reading means of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

7 Document Reading Unit 8 Automatic Document Feeding Means 9 Rear Plate 10 Rear Relay Member 11 Document Reading Means 12, 19 Vibration Absorbing Member (Elastic Member)
14 Discharge storage 15 Front plate 18 Front plate 20 Restriction member

Claims (8)

An original reading means for reading an image of the original;
An image forming unit disposed below the document reading unit with a space therebetween;
A paper discharge storage provided in the space;
Supporting means for supporting the document reading unit so as to form the space between the document reading unit and the image forming unit,
The support means is fixed to the upper part of the image forming unit and is formed so as to surround the document reading means.
The image forming apparatus, wherein the document reading unit is placed on an installation surface provided in the support unit, and the installation surface is constituted by a vibration absorbing member.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document reading unit has three installation surfaces.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a center of gravity of the document reading unit is within a plane formed by the three installation surfaces.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a buffer member is provided at one corner of the four corners of the document reading unit other than the three places where the installation surface is configured. 5.   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a lifting restricting member of the document reading unit is attached to the support unit in order to prevent the document reading unit from being lifted. An original reading means for reading an image of the original;
Automatic document feeding means for automatically feeding a document to the document reading means;
An image forming unit disposed below the document reading unit with a space therebetween;
A paper discharge storage provided in the space;
A support unit for forming the space between the document reading unit and the image forming unit,
The support means is fixed to the upper part of the image forming unit and is formed so as to surround the document reading means.
The image forming apparatus, wherein the document reading unit is placed on an installation surface provided in the support unit, and the installation surface is constituted by a vibration absorbing member.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the automatic document feeding unit is supported to the document reading unit so as to be openable and closable via a hinge unit fixed to the document reading unit. An original reading means for reading an image of the original;
An image forming unit disposed below the document reading unit;
A support unit fixed to the image forming unit and supporting the document reading unit;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a vibration absorbing member provided between the document reading unit and the support unit.

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