JP2011170263A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus having a coupling device capable of guiding a male screw to a female screw, even if the female screw is shifted from above, in the advancing direction of the male screw. <P>SOLUTION: In the image forming apparatus constituted by coupling a sub device 2 with a main device 1, the female screw 8 and a conical part 9 are provided in the main device 1, and a coupling member 5 that couples the sub device 2 with the main device; and a coupling member holding means 13 and 11, that hold the coupling member 5 are provided in the sub device 2; the sub device 2 is coupled with the main device 1, by sliding a spherical part 17 formed at the edge of the coupling member 5 on the conical part 9 to guide the male screw 5a to the female screw 8, and then rotating the coupling member 5 to perform tightening of a sub device 3 by the screws. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, a plotter, a multi-function machine, etc., in which a plurality of devices are connected by a connecting means.

  In general, a high-speed image forming apparatus requires regular maintenance, and the image forming apparatus is divided into two devices, a main device and a sub device, so that the maintenance area can be greatly opened to improve maintainability during maintenance. These devices are connected and fixed with screws. The main device is mainly a unit including a paper feed unit, an image forming unit, a fixing unit, and a paper transport unit, and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The sub-device is a unit that mainly includes a controller portion and an airflow portion, and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.

  The main device and the sub device are connected by a hinge to ensure safety during maintenance (preventing the sub device from falling). The sub-device can be opened and closed with respect to the main device by the structure connected by the hinge. The main device and the sub device are bonded to each other with their joint surfaces, and the upper two places are fixed with fixing screws and the lower two positions are fixed with connecting screws.

  The sub device can be opened away from the main device by the hinge. Maintenance work or the like is performed in this open state. When the maintenance work is finished, the sub-device is pushed and moved so that the sub-device comes into contact with the main device.

  The fixing screw is in the form of a male screw or a bolt, and this fixing screw is passed through a hole formed in a folded piece-like stopper plate portion provided on the upper surface of the sub device and facing the main device, It fixes by screwing in the internal thread formed in the main apparatus. The upper two tightening portions by the fixing screws are located in the upper part of the sub-device, and this part is located in the open space, so that workability is good.

  On the other hand, at the two lower locations, the butting surfaces of both devices are screwed with a connecting member. The connecting member is composed of a long screw that can be tightened from the outside of the sub-device opposite to the abutting surface, and the intermediate portion is supported by support means at the lower portion of the sub-device and the approximate direction is determined. The male screw formed on the main device is screwed into the female screw of the main device. The part where the male screw formed at the distal end of the connecting member is screwed with the female screw is located at the lower part of the sub device, so that it is hidden by the sub device and the visibility is poor.

  In addition, the main device and the sub device have independent frame configurations, and depending on the floor condition of the installation location, the main device and the sub device may be displaced vertically and horizontally, combined with the above-mentioned poor visibility. Therefore, it is difficult to match the male male end of the connecting member with the screw hole of the main device, and there is a possibility that the screw hole of the main device may be damaged if it is forced to screw in.

  As a known technique, there is a fixing device for a deck material, and a screw holder that is sandwiched between the side surfaces of both deck materials in order to maintain an appropriate distance between the both deck materials. It has a vertical hole that can be inserted, and a connecting plate that is inserted into the locking groove of both deck members on both sides, and this connecting plate engages the hook and the connecting plate that engage with the locking groove of the deck material. There is an elastic piece that is supported in the recessed groove, and the screw holder is fixed by driving the bottom end of the set screw loosely inserted into the vertical hole into the joist (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this known technique, at the lower end of the screw groove of the set screw, a pointed portion for driving into the joist and temporarily fixing is provided, and this pointed portion is inserted into the vertical hole. There is no disclosure of means for guiding into the vertical holes.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has an improved coupling device so that the male screw can be guided to the female screw even if the female screw is displaced from the traveling direction of the male screw. It is an object to provide a forming apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus in which a main device and a sub device are connected by a connecting device, the connecting device having a male screw at a tip portion thereof. And a connecting member that penetrates one of the main devices, and a female screw that is provided on either the other of the sub device and the main device and that is screwed with the male screw. A conical portion for guiding the tip of the male screw to the female screw is provided in the portion.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect,
The female screw and the conical portion are provided in the main device, and the connecting member and connecting member holding means for holding the connecting member are provided in the sub device.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect,
The connecting member holding means is configured integrally with the sub device, and holds the connecting member in the sub device so that the connecting member can rotate and the axis of the connecting member faces the conical portion.
According to a fourth means of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third means,
The connecting member is held so as not to be detached from the connecting member holding means.
According to a fifth means of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth means, a tip end portion of the male screw portion is formed in a spherical shape.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects,
The front end portion of the male screw portion has a conical shape, and the front end portion of the conical shape portion has a curved shape.

  According to the present invention, the conical portion that guides the tip of the male screw to the screw hole of the female screw is provided at the entrance of the female screw even when the main device and the sub device are displaced in the vertical and horizontal directions. By providing, the tip of the male screw is guided by the female screw, so that the screw hole can be securely tightened without damaging the screw hole, and the main device and the sub device can be securely connected without damaging the screw. can do.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus including a main device and a sub device. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the image forming apparatus, showing a state in which the sub apparatus can be opened and closed with respect to the main apparatus. It is a disassembled perspective view of the sub apparatus attached to the main apparatus. (A) is a view showing a state in which a tightening washer is mounted after being attached to an intermediate holding member, (b) is a view of an intermediate portion of a connecting member and an intermediate holding member that holds the intermediate portion, and (c) is a male screw It is a figure of the external thread holding member which has penetrated the part and this external thread part. It is the fragmentary sectional view explaining a mode that a fastening washer was attached to a connecting member, and a retaining member was attached. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus showing a state immediately before a sub apparatus is assembled to a main apparatus. It is the figure which illustrated the case where a connecting member inclines on an intermediate holding part, when attaching a sub device to a main device. It is the figure which showed the state which has become a state which the front-end | tip part external thread of a connection member slip | deviated from an internal thread, and a cone-shaped part contact | abuts because there is a level | step difference in a floor surface. It is the figure which showed the state by which the assembly | attachment of the sub apparatus with respect to the main apparatus with a connection member was made favorable.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<Image forming apparatus>
An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus composed of a main apparatus and a sub apparatus will be described.
An outline of the image forming apparatus 100 is shown in FIGS. 1 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus in the assembled state, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the image forming apparatus in the assembled state, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the image forming apparatus in the assembled state.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a main device 1 and a sub device 2 that are unitized. The main device 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape covered with a frame, and includes a paper feeding unit, an image forming unit, a fixing unit, a paper transporting unit, and the like. The sub-device 2 is also formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape covered with a frame, and incorporates an airflow portion for discharging warm air in the main device to the outside of the apparatus, a controller portion for controlling the airflow portion, and the like. The sub device 2 is smaller than the main device 1.

  The main apparatus 1 and the sub apparatus 2 are independent units. The sub apparatus 2 has a caster at the bottom, and is aligned with and connected to the main apparatus 1 to form the image forming apparatus 100 as a whole. Provided for use.

  The mounting surface of the sub device 1 in the main device 1 is the back surface of the main device, and has a rectangular shape. The attachment surface of the sub apparatus to the main apparatus 1 is the front part of the sub apparatus, and the back part and the front part have a rectangular shape with the same size and shape. The main device 1 and the sub device 2 are connected and integrated so as to be openable and closable by means such as a hinge, a fixing screw, and a connecting device according to the present invention in a state in which the back portion and the front portion are brought together. Configured and used for image formation.

  A mode of connection between the main device 1 and the sub device 2 will be described. The image forming apparatus 100 can open and close the sub apparatus 2 with respect to the main apparatus 1 as necessary for maintenance, inspection, maintenance, and the like, and is thus connected by a special hinge 3. This hinge 3 is indicated by a broken line in each figure.

  One end side of the hinge 3 is pivotally attached to a part of the main device 1 by a pivoting portion O1, and the other end side of the hinge 3 is pivotally attached to a front portion of the sub device 2 by a pivoting portion O2. The fixing device described later can be removed and the sub device 2 can be pushed and moved away from the main device 1 in a state where the connection by the connecting device is released. In this example, as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1, when the pivoting portion O1 on one end side of the hinge 3 is used as a fulcrum and the pivoting portion O2 on the other end side is moved along an arcuate locus, the sub apparatus 2 is pivoted accordingly. The landing portion O1 can be turned around the fulcrum and separated from the main device 1. A state in which the sub device 2 is separated from the main device 1 and the joint surface is opened is shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, necessary maintenance, inspection, maintenance and the like are performed in a state where the sub device 2 is separated from the main device 1, and then the sub device 2 is pushed back by the reverse operation. The sub device 2 is fixed to the main device 1 as shown in FIG. This fixing is performed by the fixing screw 4 at the upper left and right two places and the connecting member 5 of the present invention at the lower left and right two places, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the fixing with the fixing screw 4 uses a folded portion 6 of the frame formed on the front side upper portion of the sub apparatus 2. A hole 6 a is formed in the folded portion 6, and a fixing screw 4 is inserted into the hole 6 a, and the fixing screw 4 is screwed into a fixing screw female screw 7 formed in advance on the back side of the main device 1. First, temporarily tighten. Similarly, with respect to the connecting member 5, the male screw formed at the distal end portion of the connecting member holding means by holding the connecting member 5 on the connecting device holding means provided on the sub device 2 from the back side of the sub device 2 is used as the main device 1. Are screwed into a female screw formed on the lower part of the back side of the steel plate and temporarily tightened, and the fixing screw and the connecting member are alternately tightened to finally fix firmly.

  Here, the state of the floor surface at the site where the image forming apparatus is installed is not necessarily a flat surface, and there may be a step between the installation surface of the main device 1 and the installation surface of the sub device 2. In preparation for this, the diameter of the hole 6a is made sufficiently larger than the diameter of the fixing screw 4 so that the step on the installation surface can be absorbed.

  As shown in the drawing, the tightening portion by the fixing screw 4 is in an open environment above the main device 1 and the sub device 2, and the visibility is good, so the tip of the fixing screw 4 is inserted into the hole 6a. It is easy to match and tightening work is easy.

  On the other hand, the tightening operation by the connecting member 5 is, as described above, the portion where the female screw 8 for the connecting member is formed is below the sub device 2 and is hidden by the sub device 2, so that the visibility is high. Furthermore, the connecting member 5 is long enough to penetrate the sub device 2 from the back side to the front side, and the connecting member 5 is provided integrally with the sub device 2 from the back side of the sub device 2. Since the connecting member 5 is inserted into the means, and the male screw provided at the tip of the connecting member 5 is directly inserted into the female screw formed in the main device 1, this work is not easy with the conventional female screw portion configuration. However, in the present invention, the following configuration facilitates the work.

<Connecting device and its holding means>
In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 9, the connecting device connected to the main device 1 at two locations below the sub device 2 has a male screw 5 a at its tip and penetrates through the sub device 2 to the tip. The connecting member 5 having a male screw 5a and a female screw 8 provided in the main device 1 and screwed with the male screw 5a as shown in FIGS. A conical portion 9 for guiding the tip of the male screw 5 a to the female screw 8 is provided at the entrance of the female screw 8.

  In this example, the connecting member 5 is provided in the sub-device 2, and the female screw 8 and the conical portion 9 are provided in the main device 1. However, as a modification, the connecting member 5 is provided so as to penetrate the main device 1, The female screw 8 and the conical portion 9 may be provided in the sub device 2.

  4A and 4B, the bottom plate frame 10 of the sub apparatus 2 is integrally provided with an intermediate holding member 11 that is inserted by the connecting member 5 and holds the connecting member 5 at the intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction. Provided. When the intermediate holding member 11 inserted by the connecting member 5 is viewed from the insertion direction, it is substantially U-shaped as shown in FIG. 4B, and the opening 11 a is inserted by the connecting member 5. ing. By this insertion, the intermediate part of the connecting member 5 is held by the intermediate part holding member 11. Since the intermediate portion holding member 11 is a member having a width in the longitudinal direction of the connecting member 5, the intermediate portion holding member 11 has a function of regulating the direction of the holding connecting member 5 so as to face the conical portion 9.

  In FIG. 4A, the bottom plate frame 10 of the sub apparatus 2 has a front end portion bent at a right angle downward, and a front end portion that holds the front end portion of the connecting member by the bent portion. A holding member 13 is configured. When the intermediate holding member 11 inserted by the connecting member 5 is viewed from the insertion direction, a long hole 13a that is long in the vertical direction is formed in the tip end holding member 13 as shown in FIG. The male screw 5a is inserted and held through the long hole 13a. The long hole 13a gives a large freedom of movement in the vertical direction with respect to the male screw 5a. This is because the sub apparatus 2 is supported by a caster and does not have a height adjusting function, and the installation floor surface of the sub apparatus 2 is provided. This is in order to cope with the various situations depending on the installation location. In addition, there is some room in the horizontal direction. An opening 11a, which will be described later, is also held at a lower limit with respect to the intermediate portion of the connecting member 5 so as to have a space upward and left and right.

  The intermediate portion holding member 11 and the tip portion holding member 13 constitute a connecting member holding means. When the male screw 5a of the connecting member 5 is screwed into the screw hole of the female screw, the connecting member holding means can previously rotate the connecting member 5 so that the axis of the connecting member 5 faces the conical portion 9. Hold on.

  A procedure for holding the connecting member 5 with respect to the connecting member holding means of the sub apparatus 2 will be described. The connecting member 5 is moved in the direction of arrow A and inserted into the opening 11 a of the intermediate holding member 11, and the intermediate portion is held by the intermediate holding member 11. In this state, the distal end portion of the male screw 5a has not yet been inserted into the elongated hole 13a. Under this state, the gap between the distal end portion of the connecting member 5 and the distal end portion holding member 13 is utilized. Then, the washer 14 is attached to the male screw 5a.

  Here, the base end portion of the male screw 5a has the same diameter as the intermediate portion of the connecting member 5, and has a stepped portion 14 having a diameter larger than the diameter of the male screw 5a. The stepped portion 14 is larger than the male screw 5a. Located on the back side. A washer 15 having an inner diameter that stops at the stepped portion 14 is inserted into the male screw portion 5a between the stepped portion 14 and the tip holding member 13 in the direction indicated by the arrow B. The outer diameter of the washer 15 is larger than that of the long hole 13a, and functions as a fastening means when the male screw 5a is screwed into the female screw 8.

  After the washer 15 is mounted, the connecting member 5 is further moved in the direction indicated by the arrow A so that the male screw 5a penetrates the long hole 13a and the E-ring groove 5b formed in the intermediate part of the connecting member 5 It comes to be located in front of the holding member 11. Under this state, the E-ring 16 having a larger diameter than the opening 11a is mounted in the groove 5b. This state is shown in FIGS.

  Connected by an E-ring 16 and a washer 15 held by a step 14 at a position intermediate the longitudinal direction of the connecting member 5 and closer to the front side (closer to the male screw 5) than the support by the intermediate holding member 11 The member 5 is prevented from coming off between the intermediate portion holding member 11 and the tip portion holding member 13.

  The long hole 13a is provided with a space in the vertical and horizontal directions so that it can cope with the situation of the installation floor surface of the sub-device 2, for example, as shown in FIG. 5 may incline so that the male screw portion 5a contacts the lower end of the long hole 13a and the front side faces downward, but even in such a case, when the connecting member 5 is pushed and moved to the front side, If the spherical portion 17 at the tip of 5a is in a position facing the conical portion 9, the spherical portion provided at the tip of the male screw 5a by further pushing and moving the connecting member 5 to the front side 17 hits the conical portion 9 and slides into the hole of the female screw 8, and the male screw 5 a is guided by the female screw 8.

  Therefore, the male screw 5a is screwed into the female screw 8 as shown in FIG. 9 by rotating the tool engaging portion 18 formed at the rear end portion of the connecting member 5 with a box driver or a flat screwdriver. Get the normal tightened state. Also in the case where the installation floor surface of the sub device 2 has a step 21 with respect to the installation floor surface of the main device 1, the spherical tip of the male screw 5 a is in a position facing the conical shape portion 9. If so, a normal tightening state as shown in FIG. 9 is obtained by the same operation.

  In the above example, the case where the tip of the male screw 5a is spherical has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the tip of the male screw has a conical shape, and the tip of the conical shape has a curved shape. Thus, even when avoiding the pointed portion, the male screw 5 a can be guided to the female screw 8 by sliding within the conical portion 9.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main apparatus 2 Sub apparatus 3 Hinge 4 Fixing screw 5 Connecting member 5a Male screw 5b Groove 6 Folding part 6a Hole 7, 8 Female screw 9 Conical shape part 10 Bottom plate frame 11 Intermediate | middle part holding member 11a Opening part 13 Tip part holding member 13a Long hole 14 Step portion 15 Washer 16 E ring 17 Spherical portion 18 Tool engagement portion 20 Floor surface 21 (Floor surface) Step 100 Image forming apparatus A Arrows O1 and O2

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-31757

Claims (6)

  In an image forming apparatus in which a main device and a sub device are connected by a connecting device, the connecting device includes a connecting member having a male screw at a tip portion thereof and penetrating one of the sub device and the main device; A conical structure formed by a combination of a sub device and a female screw that is provided on the other side of the main device and that engages with the male screw. An image forming apparatus comprising a shape portion. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
An image forming apparatus, wherein the female screw and the conical portion are provided in the main device, and the connecting member and a connecting member holding means for holding the connecting member are provided in the sub device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2.
The connecting member holding means is configured integrally with the sub device, and holds the connecting member in the sub device so that the connecting member can rotate and the axis of the connecting member faces the conical portion. Image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connecting member is held so as not to be detached from the connecting member holding unit. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that a tip end portion of the male screw portion has a spherical shape. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that a front end portion of the male screw portion has a conical shape, and a front end portion of the conical shape portion has a curved shape.

Images