JP2012234194A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a frame structure preventing a positional shift occurring when fastening a device to side plates.SOLUTION: A stay frame 13 comprises: a left-side connecting part facing a left-side plate 12; and a right-side connecting part facing a right-side plate and is constituted of a recessed part which fits to a projection projected toward the stay frame from left and right side plates with almost no dimensional difference in which first connecting parts 11d0 and 13a1 and second connecting parts 11d0' and 13b1 are disposed at one side of the right-side connecting part and the left-side connection part, and third connecting parts 11d and 13a1 and fourth connecting parts 11d' and 13b' are disposed at another side of the right-side connecting part and the left-side connection part. The second connecting parts 11d0' and 13b1 and the fourth connecting parts 11d' and 13b' are disposed at a position facing the stay frame and constituted of a first long hole having a dimensional difference in a longitudinal direction at a projection projected toward the stay frame from one of left and right side plates and a second long hole having a dimensional difference in a longitudinal direction and in a vertical direction at a projection projected toward the stay frame from another left and right side plates.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an assembly structure of various functional parts and apparatuses between side plates.

  As is well known, an image forming apparatus is one of apparatuses having a configuration in which various functional parts and apparatuses are incorporated in a frame structure including opposing side plates.

In recent years, full-color printers and the like capable of forming not only a single color but also a plurality of colors have become widely used as image forming apparatuses.
In a full-color printer, a method of sequentially transferring color images formed in a plurality of image forming units onto a recording medium such as recording paper or a primary transfer step of sequentially superimposing and transferring images of each color onto an intermediate transfer member, and a primary transfer process There is known a system including a secondary transfer process in which a superimposed image obtained in a transfer process is transferred collectively to a recording medium conveyed toward an intermediate transfer member (for example, Patent Document 1).

  When superimposing and transferring images of a plurality of colors, it is necessary to improve the transfer position accuracy between the color images and prevent the occurrence of abnormal images such as color misregistration.

  One of the factors affecting the transfer position accuracy is the component mounting accuracy of the image forming unit used for forming each image. In other words, if the parallelism of the image carrier between the image forming units is not obtained, or if there is a difference in the optical path length in the main scanning direction of the scanning light, the transfer position between the image forming units will be shifted. As a result, there are cases where color misregistration occurs due to different transfer start positions of the images when superimposed.

  Conventionally, as a configuration for preventing the deterioration of the mounting accuracy of the apparatus between the image forming units, a structure in which a stay is horizontally mounted between side plates of a frame structure used to support each of the apparatuses (for example, There is a configuration in which each device is attached after the positional relationship between the side plate and the stay is defined using a jig (Patent Documents 2 and 3) (for example, Patent Document 1).

  As a configuration for attaching a stay horizontally mounted between the side plates, a plurality of convex portions are provided on the stay side, and a concave portion in which the convex portion can be fitted is provided at a position on the side plate side corresponding to the convex portion. A configuration is known in which an error relating to the position and size of other convex portions and concave portions is suppressed within a tolerance range based on one of the above (for example, Patent Document 4).

  In the structure which prevents the inclination of the side plate which is likely to occur when an external force is applied by arranging stays between the side plates as described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, the rigidity of the side plates is increased by reinforcing with the stays. be able to. In order to increase the rigidity of such a side plate, particularly the rigidity against an external force, the rigidity of the side plate itself is required. Therefore, a sheet metal member such as SECC that is relatively easy to secure its own rigidity is often used for the side plate.

  However, when the side plate is a sheet metal member, the weight of the frame structure itself increases, which may increase the weight of the entire image forming apparatus.

  For this reason, it is conceivable to use a resin molded product for supporting structure parts such as side plates in order to reduce the weight and cost of the frame structure.

  When a resin molded product is used, it is difficult to secure a small size and rigidity as compared with the sheet metal member itself. In view of this, it is conceivable that a sheet metal part is integrally attached to a part for the purpose of securing rigidity at the attachment position of each device while reducing the weight.

  When such a configuration is used, the molding die becomes complicated because it is necessary to make a molding die in consideration of incorporation of sheet metal parts, and it is difficult to obtain a complicated shape. In addition, when a sheet metal member is attached to a part, the use of the sheet metal member causes an increase in material cost and assembly cost as compared with the case of resin molding alone.

  On the other hand, the device attached between the side plates is often fastened. For this reason, although the rigidity of the side plates is ensured, there may be a case where the positional accuracy between the devices cannot be ensured due to the displacement of the position due to the fastening at the time of attaching the devices. This problem is also true when the support structure is manufactured by resin molding. Even if resin molding is used to reduce the weight, increase the size of parts, and reduce additional parts by integral molding, this resin molded product There is a possibility that the positions of the superimposed images may be shifted due to a shift in the mounting position of the device intended for the above.

  In particular, when the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 4 is used, even if the displacement at the time of attachment can be eliminated, it is not possible to prevent the deformation of the stay from being deformed by an external force acting after the attachment. Is the current situation.

  As described above, when the device is attached, if the stay located between the side plates is twisted due to the displacement at the fastening portion or the external force acting after the attachment, the external force is likely to be concentrated on the fastening portion between the device and the side plate. There is a risk of causing a positional shift of the attached device.

  In particular, as described in References 2 and 3, when the stay is integrated with the side plate by fastening, the positional relationship between the side plates is constrained by the positional relationship with the stay, so the side plate and the side plate are attached. There is a possibility that the attachment position relationship with the device to be installed is restricted, and the attachment position of the device remains shifted. Further, as described in Patent Document 1, when positioning the side plates using a jig, the stay in which the positional relationship with the side plate is defined by the jig is generated by an external force after the jig is removed. As a result, the side plates may be displaced.

  In view of the problems in the conventional frame structure described above, an object of the present invention is to prevent a positional shift between devices by preventing the positional shift between the devices due to the fastening of the devices to the side plates whose installation positional relationship is defined. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a configuration capable of preventing image generation.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a frame comprising a left side plate and a right side plate facing each other, a connecting member that is horizontally mounted between the side plates and whose both end surfaces are supported by the side plates, and an image between the left and right side plates. In the image forming apparatus provided with the carrier and the transfer unit,
The connecting member includes a left connecting portion on a left end surface facing the left plate, and a right connecting portion on a right end surface facing the right plate,
Either one of the right side connecting part and the left side connecting part is provided with a first connecting part and a second connecting part, and the other is provided with a third connecting part and a fourth connecting part,
The first connecting part and the third connecting part are arranged at positions facing the connecting member, and are fitted to the projecting parts protruding from the left and right side plates toward the connecting member with almost no difference in dimensions. Consists of concavities that fit together,
The second connecting part and the fourth connecting part are arranged at positions where the connecting member faces each other, and any one of them is a convex part projecting from one of the left and right side plates toward the connecting member. And the first elongated hole having a dimensional difference only in the front-rear direction, and the other has a dimensional difference in the front-rear direction and the up-down direction from the convex portion projecting from the other of the left and right side plates toward the connecting member. The image forming apparatus includes the second long hole.

  According to the present invention, since the first elongated hole has almost no dimensional difference, it can be a determining part when the connecting member is attached to the side plate, while the second elongated hole has a dimensional difference, The side plate and the connecting member can be fixed in a state in which the connecting member with respect to the side plate is restricted from being displaced in the rotational direction. As a result, the positional relationship between the connecting member used to mount each device and the side plate is matched with a simple configuration that only makes the shape of each elongated hole different, so that an abnormal image is generated due to misalignment. Can be prevented.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus using a frame according to the best mode for carrying out the present invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the principle structure of the flame | frame by the best form for implementing this invention. It is the figure seen from the side surface of one side plate in the principle structure shown in FIG. It is the figure seen from the side surface of the other side plate in the principle structure shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the fastening state of the side plate and stay material in the principle structure shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the modification of the principle structure by the best form for implementing this invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the structure of the flame | frame by the Example of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the Example seen from the other side of the side plate used for the flame | frame in the principle structure shown in FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the Example shown in FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the Example seen from the one side of the side plate used for the flame | frame in the principle structure shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the Example seen from the one side of the side plate used for the flame | frame in the principle structure shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the flame | frame in the modification of the principle structure shown in FIG. It is the disassembled perspective view seen from the other side of the side plate in the flame | frame shown in FIG. It is the disassembled perspective view seen from the one side of the side plate in the flame | frame shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the member used for the auxiliary mechanism of the stay material used for the flame | frame shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the partial modification of the structure shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the partial modification shown in FIG. FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a state in which a part of the image forming apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 16 is opened.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
First, before explaining the characteristic part of the present invention, the principle configuration as a measure for preventing the positional deviation between the side plates considered by the present inventor will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus which is one of electronic devices using a frame according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has a plurality of colors by writing using laser light. A color laser printer 1 (hereinafter referred to as a laser printer for convenience) 1 in which image forming units capable of image formation are juxtaposed, but in the present invention, a copier, a facsimile machine, a printing machine, or the like is also included in the image forming apparatus. To do.

The configuration of the color laser printer shown in FIG. 1 will be described as follows.
In FIG. 1, the color laser printer includes image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K and 21C that rotate at a constant speed for each color of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow (K, C, M, and Y indicate colors). , 21M, 21Y, a developing unit having color developing units 22K, 22C, 22M, 22Y, and a paper feeding unit that holds a color image obtained by superimposing and transferring images of each color developed by the developing unit in a primary transfer process 5 is further provided with an intermediate transfer member 41 (which may be an intermediate transfer belt, a transfer belt of the transfer material P, or a photosensitive belt) that is transferred to the transfer material P fed from 5 in the secondary transfer step.
The transfer material P onto which the color image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 6 to fix the color image on the transfer material P, and is discharged to the paper discharge unit on the upper surface of the apparatus by the discharge roller 71. The four color developing devices and the image carrier are integrally formed for each color and are detachable from the printer main body.

Next, the configuration of each part of the color laser printer 1 that is the object of the image forming apparatus will be described in detail.
The image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, 21M, and 21Y are configured integrally with the developing units 22K, 22C, 22M, and 22Y and the toner storage containers 23K, 23C, 23M, and 23Y that are provided in the developing unit. The developing unit is detachably held with respect to the printer main body, and can be easily replaced as the toner is consumed.

Image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, 21M, and 21Y shown in FIG. 1 are configured by applying an organic photoconductive layer to the outside of an aluminum cylinder, and image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, and 21M. , 21Y with respect to the housing of the process cartridge described later including the developing devices 22K, 22C, 22M, and 22Y provided in the developing unit via flanges, bearings, and shafts that are coaxially disposed at both ends. The image bearing member (photosensitive drum) 21K, 21C, 21M, 21Y and the shaft are electrically connected.
Further, a drive transmission mechanism (for example, a helical gear) (not shown) is provided coaxially with the image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, 21M, and 21Y, and rotates by obtaining power from a drive device (not shown). .

  The charging means 24K, 24C, 24M, and 24Y are for uniformly charging the surfaces of the image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, 21M, and 21Y.

  Writing on the image carrier is performed by each color LD light (31K, 31C, 31M, 31Y) from the writing exposure device 3, and image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C rotating at a constant speed. , 21M, and 21Y are selectively irradiated with laser light to perform exposure writing, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image on the image carrier.

  The developing means is composed of four developing units 22K, 22C, 22M, and 22Y that can develop black, cyan, magenta, and yellow colors in order to visualize the electrostatic latent image. The four color developing devices 22K, 22C, 22M and 22Y are image bearing members (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, 21M and 21Y, and developing rollers 25K, 25C, 25M and 25Y are image bearing members (photosensitive drums). 21K, 21C, 21M, and 21Y are arranged in contact with each other while rotating, and a visible image is formed on each of the image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, 21M, and 21Y with toner of each color.

  In the color laser printer 1 shown in FIG. 1, among the apparatuses used for image formation for each color, image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, 21M, and 21Y, and a developer 22K that performs image formation processing on the image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, 21M, and 21Y. , 22C, 22M, and 22Y, charging means 24K, 24C, 24M, and 24Y, and a process cartridge in which a cleaning device for an image carrier (photoconductor) after transfer is collected in an image forming unit for each color is used.

  An intermediate transfer member (hereinafter referred to as an intermediate transfer belt) 41 multiplexes toner images of image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, 21M, and 21Y visualized by the developing units 22K, 22C, 22M, and 22Y during a color image forming operation. Rotates to transfer. The intermediate transfer member is mainly composed of an intermediate transfer belt 41, a drive roller 42 that transmits drive, and a tension roller 43 that stretches the intermediate transfer belt. The toner images formed by the image carriers (photosensitive drums) 21K, 21C, 21M, and 21Y are multiple transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 41. The intermediate transfer member (intermediate transfer belt) 41 that has undergone the multiple transfer collectively transfers the toner images of the respective colors onto the transfer material P in the secondary transfer unit 44.

  In addition, the sheet feeding device 5 that feeds the transfer material P from the sheet feeding cassette 51, the transport device 8 that transports the fed transfer material P, the fixing unit 6 that fixes the color images collectively transferred to the transfer material P, and the image A paper discharge unit 7 that transports the transfer material P that has been formed to a paper discharge port at the top of the apparatus, and a double-sided printing unit 9 that forms images on both sides of the transfer material P are provided.

  In the color laser printer 1 having the above-described configuration, the apparatus main body is configured by a casing in which a frame is combined. The frame structure includes various apparatuses and members used in the image forming unit, and an image forming unit. An intermediate transfer member having a corresponding relationship with the image carrier is incorporated.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the frame will be described.
2 to 6 are schematic diagrams for explaining the principle configuration of the frame. Note that the frame used in the following description is synonymous with a frame structure, or a skeleton or a frame. In the following description, it refers to a skeleton part of a housing in an image forming apparatus. As in the case of the image forming apparatus, general electronic devices or other structures that are used by incorporating electric parts are applicable, and metals or resins are used as materials for the structures.

  In FIG. 2, the main part of the frame has a configuration in which devices and members used in the image forming unit are attached according to the positional relationship set between the opposing side plates 11 and 12.

The side plates 11 and 12 used in the main part of the frame are connected to each other by a stay member 13 which is a connecting member of a plate-like member horizontally mounted between the opposing surfaces.
The stay member 13 has a front-rear direction in the same plane as the upright direction (vertical direction) of the side plates 11, 12, and a left-right end surface in the front-rear direction is bent to form a piece, and the end surface is the side plate. 11 and 12 are supported by fastening.

  On the opposing surfaces of the side plates 11 and 12 integrated with the stay material 13, as shown in FIGS. 12a, transfer device support portions 11b and 12b, writing exposure device support portions 11c and 12c, and other device support portions are provided. FIG. 17 shows the positional relationship between the stay material 13 and the waste toner tank TG located above the stay material 13.

  For each of the support portions, a fitting groove provided at a position where each support object in the side plates 11 and 12 can be positioned is used, and the formation position is between the side plates 11 and 12, for example, the side plate. The height from the bottom surface of 11 and 12 is made into the position where each support target object becomes the same, and it is formed in the symmetrical position in the left-right direction of the front-back direction.

  In FIG. 2, the stay member 13 is provided on the side plate 11 on the right end face toward the paper surface, and the arrow V (hereinafter, the side plate 12 is shown in FIGS. 11 and FIG. 12 are also displayed in the same meaning as this), and have a degree of freedom of rotation and can be displaced in the vertical direction by rotation. In other words, the side plate 12 can rotate with respect to the stay member 13.

  In FIG. 2, the stay member 13 corresponding to a connecting member used for a part of the frame has a structure to be connected to the side plates located on the left and right sides of the paper surface, that is, the left-right direction of the stay member 13. On the side plate 11 facing the one side end surface, the front and rear convex portions 11d and 11d ′ using the first and second convex portions constituting the connecting portion of the stay member 13 and the side plate 11 along the front-rear direction. Are provided. Front and rear recesses 13a and 13b are provided on the end surfaces of the stay member 13 facing the front and rear projections 11d and 11d ', and the projections and recesses are fitted to each other. Are connected to each other.

  On the other hand, in the side plate 12 facing the side plate 11, the surface facing the end surface of the stay material 13 extends from the bottom surface of the stay material 13 at the center between the positions of the front and rear projections 11 d and 11 d in the front-rear direction. A single convex portion (indicated by reference numeral 11d1 for convenience) is provided as a connecting portion at a height position at the same level as the height position of the convex portion.

  As will be described later, the single convex portion 11d1 is used as a rotation fulcrum when the side plate 12 is rotated although it is not displaced in the vertical direction with respect to the single concave portion 13a 'provided in the stay material 13.

  The front convex portion 11d and the single convex portion 11d1 have the same size, and the concave portions 13a and 13a ′ on the stay material 13 side to which the front convex portion 11d is fitted have a margin other than the fitting margin of the front convex portion 11d and the single convex portion 11d1. It has almost the same size without holding it so that it does not shift when fitted.

  On the other hand, the rear convex portion 11d ′ on the side plate 11 side and the concave portion 13b on the stay material 13 side fitted thereto are not the same size, but are formed so that the concave portion 13b is larger than the rear convex portion 11d ′. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the concave portion 13 b is configured by a long hole having a large size in the front-rear direction, that is, a so-called fitting margin with respect to the outer diameter of the convex portion 11 d ′. When the side plate 11 and the stay material 13 are assembled before the side plate 12 and the stay material 13 are assembled, the side plate 11 with respect to the recess 13a ′ on the stay material 13 side is assembled. The rear convex portion 11d 'on the side can be aligned and fitted.

  For this reason, when attaching the stay material 13 on the side plate 11 side, if the side plates 11 and 12 are opposed to each other by a surface plate, a jig or the like, the side plate 11 and the stay 13 are fixed, and the side plate 12 alone is in the V direction. Rotate. In other words, the side plate 12 rotates with respect to the combination of the stay 13 and the side plate 11. Alternatively, the combination of the stay 13 and the side plate 11 rotates with respect to the side plate 12. This is because 11d ′ for 13b and 11d for 13a do not have backlash in the vertical direction. As a result, even if the side plate 11 and the stay 13 are fixed, the parallelism between the side plate 11 and the side plate 12 can be adjusted by the rotation of the side plate 12. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the parallelism of both side plates from becoming the stay 13.

  Since the single convex portion 11d1 that is the third convex portion located on the side plate 12 side is rotatably fitted in the concave portion 13a ′ on the stay material 13 side, the parallelism between the side plate 11 and the side plate 12 is shifted. Even if the stay material 13 does not adjust to the horizontal state by forcibly twisting the posture of the stay material 13 or the like, the stay material 13 can be naturally used by utilizing the assembled state at the fitting portion and the rotating portion. It can be fastened with screws while maintaining the posture. In the present embodiment, the diameter of the screw hole on the side plate side is set to a size that can accommodate the change in the position of the stay 13.

As a result, the stay 13 can be displaced so as to align the fastening position thereof with respect to the fastening position having the facing relation such as the parallelism in the side plates 11 and 12 defined in advance. It becomes possible to connect the stay 13 to the side plates 11 and 12 without breaking the relationship between the side plates 11 and 12 maintaining the above. Alternatively, the parallelism can be adjusted by rotating the side plate 12 with respect to the stay 13 and the side plate 11 that are fixed.
That is, the side plates 11 and 12 are provided with the support members 11a, 12a, 11b, 12b, or 11c, 12c of the stay member 13 in a state where the device is mounted. Regardless of accuracy, the torsion angle with the side plates 11 and 12 can be regulated based on the facing relationship between the side plates.

  Thereby, even if there is an error in the fastening position on the side of the stay member 13 with respect to the side plates 11 and 12, the torsion angle of the side plates 11 and 12 can be adjusted. The stay material 13 can be attached with the side plates 11 and 12 being used as a reference, and when the fastening position on the stay material 13 side is used as a reference, a situation occurs in which the opposing relationship between the side plates is broken. Therefore, when the side plates 11 and 12 and the stay material 13 are connected to each other, a state where the side plates 11 and 12 are not restrained by the stay material 13 can be obtained.

  3A is a view showing a state in which the front convex portion 11d, the rear convex portion 11d ′, and the concave portions 13a and 13b on the stay material 13 side are fitted from the outside of the side plate 11. FIG. 4A is a view showing the side plate 12 from the outside of the side plate 12 in a state where the single convex portion 11d1 of the side plate 12 and the recess 13a on the stay member 13 side are fitted. 3B shows a contact surface between the side plate 11 and the stay material 13, and FIG. 4B shows a contact surface between the side plate 12 and the stay material 13.

  The side plates 11 and 12 are connected when the stay member 13 is horizontally mounted. For the connection, as shown in FIG. 5, a fastening portion provided on the side plates 11 and 12 and the stay member 13 side is used. The conclusion is made.

  In FIG. 5, the fastening portion is configured to insert the screw N toward the screw hole formed in the end surface on the stay member 13 </ b> A side through the screw insertion hole N <b> 1 formed in the side plates 11 and 12. In addition, as a structure of a fastening part, it can replace with the structure which uses a screw, and can also be set as welding structures, such as a rivet fastening and spot welding.

  In the principle configuration for correcting the positional deviation between the side plates as described above, when the stay material 13 is horizontally mounted between the side plates 11 and 12 and incorporated for connection, for example, a surface plate or a jig. The side plates 11 and 12 are made to be in an ideal opposed positional relationship that can support the object to be supported, and the front convex portion 11d of the side plate 11 and the single convex portion 11d1 of the side plate 12 are concave portions of the stay material 13. The rear projection 11d ′ of the side plate 11 and the recess 13b of the stay member 13 are fitted.

  In this state, as shown in FIG. 5, the stay material 13 is fastened to the side plates 11 and 12 using screws N, but the stay material 13 is not fixed to the side plates 11 and 12 until then. Therefore, for example, when the device is supported by the support portions of the various devices included in the side plates 11 and 12 and the device is temporarily fixed, and the final fastening is performed from the temporarily fixed state, the stay material 13 is attached to the side plates 11 and 12. The side plates 11 and 12 are not moved so as to be fastened so as to be aligned with the fastening position, and the side plates 11 and 12 are not opposed to each other, and the positional relationship between the side plates 11 and 12 with the support object is a predetermined position. The relationship will be maintained.

Further, a convex portion is provided on the side plates 11 and 12 side, and a concave portion fitted to the side plate 11 and 12 is provided on the stay material 13 side, thereby providing a concave portion on the side plate 11 and 12 side and the convex portion fitted to the side plate 11 and 12 side. Compared to the case where the stay 13 is provided, the deformation of the stay 13 can be suppressed relatively well even when an external force is applied to the stay material 13. That is, when an external force is applied to the stay 13 via the side plates 11 and 12, for example, it is better to receive the external force on the shearing surface of the concave portion than on the surface of the convex portion formed on the same plane as the top surface of the stay 13. Since no bending moment is generated in the stay 13, it is difficult to deform. Therefore, the stay member 13 can prevent deformation of the stay member 13 by using a support portion (concave portion) in which such a bending moment does not occur, and prevents a change in the facing distance between the side plates. And it can prevent that the attachment position of a support target object changes. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an abnormal image by preventing a transfer image shift caused by a change in the positional relationship between the support objects.

  The relationship between the size of the rear convex portion 11d 'on the side plate 11 side and the concave portion 13b on the stay 13 side to which the side plate 11 is fitted is such that a size capable of absorbing the fitting position shift in the horizontal direction is obtained. It is considered to have a relationship.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the stay 13 is selected as an arrangement position in the image forming apparatus, below the waste toner tank TG and above the sheet feeding device 5.

  The waste toner tank TG is a member that collects and stores the untransferred toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body 41. The waste toner tank TG is connected to a pipe provided in the cleaning device for the intermediate transfer body 41, and is recovered. Transfer toner can be introduced. When the waste toner tank TG becomes full, the toner taken out and stored outside is sent to the recovery process, and the recovery process is inserted into the apparatus again to prepare for the recovery of new waste toner.

  By providing the stay material 13 below the waste toner tank TG, the toner spilled from the tank during the operation of pulling out the waste toner tank TG does not fall into the paper feed device 5 and is stored in the paper feed device 5. This prevents the transfer material P, which is used on a sheet of paper and the like, from being soiled by spilled toner.

  Note that the stay member 13 shown in FIG. 16 has a piece 13B that projects toward the front side of the side plates 11 and 12, and the piece 13B is located at a position corresponding to the position of the sheet feed roller 52. Convex part 13B1 (refer FIG. 17) which detours the surrounding surface of this is provided. A concave portion following the convex portion 13B1 is provided at a position on the side of the waste toner tank TG facing the convex portion 13B1, so that they do not interfere with each other.

  FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the stay material 13 and the waste toner tank TG. In FIG. 17, when the waste toner tank TG is attached or detached, the waste toner tank TG is positioned on the stay material 13 side. It moves on the convex part 13B1.

  When the waste toner tank TG is attached or detached, the waste toner tank TG is slid on the stay material 13. At this time, the waste toner tank TG passes through the convex portion 13B1 on the stay material 13 side and is removed. Further, when being mounted in the apparatus, it is positioned and fixed to the positioning portion of the side plate. When fixed, the waste toner tank TG is held only by the side plate, and is held in a floating state with respect to the stay material 13. Thereby, even if the paper feed roller 52 is disposed in the vicinity, there is no hindrance to the movement of the waste toner tank TG, and the position of the paper feed roller 52 and the position of the waste toner tank TG can be overlapped in the vertical direction. Therefore, the installation space in the vertical direction can be reduced in size. When such a configuration is used, the stay material 13 has a length corresponding to the moving stroke of the waste toner tank TG, so that the apparatus body can have as long a depth as possible. The effect of preventing the torsional deformation of the side plate can be enhanced by increasing the length of the facing surface to increase the strength of the structure.

  The sheet feeding device 5 located below the stay material 13 is provided with a sheet detection sensor (not shown) on the lower surface of the stay material 13 for detecting the absence of the transfer material P. When the transfer material P runs out, the paper detection sensor outputs a signal for displaying an alarm on a display unit (not shown) of the apparatus.

  For the above-described principle configuration, to provide a contact member that connects the side plates in a non-parallel state to the stay material that is a plate-like member on one side in the front-rear direction of the side plates, and to contribute to the prevention of positional deviation between the side plates. You can also.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing this configuration. In FIG. 6, the rear side, which is one side of the side plates 11 and 12 in the front-rear direction, is not parallel to the stay member 13 shown in FIG. An abutting member 14 for connecting the side plates 11 and 12 to each other without being provided is provided.

  The abutting member 14 is a stay member that is laid between the side plates 11 and 12 in order to connect the side plates 11 and 12, and the connecting positions of the side plates 11 and 12 are fastened and fixed using screws. It has become. In addition, in FIG. 6, the screw insertion hole formed in the contact member 14 is shown with the code | symbol 14a for convenience. The fastening position by the screw can include not only the side plates 11 and 12 but also a portion facing the stay material 13 as a target portion.

  In this configuration, for example, when the contact member 14 has a smaller cross-sectional secondary moment than the stay material 13, the contact member 14 is more easily bent and deformed than the stay material 13. The deformation due to the external force can be made difficult to be transmitted, and the so-called torsion of the stay material 13 can be prevented to prevent the side plates 11 and 12 connected to the stay material 13 from being distorted. Thereby, it can prevent that the position of the support target object attached to the side plates 11 and 12 changes, and an abnormal state will generate | occur | produce in the image obtained using a support target object.

  As a configuration for reducing the moment of inertia of the cross section of the abutting member 14 compared to the stay material 13, the thickness may be made thinner than that of the stay material 13 or a material having rigidity lower than that of the stay material 13 may be used.

Next, the characteristic part of the present invention based on the above principle configuration will be described based on the following embodiments.
First, the feature of the present embodiment is that each side plate is provided with first, second, third and fourth connecting portions, in other words, both the side plates 11 and 12 are provided with front and rear convex portions. The stay material side is provided with front and rear concave portions that fit into the convex portions used in the first to fourth connecting portions, and further, as the relationship between the convex portions and the concave portions, the convex portions located on the rear side are provided. The portion and the recess are provided in a loosely fitted state.
The loose fitting state in this case means a state in which it can move freely by utilizing the dimensional difference between the concave portion and the convex portion.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing this configuration. In FIG. 7, the side plates 11 and 12 are arranged on the front side of the first, second, third, and fourth connecting portions along the front-rear direction. A convex portion 11d0, a rear convex portion 11d0 ′, a front convex portion 11d, and a rear convex portion 11d ′ are provided.
Front end recesses 13 a 1, rear recesses 13 b 1, front recesses 13 a 1, and rear recesses 13 b ′ that are used as the other parts of the first to fourth connecting portions are respectively provided on the end surfaces of the stay material 13 facing each of them. ing.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the first connecting portion is configured by a front convex portion 11d0 and a front concave portion 13a1, and the second connecting portion is configured by a rear convex portion 11d0 ′ and a rear concave portion 13b1. The third connecting portion is constituted by a front convex portion 11d and a front concave portion 13a1, and the fourth connecting portion is constituted by a rear convex portion 11d ′ and a rear concave portion 13b ′ (in FIG. 7, The convex portions and the concave portions at the respective positions are collectively shown as the names of the connecting portions).

The front convex portions 11d and 11d0 used as the first and third connecting portions in the side plates 11 and 12 and the front concave portion 13a1 on the stay material 13 side are fitted with almost no dimensional difference as in the case shown in FIG. On the other hand, the rear projections 11d ′ and 11d0 ′ used as the second and fourth connection portions on the side plates 11 and 12 and the rear recesses 13b1 and 13b ′ on the stay member 13 side are loosely fitted. The state is obtained.
Specifically, corresponding to one side of the second and fourth connecting portions, the rear concave portion 13b ′ facing the side plate 11 in the stay material 13 is the concave portion 13b on the stay material 13 side shown in FIG. Similar to the above, a dimensional difference corresponding to a long hole (first oblong hole) in the horizontal direction (front-rear direction) is provided, and corresponds to the other side of the second and fourth connecting portions and faces the side plate 12. As shown in FIG. 7B, the rear concave portion 13b1 is a long hole (first elongated hole) having a dimensional difference in the horizontal direction equivalent to the rear concave portion 13b ′, and the rear concave portion 13b ′. As a different configuration, a long hole (second long hole) having a dimensional difference of about 1 mm as a dimensional difference (Dd) with respect to the rear convex portion 11d0 ′ in the vertical direction (vertical direction) is used. ing.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 7, the abutting member 14 shown in FIG. 6 is provided, and when this configuration is intended, a convex portion and a concave portion in which a loose fit state due to a dimensional difference is obtained, and in FIG. 11 and 12 are provided on the rear side of the apparatus, and the rear convex portions 11d ′ and 11d0 ′ and the rear concave portions 13b ′ and 13b1 on the stay member 13 side are close to the abutting member 14. , 11d0 ′ and the rear recesses 13b ′ and 13b1, the front projections 11d and 11d0 and the front recess 13a1 are provided at positions away from each other in the front-rear direction, that is, on the front side of the apparatus. The first and third connecting portions are completely fitted, and the second connecting portion has a loose fitting state in the V direction. The fourth connecting portion has a difference in size only in the front-rear direction. Therefore, when the parallelism between the side plates is defined, the rear convex portion 11d0 ′ is in the V direction within the size of the rear concave portion 13b1 with respect to the rear concave portion 13b1 which is a large hole with a margin. It is in a state of loosely fitting.

The following effects can be obtained from the above configuration.
First, since the side plate 12 can be attached to the stay member 13 while adjusting the parallelism with respect to the side plate 11, the parallelism does not deteriorate or cannot be obtained due to variations in the stay member 13. Further, when the side plate 12 is adjusted, the rotation in the V direction can be suppressed within the range of the size of the rear concave portion 13b1, so that the adjustment is easy. The adjustment may be performed by a method of rotating the side plate 12 with respect to the stay material 13 and the side plate 11 or by a method of rotating the fixed stay material 13 and side plate 11 with respect to the side plate 12.

  According to this configuration, the front convex portions 11d and 11d0 and the front concave portion 13a1 have a little dimensional difference, so that the stay material 13 can be a determining portion when the side plates 11 and 12 are attached. Among the rear convex portions, the positional deviation in the rotational direction is regulated by the dimensional difference between the rear convex portion 11d ′ facing the side plate 11 and the rear concave portion 13b ′, similarly to the case shown in FIG. As a result, the side plate 11 and the stay material 13 are fixed.

  In FIG. 7, the arrow indicated by the symbol V permits the side twist angle of the side plate 12 according to the parallelism between the side plate 12 and the side plate 11 after the side plate 11 and the stay member 13 are fixed. Shows direction. Therefore, even in this case, when the stay member 13 is attached to the side plate 12 whose parallelism or the like is defined with respect to the side plate 11, the facing relationship between the side plates is used as a reference regardless of the accuracy of the stay material 13. The twist angle with the side plates 11 and 12 can be regulated.

  In this case, the rear concave portion 13b1 facing the side plate 12 has a margin or margin for fitting the rear convex portion 11d0 as a dimensional difference in the short direction (vertical direction) as described above. The stay material 13 is rotated within a range in which the back protrusion 11d0 is slightly larger than the back protrusion 11d0. This is because the stay material 13 is dragged by the torque when the side plate 12 and the stay material 13 are fastened, or when an external force is applied after removing the jig at the time of assembly, the fastening position of the side plate 12 and the stay material 13 is fixed. This is to prevent a large shift.

  However, if the dimensional difference in the short direction (vertical direction) is inadvertently increased, the fastening position between the side plate 12 and the stay member 13 is largely shifted, which is not appropriate. That is, it is necessary that the size of the rear concave portion 13b1 has a margin enough to cause backlash with the rear convex portion 11d0 'and is not too large. The size of the gap that becomes loose (the difference in size between the rear concave portion 13b1 and the rear convex portion 11d0 ′) is equal to or greater than the component dimensional accuracy and is less than the allowable amount of the twist angle between the side plate 12 and the stay member 13. For this reason, the above-described dimensional difference of 1 mm or less is selected.

  By adopting such a configuration, the projecting portion and the recessed portion in the loosely fitted state are prevented from being displaced due to an external force by the abutting member 14, so that the front convex portion and the front concave portion serving as the positioning portions are It prevents the relative position of the rear convex portion and the rear concave portion, which are loosely fitted with dimensional differences as fulcrums, from shifting easily and prevents deformation of the stay material 13 such as torsion and the like. It is possible to prevent misalignment between objects.

  The frame described with reference to FIG. 7 prevents a positional deviation between the side plates in the vicinity of the detachable member when the wall portion is used as a detachable member with respect to the apparatus main body so that a part of the wall portion of the image forming apparatus can be opened and closed. Can help.

  FIG. 16 shows a configuration in which the wall portion is used as a detachable member with respect to the apparatus main body by opening and closing a part of the wall portion of the apparatus main body.

  As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 16, the image forming apparatus has an detachable member that can perform operations such as opening and closing of the upper surface and a part of the side wall of the apparatus main body with respect to the apparatus main body by swinging fulcrums A and B (for convenience, In FIG. 16, a configuration used as a symbol DU) is provided.

  The reason why the configuration including such a detachable member is as follows. When this configuration is intended, the effect of maintaining the parallelism between the side plates can be obtained for the following reason.

In FIG. 16, inside the image forming apparatus, a sheet feeding unit, an image forming unit, and a sheet discharging unit are stacked from below, and a sheet conveyance path is provided on the front side of the apparatus.
In the image forming apparatus having such a configuration, the upper surface and a part of the side wall of the apparatus main body are configured to be opened and closed by exposing the conveyance path of the transfer material P and as shown by reference numeral R in FIG. This is because the TG and the transfer device 4 are taken out.

  The conveyance path starts from a paper feed roller 52 provided in the paper feed device 5 and passes through a registration roller 8, a secondary transfer unit 44, and a fixing device disposed above the paper feed roller 52. Is the end point.

  In order to expose this conveyance path to the outside, a structure that swings around a swinging fulcrum B located at the lower part of the side wall is used. When the conveyance path is exposed to the outside, the transfer material P that has jammed in the conveyance path can be removed.

  As shown in FIG. 18, opening and closing of the upper surface of the apparatus centering on the swing fulcrum A is performed by inserting / removing process cartridges (shown by reference numeral PC in the figure (open / closed state) for convenience) installed in each image forming unit. Implemented when doing. The process cartridge PC is attached and detached and positioned by being guided using image carrier support portions 11 a and 12 a (see FIGS. 8 to 14) formed on the side plates 11 and 12.

  The side plate used in the structure having such an openable / closable side wall may change in the facing distance on the front side due to opening and closing of the front side in the front-back direction of the side wall, and may not be parallel. In particular, an external force often acts when the waste toner tank TG and the transfer device 4 are taken in and out when opened, and the connection between the side walls by the opened side walls is released, so that the side plates are parallel to each other. It tends to collapse.

  When the side plates are not parallel to each other, the positional relationship between the members and the device supported by the side plates changes, and an image shift or the like due to the position shift occurs.

  Therefore, the configuration shown in FIG. 7 is a front convex portion 11d0, which is a first connecting portion that constitutes a reference position having almost no dimensional difference on the front side in the front-rear direction of the side plates 11 and 12 corresponding to the side walls to be opened and closed. By providing the front concave portion 13a1 and the front connecting portion 11d and the front concave portion 13a1 which are the third connecting portions, the strength to prevent the parallelism between the side plates from being broken when the side wall is opened is maintained. ing.

  Further, the back plate in the front-rear direction of the side plates 11 and 12 is provided with a contact member 14, and rear side recesses 13b 'and 13b1 having a difference in size that is greater than the component dimensional accuracy are provided. The side plates can be kept parallel so that the attachment to the material 13 can be reliably performed. In addition, rear side recessed part 13b ', 13b1 has the formation relationship with respect to the side plates 11 and 12, a relationship opposite to the case shown in FIG. 7, that is, the rear side recessed part 13b' provided on the side plate 11 side is on the side plate 12 side. And you may make it provide the back side recessed part 13b1 provided in the side plate 12 side in the side plate 11 side. Further, the stay material 13 can be appropriately selected from a thin plate, a thick plate, and a box shape.

  FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the frame structure showing a state in which the stay member 13 is attached to the side plates 11 and 12.

  In the figure, the side plates 11 and 12 are formed of a molded product using a resin material such as polycarbonate, and on the opposing surface, the support portions 11a, 11b, and 11c of the above-described support object (for the side plate 12 side, FIG. Is provided).

As shown in FIG. 9, the side plate 11 is provided with a front projection 11d and a rear projection 11d ′, and the side plate 12 is positioned based on the principle explained in FIG. 2 as shown in FIG. A single convex portion 12d is provided.
In this embodiment, a boss is used as the convex portion.

On the other hand, the stay member 13 shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 is formed of a sheet metal member using a steel material such as SECC, and a front recess 13a and a rear recess 13b are provided on an end surface facing the side plate 11 (see FIG. 10). ), A concave portion 13a is provided on the end surface facing the side plate 12.
In this embodiment, a hole into which a boss which is a convex portion can be fitted is used as the concave portion.

  In the present embodiment, since the stay material 13 is made of a material such as SECC instead of resin, the cross-sectional area for securing rigidity can be reduced unlike the case of resin. As a result, it is possible to prevent the height of the apparatus from expanding. In addition, it is possible to use an inexpensive material that has better workability than stainless steel and the like.

  Since the present embodiment is configured as described above, when the stay material 13 is assembled between the side plates 11 and 12, the side plate 11 side convex portion 11d and the stay material 13 side concave portion 13a are connected to the side plate 11 and the stay plate 13. The material 13 is fitted and used as a positioning reference. At this time, the front convex portion 11d and the single convex portion 11d1 are fitted without causing a positional shift because there is no dimensional difference, while the rear convex portion 11d ′ and the concave portion 13b have a dimensional difference. As described in 2, the positional deviation in the rotational direction is restricted. The result side plate 11 and the stay material 13 are fixed.

  Further, due to the relationship between the rear convex portion 11d located on the side plate 12 side and the rear concave portion 13a, the stay member 13 is allowed to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow V in FIG. Similar to the case described with reference to FIG. 2, the twist angle of the side plate 11 and the side plate 12 can be regulated regardless of the accuracy of the stay member 13.

  In this state, the stay material 13 is fastened to the side plates 11 and 12. At this time, the state before the final fastening is completed, that is, the side plates 11 and 12 are temporarily fixed to the stay material 13. The stay material 13 is finally attached to the side plates 11 and 12 in a state in which the device is attached using one of the support portions 11a, 12A, 11b, 12b, 11c, and 12c of the side plates 11 and 12. The frame is completed by fastening.

  When the fastening of the stay material 13 to the side plates 11 and 12 is finally completed, the right side of the fastening position of the side plates 11 and 12 in which the facing relationship such as parallelism is defined in advance by the attachment of the support object is right. Since it has a degree of freedom of rotation as shown by arrow V with respect to the left side plate 12, the stay material 13 is fastened based on the fastening position of the side plates 11, 12. Therefore, unlike the case where the fastening position of the stay material 13 is used as a reference, the stay is aligned with the fastening position on the side plates 11 and 12 even if an error occurs in the fastening position on the stay material 13 side. The opposing relationship between the side plates 11 and 12 is not broken by the displacement of the material 13 side.

  12 to 14 are views showing an embodiment in which the abutting member 14 shown in FIG. 6 is provided. In FIGS. 12 to 14, the stay member 13 and the side plates 11 and 12 are fitted together as shown in FIG. 11 is the same as the case shown in FIG. 11, and on the side plate 11 side, the rear side projection 11d ′ and the rear side recess 13b ′ shown in FIG. The fitting between the side convex portion 11d ′ and the rear concave portion 13b is in a good state, while the consistency of the fastening position can be obtained by the rotation of the stay member 13 on the side plate 12 side.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which the rigidity of the stay material 13, particularly the rigidity against torsion, is increased.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the configuration. In FIG. 15, the second dimension moment is increased on the lower surface of the stay member 13 corresponding to the connecting member used in a part of the frame by increasing the longitudinal dimension by drawing. A stay assisting member 13 ′ as an assisting member capable of increasing the height is integrated.

  According to the present embodiment, the rigidity of the stay material 13 can be increased by using the stay auxiliary member in addition to the abutting member 14, so that deformation due to the external force of the stay material 13 can be prevented and the stay material 13 can be interposed. The side plates 11 and 12 that are connected to each other can be prevented from falling and the occurrence of positional deviation of the support object can be prevented.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 11, 12 Side board 11d0, 13a1 Convex part and recessed part 11d0 ', 13b1 which comprise 1st connection part Convex part and recessed part 11d, 13a1 which comprise 2nd connection part 3rd connection part Convex part and concave part 11d ', 13b' Convex part and concave part 11a, 11b, 11c, 12a, 12b, 12c constituting the fourth connecting part Positioning holding part 13a 'Single concave part corresponding to the third concave part 14 Contact member

JP 2004-302194 A (paragraph “0005” column, “0038” column) JP 2003-270898 A (paragraph “0049” column) JP 2002-169353 A (paragraph “0055” column) Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 04-85445

Claims (12)

An image in which an image carrier and a transfer means are provided between the left and right side plates, and a frame made up of a left side plate and a right side plate facing each other and a connecting member that is horizontally mounted between the side plates and whose both end surfaces are supported by the side plates. In the forming device,
The connecting member includes a left connecting portion on a left end surface facing the left plate, and a right connecting portion on a right end surface facing the right plate,
Either one of the right side connecting part and the left side connecting part is provided with a first connecting part and a second connecting part, and the other is provided with a third connecting part and a fourth connecting part,
The first connecting part and the third connecting part are arranged at positions facing the connecting member, and are fitted to the projecting parts protruding from the left and right side plates toward the connecting member with almost no difference in dimensions. Consists of concavities that fit together,
The second connecting part and the fourth connecting part are arranged at positions where the connecting member faces each other, and any one of them is a convex part projecting from one of the left and right side plates toward the connecting member. And the first elongated hole having a dimensional difference only in the front-rear direction, and the other has a dimensional difference in the front-rear direction and the up-down direction from the convex portion projecting from the other of the left and right side plates toward the connecting member. An image forming apparatus comprising a second long hole. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second long hole has a larger dimensional difference in the front-rear direction than the convex portion than a vertical dimensional difference. The first connecting part and the third connecting part are provided on the front side of the image forming apparatus in the connecting member, and the second connecting part and the fourth connecting part are the first connecting part and the third connecting part. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is provided behind the image forming apparatus in the connecting member. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a contact member that connects the left and right side plates is provided at a rear end portion of the left and right side plates. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an auxiliary member that is drawn is provided on a lower surface of the connecting member. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a positioning holding portion for positioning the image carrier is provided on each of the opposing surfaces of the left and right side plates. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a support portion for positioning the transfer unit is provided on each of the opposing surfaces of the left and right side plates. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a waste toner collecting unit is provided between the connecting member and the transfer unit. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a positioning portion for positioning the waste toner collecting means is provided on each of the opposing surfaces of the left and right side plates. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image carrier is configured to be detachable between the left and right side plates in the vertical direction of the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer unit is configured to be detachable between the left and right side plates in the front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the waste toner collecting unit is configured to be detachable between the left and right side plates in the front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus.

Images