JP2013024993A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid the occurrence of a problem in which: in attaching a holder side plate for engaging toner image forming units provided in a plurality of numbers to predetermined positions of an image forming apparatus, unstable posture of the holder side plate or loading operation makes it difficult for engagement portions provided in a plurality of numbers to be inserted into the holder side plate.SOLUTION: Guided members 83, 84 are attached to a holder side plate 68, and a guide member 88 is attached to a copier main body 100. A cross-section of a tip portion of the guide member 88 is made smallest in a width dimension, an intermediate part in a loading operation direction is made largest in the width dimension, and a portion to be finally fixed is made smaller than the largest width portion of the intermediate part. Accordingly, the loading operation of the holder side plate 68 is made easier.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, or a complex machine thereof.

  In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a complex machine thereof, a pair of main body side plates are provided facing each other in an image forming apparatus main body (hereinafter also referred to simply as a main body). A toner image forming unit configured by arranging an image carrier such as a photoconductor between a pair of main body side plates, and a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, a cleaning device, a static eliminator and the like around the image carrier. A unit is provided. If the image carrier is a photoconductor, charging, exposure, and development are performed along with its rotation to form an image on the image carrier, and the image is transferred to a recording medium that has been transported around the image carrier. Transcript.

  The recording medium after the image transfer is placed in a fixing device to fix the transferred image, while the surface of the image carrier after the image transfer is discharged together with cleaning to prepare for another image formation.

  This type of image forming apparatus has a holding-side plate guide mechanism for positioning and holding a plurality of toner image forming unit units that are attached to and removable from the image forming apparatus main body with respect to the image forming apparatus main body. Things are known.

  As a holding side plate guide mechanism, there is a mechanism in which a toner image forming unit is pulled out from a main body of an image forming apparatus via a guide rail and can be loaded into the main body of the image forming apparatus. This is for the convenience of maintenance such as jam processing and parts replacement. In such a mechanism, the image forming apparatus main body is provided with a pair of unit side plates opposed to the front side in the pulling direction of the toner image forming unit and the back side in the loading direction, and the image forming apparatus main body between these unit side plates. It supports a toner image forming unit installed inside, other units, devices, parts, and the like.

  In such a configuration of the holding side plate guide mechanism, naturally, the positional relationship between the plurality of toner image forming unit is very important. If the positional relationship between the plurality of toner image forming unit is not correct, the image may be displaced or distorted. From this point of view, it is considered that a configuration in which maintenance of the toner image forming unit can be performed and positioning with high accuracy is desirable.

  Although the configuration having the slide rail is an example, it is necessary to consider the area occupied by the slide rail both when it is pulled out and when it is loaded because of the configuration having the slide rail. Therefore, when the toner image forming unit is adjacent to a limited area, the holding side plate can be removed to maintain the maintainability and position of the units, devices, equipment, and members around the image carrier accurately. The structure which is supposed to be known is known.

  In such a configuration in which the holding side plate is removable, the holding side plate is formed from a single part to hold the unit, device, equipment, member, etc. from the two viewpoints of mounting accuracy and maintenance of the holding side plate. Are known.

  However, in such a configuration, when a unit, an apparatus, or the like held by the holding side plate is increased in size, the holding side plate itself is also increased in size and becomes difficult to handle. In particular, high-precision positioning means that there are a plurality of fitting parts with very few gaps. This may cause a problem that the posture and position of the holding side plate affect the loading operation of the side plate, and it is difficult to simultaneously fit a plurality of fitting portions unless it is in an appropriate state. .

  Therefore, in the present invention, when installing the holding side plate, the loading operation is guided by the guide to determine the approximate position, and the operation range of the loading operation is limited. It is an object to make the position easy to perform and the fitting operation smoothly.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that includes a plurality of toner image forming unit units that are detachably attached to the image forming apparatus body, and the toner image forming unit units are fixed to the image forming apparatus body by a holding side plate. The holding side plate is formed of a rigid body, and the image forming apparatus main body is provided with a positioning fitting portion for positioning the holding side plate, and the positioning fitting portion includes a guide member for guiding and positioning the holding side plate. And the guide member has a width dimension that changes in a direction perpendicular to the attaching and detaching direction of the holding side plate, and the holding side plate is opened in accordance with the width dimension change of the guide member, and a binding operation is performed. A guide member capable of being attached, and the width dimension of the guide member is attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus of the toner image transport unit That most width dimension removal direction leading end side in the direction of smaller, the mounting, most width in the middle portion of the detaching direction is large, and wherein the.

  According to the present invention, the operation range of the loading operation is limited, the fitting member can be easily fitted, and the fitting operation can be performed smoothly.

Overall schematic diagram of internal mechanism of electrophotographic tandem indirect transfer color copier Configuration diagram around the tandem imaging means of the copier A perspective view of a structure provided in the copying machine Configuration diagram of holding side plate provided in the copying machine (A), diagram showing the configuration of the relationship between the guide member and the guided member (B) The figure which shows the to-be-guided member provided in the holding | maintenance side plate

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an overall schematic configuration of an example of an internal mechanism of an example of an electrophotographic tandem indirect transfer color copying machine (hereinafter simply referred to as a copying machine). In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a copying machine main body as an image forming apparatus main body, 200 denotes a paper feed table on which it is placed, 300 denotes a scanner mounted on the copying machine main body 100, and 400 denotes an automatic document feeder (ADF) to be further mounted thereon. .

  The copying machine main body 100 is provided with an endless belt-like intermediate transfer member 10 around a driving roller 14 and two driven rollers 15 and 16 at the center so as to be able to rotate and convey clockwise in the drawing. Of course, separately, it may be hung on four or more rollers, such as hung on a roller for adjusting the offset of the intermediate transfer member 10. The intermediate transfer member 10 is stretched almost horizontally in the illustrated example, but may be stretched obliquely instead of horizontally.

  In the illustrated example, a belt cleaning device 17 for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body 10 after image transfer is provided on the left side of one driven roller 15 in the drawing.

  On the intermediate transfer member 10 horizontally stretched between the driving roller 14 and the driven roller 15, four monochrome image forming means 18 of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black are arranged side by side along the conveying direction. A tandem imaging device 20 is provided. An exposure device 21 is further provided on the tandem image forming device 20.

  On the other hand, a secondary transfer device 22 is provided below the stretched area of the intermediate transfer member 10. In the illustrated example, the secondary transfer device 22 is configured by spanning a secondary transfer belt 24, which is an endless belt, between two rollers 23, and is pressed against the other driven roller 16 to be on the intermediate transfer body 10. The image is transferred to a recording medium.

  Next to the secondary transfer device 22, a fixing device 25 for fixing the transferred image on the recording medium is provided. The fixing device 25 is configured by pressing a pressure roller 27 against a fixing belt 26 that is an endless belt. In the example shown in the figure, a part (or all) of the intermediate transfer member 10 is provided so as to enter under the stretched region of the intermediate transfer member 10. The secondary transfer device 22 also has a medium transport function for transporting the recording medium after image transfer to the fixing device 25. Of course, a non-contact charger may be arranged as the secondary transfer device 22. However, in such a configuration, it is difficult to provide this medium conveyance function together.

  Under the secondary transfer device 22 and the fixing device 25, a recording medium reversing device 28 for reversing the recording medium so as to form images on both sides of the recording medium in parallel with the extending direction of the intermediate transfer member 10 is provided. Prepare.

  When copying using this copying machine, the document is set on the document table 30 of the automatic document feeder 400, or the automatic document feeder 400 is opened and the document is set directly on the contact glass 32 of the scanner 300. Then, the automatic document feeder 400 is closed and pressed by it. When a start switch (not shown) is pressed, when the document is set on the automatic document feeder 400, the document is transported and moved onto the contact glass 32, and then the scanner 300 is driven to read the document content. . When an original is set directly on the contact glass 32, the original content is read as it is.

  When a start switch (not shown) is pressed, the drive roller 14 is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown), the driven rollers 15 and 16 are driven to rotate, and the intermediate transfer member 10 is rotated and conveyed. At the same time, each single color image forming means 18 rotates each image carrier 40 to form a single color image of each color (yellow, cyan, magenta, black) on each image carrier 40. Then, along with the conveyance of the intermediate transfer body 10, the single color images are primarily transferred and sequentially overlapped to form a composite color image on the intermediate transfer body 10.

  On the other hand, after a start switch (not shown) is pressed, one of the paper feed rollers 42 of the paper feed table 200 is selected and rotated at an appropriate timing. Then, the recording medium is fed out from one of the paper cassettes 44 provided in the paper bank 43 in multiple stages. The recording medium is separated one by one by the separation roller 45 and put into the paper feed path 46, transported by the transport roller 47, guided to the paper feed path 48 in the copying machine main body 100, and hits the registration roller 49. Stop. In the case of manual paper feeding, the recording medium set on the open manual tray 51 is rotated by rotating the paper feeding roller 50, separated one by one by the separation roller 52, and put into the manual paper feeding path 53. Stop at 49.

  Then, the registration roller 49 is rotated in synchronization with the composite color image on the intermediate transfer body 10, and the recording medium is fed between the intermediate transfer body 10 and the secondary transfer device 22, and the intermediate transfer is performed by the secondary transfer device 22. The composite color image on the body 10 is batch-transferred to form a color image on the recording medium.

  The recording medium after the image transfer is conveyed by the secondary transfer device 22 and sent to the fixing device 25. After fixing the transferred image by applying heat and pressure in the fixing device 25, the image is switched by the switching claw 55, discharged by the discharge roller 56, and stacked on the discharge tray 57. When forming an image on both sides of the recording medium, the switching claw 55 is used to switch to the recording medium reversing device 28, where it is reversed and guided again to the transfer position, and an image is also formed on the back side. Is discharged onto the discharge tray 57.

  On the other hand, the intermediate transfer member 10 after the image transfer is removed by the belt cleaning device 17 to remove residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member 10 after the image transfer, so that the tandem image forming device 20 prepares for another image formation.

  Each monochromatic image forming means 18 of the tandem image forming apparatus 20 is as shown in FIG. 2, for example, around a drum-shaped image carrier 40, a charging device 60, a developing device 61, a primary transfer device 62, A cleaning device 63, a charge removal device 64, and the like are provided. Y, M, C, and K described at the end of the numbers in the figure indicate four colors of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black. For example, monochromatic image forming means are 18Y, 18C, 18M, and 18K. In the illustrated example, the black monochrome image forming means 18K is positioned on the most downstream side in the transport direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing of the intermediate transfer body 10, that is, the transport direction of the recording medium, and is sequentially arranged.

  Although illustration is omitted, a process cartridge unit may be formed by all or a part of the parts constituting the monochromatic image forming means 18 and may be detachably attached to the copying machine main body 100 to improve maintenance. .

  In addition, among the parts constituting the monochromatic image forming means 18, the charging device 60 uses a charging roller in the illustrated example, and charges the image carrier 40 by applying a voltage in contact with the image carrier 40. Do. The primary transfer device 62 is formed in a roller shape and is pressed against the image carrier 40 with the intermediate transfer member 10 interposed therebetween. The primary transfer device is not limited to a roller shape, and may be a non-contact charger. The neutralization device 64 is, for example, a lamp, and initializes the surface potential of the image carrier 40 by irradiating light.

  Then, along with the rotation of the image carrier 40, the surface of the image carrier 40 is first uniformly charged by the charging device 60, and then the writing light from the above-described exposure device 21 according to the reading content of the scanner 300 by a laser, LED or the like. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the image carrier 40 by irradiating L.

  Thereafter, toner is attached by the developing device 61 to visualize the electrostatic latent image, and the visible image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer member 10 by the primary transfer device 62. The surface of the image carrier 40 after the image transfer is cleaned by removing residual toner with the cleaning device 63, and the surface of the image carrier 40 is neutralized with the static eliminator 64 to prepare for another image formation.

  FIG. 3 shows a structure provided in the copying machine shown in FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral 66 denotes a main body casing that is a structure of the copying machine main body 100, and 67 denotes a table casing that is a structure of the paper feed table 200. A holding side plate 68 for the front side main body is provided on the front side of the main body housing 66, and a rear side holding side plate is provided on the back side (not shown) so as to face each other. Between them, the drive roller 14, driven rollers 15, 16, the belt cleaning device 17, the tandem image forming device 20, and the like described above are supported.

  The front side in the drawing, that is, the lower side of the holding side plate 68 positioned on the front side in the removal direction in the removal and attachment direction of a process cartridge unit and other units described later is opened. In this open portion, a drawer unit 70 that can be pulled out and includes a registration roller 49, a secondary transfer device 22, a fixing device 25, and the like as described in Patent Document 1, for example, is arranged.

  Such a tandem image forming apparatus 20 is detachable from the copying machine main body 100 as described above. The reason is that it is necessary to perform maintenance. In this case, these tandem image forming units 20 are pulled out in the forward direction of the copying machine main body 100 and taken out. Conversely, when the image forming unit 20 is installed in the copying machine main body 100, a loading operation from the front side of the apparatus to the back side is required.

  Since the unit needs to be inserted and removed from the front side of the copying machine main body 100 in this way, the front side of the copying machine main body 100 is open. However, each image carrier 40 provided in the tandem image forming unit 20 is written by the exposure device 21 as described above, and the relative position with respect to the copying machine main body 100 must be accurately set. Therefore, the above-described holding side plate 68 is provided in order to position and hold the tandem image forming unit 20 with respect to the copying machine main body 100 after loading.

  The holding side plate 68 plays a role of holding the tandem image forming unit 20 at a position where it should be relative to the copying machine main body 100 with reference to the central axis of the drum-shaped image carrier 40 included in the tandem image forming unit 20. . That is, when the tandem image forming unit 20 is loaded on the copying machine main body 100 without the holding side plate 68, the tandem image forming unit 20 has a slight backlash, but when loaded with the holding side plate 68, it is positioned and installed without any backlash. it can. That is, the unit positioning bearings 80Y, 80M, 80C, and 80K provided on the holding side plate 68 are fitted to the center axes of the drum-shaped image carriers 40Y, 40M, 40C, and 40K, so that the tandem image forming unit 20 is predetermined. It is designed to hold the position.

  Regarding the central axes of the drum-shaped image carriers 40Y, 40M, 40C, and 40K, the leading ends of the drum-shaped image carriers 40Y, 40M, 40C, and 40K have a conical shape so that the loading is performed smoothly. In addition, even in a shape in which a guide portion having a diameter smaller than that of the fitting portion is provided in the preceding stage, the loading can be performed smoothly in the same manner.

  FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the holding side plate 68. On the holding side plate 68, the rigid side plate positioning fitting portion 81 and the secondary fitting portion 82 provided for positioning on the copying machine main body 100 and the image forming units for four colors Y, M, C, and K are positioned. For this purpose, the unit fitting bearings 80Y, 80M, 80C and 80K are provided. In addition, guided portions 83 and 84 used for installing the holding side plate 68 in the copying machine main body 100 are further provided on the outer peripheral side in the parallel direction of the unit fitting bearing portion 80.

  The holding side plate 68 can be attached to a predetermined position of the copying machine main body 100 by fitting the holding side plate 68 with the fitting portion provided on the copying machine main body 100, the side plate positioning fitting portion 81, and the secondary fitting portion 82. . Specifically, for example, there are two fitting portions related to positioning, and they are provided on the upper side of the holding side plate 68 and at the same height as shown in the figure. In the illustrated example, one side is a round shaft and a round hole, and the other side is a shaft and a long hole (long shape in the horizontal direction).

  That is, the side plate positioning fitting portion 81 and the secondary fitting portion 82 are in a fitting state with little play. As described above, when the tandem image forming unit 20 is attached to the copying machine main body 100 as it is, the backlash is generated, so that this backlash provides a margin for positioning, and the side plate is fitted with the holding side plate 68. The positioning fitting portion 81 and the secondary fitting portion 82 are not extremely obliquely loaded and are not easily loaded. However, the two components related to the side plate positioning fitting portion 81 and the secondary fitting portion 82, that is, the copying machine main body 100 and the holding side plate 68 are both rigid bodies, and the fitting portions provided at two places are almost simultaneously. If it is necessary to fit, if it is not loaded in a predetermined posture, it may be difficult to load. Therefore, it is desirable that the holding side plate 68 is installed in the installation operation so that the side plate positioning fitting portion 81 and the secondary fitting portion 82 are smoothly fitted to the copying machine main body 100.

  Therefore, by providing the guided portions 83 and 84 near the outer periphery of the holding side plate 68 as shown in the figure and guiding the position of the holding side plate near the outer periphery, the posture related to the loading operation of the holding side plate 68 itself is easily stabilized. It is. Even if the holding side plate 68 is enlarged, the play of the guide during loading can be made almost constant. Therefore, the side plate positioning fitting portion 81 and the secondary fitting portion 82 provided inside the holding side plate 68 with respect to the guided portions 83 and 84 and the unit positioning bearing portions 80Y, 80M, 80C, and 80K are fitted. The fitting operation is performed at a suitable position.

  A guide provided on the copying machine main body 100 side and guided portions 83 and 84 provided on the holding side plate 68 guided by the guide will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the guided member 83 provided on the holding side plate 68 is composed of a pair of rollers 85a and 85b that can be opened, and the rollers 85a and 85b are closed by spring members 87a to 87d. A load is applied. Further, the rollers 85 a and 85 b are guided in the opening direction by a roller holding portion 68 T which is a part of the base material of the holding side plate 68.

  FIG. 4B shows the relationship of the guide member 88 provided on the copying machine main body 100 side with respect to the guided member installation operation. The configuration of the guided members 83 and 84 is as described above, and in FIG. 4B, only the rollers 85a and 85b are shown for easy understanding.

  The cross-sectional change of the guide member 88, that is, the change in the width dimension, is bilaterally symmetric with respect to a center plane that is parallel to the loading direction of the holding side plate 68 and parallel to the gravity direction. The guide member 88 is formed of a rigid body, and the direction (tip) to be removed in the loading direction is the smallest in cross section, and is fitted after the side plate positioning fitting portion 81 and the secondary fitting portion 82 start to be fitted in the loading direction. The portion having the largest cross-section until the end is completed, and the portion where the fitting members 83 and 84 are completely fitted and fixed to the copying machine main body 100 is smaller than the largest portion in cross-section. ing. In other words, the tip in the removal direction is the narrowest (in the figure, the shape is pointed and the width dimension is almost zero), and the width dimension gradually increases from the start of fitting until the end of fitting. The width is maximized at the part, and thereafter the guided members 83 and 84 are squeezed so that the width gradually decreases until the part where the guided members 83 and 84 are completely fitted to the guide member 88 and fixed to the copying machine main body 100. Go. In the example shown in the figure, the portion to be fixed has an arcuate outer shape that is recessed corresponding to the outer shape of the fitting members 83 and 84. This shape is a so-called hem-spreading shape, and has a shape that spreads outward from the maximum width portion, but this portion does not contribute to the fitting.

  By making the guide member 88 have such a cross-sectional shape, a component force toward the unit loading direction can be generated from the force with which the rollers 85a and 85b are closed. The holding side plate 68 provided with the roller 85 is more stable when the roller 85 is closed. Therefore, the roller 85 moves in the direction in which the cross-sectional shape decreases, that is, the direction in which the width dimension decreases, with the maximum width portion of the guide portion 88 as a boundary. The resulting force acts on the holding side plate 68. Further, the component force toward the unit loading direction is preferably present after the side plate positioning / fitting part 81 and the sub-fitting part 82 start to be fitted, so the change in the cross-sectional shape (change in the width dimension) is as described above. It is as.

  As described above, the guide member 88 is configured not to completely position and fix the holding side plate 68 because the guided members 83 and 84 can be opened. For this reason, the side plate positioning fitting portion 81 and the sub fitting portion 82 provided separately can perform the role of installing the holding side plate 68 at an appropriate position with respect to the copying machine main body 100 without any problem.

  With respect to the load related to the opening / closing operation of the guided members 83 and 84, the pressure of the rollers 85 a and 85 b of the guided members 83 and 84 pressing the guide member 88 is equalized when the copying machine main body 100 is installed. When the rollers 85a and 85b are brought into contact with the guide member 88 at the start of the loading operation of the holding side plate 68, the contact point between the rollers 85a and 85b is substantially the tip position of the guide member 88. The positioning fitting portion 81 and the secondary fitting portion 82 and the unit positioning bearing portions 80Y, 80M, 80C, and 80K are designed to be in positions suitable for fitting, and the operation of pushing the holding side plate 68 in the loading direction is smooth. It is preferable to be configured as follows.

  As described above, the recess formed by the contact of the rollers 85 a and 85 b can also function as a guide for the loading operation of the holding side plate 68.

  Although the guide member 88 is molded, it is first considered to mold it as a solid metal or resin part as shown in the figure. However, the outer peripheral shape as the guide member 88 can also be firmly formed by bending a long sheet metal horizontally in the direction sandwiched between the rollers 85a and 85b shown in the drawing, and the guide member 88 is manufactured by such molding. Is cheaper. Of course, other molding methods can be employed.

  By positioning the tandem image forming unit 20 using the holding side plate 68 having the above functions, it is possible to fix the tandem image forming unit 20 to an ideal unit position with respect to the copying machine main body 100, and at the same time to maintain the copying machine. Sometimes the holding side plate 68 can be easily attached and detached, and quick maintenance is possible. If maintenance becomes easy, there is an advantage that, for example, downtime can be shortened when working quickly.

  That is, as described above, when the holding side plate 68 is installed, the fitting member 83, 84 is determined by determining the approximate position by guiding the loading operation and limiting the operating range of the loading operation to a limited range. It is easy to take a position where it is easy to fit, and the fitting operation can be performed smoothly.

  Further, when the holding side plate 68 is loaded, the contact of the guided members 83 and 84 and the guide member 88 during the loading operation can be made smooth, and the guide operation is not accompanied by sliding. Deterioration of the guided members 83 and 84 can be prevented.

  Furthermore, since the holding side plate 68 can be reliably held perpendicular to the loading direction, it can be installed at the loading operation start position.

  The guide member 88 has a so-called sword tip shape in which the cross-sectional shape in the loading direction is the narrowest at the tip, the widest at the middle, and narrows toward the root. Once the force in the closing direction provided in 83 and 84 exceeds the region where the width of the middle stage is widened, a component force in the loading direction is generated, which acts to make the loading operation smooth. Of course, the side plate positioning fitting portion 81 and the secondary fitting portion 82 are configured so that the backlash is minimized at the final fitting stage, so that the above-described component force acts at the final loading stage. Facilitates loading of the holding side plate 68.

  Further, by configuring the guided members 83 and 84 with a pair of rollers, the force in the closing direction of the guided members 83 and 84 is less likely to become a frictional force with the guide member 88. Therefore, the component force in the loading direction of the holding side plate 68 can be efficiently used, and therefore, it is possible to make it difficult for sliding deterioration of the guide member 88 and the guided members 83 and 84 due to friction.

  Further, the contact position between the tip end of the guide member 88 and the guided members 83 and 84 is brought into line contact, and this is performed at both ends of the holding side plate 68. For this reason, even the holding side plate that is enlarged can stabilize the operation from the position before loading to the position where loading is completed. In addition, even when there are many fitting parts, a reliable operation in the front-rear direction is ensured, so that the holding side plate can be easily loaded.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and many variations are possible by those having ordinary knowledge in the art within the technical idea of the present invention.

68: holding side plate 70: image carrier 81: side plate positioning fitting portion 82: sub fitting portion 83, 84: guided member 85 (85a, 85b): roller 88: guide member 100: copying machine main body (image forming apparatus) Body)

JP 2006-145892

Claims (7)

In an image forming apparatus that includes a plurality of toner image forming unit units that are attached to and removable from an image forming apparatus main body, and the toner image forming unit units are fixed to the image forming apparatus main body by a holding side plate.
The holding side plate is constituted by a rigid body,
The image forming apparatus main body is provided with a positioning fitting portion for positioning the holding side plate,
The positioning fitting portion includes a guide member for guiding and positioning the holding side plate,
The guide member has a width dimension that changes in a direction perpendicular to the attaching and removing directions of the holding side plate,
The holding side plate includes a guided member that opens corresponding to a change in the width dimension of the guide member and can be bound.
The width dimension of the guide member,
In the direction of attaching to and removing from the image forming apparatus main body of the toner image transport unit, the width dimension is the smallest in the direction of removal,
The width dimension was the largest in the middle of the attachment and removal direction,
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The guided member includes a pair of rotatable rollers,
It consists of means for pressing in the direction in which these rollers are pressed against each other,
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
2. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the width dimension change of the guide member is due to a cross-sectional change of the guide member in the attaching / detaching direction of the holding side plate. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.
The cross-sectional change of the guide member is parallel in the direction in which the plurality of toner image forming unit units are arranged in parallel and non-parallel in the direction in which the plurality of toner image forming unit units are loaded into the image forming apparatus main body. An image forming apparatus characterized by being generated on a side surface. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4.
The shape of the side surface of the guide member is substantially constant in the loading direction of the plurality of toner image forming unit units. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus main body is provided with a unit that can be pulled out differently from the toner image forming section unit by opening a lower side of the holding side plate positioned on the front side in the direction of removing the toner image forming section unit. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the guide member is formed by bending a metal plate.