JP2013117874A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To be able to recognize a necessary operation button at a glance.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 10 includes: a housing 150 which stores an ink jet recording device 400 for forming an image on a recording medium and includes at least a front panel 151 facing an operator; and an operation panel 200 which is arranged at an upper side of the front panel 151, and includes a plurality of operation buttons, and a panel member 201 arranged around the plurality of operation buttons. The housing 150 is colored with whole matte white, the panel member 201 is colored with matte black, and the operation button of a use frequency 'high' is colored with matte white.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus including an operation panel that is disposed on a front panel of a housing and has a plurality of operation buttons disposed on a panel member.

  An operation panel is arranged on the image forming apparatus, and the apparatus is operated. On this operation panel, a display unit indicating the state of the apparatus, an operation button for designating the operation of the apparatus, and the like are arranged. In the image forming apparatus, various devices have been devised in the operation unit in order to make the operation easier to understand.

  In Patent Document 1, a plurality of buttons such as a power button and an operation button are arranged on the upper surface of the operation unit, and the most frequently operated power button is formed larger than the other operation buttons on the operation unit. An image forming apparatus arranged at a position closer to the operator than the operation button keys is described.

  In recent years, with the digitization of image processing, a multi-function printer (MFP) having multiple functions such as a printer, a scanner, a facsimile machine, and a copier has been put into practical use and has become widespread. In the operation unit of such an image forming apparatus, a display unit for displaying the state of various functions of the apparatus and a number of operation buttons corresponding to the operation of each function of the image forming apparatus are arranged.

  However, in such a printer multifunction device and the like, since a large number of buttons are arranged, it is not easy to visually recognize necessary operation buttons at a glance.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus that allows an operator to recognize necessary operation buttons at a glance.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention stores an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium, and includes a housing that includes at least a front panel facing the operator, and is disposed above the front panel. And an operation unit including a panel member arranged around the plurality of operation buttons, wherein the appearance of the panel member is different from the appearance of the operation buttons, and the operation The appearance of at least some of the operation buttons of the buttons and the appearance of the front panel of the housing are unified.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the operator can recognize the operation button at a glance due to the difference in appearance, and can easily operate the image forming apparatus without making an operation error.

1 is a perspective view showing an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the image forming apparatus with the document reading apparatus in an open state. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the image forming apparatus in which a cover member of the document placing portion is extended. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the image forming apparatus in which the cover member of the document placing portion is stored. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the image forming apparatus in which the cover member of the document placement unit is extended. 3A and 3B show a handle portion in the image forming apparatus, wherein FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view corresponding to the line AA in FIG. 4, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view corresponding to the line BB. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing appearance features of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing appearance features of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation panel of the image forming apparatus. The details of an operation panel are shown, (a) is a sectional view showing an indicator lamp, (b) is a front view showing a display state of the indicator lamp, and (c) is a sectional view showing an operation button. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an internal mechanism of a document conveying device. 2 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus. FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a handle portion of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment.

  A document reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter simply referred to as Embodiment 1) will be described.

<Embodiment 1>
The image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 will be described below. The image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment has an automatic document feeder disposed on the upper part of an image forming apparatus main body including an inkjet recording type image forming unit and an image reading apparatus. Note that the image forming means may employ other types of image forming means such as an electrophotographic type instead of the ink jet recording type. In addition, a pressing plate that presses a document placed in place of the automatic document feeder can be employed.

  First, the schematic structure of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described. 1 is a perspective view showing the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the image forming apparatus with the document reading device in an open state, and FIG. 3 is an extended state of the cover member of the document placing portion. 2 is a perspective view showing the image forming apparatus. 4 is a plan view showing the image forming apparatus in which the cover member of the document placing portion is stored, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the image forming apparatus in which the cover member of the document placing portion is extended. is there. Further, FIG. 6 shows a handle portion in the image forming apparatus, wherein (a) is a cross-sectional view corresponding to the line AA in FIG. 4, and (b) is a cross-sectional view corresponding to the line BB. It is.

  The image forming apparatus 10 according to the first exemplary embodiment includes a legitimate image forming apparatus main body 100 and an automatic document feeder 300 disposed on the main body. The image forming apparatus main body 100 includes a front panel 151 disposed on the front surface on the operator operation side, and a housing 150 including an upper surface 152. The housing 150 includes an image reading device 130 (see FIG. 11) for optically reading a document, and an ink jet recording device 400 (see FIG. 12) which is an image forming unit. The image reading device 130 can perform a manual reading process for reading one document at a time and an automatic reading process for reading one or more documents by the automatic document conveying device 300.

  The image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment has a high-class feeling as a whole, with the entire casing 150 including the front panel 151 and the upper surface 152 being matte white that is non-glossy and most of the automatic document feeder 300 being matte black. It is supposed to be. 1, 2, and 3, the automatic document feeder 300 is actually provided with a matte black portion and a black glossy portion, but coloring is omitted for the sake of drawing.

  The image forming apparatus main body 100 includes a paper tray 110 that stores paper on which an image is to be formed, and a paper discharge tray 120 from which the paper on which an image is recorded by the inkjet recording apparatus 400 is discharged. The image forming apparatus main body 100 further includes an operation panel 200 as an operation unit on which operation buttons for operating the image forming apparatus 10 and a liquid crystal panel for displaying the state of the image forming apparatus 10 are arranged.

  The automatic document feeder 300 includes a hinge portion (not shown) on the back side of the image forming apparatus main body 100, and as shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus can be opened and closed from the front side. Arranged on the main body 100. As shown in FIG. 2, when the automatic document feeder 300 is opened, a contact glass 131 on which a document is placed appears on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 100 during the manual reading process. Further, on the lower surface of the automatic document feeder 300, a document pressing plate 380 that presses the document against the contact glass 131 when the document is manually read is disposed, and a window portion 370 through which the document passes when the document is automatically read is formed. doing.

  The automatic document conveying device 300 includes a conveying device casing 301 that covers the upper side of the document pressing plate 380 described above. In the transport device casing 301, there are arranged a document placement unit 310 for stacking documents at the time of automatic document reading, and a document discharge unit 320 for stacking documents that have been read and discharged. In addition, a handle portion 350 for opening and closing the automatic document feeder 300 and a rising surface portion 381 from the front side of the document pressing plate 380 are formed in the conveyor case 301.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the handle portion 350 is formed so that a portion of the left side on the front side that is the operation side of the operator of the transport apparatus housing 301 protrudes to the near side from the near side edge position L of the document pressing plate 380. The handle part 350 can support the position of the center of gravity of the automatic document feeder 300 in the width direction.

  Further, the upper surface 355 of the handle portion 350 is formed in a curved surface that is convex upward. The handle part 350 includes a front side part 351 and a right side part 352, and an operator can put a finger on both sides 551 and 352 to open and close the automatic document feeder 300. In this example, both side portions 551 and 352 are connected by a curved portion 353. Moreover, the handle part 350 forms the lower surface part 354 which puts a finger on the lower side. Note that as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 6A as the lower surface portion and denoted by reference numeral 356, it is possible to improve finger contact as an inclined surface that rises toward the back side.

  The document placement unit 310 includes a document placement table 311 on which one or more documents are placed, and a lid member 312 that can be opened and closed on the document placement table 311. The document placing table 311 is formed by recessing the upper surface of the transport device casing 301. The document placing table 311 includes two width position restricting members 313 and 313 that determine positions in the width direction of the document. The width position regulating members 313 and 313 can slide in the paper width direction on the document setting table 311 and can be arranged at positions corresponding to various paper widths.

  The lid member 312 of the document placement unit 310 is attached to a document placement table 311 formed in the transport device casing 301 so as to be opened and closed. The lid member 312 can be installed in a storage state that covers the upper portion of the document setting table 311 and an extended state that is rotated and becomes an extension of the document setting table 311. When the lid member 312 is stored, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the lid member 312 covers the document setting table 311 and covers the surface of the lid member 312 and the document conveyance device 330 of the conveyance device housing 301. 371 forms a continuous surface.

  In the document placing section 310, as shown in FIG. 4, the lid member 312 is rotatably supported by a shaft 311a disposed at the end of the document setting table 311 on the downstream side in the document transport direction. When the lid member 312 is in the housed state, the end 312a on the shaft 311a side of the lid member 312 is disposed inside the region where the handle portion 350 in the width direction of the automatic document feeder 300 is formed. That is, the end 312 a of the lid member 312 is made to coincide with the extension line M of the right side 352 of the handle part 350, or arranged on the inner side (left side in the figure) of the extension line M.

  In the automatic document feeder 300 according to the first embodiment, the end 312 a of the lid member 312 does not protrude from the extension line M of the right side 352 behind the handle portion 350. Therefore, when the operator opens the automatic document feeder 300, the operator can be urged to place the finger on the handle portion 350 without placing a finger on the lid member 312. Therefore, the cover member 312 of the document placing portion 310 is not damaged, and the automatic document feeder 300 itself is not bent or twisted.

  When the lid member 312 is in the extended state, the lid member 312 extends the document placement surface of the document placement table 311 as shown in FIGS. Accordingly, a long document, for example, an A4 size document can be stably placed.

  In the automatic document feeder 300 according to the first embodiment, when the lid member 312 of the document placement unit 310 is stored, the lid member 312 and the handle unit 350 are adjacent to each other across the horizontal boundary line 357. Deploy. And the recessed part 360 which an operator can put a hand or a finger on the cover member 312 facing the boundary line 357 is formed in the handle part 350 (refer FIG. 6). Thereby, the lid member 312 can be easily opened.

  The document delivery unit 320 includes a delivery tray 321. The paper discharge tray 321 is configured by forming a flat surface on the upper surface of the transport device casing 301. In addition, the transport device casing 301 that forms the end of the document placing table 311 includes a flap 322 that can be opened and closed. When the flap 322 is in an open state (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4), the lower surface of the document D discharged to the sheet discharge tray 321 can be supported, and the document D can be prevented from drooping and dropping. A concave portion 323 into which a fingertip is inserted when the flap 322 is opened is formed in the transport device casing 301. In FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, reference numeral 170 denotes an inversion processing unit that inverts the paper during duplex printing.

  The automatic document feeder 300 includes a document feeder 330 (see FIG. 11) as a document feeder. The document conveying device 330 is installed below the panel 372 on the left side of the conveying device housing 301 in the drawing. The document conveying device 330 conveys the document D placed on the document placing unit 310 one by one to the document discharge unit 320 via the window unit 370.

  Next, the appearance characteristics of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described. 7 and 8 are plan views showing the appearance features of the image forming apparatus. As described above, in the document placing portion 310, the lid member 312 can be stored on the upper side of the document setting table 311 during storage. In this state, the handle part 350, the surface of the lid member 312 and the panel 371 sandwiched between the lid member 312 and the handle part 350 are all formed with the same appearance, that is, the same black glossy surface (the black glossy surface is illustrated). 7, indicated by hatching in FIG.

  On the other hand, the panels 372 and 373 and the paper discharge tray 321 of the transport device casing 301 that form the periphery of the members that form the black glossy surface are formed in matte black that does not easily reflect light. Further, the height of the lid member 312 in the housed state and the panels 372 and 373 of the transport apparatus housing 301 are made to coincide to form a continuous surface. The back surface of the lid member 312 is formed as a matte black.

  By providing such a configuration, the operator can recognize the handle portion 350 and the lid member 312 on the black glossy surface at a glance, so that the operator can operate the handle portion 350 and the lid member 312 without hesitation. Disappears.

  In the first embodiment, the surface of the handle part 350 and the lid member 312 is glossy black, and the other part is matte black, but this matte black part is, for example, a black textured surface, The appearance of the surface of the lid member 312 and other parts can be made different. Here, the difference in appearance means that, for example, the color, gloss, pattern, texture, etc. are different, and the impression given to the operator is different. In the automatic document feeder 300 according to the first embodiment, the appearance is selected so that the surfaces of the handle portion 350 and the lid member 312 are conspicuous. For this purpose, the brightness of a member to be made conspicuous is increased, the saturation is increased, or a pattern is added.

  Further, as described above, in the image forming apparatus main body 100 according to the first embodiment, the concave portion 360 for placing the finger on the lid member 312 is formed in the handle portion 350 so as to face the boundary with the lid member 312. In the automatic document feeder 300 according to the first embodiment, the lid member 312 is configured to be a surface continuous with the panels 362 and 363 when the lid member 312 is stored on the document placement table 311. For this reason, it is difficult to grasp the part for opening and closing the lid member 312. However, since the handle portion 350 is a glossy surface, the operator's consciousness is directed to the glossy surface in the entire apparatus, and as a result, the recess 360 is Can be easily recognized. Further, if the concave portion 360 is matted black or the appearance is different from other portions, it can be recognized better.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first exemplary embodiment, the lower surface portion 354 on which the finger is placed when the automatic document feeder 300 is opened and closed is formed on the lower side of the handle portion 350 that is glossy black. Conventionally, a handle is formed at a position corresponding to the rising surface portion 381 on the front side of the document discharge tray. However, in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, a surface for placing a finger on the rising surface portion 381 is formed. Not. Although it is difficult for the operator to grasp the surface on which the finger is applied, in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, the handle portion 350 that is a glossy surface protrudes to the front side from the rising surface portion 381 and the upper end of the operation panel 200. Therefore, the operator can easily recognize the handle part 350.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 10, when the lid member 312 is in the extended state, the upper surface of the document placing table 311 and the surface portions 314 and 315 covered by the lid member 312 are matte black as in the panels 362 and 363. It is. Therefore, the glossy black surface is only the handle portion 350, and the operator's consciousness is easily concentrated on the handle portion 350. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the operator from holding the lid member 312 in the open state and opening the automatic document feeder 300 as in the prior art.

  In addition, since the concave portion 360 and the handle portion 350 are both disposed at the upper and lower positions in the vertical movement direction of the operator's line of sight on the front side of the automatic document feeder 300, the opening of the automatic document feeder 300 and the opening to the lid member 312 are performed. Access direction can be unified and operability is improved.

  Further, in the automatic document conveying apparatus 300 according to the first embodiment, the handle portion 350 is configured on the side accommodating the document conveying apparatus 330 (the side accommodating the driving parts of the conveying means, the position of the center of gravity). As a result, it is possible to prevent the automatic document feeder 300 from being subjected to unnecessary force that causes deflection, deflection, twisting, and the like.

  Further, in addition to the front side portion 351 on the front side, the operator can place a finger on the right side portion 352 of the handle portion 350. Note that the shape and size of the handle portion 350 can be selected as appropriate.

  In the automatic document feeder 300 according to the first embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the handle portion 350 is protruded toward the front side so that the handle portion 350 can be easily recognized. However, if the handle part 350 protrudes largely forward, the visibility of the operation panel 200 disposed below the handle part 350 deteriorates. Therefore, in the automatic document feeder 300 according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the front end position of the handle portion 350 is a position at which the uppermost operation button 293 constituting the operation panel 200 can be viewed from obliquely above. To do. Further, in order to improve the visibility of the liquid crystal panel 280 and the operability of pressing the operation buttons, the operation panel 200 is inclined so that the upper side is the back.

  Next, the operation panel 200 of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation panel of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. In the operation panel 200, the panel member 201 is provided with a start button group 220 including a power button 211, a monochrome start button, a color start button, and a clear / stop button, a numeric key 230, and a cursor movement key group 240. The panel member 201 also includes a program key 212, an ID copy key 213, a copy selection key 251, a function selection key group 250 for selecting one to be used from a scanner, a printer, and a facsimile, various setting keys 260, and a one-touch dial key group 270. Place. Further, the panel member 201 is provided with a liquid crystal panel 280 for displaying information of the image forming apparatus 10, a warning lamp 291, and a data input indicator lamp 292. For the convenience of drawing, the matte black panel member 201 is actually displayed without being colored.

  The panel member 201 is a matte black that is different from the white color that is the color of the front panel 151 of the housing 150. In addition, the operation frequency of each operation button is divided into “high”, “medium”, and “low”, and the arrangement positions and colors thereof are different. That is, the operation buttons having the low usage frequency are collectively arranged on the left side of the liquid crystal panel 280, and the buttons having the high usage frequency are collectively arranged on the right side of the liquid crystal panel 280 so as not to be blocked by the handle portion 350. Arrange.

  In addition, the start button group 220, the numeric keypad 230, and the cursor movement key group 240, which are frequently used, are highlighted white. The function selection key group 250 for the scanner, printer, and facsimile is grayed out among the function selection key group 250 having the “medium” usage frequency. Further, the seed setting key group 260 and the one-touch dial key group 270 whose usage frequency is “low” are made of black with a texture different from that of the panel member 201. Furthermore, the power button 211, the program key 212, and the copy selection key 251 that need to display the presence / absence of settings are arranged so as to emit light when selected with a backlight.

  In the first exemplary embodiment, the image forming apparatus main body 100 is matte white and the panel member 201 of the operation panel 200 is matte black. Therefore, the visibility of the operation panel 200 is good due to the contrast between the two. In addition, the buttons that are frequently used have a matte white color that has a high contrast with the matte black panel member 201, and thus the visibility is high, and the gray color and the black that the contrast decreases as the frequency of use decreases. The distribution according to the frequency of use is not limited to three stages, but may be two stages, four stages or more.

  10A and 10B show details of the operation panel. FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view showing an indicator lamp, FIG. 10B is a front view showing a display state of the indicator lamp, and FIG. 10C is a cross-sectional view showing an operation button. . The warning lamp 291 and the data input indicator lamp 292 arranged on the operation panel 200 have a light emitting surface from the lower corner of the operation panel 200 to the lower surface 202. Further, the lower surface 202 of the operation panel 200 and the image forming apparatus main body upper surface 101 are arranged to face each other with a gap.

  For this reason, the light from the warning lamp 291 and the data input indicator lamp 292 is reflected so as to shine in the area 160 that is gently spread on the upper surface 152 of the matte white casing 150. Therefore, it is easy for the operator to visually recognize the warning light 291 and the data input indicator 292 even if the size of the light emitting portion is reduced. Note that if the upper surface 152 of the housing 150 is a glossy surface, the outline of the lower side surface of the light emitting unit is clearly reflected on the upper surface 152, so that it is mistaken for two light emitting units.

  Note that the front panel 151, the upper surface 152, the color of the panel member 201, and the color of each button of the housing 150 are not limited to the above example. Other combinations of appearance may be used as long as the frequently used buttons can be made more conspicuous. As described above, the difference in appearance means that, for example, the color, gloss, pattern, texture, and the like are different, and the impression given to the operator is different. Appearance can be made different by increasing the brightness of the buttons that you want to stand out, increasing the saturation, adding a pattern, changing the size, etc.

  In addition, the various buttons arranged on the operation panel 200 have the operation surface 204a inclined so that the amount of protrusion from the panel member 201 increases downward. That is, as shown in FIG. 12C, the protrusion amount of the operation button 204 from the panel member 201 is h <H, where h is the upper side and H is the lower side. Thereby, it is easy to touch the finger operated from diagonally above, and it is hard to slip, and operativity improves. In addition, if the operation surface 204a of the operation button 204 is recessed toward the back, finger adhesion is further improved and operability is improved.

  Next, the automatic document feeder 300 and the image reading device 130 of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing some internal mechanisms of the document conveying device and the image reading device. The image reading device 130 is disposed on the upper part of the image forming apparatus main body 100. The image reading apparatus 130 includes a contact glass 131 disposed on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 100, an exposure lamp 132 disposed below the contact glass 131, a first mirror 133, a lens (not illustrated), and a charge coupled device (CCD) (not illustrated). ) And the like. The exposure lamp 132 and the first mirror 133 are mounted on a carrier (not shown), and can be moved simultaneously by the movement of the carrier.

  When manual reading processing, that is, when the automatic document feeder 300 is opened and the document D is placed on the contact glass 131 and read, the exposure lamp 132 and the first mirror 133 are moved in the width direction (sub-scanning direction) in FIG. The document D is imaged by connecting an image to the imaging element through a lens (not shown).

  In the automatic reading process, that is, when the automatic document feeder 300 conveys the original D one by one and reads the original D, the exposure lamp 132 and the first mirror 133 stop at the original reading position at the lower left of the contact glass 131. . This reading position is a position below the window portion 370 disposed on the lower surface of the automatic document feeder 300. At the original reading position, the original D passing through the window 370 is irradiated by the exposure lamp 132, and the reflected light from the original D is connected to the imaging element via the first mirror 133 and a lens (not shown), and the original D is formed. Take an image.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the document conveyance device 330 includes a calling roller 331, a separation belt 332, a separation prevention roller 333, a reverse path 334, a first conveyance roller 335, a first driven roller 336, a paper discharge path 337, and a second conveyance. A roller 338, a second driven roller 339, a paper discharge roller 340, and a paper discharge driven roller 341 are provided. After the calling roller 331 is brought into contact with and separated from the original D of the original bundle placed on the original setting table 311, the uppermost original is separated by the separation belt 332 and the separation prevention roller 333. The document D separated by the separation belt 332 and the separation prevention roller 333 is reversed and moved along the reversing path 334 by the first conveyance roller 335 and the first driven roller 105, and reaches the document reading position of the window 370, that is, the contact glass 131. Transport.

  The document D that has passed the document reading position is transported in the paper discharge path 337 by the second transport roller 338 and the second driven roller 103, and is discharged to the paper output tray 321 by the paper discharge roller 340 and the paper discharge driven roller 341. Make paper.

  Next, the ink jet recording apparatus 400 of the image forming apparatus main body 100 will be described. FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the configuration of the image forming means of the image forming apparatus. In the ink jet recording apparatus 400, the carriage 404 is slidably supported in the main scanning direction by a guide member 403 that is a guide member horizontally mounted on the left and right side plates 401 and 402. The main scanning motor 405 drives the timing belt 408 stretched between the driving pulley 406 and the driven pulley 407 to move and scan the carriage 404 in the main scanning direction.

  The carriage 404 includes a liquid discharge head that discharges yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K) liquid droplets, and a head tank that supplies ink to the liquid discharge head. A recording head unit (hereinafter simply referred to as “recording head”) 4409 is mounted. The recording head 409 is mounted with a nozzle row composed of a plurality of nozzles arranged in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction and the droplet discharge direction facing downward. The plurality of recording heads 409 are unitized by being held by a head holder (not shown) and mounted on the carriage 404.

  An encoder scale 410 is disposed along the main scanning direction of the carriage 404, and an encoder sensor 411 including a transmission type photosensor that reads a scale (scale: position identification unit) of the encoder scale 410 is disposed on the carriage 404 side. The encoder scale 410 and the encoder sensor 411 constitute a linear encoder as a position detection device.

  On the other hand, below the carriage 404, a conveying belt 412 is arranged as a conveying means for conveying a recording medium (not shown) in the sub-scanning direction. The transport belt 412 is an endless belt, and is passed between the transport roller 413 and the tension roller 414. The transport belt 412 is rotated in the sub-scanning direction when the transport roller 413 is rotationally driven by the sub-scanning motor 415 via the timing belt 416 and the timing pulley 417.

  Further, a maintenance / recovery mechanism 418 that performs maintenance / recovery of the recording head 409 is arranged on the side of the conveyance belt 412 on one side of the carriage 404 in the main scanning direction. The maintenance / recovery mechanism 418 includes, for example, a cap member for capping the nozzle surface (surface on which the nozzle is formed) of the recording head 409, a wiper member for wiping the nozzle surface, and an empty discharge receiver for discharging droplets that do not contribute to image formation. Configure.

  In this image forming apparatus, when print data is input from an external device or data obtained by reading a document is input, the paper fed from the paper tray 110 is intermittently conveyed by the conveyance belt 412. Then, the recording head 409 is driven according to the image signal while moving the carriage 404 in the main scanning direction. Furthermore, droplets are ejected onto the stopped paper to record one line, and after the paper is conveyed by a predetermined amount, an operation for recording the next line is repeated to form an image on the paper. Is discharged to a discharge tray 120 on the front side of the apparatus.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, an image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a handle portion of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment. The automatic document feeder 500 according to the second embodiment is the same as the automatic document feeder 300 according to the first embodiment except that the upper surface 511 of the handle portion 510 is configured as a plane. A concave portion 530 for placing a finger on the lid portion 520 is formed in the handle portion 510 configured as a flat surface.

  Although an example in which the automatic document feeder is installed in an image forming apparatus main body provided with an image reading device has been described, an automatic image reading device can be configured by combining an automatic document feeder and an image reading device.

10: Image forming apparatus 100: Image forming apparatus main body 150: Case 151: Front panel 152: Top panel 200: Operation panel 300: Automatic document feeder 301: Conveyor device casing 310: Document placement unit 311: Document placement table 312 : Cover member 320: Document discharge section 321: Paper discharge tray 330: Document transport device 350: Handle section 351: Front side section 352: Right side section 360: Concavity 380: Document pressing plate 381: Raising surface section 400: Inkjet Recording device (image forming means)

JP 2007-168133 A

Claims (7)

An image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium is stored, and a housing having at least a front panel facing the operator is disposed on the upper side of the front panel, and is disposed around the plurality of operation buttons and the plurality of operation buttons. In an image forming apparatus provided with an operation unit provided with a panel member,
While making the appearance of the panel member different from the appearance of the operation buttons,
An image forming apparatus characterized by unifying the appearance of at least some of the operation buttons and the appearance of a front panel of the housing.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of operation buttons are classified into a plurality of sets according to use frequency, and the appearance of the operation buttons of a set with high use is unified with the appearance of the front panel. .   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the panel member and the operation button have different colors, and are unified with the operation button and the color of the front panel.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the color of the panel member is black, and the color of the front panel and the operation button is white. The operation unit includes a lower side surface extending from the lower side to the back side of the panel member, and the lower side surface is disposed to be opposed to and spaced from the upper surface of the front panel.
The panel member is disposed in the vicinity of the lower edge of the panel member and emits light toward the front, and the lower side is formed continuously with the front light emitting surface on the lower surface and emits light downward. With a light emitting surface,
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein light emitted from the lower light emitting surface is reflected on an upper surface of the front panel and emitted to the front side of the image forming apparatus. .   The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein an upper surface of the front panel is white.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein an upper surface of the front panel is a non-glossy surface.