JP2013245059A - Container and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent deformation of a columnar part erected from a rotation member rotated along a bottom face of a container.SOLUTION: A rotation member 272 is rotated around a rotary shaft 271 disposed at a position between a second wall part 220 and a first wall part 120 of a second baseplate 210 along the second baseplate 210. A rotation means 274 rotates the rotation member 272 in a direction where the rotation member 272 meshes with mesh parts 171, 172. A columnar part 275 is erected from the rotation member 272 at a position between the rotary shaft 271 and the second wall part 220. A contact part 221 provided on the second wall part 220 comes into contact with a part facing the second wall part 220 of the columnar part 275 when a force rotating the rotation member 272 in a direction opposite to rotation by the rotation means 274 is applied to the columnar member 275.

Description

  The present invention relates to a container and an image forming apparatus.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes a paper feed cassette having a cassette main body portion that supports the front end of a sheet and a rear end support portion that supports the rear end side of the sheet. The rear end support portion includes a sheet support member that is pulled out in the sheet feeding direction. The sheet support member has a lever for fixing the sheet support member to the bottom surface of the cassette main body, and the cassette main body has a plurality of engaging portions for locking the locking claws of the lever.

JP 2005-219889 A

  An object of this invention is to suppress the deformation | transformation of the columnar part raised from the rotating member rotated along the bottom face of a container.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first accommodating portion having a first bottom plate and a first wall portion provided on an upper surface of the first bottom plate, a second bottom plate, and the first wall on the upper surface of the second bottom plate. A second wall portion provided so as to face the portion, and is moved relative to the first housing portion so that a distance between the first wall portion and the second wall portion expands and contracts. The second bottom plate, and the first bottom plate or the second bottom plate for restricting the lateral movement of the contained matter accommodated between the first wall portion and the second wall portion. And a rotation shaft provided at a position between the second wall portion and the first wall portion of the second bottom plate, and a rotation rotated about the rotation shaft along the second bottom plate. A member, and a meshing portion that is provided at a plurality of positions between the rotation shaft and the first wall portion of the first bottom plate and meshes with the rotation member; A rotating means for rotating the rotating member in a direction in which the rotating member and the engaging portion are engaged, a columnar portion raised from the rotating member at a position between the rotating shaft and the second wall portion, Provided on the second wall portion that contacts a portion of the columnar portion facing the second wall portion when a force that rotates the rotating member in a direction opposite to the rotation by the rotating means acts on the columnar portion. A container having a contact portion is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the container according to the first aspect, the contact portion extends from the second wall portion to a position corresponding to a locus of a side surface of the columnar portion when the rotating member is rotated. It is characterized by protruding.
The invention according to claim 3 is the container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the contact portion is a rib extending in a longitudinal direction of the columnar portion.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a conveying unit that conveys the sheet-like recording medium stacked in the container according to any one of the first to third aspects, and an image is formed on the recording medium conveyed by the conveying unit. An image forming apparatus comprising an image forming unit.

According to the invention which concerns on Claim 1, compared with the structure which does not have a contact part, the deformation | transformation of the columnar part raised from the rotating member rotated along the bottom face of a container can be suppressed.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, compared with the structure which the contact part does not protrude to the position corresponding to the locus | trajectory of the side surface of the columnar part at the time of rotating a rotating member, it can suppress a deformation | transformation of a columnar part. it can.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 3, compared with the structure which a contact part is not a rib extended in the longitudinal direction of a columnar part, a deformation | transformation of a columnar part can be suppressed.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, compared with the structure which does not have a contact part, the operation | work which expands / contracts a container can be easily performed when using several types of recording media from which a size mutually differs.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the image forming apparatus 10. The top view of the medium container 30. FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the medium container 30 in the II direction. Sectional drawing of the medium container 30 of the II-II direction. The top view (perspective view) of the medium container 30. FIG. The top view (perspective view) which expanded the rotating member 272 and its periphery. The figure at the time of rotating the rotation member 272 of FIG. The perspective view of the rotation member 272. FIG. The perspective view of the rotation member 272. FIG. 6 is a six-sided view of the rotating member 272. FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a right side view of the image forming apparatus 10. This figure shows the main components related to image formation. In the figure, the right side is the back side of the image forming apparatus 10, the left side is the front side, the near side is the right side, and the back side is the left side. In the following description, “front side”, “back side”, “right side”, and “left side” all indicate directions with respect to the image forming apparatus 10. Also, the direction from the front side to the back side of the image forming apparatus 10 is the + X direction, the direction from the right side to the left side of the image forming apparatus 10 is the + Y direction, and from the lower side to the upper side of the image forming apparatus 10. The direction to go is the + Z direction.

  The control unit 1 includes a central processing unit (CPU) that is an arithmetic device, a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM) that are storage devices, and the CPU executes an OS stored in the ROM. Thus, each part of the image forming apparatus 10 is controlled. The control unit 1 has a communication I / F (Interface), and receives data from other devices via a LAN (Local Area Network). The control unit 1 converts the received data into bitmap format image data and outputs the image data to the writing unit 13.

  In the medium container 30 (an example of the container according to the present invention), sheet-like recording media P such as paper are stacked and accommodated. The first roller 31 and the second roller 32 are provided on the main body side of the image forming apparatus 10, and the third roller 33 is provided on the medium container 30. The first roller 31 contacts the uppermost recording medium P and rotates in the direction of arrow C to feed the recording medium P out of the medium container 30. The second roller 32 and the third roller 33 rotate in the same direction as the first roller. The third roller 33 is provided with a torque limiter. When the recording medium P is sent out without overlapping, the third roller 33 is rotated in the reverse direction by friction with the recording medium P, and The recording medium P is sent out to the conveyance path 34. The recording medium P sent out to the conveyance path 34 is conveyed in the direction of arrow B by the conveyance roller. When a plurality of recording media P are sent out in an overlapping manner, the recording media P other than the recording medium P positioned at the top are pushed back to the medium container 30 by the third roller 33.

Around the photoconductor 11, a charging unit 12, a writing unit 13, a developing unit 14, and a transfer unit 15 are provided.
The photosensitive member 11 is a rotating member that is rotationally driven in the direction of an arrow A by a driving means (not shown) such as a motor, and a photosensitive layer made of a semiconductor whose potential is changed by light irradiation on the outer peripheral surface thereof. Is provided.
The charging unit 12 is, for example, a corotron type charging device, a roller type charging device or the like, and charges the surface of the photoconductor 11 to a predetermined potential.

  The writing unit 13 writes a latent image on the photoconductor 11 based on the image data. Specifically, the writing unit 13 generates a laser beam LB corresponding to the gradation of each pixel represented by the image data supplied from the control unit 1, and the surface of the photoconductor 11 is scanned with the laser beam LB. A latent image is formed by scanning in the axial direction (main scanning direction) of the photoconductor 11. As the photoconductor 11 is driven to rotate, writing of latent images in units of scanning lines in the main scanning direction is repeated in the circumferential direction (sub-scanning direction) of the photoconductor 11.

  The developing unit 14 develops the latent image written on the photoconductor 11. Specifically, a two-component developer composed of toner and carrier is accommodated in the developing unit 14. The toner is obtained by coloring resin powder with a black color material. The carrier is a powder made of a magnetic material. The housing of the developing unit 14 has an opening on the side facing the photoconductor 11, and a developing roller is provided inside the housing so that the outer circumferential surface of the photoconductor 11 faces each other. The two-component developer adheres to the outer peripheral surface of the rotationally driven developing roller. A developing bias voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the latent image is applied to the developing roller, and the toner is charged by the developing bias voltage. As a result, the toner is transferred onto the latent image by electrostatic attraction. In this way, the latent image is developed with toner, and a toner image is formed on the photoreceptor 11.

  The transfer unit 15 is, for example, a corotron charging device, a roller charging device, or the like, and is provided at a position facing the photoconductor 11 with the conveyance path 34 interposed therebetween. A transfer bias voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image on the photoconductor 11 is applied to the transfer unit 15, and the recording medium P is charged by the transfer bias voltage. As a result, the toner image is transferred to the recording medium P by electrostatic attraction. Is done.

The fixing unit 16 includes a heating member having a heat source and a pressure member pressed against the heating member, and melts and presses the toner image by sandwiching the medium P between the heating member and the pressure member. The toner image is fixed on the recording medium P.
The discharge unit 36 is a recess provided at the exit of the conveyance path 34 on the upper surface of the housing 20 and having a size to accommodate the recording medium P. The recording medium P on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing unit 16 is discharged from the exit of the conveyance path 34 to the discharge unit 36.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the medium container 30. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the medium container 30 in the II direction. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the medium container 30 in the II-II direction.
The medium container 30 is roughly divided into a first storage unit 100 and a second storage unit 200. Hereinafter, the reference numerals of the constituent elements belonging to the first accommodating part 100 are set to the 100th series, and the reference numerals of the constituent elements belonging to the second accommodating part 200 are set to the 200th order.

  The first housing part 100 includes a first bottom plate 110, a first wall part 120, a side wall 130 and a side wall 140. The first wall portion 120, the side wall 130, and the side wall 140 are provided on the upper surface of the first bottom plate 110. The outer surface of the first housing part 100 is covered with a housing 101. In FIG. 3, the first bottom plate 110 is illustrated as being divided into a plurality of parts, but in reality, each part of the first bottom plate 110 is integrated with the first wall 120, the side wall 130, and the side wall 140. In the first bottom plate 110, grooves 111 to 114 extending in the X direction and tunnels 115 and 116 extending in the X direction are formed. The side wall 130 has a passage 131 extending in the X direction. Similar to the side wall 130, the side wall 140 also has a passage 141 extending in the X direction.

  The second housing part 200 includes a second bottom plate 210, a second wall part 220, a side wall 230 and a side wall 240. The second wall portion 220 is provided on the upper surface of the second bottom plate 210 so as to face the first wall portion 120. The second bottom plate 210 is configured by bottom plate members 211 to 216 that are cantilever-like members extending in the X direction, and the bottom plate members 211 to 216 are integrated with the second wall portion 220. The bottom plate members 211, 212, 213, and 214 are respectively passed through the grooves 111, 112, 113, and 114 of the first bottom plate 110, and the bottom plate members 215 and 216 are respectively passed through the tunnels 115 and 116 of the first bottom plate 110. The side wall 230 and the side wall 240 are cantilever-like members extending in the X direction from the second wall portion 220 and are respectively passed through the passage 131 of the side wall 130 and the passage 141 of the side wall 140. That is, the medium container 30 is configured such that the second storage unit 200 is moved relative to the first storage unit 100 such that the distance between the first wall unit 120 and the second wall unit 220 expands and contracts. Has been.

  The restricting member 251 is a plate-like member provided so as to face the second wall portion 220, and in the −X direction of the recording medium P accommodated between the first wall portion 120 and the second wall portion 220. Regulate the movement of A rail 217 and a rack 218 extending in the X direction are formed on the upper surface of the second bottom plate 210. The bottom of the restricting member 251 is shaped to hold the rail 217 and mesh with the rack 218. The restricting member 251 is moved along the rail 217 and is positioned in the X direction by meshing with the rack 218.

The push-up plate 151 is coupled to the first bottom plate 110 by a hinge 152.
FIG. 5 is a plan view (perspective view) of the medium container 30. A spring 153 is interposed between the push-up plate 151 and the first bottom plate 110, and the end of the recording medium P placed on the push-up plate 151 on the first wall 120 side contacts the first roller 31. Pushed up.

  The regulating member 161 is a plate-like member provided to face the inner surfaces of the side wall 130 and the side wall 140, and is provided so that the regulating member 161 on the side wall 130 side and the regulating member 161 on the side wall 140 side face each other. ing. The restricting member 161 restricts the movement of the recording medium P accommodated between the first wall portion 120 and the second wall portion 220 in the lateral direction (± Y direction). A pinion 163 is provided at a position between the two regulating members 161, and a rack 162 extending from the lower ends of the two regulating members 161 is engaged with the pinion 163. When one restricting member 161 is moved in the ± Y direction, the other restricting member 161 is moved in the opposite direction in conjunction therewith.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view (perspective view) of the rotating member 272 and its periphery. FIG. 7 is a view when the rotating member 272 of FIG. 6 is rotated. 8 and 9 are perspective views of the rotating member 272. FIG. FIG. 10 is a six-sided view of the rotating member 272.
A rotation shaft 271 having the Z direction as an axial direction is provided at a position between the second wall 220 and the first wall 120 of the second bottom plate 210. The rotating member 272 is a rod-shaped member extending in the X direction. A hole 277 that penetrates in the Z direction is provided at a position closer to the second wall 220 than the center in the longitudinal direction of the rotating member 272, and the rotating shaft 271 passes through the hole 277. The rotating member 272 is rotated along the second bottom plate 210 around the rotating shaft 271.

  The convex portion 273 is provided at the tip of the rotating member 272 on the first wall portion 120 side so as to protrude in the −Y direction. Engaging portions 171 and 172 having a shape that meshes with the convex portion 273 of the rotating member 272 are provided at two positions between the rotating shaft 271 of the first bottom plate 110 and the first wall portion 120. The meshing portions 171 and 172 are formed in a shape recessed in the −Y direction corresponding to the convex portion 273. A meshing part 171 is provided near the first wall part 120, and a meshing part 172 is provided near the second wall part 220.

  The rotating means 274 is a leaf spring provided on the side surface opposite to the convex portion 273 of the rotating member 272. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the edge 2151 of the bottom plate member 215 is raised on the opposite side of the engaging portions 171 and 172 across the rotating member 272, and the end of the rotating means 274 is the edge. By being abutted against 2151, the rotating member 272 is rotated in a direction in which the convex portion 273 is engaged with the engaging portion 171.

On the other hand, a columnar portion 275 is provided at a position between the rotation shaft 271 of the rotating member 272 and the second wall portion 220. The columnar portion 275 is raised from the rotating member 272 in the Z direction, and the inside is hollow. The handle 276 is provided so as to protrude from the columnar portion 275 in the X direction. By pushing the surface on the first wall 120 side of the handle 276 with a finger or the like, the rotating member 272 is rotated in the direction opposite to the rotation by the rotating means 274, and the meshing between the convex portion 273 and the meshing portions 171 and 172 is released. (See FIG. 7).
The rotating member 272, the convex portion 273, the rotating means 274, the columnar portion 275, and the handle 276 are integrally formed of resin.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the second housing part 200 is pushed all the way into the first housing part 100, and in this case, the convex part 273 is meshed with the meshing part 171. The distance between the first wall 120 and the regulating member 251 in this state is, for example, the length (297 mm) in the longitudinal direction of A4 size paper.
As shown in FIG. 7, when the rotating member 272 is rotated and the meshing between the convex portion 273 and the meshing portion 171 is released, the second housing portion 200 is freely pulled out from the first housing portion 100. When the second storage unit 200 is pulled out from the first storage unit 100 and the convex part 273 is engaged with the engagement part 172, the distance between the first wall part 120 and the regulating member 251 is, for example, the longitudinal direction of legal-size paper The length (356mm).

  The surface of the second wall 220 on the side of the columnar portion 275 comes into contact with the portion of the columnar portion 275 that faces the second wall 220 when the rotating member 272 is rotated in the direction opposite to the rotation by the rotating means 274. A contact portion 221 is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the contact portion 221 is a rib extending in the longitudinal direction of the columnar portion 275. Further, it is desirable that the contact part 221 protrudes from the second wall part 220 to a position corresponding to the locus of the side surface of the columnar part 275 when the rotation member 272 is rotated in the direction opposite to the rotation by the rotation means 274. .

The operation of this embodiment is as follows.
Assume that the user presses the surface of the handle 276 on the first wall 120 side with a finger. In this case, the direction of the force pushing the handle 276 (in the −X direction in FIG. 6) intersects the line connecting the point where the force is applied and the rotation shaft 271. Rotation occurs on the rotating member 272. Here, since the integrated handle 276, the columnar portion 275, and the rotating member 272 are not rigid bodies, they are deformed. This deformation includes twisting and bending of the columnar portion 275, and the larger the deformation, the smaller the rotation of the rotating member 272. Then, a situation may occur in which the rotation of the rotating member 272 necessary for releasing the meshing between the convex portion 273 and the meshing portion 171 or 172 cannot be obtained. In order to suppress such deformation of the columnar portion 275, it is conceivable to make the columnar portion 275 from a material having a relatively high rigidity such as metal, or to increase the cross section of the columnar portion 275. In this case, the cost becomes high. On the other hand, in order to reduce costs, a configuration in which the columnar portion 275 is formed of a resin as in the present embodiment and a configuration in which the columnar portion 275 is a hollow structure are advantageous. This is disadvantageous in suppressing the deformation of 275. Further, when the capacity of the medium container 30 is increased, it is necessary to increase the depth of the medium container 30. In this case, if the columnar portion 275 is kept short, the user's finger is difficult to reach the handle 276. The deeper the medium container 30 is, the longer the columnar portion 275 needs to be lengthened, and the columnar portion 275 becomes more easily deformed.

In this embodiment, since the contact part 221 is provided in the 2nd wall part 220, when the force which rotates the rotation member 272 to the direction opposite to the rotation by the rotation means 274 acted on the columnar part 275, The contact part 221 contacts the part facing the second wall part 220. Therefore, as compared with the configuration without the contact portion 221, the deformation of the columnar portion 275 is suppressed, and the rotation of the rotating member 272 necessary for releasing the engagement between the convex portion 273 and the engagement portion 171 or 172 cannot be obtained. Things are less likely to occur.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the deformation of the columnar portion 275 is suppressed as compared with the configuration in which the contact portion 221 does not protrude to the position corresponding to the locus of the side surface of the columnar portion 275 when the rotating member 272 is rotated. Is done.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the deformation of the columnar portion 221 is suppressed as compared with the configuration in which the contact portion 221 is not a rib extending in the longitudinal direction of the columnar portion.
In addition, according to the present embodiment, the operation of expanding and contracting the medium container 30 is facilitated when a plurality of types of recording media having different sizes are used properly as compared with a configuration without a contact portion.

<Modification>
You may deform | transform said embodiment like the modification shown below. Moreover, you may combine embodiment and a modification. A plurality of modified examples may be combined.

In the embodiment, an example in which two ribs are provided as the contact portion 221 has been described. However, one rib may be provided as the contact portion 221, or three or more ribs may be provided. Good.
Further, as the contact portion 221, a circular arc-shaped rib corresponding to the locus of the columnar portion 275 when the rotating member 272 is rotated may be provided.
Moreover, as the contact part 221, the site | part which the columnar part 275 of the 2nd wall part 220 opposes may be shape | molded in the shape swelled in the direction of the columnar part 275. FIG.
Further, the contact portion 221 may protrude toward the rotation shaft 271 with respect to the trajectory of the columnar portion 275 when the rotating member 272 is rotated, or may not reach the trajectory of the columnar portion 275. In short, the contact portion 221 comes into contact with a portion of the columnar portion 275 that faces the second wall portion 220 when a force that rotates the rotating member 272 in the direction opposite to the rotation by the rotating unit 274 is applied to the columnar portion 275. What is necessary is just to be provided.

  In the embodiment, the example in which the handle 276 protruding from the columnar portion 275 in the Y direction is provided, but the handle 276 may not be provided. In this case, the rotary member 272 is rotated by pressing the surface of the columnar part 275 on the first wall 120 side with a finger.

In the embodiment, the rotating member 272 is provided with the convex portion 273, and the first bottom plate 110 is provided with the engaging portions 171 and 172 having a shape corresponding to the convex portion 273. However, the rotating member 272 has the Y direction. A depressed recess may be provided, and the first bottom plate 110 may be provided with a meshing portion having a shape corresponding to the recess. In short, any shape may be used as long as the rotating member 272 and the first bottom plate 110 are engaged with each other. The rotating member 272 may not be a rod-shaped member, and may have any shape as long as it is formed so as to mesh with the meshing portions 171 and 172.
Further, the meshing portion may be provided at three or more positions.

  The rotating means 274 may be a coil spring. Further, magnets having the same polarity may be provided on the rotating member 272 and the edge 2151 so as to face each other.

  In the embodiment, the bottom plate members 211, 212, 213, and 214 are respectively passed through the grooves 111, 112, 113, and 114 of the first bottom plate 110, and the bottom plate members 215 and 216 are respectively passed through the tunnels 115 and 116 of the first bottom plate 110. However, the shapes of the first storage unit 100 and the second storage unit 200 are not limited to this example. In short, if the second housing portion 200 is configured to be moved relative to the first housing portion 100 such that the distance between the first wall portion 120 and the second wall portion 220 expands and contracts, the first housing portion. 100 and the 2nd accommodating part 200 may be what kind of shape.

  In the embodiment, an example of the medium container 30 that stores the recording medium P on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus 10 is shown. However, the medium container 30 is only an example of the container according to the present invention, and the sizes thereof are different from each other. The present invention may be applied to any container as long as it is a container that accommodates any of a plurality of types of contents.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image forming apparatus, 1 ... Control part, 11 ... Photoconductor, 12 ... Charging part, 13 ... Writing part, 14 ... Developing part, 15 ... Transfer part, 16 ... Fixing part, 30 ... Medium container, 100 ... No. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Storage part 110 ... 1st baseplate, 111 ... Groove, 112 ... Groove, 113 ... Groove, 114 ... Groove, 115 ... Tunnel, 116 ... Tunnel, 120 ... 1st wall part, 130 ... Side wall, 131 ... Passage, 140 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Side wall 141 ... Passage | path 151 ... Push-up board 152 ... Hinge, 153 ... Spring, 161 ... Restriction member 162 ... Rack, 163 ... Pinion, 171 ... Engagement part, 172 ... Engagement part, 200 ... 2nd accommodating part, 210 ... second bottom plate 211 ... bottom plate member 212 ... bottom plate member 213 ... bottom plate member 214 ... bottom plate member 215 ... bottom plate member 2151 ... edge 216 ... bottom plate member 217 ... rail 218 ... rack 220 ... second wall 221 ... contact part, 230 ... side wall, 240 ... side wall, 251 ... regulating member, 271 ... rotating shaft, 272 ... rotating member, 273 ... convex part, 274 ... rotating means, 275 ... columnar part, 276 ... grip, 277 ... hole

Claims (4)

A first housing portion having a first bottom plate and a first wall portion provided on an upper surface of the first bottom plate;
A second bottom plate and a second wall portion provided on an upper surface of the second bottom plate so as to face the first wall portion; and a distance between the first wall portion and the second wall portion expands and contracts. A second accommodating portion that is moved relative to the first accommodating portion,
A regulating member provided on the first bottom plate or the second bottom plate, which regulates the lateral movement of the accommodated material accommodated between the first wall portion and the second wall portion;
A rotating shaft provided at a position between the second wall portion and the first wall portion of the second bottom plate;
A rotating member that is rotated along the second bottom plate about the rotation axis;
A meshing portion that is provided at a plurality of positions between the rotation shaft of the first bottom plate and the first wall portion, and has a shape that meshes with the rotation member;
A rotating means for rotating the rotating member in a direction in which the rotating member and the meshing portion mesh with each other;
A columnar portion raised from the rotating member at a position between the rotating shaft and the second wall portion;
Provided in the second wall portion, which contacts a portion of the columnar portion facing the second wall portion when a force that rotates the rotating member in a direction opposite to the rotation by the rotating means acts on the columnar portion. And a contact portion.   2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion protrudes from the second wall portion to a position corresponding to a locus of a side surface of the columnar portion when the rotating member is rotated.   The container according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion is a rib extending in a longitudinal direction of the columnar portion. Conveying means for conveying the sheet-like recording medium stacked in the container according to claim 1,
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on the recording medium transported by the transport unit.

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