JP2015005638A - Electric equipment box, driven unit having the same, and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric equipment box capable of effectively cooling a motor and a substrate therein without making the electric equipment box larger, a driven unit having the same, and an image forming device.SOLUTION: An electric equipment box comprises a plurality of motors, a substrate, a cooling fan, and a housing. The motors are approximately linearly arranged on the same plane along a longitudinal direction in the housing. The substrate is arranged approximately in parallel to an arrangement surface of the motor. The cooling fan is a sirocco fan which blows out the air sucked from a suction surface of the fan through a supply opening provided in an outer peripheral part of the fan along the outer peripheral edge. The electric equipment box controls the motors and the substrate by an airflow on a suction side of the cooling flowing from a suction port to the suction surface along an inner wall surface of the housing and an air flow on the blowing side of the cooling fan flowing from the supply opening to an air outlet along an inner wall surface of a blowing housing.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical box that drives a driven unit mounted in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a printer, and more particularly to a cooling mechanism for a plurality of motors and a substrate disposed in the electrical box.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a paper post-processing device (after paper) that can execute a binding process that stacks a plurality of sheets on which images are formed by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and bundles the stacked sheets together and staples them. The processing unit) is known, and the sheet post-processing apparatus as described above is used when performing post-processing such as binding processing on a relatively large amount of sheets.

  Some image forming apparatuses include an image reading unit above the image forming unit, and a cylinder discharge type including a cylinder discharge space between the image reading unit and the image forming unit. A paper discharge tray is disposed on the bottom surface of the in-cylinder discharge space, and paper discharged to the paper discharge tray after completion of image formation is taken out from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body.

  In order to process a sheet on which an image has been formed by such an in-cylinder discharge type image forming apparatus, a sheet post-processing apparatus uses the sheet after passing through the image forming unit through the in-cylinder discharge space. It is necessary to transport to. For this reason, a relay conveyance unit is conventionally provided in the in-cylinder discharge space for conveying the image-formed sheet to the sheet post-processing apparatus.

  By the way, in the electrical box of the relay transport unit, a transport motor for driving the transport roller pair in the relay transport unit and a substrate for controlling the transport motor are installed. Due to the structure of the relay transport unit, the electrical box is disposed on the back side of the in-cylinder discharge space where heat is easily generated, and the transport motor and the substrate are likely to generate heat. If the temperature of the transport motor rises due to the heat generated by the transport motor, the motor torque will drop and the motor will step out, causing paper jams in the relay transport unit, and the motor windings (coils) will break down. There was a problem that the motor broke down. Further, when the temperature of the electronic component mounted on the substrate rises due to the heat generation of the substrate, there is a problem that the electronic component is deteriorated by heat and the life is shortened or damaged.

  As a method for efficiently cooling a substrate, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a substrate cooling device including a heat radiation fin attached so as to dissipate heat of a mounted component on a substrate, and a fan that blows air. A configuration is disclosed in which a fan is arranged on a straight line connecting an air passage inlet and an air passage outlet, and a heat radiation fin is arranged on a substrate along a straight line connecting the fan and the air passage outlet.

JP2011-216545A

  In the configuration of Patent Document 1, the heat radiating fins are arranged along a straight line connecting the fan and the air passage outlet. However, in general, the space inside the electrical box is narrow and a sufficient air passage cannot be secured. Therefore, even if the configuration of Patent Document 1 is adopted, there is a concern that only a part of the transport motor and the substrate can be cooled. In addition, an attempt to secure a sufficient air path leads to an increase in the size of the electrical box, which hinders the relay transport unit and the image forming apparatus from being downsized and downsized. Here, the problems related to the cooling of the transfer motor and the substrate in the electrical box of the relay transfer unit have been described. However, similar problems also exist in the electrical box of the driven unit other than the relay transfer unit.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an electrical box capable of effectively cooling a motor and a substrate in the electrical box without causing an increase in the size of the electrical box, a driven unit including the electrical box, and an image forming apparatus. The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first configuration of the present invention includes a plurality of motors, a substrate that controls the plurality of motors, a cooling fan that sends an air flow to the substrate and the motor, a cooling fan, the motor, and the substrate. And a flat rectangular parallelepiped housing having an intake port at one end in the longitudinal direction and an exhaust port at the other end. The motor is arranged substantially linearly on the same surface along the longitudinal direction in the housing. The substrate is disposed substantially parallel to the motor placement surface. The cooling fan is a sirocco fan that blows air sucked from the suction surface along a peripheral edge from a blow-out port provided in the outer peripheral portion. The electrical box has a cooling fan suction-side airflow that flows from the inlet to the suction surface along the inner wall surface of the housing, and a cooling fan blow-off airflow that flows from the outlet to the exhaust port along the inner wall surface of the outlet housing. , Cool the motor and the substrate.

  According to the first configuration of the present invention, the suction-side air flow that flows from the intake port along the inner wall surface of the housing to the suction surface, and the blow-out side air flow that flows from the discharge port to the exhaust port along the inner wall surface of the blow-out housing. Thus, all of the plurality of motors and the substrate in the electrical box are efficiently cooled. Accordingly, it is possible to effectively suppress problems such as motor torque reduction or step-out due to heat generation of the motor, malfunction, and thermal deterioration of electronic components due to heat generation of the substrate. In addition, since it is not necessary to arrange a plurality of cooling fans in the electrical box, the cost of the electrical box and the driven unit including the same can be reduced.

1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Schematic showing the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 of the present invention Plan sectional drawing which looked at the electrical equipment box 80 periphery attached to one side of the relay conveyance unit 30 from upper direction The partial perspective view which looked at the electrical equipment box 80 periphery of the relay conveyance unit 30 from the back side of the in-body discharge space 22 An enlarged perspective view of the periphery of the cooling fan 87 in the electrical box 80 as seen from the intermediate discharge tray 35 side An enlarged plan view of the periphery of the cooling fan 87 in the electrical box 80 as viewed from above.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 100. In this embodiment, a monochrome multifunction peripheral is illustrated as an example of the image forming apparatus. However, in the case of an in-cylinder discharge type image forming apparatus, for example, a laser printer, an inkjet printer, a facsimile, or the like other than the multifunction peripheral. Is also applicable.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image forming apparatus 100 is a so-called in-cylinder discharge type digital multi-function peripheral, and mainly includes a main body housing 20 and an upper housing 21 disposed above the main body housing 20. Has been. The upper housing 21 is provided with various mechanisms, which will be described later, for reading an image of a document as an electrical signal. The document transport device 3 is attached to the upper portion of the upper housing 21. On the other hand, the main body housing 20 is provided with various mechanisms, which will be described later, for transferring an image to a sheet based on an electric signal of the read original image. Means) 70 is attached.

  In the present embodiment, the main body housing 20 includes a lower housing 20 a and a connection housing 20 b that is positioned along the right side of the lower housing 20 a and connected to the upper housing 21. The lower housing 20a is provided with a paper feeding unit 4 for the paper P, an image forming unit 6 for forming a toner image on the paper P, a fixing unit 7 for fixing the toner image on the paper, and the like. On the other hand, the connection housing 20 b is provided with a paper discharge portion 19 for conveying the fixed paper P and discharging it from the main body housing 20.

  Further, an in-cylinder discharge space 22 that is largely open toward the left side and the front is formed on the left side of the connecting housing 20b immediately below the upper housing 21. In the in-cylinder discharge space 22, the paper P discharged from the left side surface of the connecting housing 20 b is received and stacked. On the other hand, when the paper P is post-processed, it can be conveyed to the paper post-processing device 70. A relay conveyance unit 30 is provided. Details of the relay conveyance unit 30 will be described later.

  In the main body housing 20, the sheet feeding unit 4 disposed in the lower part, the sheet conveying unit 5 disposed on the side and above the sheet feeding unit 4, and the sheet feeding unit 4 are disposed above the sheet feeding unit 4. An image forming unit 6 and a fixing unit 7 disposed on the downstream side of the image forming unit 6 in the sheet conveying direction (the right side in FIG. 2) are provided.

  The paper feed unit 4 is provided with a plurality of paper feed cassettes 4a provided with separating and feeding means such as paper feed rollers on the downstream side in the paper transport direction, and the paper P placed in the paper feed cassette 4a. Are fed one by one from the uppermost sheet P to the sheet transport unit 5 by the rotation operation of the sheet feeding roller. The paper transport unit 5 transports the paper P fed from the paper feed unit 4 to the image forming unit 6 by each transport roller pair 5a.

  The image forming unit 6 and the fixing unit 7 are elongated in the width direction (the front-rear direction and the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 2) perpendicular to the paper conveyance direction inside the image forming apparatus 100 main body, and are disposed in the lower housing 20a. In the upper part, the image forming unit 6 and the fixing unit 7 are arranged in the order from the left side in FIG. 2 along the conveyance direction (left to right direction) of the paper P.

  The image forming unit 6 forms a predetermined toner image on the paper P by an electrophotographic process. The image forming unit 6 is a photosensitive drum 10 that is an image carrier that is rotatably supported on the sheet P. A charging device 11, an exposure device 12, a developing device 13, a transfer device 14, a cleaning device 15, and a static elimination device (not shown) are provided around the periphery along the rotation direction. The fixing unit 7 includes a fixing roller pair 7a including a heating roller and a pressure roller, and the sheet P on which the toner image is transferred in the image forming unit 6 is heated by passing through the nip portion of the fixing roller pair 7a. The unfixed toner image is fixed on the paper P by being pressurized.

  An image reading unit 8 is provided in the upper housing 21. The image reading unit 8 reads image information of a document, and when the document is manually read one by one, the document conveying device 3 is opened and a contact glass 8 a provided on the upper surface of the upper housing 21 is opened. Place the document on In order to automatically read a plurality of originals, the original bundle is placed on the paper feed tray 3a of the closed original conveying apparatus 3. When the original bundle is placed on the paper feed tray 3a, the originals one by one from the original bundle are automatically and sequentially sent onto the contact glass 8a. In any case, the document located on the contact glass 8a is irradiated with light from an exposure lamp (not shown), and the reflected light is photoelectrically converted as image light through an optical system such as a reflection mirror (not shown) and an imaging lens. Part (CCD).

  Hereinafter, a basic operation of the image forming apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described. First, the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 that rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2 is uniformly charged by the charging device 11. Next, the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is irradiated with a laser beam from the exposure device 12 (laser exposure device or the like) based on the image information read by the image reading unit 8. An image is formed. By supplying toner as a developer from the developing device 13 to the electrostatic latent image, a toner image is formed.

  On the other hand, the sheet P is conveyed from the sheet feeding unit 4 to the photosensitive drum 10 on which the toner image is formed via the sheet conveying path 5 and the registration roller pair 9 at a predetermined timing, and includes a transfer roller and the like. The toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is transferred onto the paper P by the transfer device 14. The paper P on which the toner image is transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 10 and conveyed toward the fixing unit 7. As the paper P passes through the fixing roller pair 7a, the toner image is fixed on the paper P by being heated and pressurized.

  The photosensitive drum 10 that has completed the transfer process of the toner image to the paper P is subjected to charge removal by removing residual charge with a charge removal device (not shown) after the residual toner remaining on the peripheral surface is removed by the cleaning device 15. Thereafter, the surface is again charged by the charging device 11 and image formation is performed in the same manner.

  Then, the sheet P that has passed through the fixing unit 7 is directed vertically upward as it is and is conveyed along the vertical conveyance path 18 into the connection housing 20b. The upper part of the vertical conveyance path 18 is branched into two upper and lower conveyance paths toward the left in the connecting housing 20b, and the conveyance direction of the paper P can be switched by the switching claw 17 arranged in the branch part. ing.

  A paper discharge portion 19 is provided in the connecting housing 20b. The paper discharge unit 19 includes a first discharge roller pair 19a and a second discharge roller pair 19b disposed immediately below the first discharge roller pair 19a, and the paper P conveyed through the vertical conveyance path 18. Is guided to the upper conveyance path or the lower conveyance path by the switching claw 17.

  The paper P guided to the upper conveyance path by the switching claw 17 is discharged leftward from the first discharge roller pair 19a, and the paper P guided to the lower conveyance path by the switching claw 17 is discharged to the second discharge roller pair. It is discharged to the left by 19b. The switching claw 17 switches the guide direction by a control unit (not shown).

  Here, the relay conveyance unit 30 is detachably attached to the bottom surface 22a of the in-cylinder discharge space 22, and the in-cylinder discharge space 22 is provided with a detection sensor (not shown) that detects the attachment of the relay conveyance unit 30. ing. The detection sensor is configured by a PI sensor or the like, and transmits a detection result to the control unit.

  In addition, the bottom surface 22 a is formed with an inclined surface that is inclined upward toward the downstream side in the sheet discharge direction (left side in FIG. 2), and when the relay conveyance unit 30 is not mounted in the in-body discharge space 22. The bottom surface 22a is used as a paper discharge tray. In this case, the detection sensor detects that the relay conveyance unit 30 is not attached, and when the detection result is transmitted to the control unit, the switching claw 17 guides the paper P to the first discharge roller pair 19a. Then, the paper P discharged from the first discharge roller pair 19a is discharged onto the bottom surface 22a.

  On the other hand, when the relay transport unit 30 is mounted in the in-body discharge space 22, the detection sensor detects that the relay transport unit 30 is mounted, and when the detection result is transmitted to the control unit, the switching claw 17 Guides the paper P to the second discharge roller pair 19b. Then, the paper P discharged from the second discharge roller pair 19b is carried into the relay transport unit 30. The paper P carried into the relay transport unit 30 is transported by a plurality of transport roller pairs 33 arranged in the relay transport unit 30 and is transported into the paper post-processing device 70.

  The detection result is displayed on the operation panel 25 (see FIG. 1), and the user can switch the guide direction of the paper P on the operation panel 25. Further, the upper surface portion of the relay conveyance unit 30 constituted by the upper guide portion 32 constitutes an intermediate discharge tray 35 (see FIG. 3) on which the paper P discharged from the first discharge roller pair 19a is placed. .

  Thereby, even when the relay conveyance unit 30 is mounted, when the thin paper P is used or when the reception data of the facsimile is printed, the paper P is relayed from the first discharge roller pair 19a. It can also be discharged to the intermediate discharge tray 35 of the transport unit 30.

  The paper post-processing device 70 is detachably disposed on the downstream side (left side in FIGS. 1 and 2) of the main body housing 20 in the paper discharge direction, and is used for binding processing to the paper P that has undergone image formation processing in the main body housing 20. Post-processing such as shift discharge processing for discharging the paper P by shifting is performed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the sheet post-processing device 70, a plurality of post-processing transport roller pairs 71 that transport the paper P carried from the relay transport unit 30 to the downstream side, and a plurality of transported paper P are stacked. In addition, a binding processing device 73 that bundles the stacked paper bundles together and staples, and a shift discharge device 74 that shifts and discharges the paper P or the paper bundle are provided.

  When the paper P that has undergone image formation processing is carried into the paper post-processing device 70 via the relay conveyance unit 30, if the binding processing is instructed by a control unit (not shown), the binding processing device 73. After aligning a predetermined number of sheet bundles, the binding process is performed at a predetermined position of the sheet bundle. On the other hand, when the binding process is not instructed, the sheet P passes through the binding processing device 73 as it is and is discharged to the sheet carry-out tray 75.

  When the shift discharge process is instructed, the shift discharge device 74 shifts the sheet P or the sheet bundle to perform the shift discharge process at a predetermined position of the sheet discharge tray 75, and the shift discharge process is instructed. If not, the paper passes through the shift discharge device 74 and is discharged to the paper carry-out tray 75.

  FIG. 3 is a plan cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the electrical box 80 attached to one side surface (side surface on the back side of the in-body discharge space 22 in FIG. 2) as viewed from above. FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the vicinity of the electrical box 80 of the transport unit 30 as viewed from the back side (upper side in FIG. 1) of the in-body discharge space 22. 4 shows a state in which the cover portion 80b and the substrate 85 are removed from the electrical box 80. FIG. The electrical box 80 includes conveyance motors 83 a to 83 d, gear trains 84 a and 84 b, a substrate 85, and a cooling fan 87 in a housing 81.

  The housing 81 includes a main body portion 81a and a cover portion 81b, and has a long and narrow box shape along the paper transport direction (from right to left in FIG. 3). Gear boxes 82a and 82b for accommodating gear trains 84a and 84b are formed in the main body 81a. A slit-like intake port 90a that takes in an external air flow by a cooling fan 87 is formed at one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the housing 81 (left end portion in FIG. 3), and the other end portion in the longitudinal direction (in FIG. 3). A slit-like exhaust port 90b for discharging the air flow of the cooling fan 87 to the outside is formed at the right end).

  The transport motors 83a to 83d transmit a driving force to the transport roller pair 33 (see FIG. 2) via the gear trains 84a and 84b to rotationally drive the transport roller pair 33. The transport motors 83a to 83d are arranged substantially linearly on the same surface (a surface parallel to the cover portion 81b, a one-dot chain line L in FIG. 3) along the longitudinal direction of the main body portion 81a. Hereinafter, the surface represented by the alternate long and short dash line L is referred to as an arrangement surface of the transport motors 83a to 83d.

  The substrate 85 controls the transport motors 83a to 83d, and electronic components and circuits such as a transformer, a capacitor, a choke coil, a resistor, and an IC chip are mounted on the substrate 85. The substrate 85 is arranged substantially parallel to the arrangement surface of the conveyance motors 83a to 83d in a space S formed in a substantially central portion (between the conveyance motors 83b and 83c) in the longitudinal direction in the housing 81.

  The cooling fan 87 generates an air flow in the housing 81 to cool the transport motors 83a to 83d, the gear trains 84a and 84b, the substrate 85, and the like. The cooling fan 87 is a sirocco fan that blows out air sucked from the suction surface 87a along the outer peripheral edge from a blowout port 87b provided in the outer peripheral portion of the fan.

  The cooling fan 87 is disposed in the housing 81 at a position shifted in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement surface of the conveyance motors 83a to 83d (in the direction of the main body 81a) with the suction surface 87a facing the conveyance motors 83a to 83d. . Further, conveyance motors 83a and 83b and a gear train 84a are arranged on the outlet 87b side (the left side in FIG. 4) of the cooling fan 87. On the other hand, conveyance motors 83c and 83d and a gear train 84b are arranged on the opposite side (right side in FIG. 4) from the blowout port 87b. That is, the blowing direction of the air flow from the blowing port 87b is substantially parallel to the direction in which the transport motors 83a to 83b are arranged. Further, the cooling fan 87 is arranged so that the suction surface 87 a faces the substrate 85 arranged in the space S in the housing 81.

  FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the periphery of the cooling fan 87 in the electrical box 80 as viewed from the intermediate discharge tray 35 side, and FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view of the periphery of the cooling fan 87 in the electrical box 80 as viewed from above. is there. The airflow generated in the electrical box 80 when the cooling fan 87 is rotated will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and FIG. 6, the description of the substrate 85 is omitted.

  When the cooling fan 87 rotates, the air flow w <b> 1 flows into the electrical box 80 from the intake port 90 a (see FIG. 3) of the housing 81. The air flow w1 enters the gear box 82b through an opening (not shown) formed in the gear box 82b (see FIG. 3), cools the gear train 84b, and moves in the electrical box 80 along the main body 81a. The air flow passes and the air flow passes through the electrical box 80 along the cover portion 81b while cooling the transport motors 83d and 83c. The branched air flows join before the cooling fan 87, cool the substrate 85 (see FIG. 3), and are then sucked into the cooling fan 87 from the suction surface 87a.

  The air flow w1 sucked into the cooling fan 87 is blown out from the blowout port 87b and then enters the gearbox 82a through the opening 93 formed in the gearbox 82a to cool the gear train 84a while the main body 81a. And the air flow passing through the electrical box 80 along the cover 81b while cooling the transport motors 83b and 83a. Thereafter, the branched air flow w <b> 1 is discharged from the exhaust port 90 b of the housing 81 to the outside of the electrical box 80.

  Further, by bending a part of the side surface of the gear box 82a inward, a rib 94 that protrudes substantially perpendicular to the air flow w1 is formed. A part of the air flow w1 blown out from the blowing port 87b and entered into the gear box 82a through the opening 93 changes direction along the rib 94, passes through the communication part 95 formed in the main body part 81a, and passes through the relay conveyance unit. The air flow w <b> 2 is directed toward the intermediate discharge tray 35 formed on the upper surface portion 30.

  According to the above configuration, the air flow w <b> 1 generated by external air being taken in by the cooling fan 87 cools all of the transport motors 83 a to 83 d, the gear trains 84 a and 84 b, and the substrate 85 in the electrical box 80. The electric box 80 is discharged outside. Accordingly, it is possible to effectively suppress problems such as motor torque reduction and step-out due to heat generation of the transport motors 83a to 83b, failure, and thermal deterioration of electronic components due to heat generation of the substrate 85. In addition, since it is not necessary to arrange a plurality of cooling fans in the electrical box 80, the cost of the relay conveyance unit 30 including the electrical box 80 can be reduced.

  Further, since the cooling fan 87 is arranged so that the suction surface 87a faces the space S formed between the transport motors 83b and 83c, air can be smoothly sucked from the suction surface 87a. . Further, since the substrate 85 is disposed in the space S so as to face the suction surface 87a, the air flow w1 is sufficiently sucked into the suction surface 87a after sufficiently contacting the surface of the substrate 85. Thereby, the board | substrate 85 can be cooled effectively.

  Further, a part of the air flow w1 generated by the cooling fan 87 is branched to form an air flow w2 toward the intermediate discharge tray 35 formed on the upper surface portion of the relay conveyance unit 30, thereby discharging to the intermediate discharge tray 35. The air flow w2 can be blown onto the paper P that has been made to cool it. As a result, it is possible to effectively cause the fusion of sheets and image peeling due to the subsequent sheet P being discharged before the toner on the sheet P discharged to the intermediate discharge tray 35 is sufficiently cooled. Can be suppressed.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the air flow w1 in the electrical box 80 flows from the downstream side in the paper transport direction to the upstream side (from left to right in FIG. 6), but the upstream side in the paper transport direction. It is good also as a structure which flows toward the downstream side (from the right to the left direction of FIG. 6). However, the fixing unit 7 (see FIG. 2) is disposed on the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction, and the air flow warmed by the heat of the fixing unit 7 is taken into the electrical box 80, so that the cooling efficiency is lowered. Accordingly, it is preferable that the air flow w1 flows from the downstream side to the upstream side in the paper transport direction as in the above embodiment.

  Further, the arrangement of the substrate 85 and the cooling fan 87 in the housing 81 is not limited to the above embodiment, and the substrate 85 may be arranged substantially parallel to the arrangement surface of the transport motors 83a to 83d. The fan 87 may be disposed at a position farther from the transport motors 83a to 83d (near the cover portion 81b). The cooling fan 87 is arranged with the suction surface 87a facing the conveyance motors 83a to 83d at a position shifted in the vertical direction (direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the housing 81) with respect to the arrangement surfaces of the conveyance motors 83a to 83d. In addition, it is only necessary that the blowing direction of the air flow from the blowing port 87b is substantially parallel to the direction in which the carrying motors 83a to 83d are arranged, for example, between the carrying motors 83a and 83b or the carrying. You may arrange | position between the motors 83c and 83d.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the cooling mechanism in the electrical box 80 attached to the relay transport unit 30 has been described. However, the cooling mechanism in the electrical box attached to other driven units is not limited to the relay transport unit 30. It can also be applied to mechanisms.

  The present invention can be used in an electrical box that includes a plurality of motors and a substrate and drives a driven unit. By using the present invention, it is possible to provide an electrical box capable of effectively cooling a motor and a substrate in the electrical box without causing an increase in size of the electrical box, and a driven unit and an image forming apparatus including the electrical box. it can.

6 Image forming unit 8 Image reading unit 19 Paper discharge unit (sheet discharge unit)
22 In-body discharge space 30 Relay transfer unit (driven unit)
35 Intermediate discharge tray (sheet discharge surface)
70 Paper post-processing device (sheet post-processing section)
80 Electrical box 81 Housing 81a Main body part 81b Cover part 82a, 82b Gear box 83a-83d Transfer motor 84a, 84b Gear train 85 Substrate 87 Cooling fan 87a Suction surface 87b Blowout port 90a Intake port 90b Exhaust port 93 Opening 94 Rib 95 Communication unit 100 image forming apparatus S space L arrangement surface

Claims (8)

Multiple motors,
A cooling fan that sends an air flow to the substrate and the motor;
A housing having a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape in which the cooling fan, the motor, and the substrate are housed, and an intake port is formed at one end in the longitudinal direction and an exhaust port is formed at the other end;
With
The motor is arranged substantially linearly on the same surface along the longitudinal direction in the housing, and the substrate is arranged substantially parallel to the arrangement surface of the motor,
The cooling fan is a sirocco fan that blows out air sucked from a suction surface from a blowout port provided on an outer peripheral portion,
The air flow on the suction side of the cooling fan that flows from the intake port along the inner wall surface of the housing to the suction surface, and the blowout of the cooling fan that flows from the discharge port and flows to the exhaust port along the inner wall surface of the housing An electric box that cools the motor and the substrate by a side air flow.   2. The electrical box according to claim 1, wherein the cooling fan is arranged in the housing at a position shifted in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement surface of the motor with the suction surface facing the motor. .   The electrical box according to claim 1, wherein the cooling fan is disposed so that the suction surface faces a space formed between the plurality of motors.   4. The electrical box according to claim 3, wherein the board is disposed in the space so as to face the suction surface. A gear train coupled to the motor, and a gear box for housing the gear train,
The electrical box according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an opening through which an air flow passes is formed in the gear box.   A driven unit comprising the electrical box according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   An image forming apparatus comprising the driven unit according to claim 6. A sheet discharge unit that is disposed between the image forming unit and the image reading unit disposed above the image forming unit, and discharges the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming unit;
An in-cylinder discharge space provided on the downstream side in the sheet discharge direction of the sheet discharge section and opening at least on the front side of the apparatus main body;
A sheet post-processing unit disposed on the opposite side of the sheet discharge unit across the in-cylinder discharge space, into which the sheet discharged from the sheet discharge unit is carried,
The driven unit is a relay conveyance unit that is detachably disposed on a bottom surface portion of the in-cylinder discharge space, and includes a conveyance roller pair that conveys a sheet discharged from the sheet discharge section to the sheet post-processing section,
The part of the air flow blown out from the blowout port passes through a communication portion formed in the housing and travels toward a sheet discharge surface formed in an upper surface portion of the relay conveyance unit. The image forming apparatus described in 1.