JP2015121614A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus having an image reading device, configured to prevent the image forming device from being deformed when external force is applied.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 10 includes: an image reading device 25 located above an upper part of a device body 10A to read a document image; an image forming section 16 which is arranged inside the device body and forms the document image read by the image reading device, on a sheet; an internal discharge tray 24 arranged above the device body and stacking a sheet with the image formed thereon discharged from the device body; a side wall 90 supporting the image reading device on the device body, to form a space AR between the image reading device and the internal discharge tray, to stack the sheet on the internal discharge tray; a right cover 38; and a back wall 91. The right cover 38 is formed of a resin member, in the shape of holding the image reading device and the image forming apparatus.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet.

  Conventionally, there is a type of image forming apparatus including an apparatus main body and an image reading apparatus (Patent Document 1). The apparatus main body includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet inside, and a stacking unit on which an image-formed sheet is discharged and stacked. The image reading device reads an image of a document. The image reading apparatus is located above the upper portion of the stacking unit. A space is formed between the image reading apparatus and the stacking unit where sheets are discharged and stacked on the stacking unit.

JP 2009-156918 A

  However, the conventional image reading apparatus of the image forming apparatus is attached in a so-called cantilever state to a support member positioned on the back surface on the back side of the image forming apparatus. For this reason, in the conventional image forming apparatus, when an external force in the vertical direction is applied to the image reading apparatus, the image reading apparatus may be deformed in the direction of the applied external force.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which the image reading apparatus is not easily deformed even when the image reading apparatus receives an external force.

  The present invention provides an apparatus main body, an image reading apparatus that is positioned above the upper part of the apparatus main body and that reads an image of a document, and an image of a document that is provided inside the apparatus main body and read by the image reading apparatus. An image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, a stacking unit that is provided on an upper portion of the apparatus main body and on which an image-formed sheet discharged from the apparatus main body is stacked, and supports the image reading apparatus on the apparatus main body. And a support unit that forms a space for stacking sheets on the stacking unit between the image reading device and the stacking unit, and the support unit is positioned upstream in the sheet discharge direction. A first side portion, a second side portion located downstream with respect to the stacking portion, and a back portion located on the back side between the first side portion and the second side portion. And at least one of the first side and the second side Side is formed of a resin member, and supports the image reading device located above is characterized in that.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention has a first side portion located upstream in the sheet discharge direction and a second side portion located downstream in addition to the back wall located on the back side. Therefore, even if an external force is applied to the image reading apparatus, the image reading apparatus is hardly deformed. In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, since at least one of the first side portion and the second side portion is formed of a resin member, the cost can be reduced.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention along the sheet conveying direction. 2 is a perspective view of a housing structure of the image forming apparatus main body. FIG. It is a perspective view of the housing structure of the apparatus main body to which the image reading apparatus is attached. It is a perspective view of the housing structure of the apparatus main body to which the image reading apparatus and the right cover are attached. FIG. 5 is a perspective view seen from the left side of FIG. 4, with the image reading device omitted. FIG. 5 is a right side view of FIG. 4. It is the perspective view which looked at the right cover from the right side (front side). It is the perspective view which looked at the right cover from the left side (back side). It is sectional drawing with which the protrusion of the right cover was engaged with the engagement hole of the right reinforcement frame. It is an enlarged view of the part of the arrow A of FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 5.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention along the sheet conveying direction.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes an apparatus main body 10A and an image reading apparatus 25 located above the upper part of the apparatus main body 10A. The image forming apparatus 10 emits the laser light L from the light emitting / writing unit 12 to the photosensitive drum 18 based on image information transmitted from an external computer or facsimile, or image information of a document read by the image reading device 25. Irradiation forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 18. The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 18 is supplied with a developer (toner) from the toner bottle unit 13 to become a toner image and is visualized.

  A sheet feeding unit 11 that conveys a sheet cut into a predetermined size is disposed below the apparatus main body 10A. The paper feeding unit 11 has a box-shaped cassette 11A that stores sheets and is detachable from the apparatus main body 10A.

  The sheet feeding unit 11 sends the sheet to the sheet feeding path 14 inside the apparatus main body 10A. A registration roller pair 15 is provided in the paper feed path 14. The registration roller pair 15 receives the sheet at the nip portion and corrects the skew of the sheet, and then feeds the sheet to the nip between the photosensitive drum 18 and the transfer roller 17 at an appropriate timing. The transfer roller 17 is applied with a transfer bias, transfers the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 18 to the sheet by the transfer bias, and conveys the sheet to the fixing device 19 by rotation with the photosensitive drum 18. The transfer roller 17 and the photosensitive drum 18 form an image forming unit 16.

  The fixing device 19 conveys the sheet while applying pressure and heating at the nip between the heating roller 20a and the pressure roller 20b, and fixes the toner image on the sheet. Thereafter, the discharge unit 26 removes the image-formed sheet by guiding the conveyance path 21 provided in the discharge unit 26 and discharging and conveying the discharge roller 23 provided at the downstream end of the conveyance path 21. The paper is discharged and stacked on the in-cylinder discharge tray 24 formed on the upper portion of the head. On the left side of the apparatus main body 10A, a rotatable door unit (not shown) is arranged. The image forming apparatus 10 forms an image on the conveyed sheet by conveying the sheet downward or upward on the left side of the apparatus.

  Next, the housing structure of the apparatus main body 10A of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a housing structure of the image forming apparatus main body.

  The apparatus main body 10A has a housing structure formed of the following metal frames. A base frame 29 having a rectangular frame shape as a base. A left front frame 28, a right front frame 31, a left rear frame 32, and a right rear frame 35 that are vertically attached to the four corners of the base frame 29. An upper left frame 27 connecting the upper end of the left front frame 28 and the upper end of the left rear frame 32. A front reinforcing frame 30 that connects an intermediate portion of the left front frame 28 and an upper end of the right front frame 31. A rear center frame 33 connecting the upper part of the left rear frame 32 and the upper part of the right rear frame 35. A right reinforcing frame 36 that connects the upper end of the right front frame 31 and an intermediate portion of the right rear frame 35. A central reinforcing frame 34 that connects an intermediate portion of the front reinforcing frame 30 and an intermediate portion of the rear central frame 33.

  The image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment forms an image on a sheet on the left side in FIG. 1 and discharges the sheet from the discharge roller 23 to the in-body discharge tray 24. In order to make it easy to take out the sheets discharged to the in-body discharge tray 24, the height of the left front frame 28 (FIG. 2) and the left rear frame 32 is high, and the height of the right front frame 31 is kept low. In FIG. 1, the apparatus main body 10 </ b> A of the image forming apparatus supports the left front side and the left and right back sides of the image reading apparatus 25, and therefore the heights of the left front frame 28, the left rear frame 32, and the right rear frame 35 are The height of the right front frame 31 is higher.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the housing structure of the apparatus main body 10A to which the image reading apparatus 25 is attached. The apparatus main body 10A of the image forming apparatus is configured such that the height of the left front frame 28, the left rear frame 32, and the right rear frame 35 is higher than the height of the right front frame 31, and the left front angle, the left back angle, And 3 points on the right back corner. For this reason, since the right front corner of the image reading device 25 is not supported at all, if the force F is applied to the right front corner from above, the right front corner may be lowered.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment has a reinforced structure by attaching a right cover 38 to the right side surface of the apparatus main body 10A. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the housing structure of the apparatus main body 10A to which the image reading apparatus and the right cover are attached. FIG. 5 is a perspective view seen from the left side of FIG. 4, in which the image reading device is omitted. FIG. 6 is a right side view of FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the right cover as viewed from the right side (front side). FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the right cover as viewed from the left side (back side). FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view in which the protrusion of the right cover is engaged with the engagement hole of the right reinforcing frame. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a portion indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

  The right cover 38 shown in FIG. 8 is a resin molded product. On the upper surface of the back surface 38a of the right cover 38, projecting portions 25c and 25d are arranged so as to protrude in the front-rear direction. The convex portions 25c and 25d are detachably elastically engaged with concave portions 25a and 25b formed on the side portion of the image reading device 25 (FIG. 3) in the front-rear direction.

  On the front side of the back surface of the right cover 38, convex portions 31c and 31d are arranged to protrude in the vertical direction. The convex portions 31c and 31d are detachably and elastically engaged with concave portions 31a and 31b formed in the vertical direction on the right front frame 31 (FIG. 3).

  Projection pieces 36d, 36e, and 36f are arranged in a projecting manner in the front-rear direction at the middle portion of the back surface of the right cover 38 in the vertical direction. The projecting pieces 36d, 36e, 36f (FIG. 9) are directed to engagement holes 36a, 36b, 36c formed in the right reinforcing frame 36 (FIG. 3) arranged in the front-rear direction from the back side to the front side. These are elastic protrusions that are detachably elastically engaged. The protrusions 36d, 36e, and 36f are adapted to engage with the engagement holes 36a, 36b, and 36c by moving the right cover 38 in the direction of arrow M (frontward in FIG. 8).

  On the back side of the back surface of the right cover 38, convex portions 35d, 35e, and 35f are arranged so as to protrude in the vertical direction. The convex portions 35d, 35e, and 35f are detachably elastically engaged with engagement holes 35a, 35b, and 35c formed in the right rear frame 35 so as to be arranged in the vertical direction.

  As described above, the right cover 38 forms the outer side wall of the image reading device 25 on the upper side and the outer side wall of the apparatus main body 10A on the lower side. That is, the right cover 38 forms the right side outer wall of the image forming apparatus 10.

  Further, the right cover 38 may apply a downward external force D (FIG. 11) or an upward external force U to the image forming apparatus 10. Further, lateral external forces B and C (FIG. 4) may be applied to the upper and lower portions of the image forming apparatus 10. Therefore, the right cover 38 has a reinforcing structure that receives these external forces D, U, B, and C in cooperation with the structure of the apparatus main body 10A. That is, on the back side (FIG. 8) of the right cover 38, three pairs of vertical ribs 51a, 51b, 52a, 52b, 53a, 53b, which are parallel to each other, are provided in a projecting manner. The vertical ribs 52a and the vertical ribs 53a, and the vertical ribs 52b and the vertical ribs 53b are arranged in a straight line in the vertical direction.

  Further, a pair of sandwiching pieces 54a, 54b, 55a, 55b (on the back surface of the right cover 38) sandwiching the right reinforcing frame 36 (FIG. 2) as a long member facing the front-rear direction of the apparatus main body 10A from above and below ( FIG. 8) is provided. The sandwiching piece 54 a is provided on the lower end portion of the pair of vertical ribs 51 a and 51 b and the right cover 38. The sandwiching piece 54b facing the sandwiching piece 54a is provided on the right cover 38. The sandwiching piece 55a is provided on the lower end of the pair of vertical ribs 52a and 52b and the right cover 38. The sandwiching piece 55b facing the sandwiching piece 55a is provided on the upper ends of the pair of vertical ribs 53a and 53b and the right cover 38. The distance between the pair of sandwiching pieces 54a and 54b and the distance L1 (FIG. 11) between the pair of sandwiching pieces 55a and 55b are substantially the same as the vertical width W of the right reinforcing frame 36. The right cover 38 is also provided with a plurality of lateral ribs 80 facing in the front-rear direction.

  A pair of notch pieces 56a and 56b is provided between the pair of sandwiching pieces 54a and 54b. Similarly, a pair of notch pieces 57a and 57b are also provided between the pair of sandwiching pieces 55a and 55b. The cutout pieces 56a, 56b, 57a, 57b are formed with cutouts 58a, 58b, 59a, 59b cut out in the left-right direction.

  The right cover 38 described above is reinforced in the vertical and longitudinal directions by vertical ribs 51a, 51b, 52a, 52b, 53a, 53b as reinforcing ribs, and horizontal ribs 80. In FIG. 3, a force indicated by an arrow F (for example, about 44 kg) is applied to the front corner of the image reading device 25, or a force in the direction of arrow D is applied to the middle portion of the right edge of the image reading device 25. There is. In this case, the pair of sandwiching pieces 54a and 54b and 55a and 55b sandwich the right reinforcing frame 36 from above and below.

  It is also assumed that the user lifts an image forming apparatus having a weight of about 40 kg with the image reading apparatus. In this case, a force in the direction of the arrow U is applied to the apparatus main body 10A, and the clamping pieces 54a, 54b, 55a, 55b clamp the right reinforcing frame 36 from above and below via the vertical ribs 51a, 51b, 52a, 52b, 53a, 53b. To do.

  Accordingly, the right cover 38 has a pair of sandwiching pieces 54a, 54b and 55a, 55b that sandwich the right reinforcing frame 36 from above and below even when the image forming apparatus receives forces F, D, and U from above and below. Therefore, deformation is prevented. In addition, it can withstand external forces in the vertical direction.

  When the horizontal external force E shown in FIG. 4 is applied to the upper part of the image forming apparatus 10, stress concentrates on the portions of the cutouts 58a, 58b, 59a, and 59b of the cutout pieces 56a, 56b, 57a, and 57b. As a result, the right cover 38 is bent in the direction of the arrow R in FIG. 11, and the pair of sandwiching pieces 54a, 54b, and 55a, 55b sandwich the right reinforcing frame 36 from the top and bottom, and the horizontal external force is applied. Can also withstand.

  Therefore, the right cover 38 can reinforce the right side of the image forming apparatus 10 with a simple structure at a low cost.

  In the image forming apparatus 10 (FIG. 1) described above, the conveyance path 21 and the discharge roller 23 are provided in the left wall 90, and the sheet is discharged from the discharge roller 23 to the in-body discharge tray 24. It has become. Therefore, in order to protect the transport path 21 and the discharge roller 23, the left front frame 28 (FIG. 2) and the left rear frame 32 are provided in the left side wall 90, and the left side wall 90 has a strong configuration. It has become.

  That is, the image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 supports the image reading device 25 on the apparatus main body 10A, and the in-cylinder discharge tray 24 is provided between the image reading device 25 and the in-cylinder discharge tray 24 as a stacking unit. A space AR for stacking sheets is formed by three walls. The three walls are also walls as support portions for supporting the image reading device 25 on the apparatus main body 10A. The three walls are a left side wall (first side portion) 90 positioned on the upstream side in the sheet discharging direction in which the discharge roller 23 discharges the sheet, and a right cover (second side portion) 38 positioned on the downstream side. And a back wall (back part) 91 located on the back side between the side wall 90 and the right cover 38. The right side wall may be a strong wall as shown in FIG. 1, and the left side wall may be a resin wall similar to the right cover described above. In this case, the image forming unit 16, the discharge roller 23, and the like are arranged on the right side of the apparatus main body 10A.

  Further, the discharge roller 23 may be provided at a position lower than the position shown in FIG. 1 (position close to the upper surface of the in-body discharge tray 24). In this case, since the conveyance path 21 is shortened, the left side wall 90 does not need to be strong, and the left side wall may be formed of a resin cover similar to the right cover of the present embodiment.

  Accordingly, in an in-cylinder discharge type image reading apparatus that discharges a sheet to the in-cylinder discharge tray 24 between the image reading apparatus and the upper part of the apparatus main body, at least one of the left and right side walls is the same as the right cover. A resin cover may be used. Also in this case, the resin cover can reinforce the image forming apparatus 10 with a simple structure at a low cost.

  10: image forming apparatus, 10A: apparatus main body, 16: image forming section, 24: in-cylinder discharge tray (stacking section), 25: image reading apparatus, 36: right reinforcing frame (long member), 38: right cover ( (Second side portion), 51a, 51b, 52a, 52b, 53a, 53b: vertical rib (reinforcing rib), 54a, 54b, 55a, 55b: clamping piece, 56a, 56b, 57a, 57b: notch piece, 58a , 58b, 59a, 59b: notch, 90: side wall (first side), 91: back wall (back), AR: space.

Claims (4)

The device body;
An image reading device that is positioned above the upper portion of the apparatus body and reads an image of a document;
An image forming unit that is provided inside the apparatus main body and forms an image of a document read by the image reading apparatus on a sheet;
A stacking unit that is provided on an upper portion of the apparatus main body and on which sheets formed with images discharged from the apparatus main body are stacked;
A support section that supports the image reading apparatus on the apparatus main body and forms a space for stacking sheets on the stacking section between the image reading apparatus and the stacking section;
The support portion includes a first side portion located on the upstream side in the sheet discharge direction, a second side portion located on the downstream side across the stacking portion, the first side portion, and the second side portion. Having a back part located on the back side between the side parts,
At least one side portion of the first side portion and the second side portion is formed of a resin member and supports the image reading device located above.
An image forming apparatus. The apparatus main body includes a long member extending in the front-rear direction, and the resin side portion includes a pair of sandwiching pieces that sandwich the long member from above and below,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The resin side portion has reinforcing ribs extending in the vertical direction,
The clamping piece is formed at a position facing the elongated member of the reinforcing rib,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2. The upper side of the resin side part forms the outer side wall of the image reading apparatus, and the lower side forms the side outer wall of the apparatus body.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.

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