JP2016164631A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus including a device that prevents noise while maintaining a cooling effect according to a thermal environment state of an image forming apparatus body.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 100 comprises an image forming apparatus body 10 and a coating body 20. The image forming apparatus body 10 substantially includes a heat exhaust fan 11, sensor 12, control part 13, and opening 14. The coating body 20 is provided on the outside of the opening 14, and changes extendably/contractably according to a thermal environment state of the image forming apparatus body 10 detected by the sensor 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  In the same information recording apparatus as the image forming apparatus, it is known that the inside of the image forming apparatus becomes high temperature in order to transfer a toner image onto recording paper and fix the transferred image at a high temperature in the fixing apparatus. If this heat is not properly exhausted, abnormal images and paper blocking due to toner fixation will occur, and image quality will deteriorate.

  Therefore, conventionally, a fan with a large air volume is mounted to improve exhaust efficiency and exhaust heat from the exhaust section. However, when the air volume of the fan is large, the noise becomes large. In order to prevent such noise, it is known to provide a muffler in the discharge unit to mute the sound (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a muffler provided so as to cover the discharge unit is installed for the purpose of preventing noise from the paper discharge unit.

By the way, in the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, the silencer of the information recording apparatus main body is opened and closed. This opening and closing is intended to make it easy to take out the discharged paper, depending on the operating state. It does not change.
That is, when the information recording apparatus is just in operation, the temperature in the information recording apparatus is low, and the rotational speed of the fan is suppressed, so that no noise problem occurs and the discharge unit may be opened. On the other hand, when the temperature rises after operating for a certain time, it is necessary to cool the information recording device, so the fan speed is increased and the heat is exhausted and covered with a silencer to reduce the cooling effect and prevent noise. It is necessary to plan. However, Patent Document 1 does not disclose means for grasping the operating state of the information recording apparatus main body to achieve a cooling effect and noise prevention.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus provided with a device that prevents noise while maintaining a cooling effect in accordance with the thermal environment state of the main body of the image forming apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus that exhausts heat from an exhaust port according to a thermal environment state of the image forming apparatus main body, and the thermal environment of the image forming apparatus main body. A sensor for detecting a state, a blower that changes the air volume according to information from the sensor, and a covering that covers the exhaust port and adjusts the opening degree according to information from the sensor to change the wind direction and the wind speed of the exhaust air. It is characterized by having.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to change the air volume, the wind direction, and the wind speed according to the thermal environment state of the image forming apparatus main body, maintain the cooling effect, and prevent noise.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a state diagram in which the shutter structure of the covering of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is partially opened. It is a partial cross section side view of the shutter structure of the covering shown in FIG. It is a side view which shows other embodiment whose covering shown in FIG. 1 is a slide structure. It is a side view which shows other embodiment whose covering shown in FIG. 1 is a folding structure.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes an image forming apparatus main body 10 and a covering 20. The image forming apparatus main body 10 is schematically configured by a heat exhaust fan 11 (blower), a sensor 12, a control unit 13, and an opening 14 (exhaust port).
The image forming apparatus 100 is a part of an apparatus that constitutes a copying machine, and the copying machine may be a multi-function machine that combines a printer, a facsimile machine, and the like.

The covering 20 is provided outside so as to cover the opening 14 of the image forming apparatus main body 10. The opening 14 is an exhaust port that exhausts air to the outside of the image forming apparatus according to the thermal environment state of the image forming apparatus body 10 by the exhaust heat fan 11. By directing the exhaust air downward by the cover 20, it is possible to prevent the exhaust air from the opening 14 from directly hitting a user or the like in the vicinity of the copying machine.
The opening 14 may serve as a paper discharge space for discharging printed paper in the image forming apparatus 100. In that case, a paper discharge tray is provided along the lower side of the opening 14 so as not to interfere with the covering 20.

The cover 20 shown in FIG. 1 is opened and closed by a shutter structure 30. The shutter structure 30 is guided by the guide rail 21 along the arc-shaped edge of the fan-shaped side plate 22 provided opposite to both sides of the opening 14. A large number of blades 31 are connected to the shutter structure 30, and these are guided to the guide rail 21 and adjusted so as to be extendable and contracted, and the opening degree is adjusted by being accommodated in the accommodating portion 32 (FIG. 3).
Here, the shape of the storage portion 32 may be any shape as long as the shutter structure 30 is stored, and may be a shape that is folded and stored even if it is pulled straight as shown in FIG. The storage unit 32 is not limited to the inside of the image forming apparatus main body 10 and may be provided outside.

  When the shutter 20 is closed so that the cover 20 opens downward and covers the opening 14 in the horizontal direction, it is possible to greatly reduce the leakage of noise due to the operation of the exhaust heat fan 11 to the outside (FIG. 1). On the other hand, in order to enhance the cooling effect by the exhaust heat fan 11, a part of the shutter assembly 30 is accommodated in the accommodating part 32 so that the flow of exhaust from the opening 14 is not blocked, and the covering 20 is provided in the opening 14. It is desirable to adjust the opening degree which covers (FIG. 2).

The covering body 20 is not limited to the shutter structure 30, but may be any shape that can be expanded and contracted so that the opening degree covering the opening 14 such as the slide structure 40 and the folding structure 50 can be adjusted.
In addition, regardless of the shape of the covering 20, the inner surface of the covering 20 is made of a highly soundproof material or a sound absorbing material, thereby reducing noise and preventing noise leakage to the outside. You can also.

  Another embodiment of the image forming apparatus 100 in which the covering 20 is a slide structure 40 is shown in FIG. In the slide structure 40, a plurality of slide pieces 41 having fan-shaped sides and arc-shaped upper portions are formed in a nested manner, and the opening degree covering the opening 14 is adjusted to be extendable.

  FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the image forming apparatus 100 in which the cover 20 is a folding structure 50 having a folding shape. The folding structure 50 shown in FIG. 5 is made of paper, cloth, rubber resin, or the like, and has a fan-shaped bellows shape in which mountain folds and valley folds are alternately repeated. By expanding and contracting the bellows-shaped portion, it is possible to adjust the interval and depth of the peaks and valleys. Noise leaking from the opening 14 is reduced by reflection and interference with the bellows of the bellows inside the covering 20.

The exhaust heat fan 11 may be provided not only in one place but in a plurality of places, and the rotational speed and frequency band of the exhaust heat fan 11 may be different, and noise may be reduced by interference.
When a plurality of exhaust heat fans 11 are provided, the covering body 20 may be provided for each exhaust heat fan 11. In that case, since the frequency band of the noise generated according to the rotation speed of the exhaust heat fan 11 is different, the covering 20 changes its shape in a freely stretchable manner according to the frequency band. By doing so, noises interfere and cancel each other, so that the exhaust heat effect and noise reduction effect can be appropriately achieved.

  The sensor 12 detects the thermal environment state of the image forming apparatus main body 10, and the control unit 13 controls the exhaust heat fan 11 and the cover 20 based on information from the sensor 12. In accordance with the control, the covering 20 changes freely. In addition, the sensor 12 may be provided not only in one place but in multiple places.

  For example, the sensor 12 detects the temperature inside the image forming apparatus main body 10. The control unit 13 changes the air volume by adjusting the rotational speed of the exhaust heat fan 11 according to the temperature detected by the sensor 12. Further, the control unit 13 adjusts the amount (opening) of the covering 20 that covers the opening 14 according to the temperature detected by the sensor 12 so as to freely expand and contract, and changes the wind direction and the wind speed of the exhaust air.

  When the image forming apparatus main body 10 is just in operation, the inside of the image forming apparatus main body 10 is not yet at a high temperature, so the rotational speed of the exhaust heat fan 11 is controlled to be low. And according to the low rotation speed of the exhaust heat fan 11, the wind speed is weakened and the air volume is reduced, and the covering 20 opens the opening portion 14 widely to straighten the wind direction. In this state, both the wind speed and the air volume are weak even before the opening 14 and there is almost no noise.

  On the other hand, when the image forming apparatus 100 is operated for a certain time, the temperature in the image forming apparatus body 10 becomes high because the toner is repeatedly fixed on the paper at a high temperature. In this case, the sensor 12 detects a high temperature, and the control unit 13 adjusts the rotational speed of the exhaust heat fan 11 to be high based on this information. Since the noise, wind speed, and air volume become stronger according to the high rotational speed of the exhaust heat fan 11, the opening degree that covers the opening 14 is greatly adjusted by opening the covering body 20, and the exhaust flow hits the covering body 20. Controls to reduce noise by being reflected and redirected. In this way, while reducing noise, it does not give an unpleasant feeling to the person in front of the opening 14, and naturally the image forming apparatus main body 10 is cooled, and abnormal images, paper blocking, etc. are generated. prevent.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present invention, according to the state of the image forming apparatus main body 10, the noise is reduced, the cooling effect is maintained, and abnormal images and paper blocking are generated. Can be prevented.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the above-described embodiments are examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments. Even if there is a design change or the like without departing from the gist of the present invention, it is included in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image forming apparatus main body 11 ... Waste heat fan (blower)
12 ... sensor 13 ... control unit 14 ... opening (exhaust port)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Cover 30 ... Shutter structure 40 ... Slide structure 41 ... Slide piece 50 ... Folding structure 100 ... Image forming apparatus

JP-A-9-270591

Claims (4)

An image forming apparatus that exhausts heat from an exhaust port according to a thermal environment state of the image forming apparatus main body,
A sensor for detecting a thermal environment state of the image forming apparatus main body;
A blower that changes the air volume according to information from the sensor;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a cover that covers the exhaust port and adjusts an opening degree according to information from the sensor to change a wind direction and a wind speed of the exhaust air. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the covering is a shutter structure, a slide structure, or a folding structure. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the folding structure of the covering body has an accordion shape in which peaks and valleys are alternately continued. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the covering is made of a highly soundproof material or a sound absorbing material on the inner surface.