JP2017083696A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus that suppresses deformation of an image reading part even when an operator applies an excessive load on an operation part.SOLUTION: There is provided an image forming apparatus 100 comprising: an image reading part that reads an image of a document; an image forming part that forms the image of the document read by the image reading part; an upper housing that is provided on the image forming part and supports the image reading part from below; and an operation part 4 through which a user operates a condition for forming an image formed by the image forming part, wherein the operation part 4 is supported within a range of a support area S1 where the upper housing supports the image reading part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus capable of forming an image on a recording material such as a multifunction machine, a copying machine, a printer, and a fax machine.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus that includes an image reading unit that reads a document image and an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, and discharges an image-formed sheet to a discharge unit between the image reading unit and the image forming unit The structure which provided the opening in the front part and both sides of a discharge part is disclosed (patent document 1). According to this configuration, it is possible to check and take out the sheet discharged to the discharge unit from a plurality of directions, and the convenience can be improved.

JP 2002-354173 A

  However, in the above-described conventional example, there is no support frame immediately below the operation unit. Therefore, when the operator applies an unexpected excessive load downward to the operation unit, the structure of the image reading unit that supports the operation unit The body could be deformed downward. In this case, since the deformation occurs, not only the quality of operation is deteriorated, but also the read image may be distorted and a normal image may not be reproduced.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus in which deformation of an image reading unit is suppressed even when an operator applies an excessive load to an operation unit.

  An image forming apparatus of the present invention is provided in an image reading unit that reads an image of a document, an image forming unit that forms an image of a document read by the image reading unit, and the image reading unit below A support unit supported by the image forming unit, and an operation unit for a user to operate an image forming condition formed by the image forming unit, wherein the operation unit is within a range of a support region where the support unit supports the image reading unit. It is supported by.

  According to the present invention, even when an operator applies an excessive load to the operation unit, deformation of the structure of the image reading unit is prevented.

1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control unit of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a housing of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a connecting member that connects the housing of the image forming unit and the housing of the image reading unit. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the image forming apparatus showing the positions of the centers of gravity of a document conveying unit and a document reading unit. FIG. 10 is a plan view of the image forming apparatus showing the positions of the centers of gravity of the document conveying unit and the document reading unit in a configuration in which the central axis of the rotary hinge is arranged along the left side surface of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment. It is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus which concerns on Example 3 of this invention. 1 is a perspective view showing a housing of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the image forming apparatus showing the positions of the centers of gravity of a document conveying unit and a document reading unit. It is a perspective view which shows operation | movement of an operation display unit. It is a perspective view which shows the modification of an image forming apparatus.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be exemplarily described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, since the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative positions, etc. of the components described in this embodiment are appropriately changed depending on the configuration of the apparatus to which the invention is applied and various conditions, there is no specific description. As long as the scope of the invention is not limited to these, it is not intended. In addition, regarding the structure of a later Example, about the structure same as a previous Example, the code | symbol same as the previous Example is attached | subjected and the description in a previous Example shall be used.

(Image forming device)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 100 is a digital color multifunction peripheral. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes an apparatus main body 100A. The image forming apparatus 100 includes an image forming unit 1, an image reading unit 2, a document conveying unit 3, and an operation unit 4 in order from the bottom. The operation unit 4 is supported on the document conveying unit 3. The image forming unit 1 is a part that forms an image of a document read by the image reading unit 2. The image reading unit 2 is a part that reads an image of a document. The operation unit 4 is a part where the user operates image forming conditions formed by the image forming unit 1.

(Document transport section)
The document transport unit 3 feeds the document D set upward on the document tray 301 one by one in order from the first page, and passes through a curved path to the platen glass 201 of the image reading unit 2 (see FIG. 2). After passing through the top, it is discharged to the discharge tray 302.

  The document conveying unit 3 is supported by a rotation hinge (not shown) so as to be freely opened and closed in the direction of arrow A about a rotation axis X1 along the back surface of the apparatus main body 100A. A rotation axis X1 as an “opening / closing axis” of the document conveying unit 3 is arranged so as to extend in a direction orthogonal to the side surface 100A1 of the apparatus main body 100A of the image forming apparatus 100 in which the upper housing 5b is arranged in plan view. . In addition, the document conveying unit 3 is independently held in an open state within a range of a predetermined opening angle by a free stop mechanism provided in the rotary hinge.

(Image reading unit)
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus 100. The image reading unit 2 performs image reading processing by the scanner unit 202 held at a predetermined position when the document D conveyed by the document conveying unit 3 passes from the left to the right on the platen glass 201. Specifically, the reading surface of the document D is irradiated with the light of the lamp 203 of the scanner unit 202, and the reflected light from the document D is guided to the lens 207 through the mirrors 204, 205, 206 and passes through the lens 207. The formed light is imaged on the imaging surface of the image sensor 208.

  The image reading unit 2 also performs image reading processing by lifting the document conveying unit 3 without using it, setting the document D directly on the platen glass 201, and scanning the scanner unit 202 from left to right. It is possible. In other words, the image reading unit 2 does not necessarily have to be equipped with the document conveying unit 3 and may be provided with a document pressing member that presses the document D set on the platen glass 201.

(Image forming part)
The image forming unit 1 includes a photosensitive drum 102. After the surface of the photosensitive drum 102 is uniformly charged by the charging roller 103, a latent image is formed by the laser scanner 104 driven based on an input signal. The latent image is made visible as a toner image by the developing device 105 of each color of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and Bk (black).

  The toner image on the photosensitive drum 102 is sequentially transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 107 by applying a predetermined pressure and an electrostatic load bias by the primary transfer roller 106. A small amount of residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 102 after the transfer is removed and collected by the photosensitive drum cleaner 108 to prepare for the next image formation again.

  On the other hand, the sheets P are fed one by one from the feeding cassette 109 and conveyed to the registration roller pair 110. The skew of the sheet P is corrected by forming a loop with the leading edge following the nip portion of the registration roller pair 110. Thereafter, the registration roller pair 110 conveys the sheet P to the secondary transfer unit in synchronization with the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 107. The color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 107 is electrostatically applied with a predetermined pressure and electrostatic force at the nip portion of the secondary transfer portion constituted by the secondary transfer inner roller 111 and the secondary transfer outer roller 112 arranged to face each other. By applying the load bias, the image is transferred to the sheet P.

  After the transfer, a small amount of residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 107 is removed and collected by the transfer cleaner 113 to prepare for the next image formation again. The toner image transferred onto the sheet P is fixed by being heated and pressed by the fixing device 114, and is disposed in the in-body space between the image reading unit 2 and the image forming unit 1 by the discharge roller pair 115. Is discharged onto the discharge tray 116 to be discharged. The sheet P on the discharge tray 116 can be taken out from the three open side surfaces of the in-body space.

(Operation section)
The operation unit 4 includes an operation key 401 for inputting various function settings by an operator, and an operation display unit 402 for displaying information such as a setting state and device status. The operation display unit 402 is integrated with a touch panel made of a resistive film type or a capacitive type, and can also input various function settings. Therefore, the operation unit 4 is not limited to the configuration of the present embodiment, and may be configured to perform all key operations on the operation display unit 402 without using the operation keys 401.

  The operation unit 4 of the present embodiment is supported so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrow B around the rotation axis X2 shown in FIG. Therefore, as in the case of taking out the sheet P, the operation can be performed from at least three sides of the front surface, the right side surface, and the back surface of the image forming apparatus 100.

  The operation unit 4 of this embodiment is supported on the document conveying unit 3 and is opened and closed integrally with the document conveying unit 3. In this case, the communication cable and the power feeding cable may be configured to be connected to the operation unit 4 via the document conveying unit 3. In order to enable operation of the operation unit 4 even in the open state, it is desirable that the vertical angle of the operation unit 4 be configured to be variable.

(Control part)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the control unit 500 of the image forming apparatus 100. The control unit 500 includes a CPU circuit unit 503 including a CPU, a ROM 501, a RAM 502, and the like (not shown). To do. The RAM 502 temporarily stores control data and is used as a work area for arithmetic processing associated with control.

  Based on an instruction from the CPU circuit unit 503, the document conveyance control unit 504 controls the document conveyance unit 3, the image reading control unit 505 controls the image reading unit 2, and the image formation control unit 506 controls the image forming unit 1. The image reading control unit 505 transfers the analog image signal output from the image sensor 208 described above to the image signal control unit 507. The image signal control unit 507 is controlled by the CPU circuit unit 503, converts each analog image signal from the image sensor 208 into a digital signal, performs each process, converts the digital image signal into a video signal, and converts the image signal into a video signal. Output to.

  In addition, the digital image signal input from the computer 508 via the external I / F 509 is subjected to various processes, and the digital image signal is converted into a video signal and output to the image formation control unit 506. The image formation control unit 506 drives the laser scanner 104 described above based on the input video signal. The operation display control unit 510 exchanges information between the operation unit 4 and the CPU circuit unit 503, and outputs a signal corresponding to an input operation of the operation key 401 or the operation display unit 402 to the CPU circuit unit 503. At the same time, corresponding information is displayed on the operation display unit 402 based on a signal from the CPU circuit unit 503.

  Each control unit 504, 505, 506, 507, 510 described above may be arranged independently in the vicinity of each driving unit, or may be arranged centrally in one place.

(Case configuration of image forming unit)
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the housing 5 of the image forming unit 1. The casing 5 of the image forming unit 1 includes a lower casing 5a configured slightly smaller than the outer width of the image forming unit 1 and an upper casing configured closer to the left side as a supporting casing of the sheet P discharging and conveying unit. And a body 5b. The upper housing 5 b as a “support unit” is provided in the image forming unit 1 and supports the image reading unit 2 from below.

  The upper housing 5b is disposed in the space between the image reading unit 2 and the image forming unit 1 so as to be close to the horizontal side 5J4 (left side) of the apparatus main body 100A, and the image forming unit 1 forms an image. A discharge roller pair 115 is provided as a “discharge unit” that conveys and discharges the sheet P. By doing so, the in-cylinder space is widely opened with respect to the three side surfaces, and the sheet P can be taken out from a plurality of directions.

  On the upper surface of the upper casing 5b of the image forming section 1, three gravity support members 7 for supporting the casing 6 of the image reading section 2 indicated by broken lines in FIG. By supporting the housing 6 of the image reading unit 2 at three points by the gravity support member 7, the installation plane of the image reading unit 2 is uniquely determined, and variations in installation of the image reading unit 2 can be reduced and stable image reading can be performed. Can be done. However, the number of support points is not limited to this as long as the installation plane is stably determined.

  As described above, in the case 5 of the image forming unit 1 of the present embodiment, the upper surface of the upper case 5b of the document conveying unit 3 supports the image reading unit 2 at any one of the positions of the three sides 5J1 to 5J3. It is the structure which serves as a housing | casing. Therefore, a special support housing for the image reading unit 2 is not required, and a lightweight and low-cost support housing can be constructed.

  The gravity support member 7 of the present embodiment is made of an elastic body such as rubber. This is because the vibration of the image forming unit 1 is transmitted to the image reading unit 2 to prevent a read image from being defective, or the vibration of the image reading unit 2 is transmitted to the image forming unit 1. Prevent image defects from occurring. However, if there is no risk of image failure due to vibration transmission, the support is not limited to an elastic body and may be a rigid body.

  FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a connecting member 8 that connects the housing 5 of the image forming unit 1 and the housing 6 of the image reading unit 2. The connecting member 8 is fixed to the housing 5 of the image forming unit 1 with screws 9. On the other hand, it is fixed to the housing 6 of the image reading unit 2 with a step screw 11 via an elastic bush 10. A groove 10 a is formed in the elastic bush 10, and the upward movement of the housing 6 of the image reading unit 2 is restricted by engaging the hole 8 a of the connecting member 8 with the groove 10 a.

  As described above, the elastic bush 10 made of an elastic body is also used in the connecting portion to prevent image defects due to vibration transmission, but when there is no risk of image defects due to vibration transmission, The structure is not limited to an elastic body, and may be a rigid body. Further, in the present embodiment, the configuration using the four connecting members 8 has been described, but the number and arrangement are limited to this as long as the upward movement of the image reading unit 2 is restricted. is not.

(Support structure of image reading unit and document conveying unit)
FIG. 6 shows a top view of the image forming apparatus 100. A support region S1 indicated by hatching in FIG. 6 is a support region S1 of the housing 6 of the image reading unit 2 by the housing 5 of the image forming unit 1 defined by the three gravity support members 7 described above.

  In order to improve the installation workability of the image reading unit 2 on the upper part of the image forming unit 1, the center of gravity of the image reading unit 2 is positioned within the range of the support region S <b> 1 by the image forming unit 1 in plan view. Configured. In addition to this, in the case where the document reading unit 2 is placed so as to be openable and closable with respect to the image reading unit 2 and presses the document, the image reading unit 2 and the document conveying unit 3 are combined. The center G1 of the total weight of the two is configured to be located within the range of the support region S1 in plan view.

  Further, the operation unit 4 is supported within the range of the support region S1 in which the upper housing 5b supports the image reading unit 2. These are also applied at the center of gravity G2 of the total weight of both of the document conveying units 3 in the state where the document conveying unit 3 is held in an open state around the rotation axis X1.

  With the above configuration, the housing 6 of the image reading unit 2 is not deformed by the weights of both the image reading unit 2 and the document conveying unit 3, and image defects such as distortion of the read image caused by the deformation can be prevented. Further, since the rotating weight applied to the housing 5 of the image forming unit 1 does not occur due to the weight of both, and there is no need to worry about deformation due to this, the housing 5 of the image forming unit 1 is not strengthened. It is also possible to construct a lightweight and low-cost support housing.

(Support structure of the operation unit)
As shown in FIG. 6, the support unit 403 that can freely rotate the operation unit 4 and variably supports the angle in the vertical direction is also positioned within the range of the support region S <b> 1 defined by the gravity support member 7. Composed. Therefore, even when the operator applies an excessive load to the operation unit 4, the housing 5 of the image forming unit 1 receives the load via the document transport unit 3 and the housing 6 of the image reading unit 2. It is. Therefore, the housing 6 of the image reading unit 2 is not subjected to deformation, the occurrence of image defects such as the distortion of the read image caused by the deformation can be prevented, and the light-weight and low-cost housing 5 of the image forming unit 1 is provided. It becomes possible to construct.

  The document transport unit 3 includes a document transport mechanism 3J (see FIG. 2) that transports the document toward the image reading unit 2. The support unit 403 of the operation unit 4 is supported outside the range of the document conveyance region L of the document conveyance mechanism 3J of the document conveyance unit 3 shown in FIG. Therefore, even if the operator applies an excessive load to the operation unit 4, the document conveying unit 3 is not subjected to deformation such as narrowing the gap of the document conveying path. Can be prevented.

  Furthermore, the operation unit 4 can be retracted outside the document transport area L as shown in FIGS. Accordingly, the operation unit 4 can be retracted outside the range of the open / close area of the jam processing guide 303 having a depth substantially the same as that of the document conveyance area L. Therefore, even when a jam occurs in the document conveyance path, the opening / closing operation of the jam processing guide 303 accompanying the jam processing operation is not hindered.

  As described above, the support unit 403 of the operation unit 4 is preferably disposed within the support region S1 of the image forming apparatus 100 and outside the document transport region L of the document transport unit 3. . Therefore, as long as the configuration satisfies this condition, the configuration is not limited to the configuration in which the operation unit 4 is disposed on the front side of the apparatus as described in the present embodiment. For example, the configuration is disposed on the back side of the apparatus. It doesn't matter.

  In this embodiment, the document conveying unit 3 is described as being mounted. However, if the above-described document pressing member is mounted instead of the document conveying unit 3, the document conveying region L is restricted. Absent. Therefore, in this case, it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even if the support portion 403 of the operation portion 4 is disposed at any position within the range of the support region S1.

  In this embodiment, the operation unit 4 is disposed on the upper portion of the document conveying unit 3 and is supported by the casing of the image forming unit 1 through the casing of the document conveying unit 3 and the casing of the image reading unit 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 12A, when the document conveying unit 3 is formed smaller than the image reading unit 2, the operation unit 4 is placed on the image reading unit 2 outside the range of the document conveying unit 3. May be supported.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 12B, when the image reading unit 2 and the document conveying unit 3 are formed smaller than the image forming unit 1, the image reading unit 2 is out of the range of the image reading unit 2. In addition, a configuration in which the operation unit 4 is supported may be employed. In any case, as long as the support portion 403 of the operation unit 4 is positioned within the support region S1, the image can be obtained even when the operator applies an excessive load to the operation unit 4. Needless to say, the structure of the reading unit 2 is not deformed and the same effect can be obtained.

  In the first embodiment, the rotation axis X1 of the rotation hinge (not shown) of the document conveying unit 3 is described as being disposed along the back surface of the image forming apparatus 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this. .

  FIG. 7 shows an example in which the rotation axis X3 as the central axis of the rotation hinge is disposed along the left side surface of the image forming apparatus 100. That is, the rotation axis X3 as the “opening / closing axis” of the document conveying unit 3 is arranged in parallel with the side surface 100A1 of the apparatus main body 100A of the image forming apparatus 100 in which the upper housing 5b is arranged.

  Also with this configuration, the center of gravity G3, G4 of the total weight of both the image reading unit 2 and the document conveying unit 3 can be positioned within the support region S1 defined by the gravity support member 7. Therefore, even if the operator applies an excessive load to the operation unit 4, it goes without saying that the structure of the image reading unit 2 is not deformed and the same effect can be obtained. Furthermore, according to the present configuration, the center of gravity G4 when the document conveying section 3 is held in the open state can be positioned closer to the center of the support region S1, so that the support strength in the open state is stable. Thus, it is possible to construct the casing 5 of the image forming unit 1 that is lighter and lower in cost.

  In the first and second embodiments, the in-cylinder space of the image forming apparatus 100 is described as being configured to be opened in three directions, but the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 8, the same effect can be obtained even in a configuration in which a unit such as electrical equipment is disposed on the back surface of the interior space and the interior space is opened in two directions, the front surface and the right side surface. Not too long. At this time, as shown in FIG. 9, the housing 12 of the image forming unit 1 has an upper housing 12 b configured in an L shape over the two side surfaces of the left side surface and the back surface.

  Here, if one point of the gravity support member 7 is disposed at the right rear corner of the extended upper housing 12b, a support region S2 defined by the gravity support member 7 is formed as shown in FIG. Compared with the support region S1 described in FIG. When the support area S2 is widened, the positions of the center of gravity G1, G2 of the total weight of both the image reading unit 2 and the document conveying unit 3 are relatively closer to the center of the support area S2. Therefore, it is possible to construct the housing 12 of the image forming unit 1 with stable support strength, lighter weight, and lower cost.

  According to any of the configurations of the first to third embodiments, even when the operator applies an excessive load to the operation unit 4, the structure of the image reading unit 2 is prevented from being deformed. As a result, it is possible to provide the image forming apparatus 100 with good operation quality that can perform normal image reading.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image formation part 2 Image reading part 4 Operation part 5b Upper housing | casing (support part)
100 Image forming apparatus S1 Support area

Claims (7)

An image reading unit for reading an image of a document;
An image forming unit for forming an image of a document read by the image reading unit;
A support unit provided in the image forming unit and supporting the image reading unit from below;
An operation unit for a user to operate image forming conditions formed by the image forming unit;
With
The image forming apparatus, wherein the operation unit is supported within a support region where the support unit supports the image reading unit.   The support section is a space between the image reading section and the image forming section, and is disposed on one side in the horizontal direction of the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus, and an image is formed on the image forming section. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a discharge unit that conveys and discharges the ink.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the center of gravity of the image reading unit is located within the range of the support region in a plan view. A document pressing member that is placed so as to be openable and closable with respect to the image reading unit, and that presses the document;
4. The image formation according to claim 1, wherein a center of gravity of the image reading unit and the document pressing member is located in a range of the support region in a plan view. 5. apparatus. The document pressing member has a document transport unit that transports a document to the image reading unit,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the operation unit is supported outside a range of a document conveyance area of the document conveyance unit in a plan view.   6. The open / close shaft of the document pressing member is disposed so as to extend in a direction orthogonal to a side surface of the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus in which the support portion is disposed. Image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an opening / closing axis of the document pressing member is disposed in parallel with a side surface of an apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus on which the support portion is disposed.

Images