JP2020163750A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image formation device which enables a control board to be arranged close to a power supply unit.SOLUTION: A printer is formed with a passage 51 which extends from a power supply unit 31 to a discharge space 53. Hot air generated by heat generated by the power supply unit 31 moves up toward a passage outlet 54 in the passage 51. Since the passage outlet 54 faces the discharge space 53, if airflow is generated by reciprocating movement of a recording head 21, the airflow draws the hot air from the passage 51 to the discharge space 53 to cause the hot air to be discharged from the passage 51 to the discharge space 53.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer.

In an image forming apparatus such as a printer, there is a problem that the amount of heat generated by the power supply unit increases, and measures for heat dissipation from the power supply unit are required.

For example, in Patent Document 1, the power supply board is arranged along the side surface of the device main body, a heat exhaust port is formed on the side surface facing the power supply board, and heat in the device main body is discharged through the heat exhaust port. The configuration to be used is proposed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-117508

In the configuration according to this proposal, the control board is arranged along the power supply board at a position away from the power supply board. Therefore, the distance between the control board and the power supply board is long. Considering the problem of noise and the like, it is preferable to bring the control board and the power supply unit provided with the power supply board closer to each other. However, in order to bring the control board closer to the power supply unit, it is necessary to deal with heat generated from the power supply unit.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of arranging a control board close to a power supply unit.

In order to achieve the above object, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a housing, an image forming unit provided in the housing and reciprocating a recording head in a predetermined direction to form an image on a sheet, and a housing. A power supply unit provided on the side surface side of the bottom portion of the body, a support unit provided above the power supply unit in the housing, and a control board supported by the support unit are provided, and an image is formed on the support unit from the power supply unit. A flow path is formed to reach the discharge space where the portion discharges the sheet.

According to this configuration, since the flow path from the power supply unit to the discharge space is formed, the hot air generated by the heat generated by the power supply unit flows from the power supply unit through the flow path and is discharged to the discharge space. As a result, heat dissipation from the power supply unit can be promoted, and heat can be suppressed from being trapped in the power supply unit. Therefore, even if the control board is arranged close to the power supply unit, it is possible to prevent the heat generated from the power supply unit from adversely affecting the control board. Moreover, since the flow path is formed in the support portion that supports the control board, the control board can be arranged close to the power supply section while providing the flow path, and the control board and the power supply section can be arranged in a space-efficient manner. can do.

According to the present invention, the control unit can be arranged close to the power supply unit, and even if the control board is arranged close to the power supply unit, it is possible to prevent the heat generated from the power supply unit from adversely affecting the control board.

It is a perspective view of the printer which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing when the printer which concerns on 1st Embodiment is cut in the front-rear direction. It is sectional drawing when the left end part of a printer is cut in the left-right direction. It is sectional drawing when the printer which concerns on 2nd Embodiment is cut in the front-rear direction. It is sectional drawing when the printer which concerns on 3rd Embodiment is cut in the front-rear direction.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<First Embodiment>
The printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an example of an image forming apparatus, and is an inkjet printer that prints an image on a sheet S such as paper by an inkjet recording method.

The printer 1 includes a housing 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. A paper feed tray 3 is provided on the bottom of the housing 2 so that it can be inserted and removed from one side of the housing 2. The paper feed tray 3 is configured to be supportable in a state in which a plurality of sheets of paper are stacked.

For use in the following description, one side of the housing 2, that is, the side from which the paper feed tray 3 is pulled out from the housing 2 is defined as the "front side", and the opposite side is defined as the "rear side". Then, the left and right sides are defined based on the state in which the printer 1 is viewed from the "front side". The direction orthogonal to both the front-rear direction and the left-right direction is the "vertical direction", and the "upper side" and the "lower side" are based on the state in which the printer 1 is installed on a horizontal plane.

In the housing 2, a paper output tray 4 is provided above the storage position of the paper feed tray 3. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a transport mechanism 5 and an image forming mechanism 6 (an example of an image forming portion) are provided in the housing 2.

The transport mechanism 5 includes a paper feed roller 11, a transport roller 12, and the like. By the rotation of the paper feed roller 11, the sheet S housed in the paper feed tray 3 is sent out to the transport path 13 provided in the housing 2. The transport path 13 is curved upward while bulging rearward from the position of the paper feed roller 11, extends linearly forward, and is opened on the rear end of the output tray 4. The transport path 13 passes through the image forming mechanism 6 at a portion extending linearly.

The image forming mechanism 6 includes a recording head 21 and a platen 22.

The recording head 21 is provided so as to be able to reciprocate in the left-right direction, which is the main scanning direction, with the head surface 23 facing downward. The head surface 23 is provided with a plurality of rows of nozzles corresponding to each color so that ink droplets of four colors of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (BK) are ejected. .. A plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink droplets of the same color are arranged side by side in a row in the sub-scanning direction, which is the front-back direction.

The platen 22 is arranged below the recording head 21 and faces the head surface 23 of the recording head 21 at intervals in the vertical direction. The platen 22 is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape in which the dimensions in the left-right direction are longer than the dimensions in the front-rear direction. The platen 22 supports the sheet S from the back surface side in the ink injection region where the ink is ejected from the recording head 21.

The sheet S sent out from the paper feed tray 3 to the transport path 13 is conveyed along the transport path 13 toward the paper output tray 4. Then, in the middle of the transfer, it passes between the recording head 21 and the platen 22. An image is formed on the sheet S by ejecting ink from the recording head 21 that reciprocates in the main scanning direction while the sheet S is conveyed between the recording head 21 and the platen 22 in the sub-scanning direction. The sheet S on which the image is formed is discharged from the transport path 13 onto the paper output tray 4.

Further, in the housing 2, a power supply unit 31 for supplying electric power to each unit of the printer 1 is provided. As shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, the power supply unit 31 is arranged at a position closer to the front side and the left side of the bottom of the housing 2, that is, a position closer to the front side at the left side portion of the storage position of the paper feed tray 3. Has been done. The power supply unit 31 includes a power supply board 32. As shown in FIG. 3, the power supply board 32 is arranged at the bottom of the power supply unit 31 so as to extend in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction.

A side wall 33 extending in the front-rear direction and the up-down direction is provided between the accommodation position of the paper feed tray 3 and the power supply unit 31. An upper wall 34 (an example of a partition wall) extending in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction is provided above the power supply unit 31 so as to straddle the upper end of the side wall 33 and the left side plate 35 of the housing 2. Further, on the rear side of the power supply unit 31, a rear wall 36 extending in the left-right direction and the up-down direction is provided. As a result, the power supply unit 31 is housed in the power supply storage space 38 surrounded by the side wall 33, the upper wall 34, the left side plate 35 of the housing 2, the rear wall 36, and the front side plate 37 of the housing 2.

A support wall 41 (an example of the support portion) is provided above the power supply portion 31. The support wall 41 extends upward from the upper wall 34. Further, the support wall 41 extends in the front-rear direction. There is a gap between the support wall 41 and the left side plate 35 of the housing 2. A control board 43 that controls the operation of each part of the printer 1 is supported on the left side surface 42 of the support wall 41. As a result, the control board 43 is accommodated in the board accommodating space 44 between the support wall 41 and the left side plate 35 of the housing 2 above the power supply unit 31, and extends in the vertical and front-rear directions.

A flow path 51 is formed as a space in the support wall 41. A flow path inlet 52 is formed on the upper wall 34 at a position facing the power supply unit 31 in the vertical direction. One end of the flow path 51 is connected to the flow path inlet 52 and communicates with the power supply accommodating space 38 in which the power supply unit 31 is accommodated via the flow path inlet 52. Further, on the right side surface of the support wall 41, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the seat S is located above the power supply unit 31 and faces the control board 43 in the left-right direction. A substantially rectangular flow path outlet 54 (an example of an opening) is formed at a position facing the discharge space 53 on the paper discharge tray 4 to be discharged. The other end of the flow path 51 is connected to the flow path outlet 54 and communicates with the discharge space 53 via the flow path outlet 54. As a result, the flow path 51 reaches the discharge space 53 from the power supply accommodation space 38, and communicates the power supply accommodation space 38 and the discharge space 53.

<Effect>
As described above, the printer 1 is formed with a flow path 51 from the power supply unit 31 to the discharge space 53. The hot air generated by the heat generated by the power supply unit 31 rises in the flow path 51 toward the flow path outlet 54. Since the flow path outlet 54 faces the discharge space 53, when an air flow is generated by the reciprocating movement of the recording head 21, hot air is drawn from the flow path 51 into the discharge space 53, and the hot air flows through the flow path. It is discharged from 51 to the discharge space 53. As a result, heat dissipation from the power supply unit 31 can be promoted, and heat can be suppressed from being trapped in the power supply unit 31.

Therefore, even if the control board 43 is arranged close to the power supply unit 31, it is possible to prevent the heat generated from the power supply unit 31 from adversely affecting the control board 43. Moreover, since the flow path 51 is formed on the support wall 41 that supports the control board 43, the control board 43 can be arranged close to the power supply unit 31 while providing the flow path 51, and the control board 43 and the power supply can be arranged. The unit 31 can be arranged in a space-efficient manner.

The control board 43 is provided in a posture extending in the vertical direction. Therefore, even if the air in the substrate accommodating space 44 in which the control board 43 is accommodated is warmed by the heat generated from the power supply unit 31, the warm air passes over the surface of the control substrate 43 and flows. As a result, the control board 43 can be suppressed from receiving heat, and the control board 43 can be protected from heat.

Further, an upper wall 34 is provided between the power supply unit 31 and the control board 43 to vertically separate the power supply unit 31 and the control board 43. The upper wall 34 can suppress the heat generated by the power supply unit 31 from propagating into the substrate accommodating space 44, and can better protect the control substrate 43 from the heat.

The flow path outlet 54 that opens the flow path 51 to the discharge space 53 is formed at a position facing the control board 43 in the left-right direction. As a result, when the control board 43 generates heat, the heat generated from the control board 43 can be put on the air flow flowing through the flow path 51 and efficiently discharged.

<Second Embodiment>
The position of the flow path outlet 54 can be changed as appropriate.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the flow path outlet 54 may be formed at a position lower than the position between the recording head 21 and the platen 22 in the vertical direction.

Even if the flow path outlet 54 is formed at this position, it is possible to obtain almost the same effect as the above-mentioned effect. Moreover, since the flow path outlet 54 is closer to the recording head 21 in the left-right direction as compared with the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the action of drawing hot air from the flow path 51 by the air flow generated by the reciprocating movement of the recording head 21 is stronger. It can be exhibited, and further promotion of heat dissipation from the power supply unit 31 can be expected.

<Third Embodiment>
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the flow path outlet 54 may be formed at a position above the position between the recording head 21 and the platen 22 in the vertical direction.

Even if the flow path outlet 54 is formed at this position, it is possible to obtain almost the same effect as the configuration shown in FIG. Moreover, since the flow path outlet 54 is closer to the recording head 21 in the vertical direction as compared with the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the action of drawing hot air from the flow path 51 by the air flow generated by the reciprocating movement of the recording head 21 is stronger. It can be exhibited, and heat dissipation from the power supply unit 31 can be further promoted.

<Modification example>
Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention can also be implemented in other embodiments.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the printer 1 is taken as an example of the image forming apparatus, but the image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the single-function printer 1, and the facsimile having an image forming function and a reading function. It may be an apparatus or a multifunction device.

In addition, various design changes can be made to the above-mentioned configuration within the scope of the matters described in the claims.

1: Printer 2: Housing 6: Image forming mechanism 21: Recording head 31: Power supply unit 34: Upper wall 43: Control board 51: Flow path 53: Discharge space 54: Flow path outlet S: Sheet

Claims (6)

With the housing
An image forming unit provided in the housing and reciprocating the recording head in a predetermined direction to form an image on the sheet.
A power supply unit provided on the side surface side of the bottom portion in the housing and
A support portion provided above the power supply portion in the housing and a support portion
A control board supported by the support portion is provided.
On the support part
A flow path is formed from the power supply unit to the discharge space where the image forming unit discharges the sheet.
Image forming device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The control board is provided so as to extend in the vertical direction.
Image forming device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
A partition wall is provided between the power supply unit and the control board to vertically separate the power supply unit and the control board.
Image forming device. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The opening that opens the flow path to the discharge space is formed at a position facing the control board in a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction with the flow path in between.
Image forming device. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
A platen that faces the recording head at intervals in the vertical direction and supports a sheet on which an image is recorded by the recording head is provided.
The opening that opens the flow path to the discharge space is formed at a position higher than between the recording head and the platen.
Image forming device. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
A platen that faces the recording head at intervals in the vertical direction and supports a sheet on which an image is recorded by the recording head is provided.
The opening that opens the flow path to the discharge space is formed at a position lower than between the recording head and the platen.
Image forming device.

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