JP2021180109A - Lighting device, operation device and image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

To secure visibility of a user by efficiently guiding light from a light source while suppressing an increase in power consumption.SOLUTION: A lighting device includes: a light source 32; a light guide body 34 including a cavity 341 inside thereof and leading light of the light source 32 from one end side to the other end side of the cavity 341; a light diffusion part 33 provided on the other end side of the light guide body 34; and a circuit board 35 having a top surface at which the light source 32 is disposed. The light guide body 34 has one end side abutting on the top surface of the circuit board 35, and covers and accommodates the light source 32. An inner wall surface 342 of the cavity 341 is constituted of a member having reflectivity.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a lighting device that guides light toward a user, and an operation device and an image forming device including the lighting device.

Image forming devices such as copiers and multifunction devices include, for example, lighting devices called "attention" lamps, "memory" lamps, and "processing" lamps for informing the user of the operating state of the image forming device. There is something. The "attention" lamp lights up or blinks when an error occurs and the job stops, and the "memory" lamp blinks when data is being read or written to or from the hard disk, facsimile memory, etc. The "Medium" lamp flashes when printing or faxing is being sent or received.

Such a lighting device includes a light source, a light diffusing section, and a light guide body that guides the light of the light source to the light diffusing section (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). The reason why the light guide body is used for the lighting device is to diffusely reflect the light from the light source in the light guide body and spread the light uniformly.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-025811

The operation device equipped in the image forming apparatus includes a box-shaped housing and a display unit provided on the upper surface of the housing. When the lighting device is incorporated in such an operating device, the light source is provided in the housing, but the light diffusing portion is generally provided on the outer peripheral surface portion of the housing so as to be easily noticed by the user. Is.

It is necessary to provide not only a light source but also other members such as a circuit board in the housing, but the thickness of the housing is relatively thin. Therefore, there is not much space in the housing, and the location of the light guide is greatly restricted, and the light guide may have to be lengthened or bent.

If the light guide body is long or bent, the amount of light leaking from the light guide body increases, and the amount of light reaching the light diffusing portion from the light source may decrease. When the amount of light reaching the light diffusing part decreases, the amount of light emitted from the light diffusing part (the amount of light that enters the user's eyes) decreases, making it difficult to see the lighting and blinking of the lamp, and the operation of the image forming apparatus. It may not be possible to accurately inform the user of the status. That is, the user's visibility may be reduced due to restrictions on the configuration of the lighting device.

As a method of increasing the amount of light emitted from the light diffusing part, a method of increasing the amount of light of the light source can be considered. The amount of light emitted from is difficult to increase. Further, if the amount of light from the light source is too high, the uniformity of the light may be lost. Further, if the number of light sources is increased to increase the amount of light in order to improve the uniformity of light, the power consumption will increase.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to efficiently guide light from a light source while suppressing an increase in power consumption to ensure user visibility.

The lighting device according to one aspect of the present invention has a light source, a light guide body having a cavity inside and guiding the light of the light source from one end side to the other end side of the cavity, and the other end of the light guide body. A light diffusing portion provided on the side is provided, and the inner wall surface of the cavity is made of a reflective member.

Further, the operating device according to one aspect of the present invention is an operating device incorporating the lighting device, which is a box-shaped housing, a display unit provided on the upper surface of the housing, and the housing. A circuit board provided in the housing in parallel with the upper surface of the circuit board, the light source is arranged on the upper surface of the circuit board, and one end side of the light guide body abuts on the upper surface of the circuit board. The light source is covered and housed.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the lighting of the light source is based on the lighting device or the operating device, the image forming unit that forms an image on the recording medium, and the operating state of the image forming apparatus. It is provided with a control unit for controlling the above.

According to the present invention, since the inner wall surface of the cavity of the light guide body is made of a member having reflectivity, the loss of light from the light guide body can be significantly suppressed. As a result, most of the light from the light source can be guided to the light diffusing portion, so that the light from the light source can be efficiently guided while suppressing the increase in power consumption, and the visibility of the user can be ensured.

It is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of the image forming apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows typically the appearance of the operation apparatus in the image forming apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. (A) is a partial transmission plan view schematically showing an operating device, and (B) is a partially transparent front view schematically showing an operating device. (A) is a partial cross-sectional plan view schematically showing a lighting device, and (B) is a partial cross-sectional front view schematically showing a lighting device. (A) is a partial cross-sectional plan view schematically showing a lighting device, and (B) is a partial cross-sectional side view schematically showing a lighting device. It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic the main internal structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. (A) is a partial cross-sectional plan view schematically showing a lighting device, and (B) is a partial cross-sectional side view schematically showing a lighting device.

Hereinafter, the lighting device, the operating device, and the image forming device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The image forming apparatus 1 is a multifunction device having a plurality of functions such as a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function. The image forming unit 12, the feeding unit 14, and the operating device 21 are included.

The document feeding section 6 is configured to be openable and closable on the upper surface of the document reading section 5 by a hinge or the like shown in the figure, and the document feeding section 6 is configured to read the document placed on the platen glass of the figure. Functions as a holding cover. Further, the document feeding unit 6 is an ADF (Auto Document Feeder), includes a document loading tray 61 on which documents are placed, and supplies the documents mounted on the document loading tray 61 to the document reading unit 5. do.

A case where the document reading operation is performed by the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. The document reading unit 5 optically reads the image of the document supplied to the document reading unit 5 by the document feeding unit 6 or the document placed on the platen glass, and generates image data. The image data generated by the document reading unit 5 is stored in an image memory or the like of the illustration.

A case where the image forming operation is performed by the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. The image forming unit 12 feeds paper from the paper feeding unit 14 based on the image data generated by the document reading operation, the image data stored in the image memory or the like, the image data received from the computer connected to the network, and the like. A toner image is formed on the recording paper as a recording medium, and the recording paper on which the toner image is formed is subsequently subjected to a fixing process and discharged to the discharge tray 151. The paper feed unit 14 includes a plurality of paper feed cassettes 141.

The operating device 21 is provided so as to project substantially horizontally from the front surface of the device main body 11, and is configured to be bendable downward in the front surface direction. Further, the operation device 21 receives instructions such as an image formation operation execution instruction from the operator regarding various operations and processes that can be executed by the image formation device 1.

The operation device 21 includes a display unit 211 that displays operation guidance and the like to the operator. The operation device 21 receives an input of an instruction from the user based on an operation (touch operation) by the user on the operation screen displayed on the display unit 211 via the touch panel of the display unit 211.

The display unit 211 is composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like. The display unit 211 includes a touch panel. When the operator touches a button or key displayed on the screen, the touch panel accepts an instruction associated with the touched position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of the operating device 21. FIG. 3A is a partially transparent plan view schematically showing the operating device 21 as viewed from the direction of arrow A1 shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 3B is a plan view taken from the direction of arrow A2 shown in FIG. , Is a partially transparent front view schematically showing the operating device 21.

The operation device 21 includes a box-shaped housing 22 and a display unit 211 provided on the upper surface 22A of the housing 22. The lighting device 31 is incorporated in the operating device 21. The lighting device 31 includes light sources 32A to 32C (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “light source 32”), light diffusing units 33A to 33C (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “light diffusing unit 33”), and light guide bodies 34A to 34C (hereinafter, simply referred to as “light diffusing unit 33”). Hereinafter, it is also simply referred to as a “light source 34”) and a circuit board 35.

The light source 32 is composed of an LED (Light Emitting Diode) or the like. The light diffusing portion 33 and the light guide body 34 have translucency and are made of a resin material or the like. Further, the light diffusing portion 33 and the light guide body 34 may be generated separately and adhered to each other, or may be integrally formed. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the light diffusing portion 33 and the light guide body 34 are separately generated and adhered to each other.

The circuit board 35 is provided in the housing 22 in parallel with the upper surface 22A of the housing 22. The upper surface 22A is a surface of the housing 22 whose top-bottom direction is on the upper side when the image forming apparatus 1 is installed on the floor surface. The light source 32 is arranged on the upper surface of the circuit board 35, and the light diffusing portion 33 is arranged on the peripheral edge portion between the upper surface 22A of the housing 22 and the front surface 22B orthogonal to the upper surface 22A. That is, the light diffusing portion 33 is arranged on both the upper surface 22A and the front surface 22B of the housing 22. As a result, the user can visually recognize the lighting and blinking of the lighting device 31 from above or from the front of the operating device 21.

The light guide body 34 has a cavity inside, and guides the light of the light source 32 from the one end side to the light diffusion portion 33 provided on the other end side. Further, on the upper surface 22A of the housing 22, the characters "attention" are printed near the light diffusing unit 33A, the characters "memory" are printed near the light diffusing unit 33B, and the characters "memory" are printed near the light diffusing unit 33C. The text "Processing" is printed.

FIG. 4A is a partial cross-sectional plan view schematically showing the lighting device 31 viewed from the direction of arrow A1 shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4B is an illumination viewed from the direction of arrow A2 shown in FIG. It is a partial sectional front view which shows the apparatus 31 schematically. 5A is a partial cross-sectional plan view schematically showing the lighting device 31 viewed from the direction of arrow A1 shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5B is an illumination viewed from the direction of arrow A3 shown in FIG. It is a partial cross-sectional side view which shows the apparatus 31 schematically.

The light diffusing portions 33A to 33C are arranged on the peripheral edges of the upper surface 22A and the front surface 22B of the housing 22. The light guide bodies 34A to 34C have cavities 341A to 341C (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “cavities 341”) inside.

One end of the light guide 34 abuts on the upper surface of the circuit board 35 to cover and accommodate the light source 32 arranged on the upper surface of the circuit board 35. Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, the light guide body 34 has a bent shape, and the other end side is in contact with the back surface of the light diffusing portion 33. That is, the light guide body 34 has a bent shape that bends between the one end and the other end. Then, inside the housing 22, the other end thereof is in contact with the back surface side opposite to the front surface of the light diffusing portion 33 (the surface facing the front surface 22A side of the housing 22).

Further, the inner wall surfaces 342A to 342C of the cavities 341A to 341C (hereinafter, also simply referred to as "inner wall surface 342") are made of a member having a reflective property. For example, the inner wall surface 342 of the cavity 341 is surface-treated with a reflective metal member. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the surface treatment is applied to the entire inner wall surface 342 of the cavity 341. Specific examples of the surface treatment include plating, vapor deposition with a metal such as silver, and mirror finishing by polishing. In addition to the surface treatment, as a method of forming the inner wall surface 342 of the cavity 341 with a member having a reflective property, a method of providing a reflective mirror on the inner wall surface 342 (preferably provided in the entire area of the inner wall surface 342) is used. Can be mentioned.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the main internal configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 10, a document feeding unit 6, a document reading unit 5, an image forming unit 12, a storage device 81, a fixing unit 13, a paper feeding unit 14, and an operating device 21. .. The same components as those of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

The storage device 81 is an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or the like. The storage device 81 stores various control programs and also stores various data.

The fixing unit 13 heats and pressurizes the recording paper on which the toner image is formed by the image forming unit 12 to fix the toner image on the recording paper. It is discharged in Fig. 1).

The control unit 10 includes a processor, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a dedicated hardware circuit. The processor is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or the like. The control unit 10 includes a control unit 100.

The control unit 10 functions as a control unit 100 by operating the processor according to a control program stored in a storage device 81 or the like. However, the control unit 100 can be configured by a hardware circuit, regardless of the operation according to the control program by the control unit 10. Hereinafter, the same applies to each embodiment unless otherwise specified.

The control unit 100 controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 1. The control unit 100 is connected to a document feeding unit 6, a document reading unit 5, an image forming unit 12, a storage device 81, a fixing unit 13, a paper feeding unit 14, and an operating device 21, and performs drive control and the like of each of these units. .. For example, the control unit 100 controls the image forming unit 12 according to the selection or instruction from the user received by the operating device 21, so that the image forming unit 12 forms an image based on the image data on the recording paper.

Further, the control unit 100 detects the operating state of the image forming apparatus 1. The control unit 100 controls the lighting of the light source 32 by controlling the circuit board 35 of the lighting device 31 incorporated in the operation device 21 based on the detected operating state of the image forming device 1.

For example, when an error occurs and the job is stopped, the control unit 100 controls the light source 32A according to the content of the error, turns on or blinks the light diffuser 33A acting as an "attention" lamp, and stores it. When data is being read from or written to the device 81, the light source 32B is controlled to blink the light diffuser 33B which acts as a "memory" lamp, and when printing or facsimile transmission / reception is being performed. The light source 32C is controlled to blink the light diffuser 33C, which acts as a "processing" lamp.

According to the first embodiment, since the inner wall surface 342 of the cavity 341 of the light guide body 34 is made of a member having a reflective property, the loss of light from the light guide body 34 can be significantly suppressed. .. As a result, most of the light from the light source 32 can be guided to the light diffusing unit 33, so that the light from the light source 32 can be efficiently guided while suppressing the increase in power consumption to ensure the user's visibility. Can be done.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a lighting device incorporated in an operation device constituting the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 7A shows a partial cross-sectional plan view seen from the direction of arrow A1 shown in FIG. , (B) show a partial cross-sectional side view seen from the direction of arrow A3 shown in FIG.

One end side of the light guide body 34 of the lighting device 31 in the second embodiment abuts on the upper surface of the circuit board 35 and is arranged on the upper surface of the circuit board 35 as in the first embodiment shown in FIG. The light source 32 is covered and accommodated, and has a bent shape. However, unlike the first embodiment, the other end side of the light guide body 34 is embedded in the light diffusing portion 33.

Further, in the inner wall surface 342 of the cavity 341 of the light guide body 34, one of the inner wall surface 342 portions facing each other in the portion embedded in the light diffusing portion 33 is cut out. That is, the light guide body 34 is not provided with the inner wall surface 342 for the portion P toward the light diffusing portion 33. Then, the light guide body 34 guides the light of the light source 32 from the notched portion P toward the light diffusing portion 33. As a result, the light from the light guide body 34 is emitted not only in the direction of the arrow A5 (that is, in the horizontal direction) but also in the direction of the arrow A6 (that is, in the upward direction) with respect to the light diffusing portion 33.

In the first embodiment, the amount of light emitted from the light diffusing unit 33 in the direction of arrow A6 may be smaller than the amount of light emitted in the direction of arrow A5, but according to the second embodiment. Since the light from the light guide body 34 is emitted not only in the direction of the arrow A5 but also in the direction of the arrow A6 with respect to the light diffusing portion 33, the light is emitted from the light diffusing portion 33 in the direction of the arrow A6. The amount of light can be increased. This makes it possible to more efficiently guide the light from the light source 32 and further improve the visibility of the user.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. Further, in the above embodiment, the multifunction device is described as one embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, but this is only an example, and has, for example, a copy function, a printer function, and a facsimile function. Other image forming apparatus may be used.

Further, the electronic device equipped with the operating device is not limited to the image forming device, and the device incorporating the lighting device is not limited to the operating device. Further, the configuration and processing shown by the above-described embodiment using FIGS. 1 to 7 are merely one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not intended to be limited to the configuration and processing.

1 Image forming device 12 Image forming unit 21 Operation device 22 Housing 22A Top surface 22B Front surface 31 Lighting device 32 Light source 33 Light diffusion unit 34 Light guide body 35 Circuit board 100 Control unit 211 Display unit 341 Cavity 342 Inner wall surface

Claims (8)

Light source and
A light guide body having a cavity inside and guiding the light of the light source from one end side to the other end side of the cavity.
A light diffusing portion provided on the other end side of the light guide body is provided.
A lighting device in which the inner wall surface of the cavity is made of a member having a reflective property. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the inner wall surface of the cavity is surface-treated with a reflective metal member. The lighting device according to claim 2, wherein a reflection mirror is provided on the inner wall surface of the cavity instead of the surface treatment. An operating device incorporating the lighting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
With a box-shaped housing,
A display unit provided on the upper surface of the housing and
A circuit board provided in the housing in parallel with the upper surface of the housing is provided.
The light source is arranged on the upper surface of the circuit board.
The light guide body is an operating device in which one end side abuts on the upper surface of the circuit board to cover and accommodate the light source. The light diffusing portion is arranged on the peripheral edge portion between the upper surface of the housing and the front surface orthogonal to the upper surface.
The light guide has a bent shape that bends between one end and the other end, and the back surface of the housing in which the other end is opposite to the front surface of the light diffusing portion. The operating device according to claim 4, which is in contact with the side. The other end of the light guide is embedded in the light diffusing portion.
One of the inner wall surface portions facing each other in the portion embedded in the light diffusing portion is cut out from the inner wall surface of the cavity, and the light guide is directed from the cutout portion toward the light diffusing portion. The operating device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the body guides the light of the light source. The lighting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium,
An image forming apparatus including a control unit that controls lighting of the light source based on the operating state of the image forming apparatus. The operating device according to any one of claims 4 to 6.
An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium,
An image forming apparatus including a control unit that controls lighting of the light source based on the operating state of the image forming apparatus.

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