JP2021194800A - Operation extension device and image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

To reliably fit a numeric keypad device 20 to an operation panel 10.SOLUTION: A numeric keypad device 20 includes: a body part 29; a numeric keypad 24; a lock claw 23 locked to an operation panel 10 while being inserted into a hole part of the operation panel 10; and a leaf spring 32, and is detachably fitted to the operation panel 10. The lock claw 23 is energized in a separating direction relative to the operation panel 10 by energizing force of the leaf spring 32 and abuts on the operation panel 10 from the inside thereof while the numeric keypad device 20 is fitted to the operation panel 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

The present invention relates to an operation expansion device and an image forming device.

In an image forming apparatus in a copier, a printer, a facsimile, or a multifunction device thereof, an operation expansion device such as a numeric keypad device is detachably provided.

For example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 07-99553), an operation unit main body to which three types of key units such as a numeric keypad can be attached and detached is provided in the apparatus main body. Each key unit can be fitted into the space provided in the main body of the operation unit. However, there is a problem that the size of the apparatus main body becomes large by providing a space for attaching and detaching the key unit in the operation unit.

Further, as a different example of the operation expansion device, there has been a type in which a numeric keypad device can be retrofitted to an operation panel provided in an image forming device by screwing. In this fixing structure of the numeric keypad, although it can be firmly fixed to the main body of the device, it is necessary to screw or remove the screw every time the numeric keypad is attached or detached, and there is a problem in its detachability. As described above, there is a problem that it is difficult to achieve both ease of attachment / detachment and reliable attachment / detachment.

The problem is to securely attach the operation expansion device to the main body of the device.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises a main body portion, an operation portion, a locking portion inserted into a hole portion of the apparatus main body and locked to the apparatus main body, and an urging member. An operation expansion device that is attached to and detached from the device body, and the locking portion is separated from the device body by the urging force of the urging member while the operation expansion device is attached to the device body. It is characterized in that it is urged in a direction and abuts on the main body of the device from the inside thereof.

The operation expansion device of the present invention can be reliably mounted on the device body.

It is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the operation panel and the movable arm which supports the operation panel. It is a perspective view of the numeric keypad. It is a figure which shows the state of attachment to the operation panel of the numeric keypad. (A) to (c) are cross-sectional views showing how the lock claw is fitted to the lock hole. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the fitting state with respect to the lock hole of a lock claw is released. It is a perspective view which looked at the attachment part to the operation panel of the numeric keypad from the back side. It is a figure which shows the state which a leaf spring comes into contact with an insertion pin. It is the bottom view of the attachment part with respect to the operation panel of the numeric keypad when the leaf spring is provided in the numeric keypad. It is a bottom view of the attachment part with respect to the operation panel of the numeric keypad when the coil spring is provided in the numeric keypad. It is a figure which shows the state which the USB plug is inserted into the USB port. It is a figure which shows the position shift with respect to the USB port of a USB plug. It is a top view which shows the holding mechanism of a USB plug. It is a perspective view which shows the holding mechanism of a USB plug. It is a figure which shows the dimensional relationship of the USB plug, the lock claw, and the mounting side of an operation panel. It is a front view of the image forming apparatus equipped with the numeric keypad.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each figure, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and the duplicated description thereof will be appropriately simplified or omitted.

The image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is a multifunction device having functions such as a printer, a facsimile, and a copying apparatus. However, the image forming apparatus may be provided with any of these functions or any combination thereof.

The image forming apparatus 1 includes a paper feeding unit 4 provided with a paper feeding tray and the like, a document reading unit 5, a paper ejection unit 6 (recording medium ejection unit 6) provided with a paper ejection tray 61 and the like, and the inside of the apparatus. It is equipped with an image carrier, a transfer unit, a fixing device, and the like.

When the printing operation is started, the paper as a recording medium is supplied from the paper feeding unit 4 to the inside of the image forming apparatus 1. Then, the image is transferred from the image data of the print job to the image carrier in the image forming process. Then, the image is transferred from the image carrier to the paper transported along the transport path. The transferred paper is carried to a fixing device, and the toner of the image on the paper is fixed by the fixing device and discharged to the paper ejection tray 61.

An operation panel 10 as a main body of the device or a display unit is provided on the upper part of the front surface of the image forming device 1. The operation panel 10 is an operation portion for an operator to input a print command or the like, and the touch panel method is adopted in the present embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a button type may be used.

Then, a numeric keypad device 20 as an operation expansion device or a function expansion device is detachably provided on the operation panel 10. In recent years, the operation panel 10 is often a touch panel type, for example. In such a method, some operations may be required before the numbers 0 to 9 are displayed on the panel and the numbers 0 to 9 can be input. However, the operator who feels that these operations are troublesome feels that the numeric keypad 20 has better operability. Therefore, by mounting the numeric keypad 20 on the operation panel 10, the operability of the operation unit of the image forming apparatus can be improved.

The numeric keypad 20 is provided with substantially the same width as the operation panel 10 in the vertical direction (width in the longitudinal direction of the numeric keypad 20). Then, with the numeric keypad 20 mounted on the operation panel 10, the panel surface of the operation panel 10 and the surface of the main body of the numeric keypad 20 are at substantially the same height. With these or any one of them, the design of the operation portion provided on the front surface of the image forming apparatus 1 can be improved with the numeric keypad 20 attached.

As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of arm portions 18 are provided on the main body side of the image forming apparatus 1. The operation panel 10 is rotatably supported by a pair of arm portions 18 with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus 1 (rotatably around the fulcrum portion 19 in the direction of the double-headed arrow in FIG. 2). By rotating the operation panel 10 with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus 1, the panel portion of the operation panel 10 can be oriented in a direction that is easy for the operator to operate.

The operation panel 10 has a pair of pin insertion holes 11 as a pair of insertion holes, a USB port 12, and a lock hole 13 as holes on its side surface. The USB port 12 is provided between the pair of pin insertion holes 11.

As shown in FIG. 3, the numeric keypad 20 includes a main body portion 29, a pair of insertion pins 21 as a pair of insertion portions, a USB plug 22 as an electrical connection member, and a lock claw 23 as a locking portion. , With a numeric keypad 24. The insertion pin 21, the USB plug 22, and the lock claw 23 are provided on the same side surface of the main body 29. The numeric keypad 24 is provided on the front surface 29A of the main body 29. The thickness of the claw portion at the tip of the lock claw 23 is thicker than that of the other portions.

Hereinafter, the direction parallel to the X direction in FIG. 3 is the longitudinal direction of the tenkey device 20 or the main body 29, the direction parallel to the Y direction is the lateral direction of the tenkey device 20 or the main body 29, and the direction parallel to the Z direction is the tenkey. It is referred to as the thickness direction of the device 20 or the main body 29. In this embodiment, the X, Y, and Z directions are orthogonal to each other. The Y direction is also a direction parallel to the mounting direction of the numeric keypad 20 described later with respect to the operation panel 10.

The longitudinal direction of the USB plug 22 is provided in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the main body 29. As a result, the thickness of the numeric keypad 20 can be reduced, and the numeric keypad 20 can be made small and easy to hold.

The insertion pin 21 has a cylindrical shape and extends in the lateral direction of the main body 29. In other words, it extends in a direction parallel to the front surface 29A where the numeric keypad 24 of the main body 29 is arranged and intersects the longitudinal direction of the main body 29. The insertion pin 21 is a metal member. By forming the insertion pin 21 with a conductor, it is possible to secure a ground when the numeric keypad 20 is electrically connected to the operation panel 10.

The pair of insertion pins 21 are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of the main body 29, and are provided on one side and the other side of the central position of the main body 29 in the longitudinal direction, respectively. In this embodiment, in particular, the insertion pins 21 are provided in the vicinity of one side end portion in the longitudinal direction of the main body portion 29 and in the vicinity of the other side end portion, respectively.

A numeric keypad 24 is arranged on the front surface 29A of the main body 29, and the front surface 29A is the operation surface of the numeric keypad 20. The longitudinal direction and the lateral direction of the main body 29 are parallel to the operation surface. The operator presses the numeric keypad 24 in the direction of arrow B.

The numeric keypad 20 of FIG. 3 is a button-type numeric keypad. In such a case, the force with which the operator presses the button in the pressing direction (see the arrow B in FIG. 3) is different for each person, and when the operator is in a hurry, the button is pressed vigorously in the B direction as compared with the touch panel method. The pushing force of is increased. Regarding this point, in the present embodiment, the extending direction of the insertion pin 21 and the lock claw 23 or the mounting direction with respect to the operation panel 10 is provided in a direction orthogonal to the arrow B direction which is the pressing direction with respect to the numeric keypad 24. In this way, by providing the insertion pin 21 which is a portion supported by the operation panel 10 in the above direction, the operation panel 10 and the numeric keypad 20 can stably support the load in the pressing direction from the operator. can. Therefore, it is possible to suppress rattling of the numeric keypad 20 with respect to the operation panel 10 when the button is pressed, and improve the operability of the numeric keypad 20.

As shown in FIG. 4, the numeric keypad 20 is moved with respect to the operation panel 10 in the mounting direction (see the arrow C1 direction in FIG. 4), each insertion pin 21 is inserted into the insertion hole 11, and the lock claw 23 is locked. It is inserted into the hole 13 and locked to the operation panel 10. Further, the USB plug 22 is inserted into the USB port 12, and the numeric keypad 20 is electrically connected to the operation panel 10.

Inside the operation panel 10, the space into which the insertion pin 21 and the lock claw 23 are inserted is a dead space in which a member such as a substrate is not arranged.

The lock claw 23 is a claw portion extending in the mounting direction with respect to the operation panel 10 of the numeric keypad 20. Further, in the longitudinal direction of the numeric keypad 20 (the direction intersecting the mounting direction of the numeric keypad 20 with respect to the operation panel 10 in the vertical direction of FIG. 4), the lock claw 23 is provided at the position of the center position L of the operation panel 10. As a result, the numeric keypad 20 can be easily removed from the operation panel 10. That is, with the above arrangement, when the lock claw 23 is to be removed from the lock hole 13, a force can be applied to the numeric keypad device 20 in a direction parallel to the removal direction (left-right direction in FIG. 4). Therefore, when the lock claw 23 is unlocked, the numeric keypad 20 can be prevented from tilting with respect to the operation panel 10 and interfering with the side surface of the operation panel 10, and the numeric keypad 20 can be easily removed from the operation panel 10.

Further, the USB plug 22 is located at a position deviated from the center position L in the lateral direction. As a result, when the numeric keypad 20 is to be mounted upside down with respect to the operation panel 10, the USB plug 22 interferes with the side surface of the operation panel 10 to prevent mounting, and misassembly can be prevented.

The locking mechanism by the locking claw 23 and the locking hole 13 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 5A, the numeric keypad 20 is moved with respect to the operation panel 10 in the mounting direction, and the lock claw 23 is moved toward the lock hole 13 (see the arrow direction in FIG. 5a). As a result, as shown in FIG. 5B, the tapered surface at the tip of the lock claw 23 interferes with the wall surface portion around the lock hole 13 on the operation panel 10 side, and the lock claw 23 moves in the insertion direction while elastically deforming. do. Then, the lock claw 23 gets over the wall surface portion and is inserted into the lock hole 13 as shown in FIG. 5 (c). The back surface 23a of the lock claw 23 abuts on the wall surface D as the first contact surface, the inner portion of the operation panel 10, and the lock claw 23 is locked to the operation panel 10.

The pressing portion 31 is provided integrally with the lock claw 23. The pressing portion 31 is a portion of the main body portion 29 that protrudes toward the back surface in the thickness direction. The tip of the pressing portion 31 is exposed to the outside via a hole portion 29a provided on the back surface 29B side of the main body portion 29. As shown in FIG. 6, by pressing the pressing portion 31 (see the arrow direction in FIG. 6), the locked state of the lock claw 23 with respect to the operation panel 10 can be released. In this state, the numeric keypad 20 can be removed from the operation panel 10 by moving the numeric keypad 20 to the right in the figure.

The end surface of the pressing portion 31 is flush with the back surface 29B, which is the exterior surface of the numeric keypad 20. However, it may be provided inside the back surface 29B of the numeric keypad 20. By not projecting the pressing portion 31 from the back surface 29B, the design of the numeric keypad 20 can be improved. Further, by providing the pressing portion 31 in the vicinity of the lock claw 23 (that is, on the left side of FIG. 4, the mounting side with respect to the operation panel 10 from the center position M in the lateral direction of the main body portion 29), the pressing portion 31 is erroneously provided. It is possible to prevent the lock claw 23 from being released from the locked state with respect to the operation panel 10.

As shown in FIG. 7, a leaf spring 32 as an elastic member or a urging member that abuts on the tip of the insertion pin 21 is provided on the back surface side of the operation panel 10. When the numeric keypad 20 is attached to the operation panel 10, the tip of the insertion pin 21 comes into contact with the leaf spring 32, as shown in FIG. The insertion pin 21 is urged in the direction of arrow C2 by the elastic force of the leaf spring 32. That is, the numeric keypad 20, particularly the lock claw 23 provided on the numeric keypad 20, is urged in the direction away from the operation panel 10 (which is also the direction in which the numeric keypad 20 is removed) (see the arrow C2 direction in FIG. 5c). As a result, as shown in FIG. 5C, the lock claw 23 can be reliably brought into contact with the wall surface D, and the lock claw 23 can be reliably locked to the operation panel 10.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the lock claw 23 is inserted into the lock hole 13 and securely locked to the operation panel 10 only by moving the numeric keypad 20 with respect to the operation panel 10 in the mounting direction. Can be done. Therefore, the numeric keypad 20 can be securely attached to the operation panel 10 and the rattling of the numeric keypad 20 when the numeric keypad 20 is used (when the numeric keypad 24 is pressed) can be suppressed. Further, when attaching / detaching the numeric keypad 20, it is not necessary to perform operations such as screwing and removing screws, and the numeric keypad 20 can be easily attached / detached to / from the operation panel 10. Further, by mounting the numeric keypad 20 on the side surface of the operation panel 10, the operation panel 10 can be miniaturized without requiring a space such as a support base for arranging the numeric keypad 20 on the operation panel 10. .. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the insertion direction of the insertion pin 21 into the insertion hole 11 is also the same as the mounting direction, and in this respect as well, the ten-key device 20 can be easily mounted on the operation panel 10. Further, the connection direction of the USB plug 22 to the USB port 12 is also the same as the mounting direction, and electrical connection can be made at the same time as mounting the ten-key device 20 to the operation panel 10.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a tapered surface 21a whose diameter is reduced toward the tip side is formed at the tip end portion of the insertion pin 21. The tapered surface 21a allows the insertion pin 21 to be smoothly inserted into the insertion hole 11 (see FIG. 4).

The urging member is not limited to the case where it is provided on the operation panel 10 side, but may be provided on the numeric keypad 20 side. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a leaf spring 32 is provided on the side surface of the main body 29 of the numeric keypad 20 on the operation panel 10 side. With the numeric keypad 20 mounted on the operation panel 10, the leaf spring 32 abuts on the side surface of the operation panel 10 and pressurizes the operation panel 10 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The reaction force generated by this pressurization urges the numeric keypad 20 in a direction away from the operation panel 10, and the lock claw 23 is surely brought into contact with the wall surface D (see FIG. 5c) as in the above-described embodiment. It can be locked to the operation panel 10. Further, the urging member provided on the side surface of the main body 29 on the operation panel 10 side may be a coil spring 33 as shown in FIG. Even in this case, similarly to the embodiment of FIG. 9, the numeric keypad 20 is urged in a direction away from the operation panel 10, and the lock claw 23 is surely brought into contact with the wall surface D to be locked to the operation panel 10. be able to.

As shown in FIG. 11, the USB plug 22 is inserted into the USB port 12 by attaching the numeric keypad 20 to the operation panel 10. As a result, the numeric keypad 20 is electrically connected to the operation panel 10, and input to the main body of the image forming apparatus 1 by the numeric keypad 24 becomes possible.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 12, when the relative positions of the USB plug 22 in the vertical direction with respect to the USB port 12 of the USB plug 22 shift due to the stacking of component tolerances of the numeric keypad 20 and the operation panel 10 (USB shown by the dotted line in FIG. 12). (See plug 22'), the USB plug 22 may deviate from the USB port 12 and the USB plug 22 may not be able to be inserted into the USB port 12.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the USB plug 22 is held in the main body 29 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction and the thickness direction of the numeric keypad 20 (see the double-headed arrow in FIG. 14). It is held in the hole 34. That is, the USB plug 22 is provided with a gap with respect to the inner surface 34a of the holding hole 34 (see, for example, the gap G in the longitudinal direction in FIG. 13), and is provided so that the position can be corrected within the inner surface 34a. As a result, even if the relative position of the USB plug 22 with respect to the USB port 12 shifts, the position of the USB plug 22 in the holding hole 34 can be changed to correct the misalignment, and the USB plug 22 can be correctly connected to the USB port 12. ..

FIG. 15 shows the positional relationship of the numeric keypad 20 in the attachment / detachment direction (the short side direction of the numeric keypad 20) when the numeric keypad 20 is attached to the operation panel 10 and the USB plug 22 is inserted all the way into the USB port 12. It is a figure.

As shown in FIG. 15, the distance E1 from the tip 22a of the USB plug 22 to the back surface 23a of the lock claw 23 is smaller than the distance E2 from the inner surface 12a of the USB port 12 to the wall surface D (see the wall surface D in FIG. 5a). .. The numeric keypad 20 can be moved with respect to the operation panel 10 to a position where the tip 22a of the USB plug 22 abuts on the inner surface 12a of the USB port 12 in the mounting direction. Therefore, by satisfying the above positional relationship, the back surface 23a of the lock claw 23 can be arranged inside the operation panel 10 (left side in FIG. 5a) with respect to the wall surface D by inserting the USB plug 22 all the way into the USB port 12. That is, the lock claw 23 can be arranged at a position where it can be locked to the operation panel 10. The wall surface D is the first contacted surface that comes into contact with the back surface 23a (contact surface) of the lock claw 23, and the inner surface 12a is the second contacted surface that comes into contact with the tip 22a of the USB plug 22. Is.

As shown in FIG. 16, the numeric keypad 20 is attached to the right side of the figure of the operation panel 10 on the opposite side of the paper ejection unit 6 provided in the image forming apparatus 1. As a result, the numeric keypad 20 does not interfere with the work of taking out the paper from the output tray 61.

Further, in the above description, the numeric keypad device is shown as an example of the operation expansion device. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be an authentication device or a keyboard.

Recording media include paper (plain paper), thick paper, postcards, envelopes, thin paper, coated paper (coated paper, art paper, etc.), tracing paper, transparencies, plastic films, prepregs, copper foil, etc. Is done.

1 Image forming device 10 Operation panel (device body or display unit)
11-pin insertion hole (insertion hole)
12 USB port 12a Inner surface (second contact surface)
13 Lock hole (hole)
20 Numeric keypad device (function expansion device or operation expansion device)
21 Insertion pin (insertion part)
22 USB plug (electrical connection member)
23 Lock claw (locking part)
23a Back surface (contact surface)
24 Numeric keypad (operation unit)
29 Main body 32 Leaf spring (elastic member or urging member)
33 Coil spring (elastic member or urging member)
D wall surface (first contact surface)

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 07-99553

Claims (10)

With the main body
Operation unit and
A locking portion that is inserted into the hole of the device body and locked to the device body,
Equipped with an urging member,
An operation expansion device that is attached to and detached from the device body.
With the operation expansion device mounted on the device main body, the locking portion is urged in a direction away from the device main body by the urging force of the urging member, and abuts on the device main body from the inside. An operation expansion device characterized by that. It is provided integrally with the locking portion and further has a pressing portion that can be pressed from the outside.
The operation expansion device according to claim 1, wherein the locking state of the locking portion with respect to the device main body is released by pressing the pressing portion. The operation expansion device according to claim 2, wherein the pressing portion is provided flush with the exterior surface of the main body portion or inside the main body portion with respect to the exterior surface. The operation expansion device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the pressing portion is provided on the device main body side with respect to the central position of the main body portion in the mounting direction of the operation expansion device with respect to the device main body. The operation expansion device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the locking portion is provided at a central position of the main body portion in a direction intersecting the mounting direction of the operation expansion device with respect to the device main body. Further having an electrical connection member electrically connected to the device body,
The operation expansion device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the electrical connection member is provided at a position different from the central position of the main body portion in a direction intersecting the mounting direction of the operation expansion device with respect to the device main body. .. It has an electrical connection member that electrically connects to the device body.
The surface of the apparatus main body to which the locking portion abuts and is locked is the first contact surface, the surface of the locking portion that abuts the first contact surface is the contact surface, and the electrical connection. Assuming that the surface of the device body with which the tip of the member abuts is the second contact surface,
The distance from the tip of the electrical connection member to the contact surface is larger than the distance from the second contact surface to the first contact surface in the mounting direction of the operation expansion device with respect to the device body. The operation expansion device according to any one of the small claims 1 to 6. It has an electrical connection member that electrically connects to the device body.
The operation expansion device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the longitudinal direction of the electrical connection member is a direction orthogonal to the thickness direction of the operation expansion device. An image forming apparatus provided with a display unit as the main body of the apparatus, which is equipped with the operation expansion apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8. An image forming apparatus equipped with a display unit.
The display unit can be attached to and detached from the operation expansion device.
The display unit has a hole portion into which the locking portion of the operation expansion device is inserted, and an urging member.
With the operation expansion device mounted on the display unit, the locking portion is urged in a direction away from the display unit by the urging force of the urging member, and the locking portion is attached to the display unit. An image forming apparatus characterized by abutting from the inside.

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