JP2022134222A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image forming apparatus that reduces the occurrence of the problem where liquid enters an opening for a USB and a person or an object touches a USB device inserted into the opening for the USB.SOLUTION: In an image forming apparatus 10, a coupling housing 3 has a coupling left surface 3A and a coupling right surface 3B opposite to each other in a width direction orthogonal to a paper ejection direction, and a USB substrate 33 having a USB terminal 32 to which a USB device 4 is connected. An upper housing 1 has a projection 16 arranged above the coupling left surface 3A and the coupling right surface 3B and projecting in the width direction beyond the coupling left surface 3A. The coupling left surface 3A has an opening 34 for a USB exposing the USB terminal 32 below the projection 16. The projection 16 of the upper housing 1 present above the opening 34 for the USB reduces the influence externally imposed on the opening 34 for the USB.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

1 and 2 of Patent Document 1 disclose a conventional image forming apparatus. This image forming apparatus includes an upper housing that houses an image reading section that reads an image of a document, and a lower housing that houses an image forming section that forms an image on a sheet. The lower housing also accommodates a USB board having a USB terminal to which a USB device such as a USB memory is connected. A USB opening for exposing the USB terminal is formed in the side wall of the lower housing.

JP 2020-57972 A

By the way, when the USB device is inserted into the USB opening and connected to the USB terminal, the USB device protrudes outward from the side wall of the lower housing. In this conventional image forming apparatus, since there is no upper housing above the USB opening, liquid may enter the USB opening, or a person or object may come into contact with the USB device inserted into the USB opening. There is a risk of

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and solves the problem that a liquid may enter the USB opening or a person or object may come into contact with a USB device inserted into the USB opening. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that is difficult to

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is
an image forming unit;
a discharge roller for discharging a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming unit in a paper discharge direction;
a first side wall and a second side wall facing each other in a width direction orthogonal to the paper discharge direction;
a USB board having a USB terminal to which a USB device is connected;
an upper housing disposed above the first side wall and the second side wall, having a protruding portion that protrudes in the width direction from the first side wall, and housing an image reading unit that reads an image of a document; An image forming apparatus comprising
The first side wall has a first opening for exposing the USB terminal below the protrusion.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the projecting portion of the upper housing located above the first opening reduces the external influence on the first opening.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that does not easily cause problems such as liquid entering the first opening that exposes the USB terminal or a USB device inserted into the first opening coming into contact with a person or object. be able to provide.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment as seen obliquely from the front left. FIG. 2 is a front view of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a left side view of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment. FIG. 4 relates to the image forming apparatus of the embodiment, and schematically shows the positional relationship in the height direction between the driving roller holding substrate and the exposure unit held by the lower housing and the USB holding substrate. It is a plan view. FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing the outline of the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment, and schematically shows the positional relationship between the upper housing, the operation panel, and the power switch, as viewed obliquely from above. FIG. 7 is a right side view of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment, schematically showing the positional relationship between the upper housing and the power switch. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment, and schematically shows the positional relationship between the upper housing and the power switch. FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view schematically showing a state in which a cover for opening and closing an additional board opening provided on the first side wall of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment is opened.

Hereinafter, embodiments embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Example)
The image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment is a multifunction machine as an example of a specific aspect of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. In the following description, the state in which the image forming apparatus 10 is installed to be usable as shown in FIG. In addition, the upper housing 1 side of the image forming apparatus 10 is defined as the upper side, and the lower housing 2 side is defined as the lower side. The width direction of the image forming apparatus 10 is the horizontal direction when the image forming apparatus 10 is viewed from the front side.

<Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus>
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment includes an upper housing 1, a lower housing 2, and a connecting housing 3. As shown in FIGS. Each of the upper housing 1, the lower housing 2, and the connecting housing 3 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.

The upper housing 1 is provided above the connecting housing 3 so as to cover the upper surface of the connecting housing 3 . The upper housing 1 has an upper body 11 , a document holder 12 , an ADF (auto document feeder) 13 and an operation panel 14 .

The upper housing 1 has an upper front side 1A, an upper left side 1B, and an upper right side 1C. The upper front side surface 1A is composed of a front side surface positioned at the front end of the upper main body 11 in the front-rear direction and a front side surface positioned at the front end of the document presser 12 in the front-rear direction. The upper left side 1B is composed of a left side located at the left end of the upper main body 11 in the left-right direction and a left side located at the left end of the document presser 12 in the left-right direction. The upper right side surface 1C is composed of a right side surface positioned at the right end of the upper main body 11 in the left-right direction and a right side surface positioned at the right end of the document presser 12 in the left-right direction. The upper front side 1A, the upper left side 1B and the upper right side 1C all extend vertically. The upper front side surface 1A corresponds to the vertical wall of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper body 11 accommodates an image reading section 15 for reading an original. The document holder 12 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing, and is provided above the upper body 11 so as to cover the upper surface of the upper body 11 . The document presser 12 is connected to the upper main body 11 at its rear portion so that the front portion thereof rotates up and down. The document presser 12 has an ADF 13 on its top. The operation panel 14 is a panel protruding from the upper main body 11 so as to be positioned forward of the upper front side surface 1A, and has a touch panel, operation buttons, and the like for operating the image forming apparatus 10. FIG.

The lower housing 2 has a lower main body 21 , an opening/closing cover 22 and a sheet tray 23 .

The lower housing 2 has a lower left side surface 2A. The lower left side surface 2A is a left side surface located at the left end of the lower main body 21 in the left-right direction. The lower left side 2A extends vertically.

The lower body 21 has an opening 21A at the front through which the inside of the device can be accessed. The opening/closing cover 22 opens and closes the upper portion of the opening 21A by rotating the upper portion of the opening/closing cover 22 in the front-rear direction with respect to the lower body 21 . The sheet tray 23 reciprocates in the front-rear direction with respect to the lower body 21 to open and close the lower portion of the opening 21A.

The lower body 21 accommodates an image forming section 24 that forms an image on the sheet S, as shown in FIG. The image forming section 24 has a drive roller 25 and an exposure device 26 . The drive roller 25 is held by a drive roller holding sheet metal 27 housed in the lower body 21 . The configuration of the image forming unit 24 is not particularly limited, and configurations such as an electrophotographic system, an inkjet system, and a thermal head system can be used.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lower body 21 accommodates a sheet conveying device 6 that conveys the sheet S from the sheet tray 23 to the outside of the lower housing 2 . The sheet conveying device 6 has a sheet discharge roller 61 , a sheet discharge tray 62 , and a conveying path 63 that connects the sheet tray 23 to the sheet discharge tray 62 via the image forming section 24 . The image forming apparatus 10 has a sheet ejection port 10A as an opening between the lower surface of the housing 1, which is the upper surface of the lower housing 2, in the front portion. The paper discharge tray 62 is formed on the upper surface of the lower housing 2 and has a shape inclined upward from the rear to the front. The sheet conveying device 6 has a plurality of pairs of conveying rollers in the conveying path 63 and has a discharge roller 61 at the most downstream portion of the conveying path 63 . The paper discharge tray 62 is located downstream of the paper discharge roller 61 in the paper discharge direction, and the paper discharge roller 61 discharges the sheet S onto the paper discharge tray 62 . In this specification, the direction in which the discharge roller 61 discharges the sheet S toward the discharge tray 62 is defined as the discharge direction. The paper ejection direction is the direction from the rear to the front of the image forming apparatus 10 in FIGS.

The connection housing 3 connects both the upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2 . The connecting housing 3 is coupled to the lower housing 2 so as to cover the upper surface of the lower housing 2 above the lower housing 2 . As shown in FIG. 4, the connection housing 3 accommodates a USB board holding sheet metal 31 . The USB board holding metal plate 31 holds a USB board 33 having a USB terminal 32 .

The connection housing 3 has a connection left side surface 3A positioned at the left end of the connection housing 3 in the left-right direction, and a connection right side surface 3B positioned at the right end of the connection housing 3 in the left-right direction. Both the left connection side surface 3A and the right connection side surface 3B extend vertically. The connecting left side surface 3A corresponds to the first side wall of the present invention, and the connecting right side surface 3B corresponds to the second side wall of the present invention. In the horizontal direction of the image forming apparatus 10, the position of the connecting left side surface 3A and the position of the lower left side surface 2A match. The connecting left side surface 3A is a surface extending upward from the lower left side surface 2A. The connecting housing 3 has a connecting left first surface 3C that is a surface that is continuous from the connecting left side surface 3A and faces substantially downward. The connecting housing 3 further has a connecting left second surface 3D that is continuous from the connecting left first surface 3C and that faces substantially leftward and is connected to the lower end on the left side of the upper housing 1 .

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first left connecting surface 3C and the second connecting left surface 3D of the upper housing 1 and the connecting housing 3 protrude in the width direction from the left connecting surface 3A. The left connecting first surface 3C and the connecting left second surface 3D of the upper housing 1 and the connecting housing 3 constitute the projecting portion 16 . As shown in FIG. 3, the connecting left first surface 3C corresponding to the lower surface 16A of the protruding portion 16 has a hand portion 17A on which the user's fingers are hooked. The handle portion 17A is formed by a plurality of ribs. That is, a plurality of ribs aligned in the left-right direction extend in the front-rear direction on the left end edge of the first connecting left surface 3C. The handle portion 17A is formed in a range indicated by an arrow A in FIG. In the front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus 10, the handle portion 17A extends continuously forward from the vicinity of the rear end of the connection housing 3 in the front-rear direction to the vicinity of the upper front side surface 1A.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the connection housing 3 has a connection right first surface 3E that is a surface that is continuous from the connection right side surface 3B and faces substantially downward. The connecting housing 3 further has a connecting right second surface 3F that is continuous from the connecting right first surface 3E and that faces substantially rightward and connects with the lower end on the right side of the upper housing 1 . The connecting right first surface 3E has a hand portion 17B on which the user's fingers are placed. The handle portion 17B extends continuously forward from the vicinity of the rear end of the connecting housing 3 in the front-rear direction to the vicinity of the upper front side surface 1A, which is in the same range as the handle portion 17A in the front-rear direction.

The connection left side surface 3A has a USB opening 34 into which the USB device 4 is inserted, as shown in FIGS. That is, the connecting left side surface 3A has a USB opening 34 so as to expose the USB terminal 32 on the USB board 33 located inside. The USB opening 34 corresponds to the first opening of the present invention. The USB device 4 is not particularly limited, but is assumed to be a USB memory, for example. The USB opening 34 is positioned below the projecting portion 16 . In the horizontal direction of the image forming apparatus 10, the USB device 4 inserted into the USB opening 34 and connected to the USB terminal 32 is located on the right side of the upper left side surface 1B. Specifically, in the left-right direction of the image forming apparatus 10, the left end of the USB device 4 inserted into the USB opening 34 and connected to the USB terminal 32 is positioned above the left side by a distance indicated by an arrow B in FIG. Away from 1B to the right. That is, the upper side of the USB device 4 inserted into the USB opening 34 and connected to the USB terminal 32 is covered with the projecting portion 16 .

As shown in FIG. 3, the USB opening 34 is positioned forward of the center of the connecting housing 3 and rearward of the upper front side surface 1A of the upper housing 1 in the front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus 10. positioned. Also, the handle portion 17A is positioned above the USB opening 34 . Specifically, in the front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus 10 , the front end of the handle portion 17</b>A is located forward of the rear end of the USB opening 34 . Between the handle portion 17A and the USB opening 34, a vertical gap 35 is formed to allow fingers to be put in and taken out. The size of this vertical gap 35 is within the range indicated by arrow C in FIG.

A power switch 18 of the image forming apparatus 10 is arranged on the upper surface of the lower housing 2 . The power switch 18 is located below the upper housing 1 . As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the power switch 18 is positioned closer to the connecting right side surface 3B than the center of the image forming apparatus 10 in the left-right direction, and is positioned closer to the upper right side surface 1C of the image forming apparatus 10 in the left-right direction. Located on the left. Specifically, in the horizontal direction of the image forming apparatus 10, the right end of the power switch 18 is left from the upper right side surface 1C by a distance indicated by an arrow D in FIG. Also, the power switch 18 is positioned so as not to overlap the operation panel 14 in plan view. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the power switch 18 is positioned behind the upper front side surface 1A in the front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus 10. As shown in FIGS. Specifically, in the front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus 10, the front end of the power switch 18 is located behind the upper front side surface 1A by a distance indicated by an arrow E in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lower left side surface 2A of the lower housing 2 and the connecting left side surface 3A of the connecting housing 3 have extension board openings 51 into which extension boards are inserted. The extension board opening corresponds to the second opening of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9 , the additional board opening 51 is opened and closed by a cover 53 that rotates about a rotating shaft 52 arranged at the upper end of the additional board opening 51 . An engaged portion 51A is provided at the lower end of the additional board opening 51 . The cover 53 has an engaging portion 53A that can be engaged with and disengaged from the engaged portion 51A. The engaging portion 53A is engaged with the engaged portion 51A by rotating the cover 53 from above to below about the rotating shaft 52 by its own weight. The user pulls up the lower end of the cover 53 to release the engagement between the engaging portion 53A and the engaged portion 51A.

<Effect>
In the image forming apparatus 10 configured as described above, since the USB opening 34 is located below the projecting portion 16 of the upper housing 1 , the USB device 4 inserted into the USB opening 34 is positioned above the projecting portion 16 . covered. For this reason, the projecting portion 16 existing above the USB opening 34 reduces the external influence on the USB opening 34 .

Therefore, according to the image forming apparatus 10 , problems such as liquid entering the USB opening 34 or contacting the USB device 4 inserted into the USB opening 34 are less likely to occur.

Further, even when the image forming apparatus 10 is installed with the left end portion of the image forming apparatus 10 close to the wall of the room, a space for attaching the USB device 4 is secured between the USB opening 34 and the wall of the room. be able to.

In this image forming apparatus 10, a vertical gap 35 is formed between the handle portion 17A and the USB opening 34 to allow fingers to be put in and taken out. According to this configuration, even if the USB device 4 is inserted into the USB opening 34, the user can put his or her finger through the vertical gap 35 and hang it on the handle portion 17A. The device 4 is less likely to get in the way. It should be noted that when the user lifts the image forming apparatus 10, the user lifts the image forming apparatus 10 by putting his or her fingers on the handle portions 17A and 17B.

In this image forming apparatus 10, the USB opening 34 is located forward of the center of the image forming apparatus 10 in the front-rear direction. With this configuration, the distance from the user standing in front of the image forming apparatus 10 to the USB opening 34 is short, so the user standing in front of the image forming apparatus 10 can easily insert the USB device 4 into the USB opening 34 . can do.

In this image forming apparatus 10 , the USB opening 34 is located behind the upper front side surface 1</b>A of the upper housing 1 . According to this configuration, the user can grasp that the USB opening 34 is positioned behind the upper front side surface 1A with respect to the upper front side surface 1A of the upper housing 1. It becomes easy to insert the USB device 4 to the .

In this image forming apparatus 10 , the USB board 33 is positioned above the driving roller holding sheet metal 27 housed in the lower housing 2 . With this configuration, it is difficult for grease and foreign matter around the drive roller 25 held by the drive roller holding sheet metal 27 to reach the USB board 33 .

In this image forming apparatus 10 , a USB board holding sheet metal 31 for holding a USB board 33 is accommodated in the connection housing 3 . According to this configuration, the metal plate 31 for holding the USB board is housed in the connecting housing 3 as a separate body from the upper housing 1 housing the image reading section 15 and the lower housing 2 housing the image forming section 24. Therefore, adverse effects such as vibration transmission exerted on the USB board 33 from the image reading section 15 and the image forming section 24 are reduced.

In this image forming apparatus 10 , the USB board 33 is positioned above the exposing device 26 . According to this configuration, the USB board 33 located above the exposure unit 26 is less likely to be adversely affected by paper dust or the like.

In this image forming apparatus 10 , the power switch 18 is positioned below the upper housing 1 . The power switch 18 is positioned to the left of the upper right side 1C of the upper housing 1 in the left-right direction of the image forming apparatus 10, and is positioned to the left of the upper front side 1A of the upper housing 1 in the front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus 10. located behind. According to this configuration, since the power switch 18 is covered with the upper housing 1, the problem of the power switch 18 being splashed with liquid is alleviated.

In this image forming apparatus 10, the power switch 18 is positioned closer to the connecting right side surface 3B than the center and to the left of the upper right side surface 1C of the upper housing 1 in the horizontal direction of the image forming apparatus 10. ing. Also, the power switch 18 is positioned so as not to overlap the operation panel 14 in plan view. According to this configuration, since the power switch 18 is separated from the operation panel 14 , the problem of the user accidentally pressing the power switch 18 when operating the operation panel 14 is reduced.

In this image forming apparatus 10, the connecting left side surface 3A opens and closes the additional board opening 51 by rotating about the additional board opening 51 and a rotating shaft 52 arranged at the upper end of the additional board opening 51. and a cover 53 . According to this configuration, the cover 53 rotates about the rotation shaft 52 arranged at the upper end of the opening 51 for the additional board. Since the substrate opening 51 is closed, the influence on the performance of the apparatus such as changes in the air flow due to forgetting to close the cover 53 is reduced.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be modified and applied without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the USB opening 34, the additional board opening 51, and the cover 53 may be arranged in the connection housing 3 at positions symmetrical to those in the above embodiment. Also, the first side wall may not be provided on the connection housing 3 . For example, the lower housing 2 has a first side wall, the upper housing 1 has a protrusion 16 that protrudes in the width direction from the first side wall, and the first side wall below the protrusion 16 has a USB opening. There may be 34.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is applicable to image reading apparatuses, multi-function peripherals, and the like, in addition to image forming apparatuses.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Upper housing|casing 2... Lower housing|casing 3... Connection housing|casing 4... USB device 3A... Connection left side (1st side wall)
3B... Connection right side (second side wall)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Image forming apparatus 14... Operation panel 15... Image reading part 16... Projection part 17... Hand part 18... Power switch 24... Image forming part 25... Drive roller 26... Exposure device 27... Drive roller holding metal plate 31... USB board Holding sheet metal 32 USB terminal 33 USB substrate 34 USB opening (first opening)
35: vertical gap 51: opening for extension board (second opening)
52... Rotating shaft 53... Cover

Claims (10)

an image forming unit;
a discharge roller for discharging a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming unit in a paper discharge direction;
a first side wall and a second side wall facing each other in a width direction orthogonal to the paper discharge direction;
a USB board having a USB terminal to which a USB device is connected;
an upper housing disposed above the first side wall and the second side wall, having a protruding portion that protrudes in the width direction from the first side wall, and housing an image reading unit that reads an image of a document; An image forming apparatus comprising
The image forming apparatus, wherein the first side wall has a first opening for exposing the USB terminal below the protrusion. The protruding portion has a hand portion on which a user's finger is hung,
The hand portion is positioned above the first opening,
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a vertical gap is formed between said hand portion and said first opening to allow said finger to be put in and taken out. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first opening is positioned downstream in the paper ejection direction from the center of the first side wall in the paper ejection direction. The upper housing has a vertical wall extending vertically facing downstream in the paper discharge direction,
4. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first opening is located upstream of the first side wall in the paper ejection direction relative to the vertical wall. The image forming unit has a drive roller,
further comprising a lower housing disposed below the upper housing and housing the image forming unit;
The lower housing accommodates a driving roller holding sheet metal for holding the driving roller,
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the USB board is positioned above the driving roller holding sheet metal. Further comprising a connecting housing that connects both the upper housing and the lower housing,
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the connection housing accommodates a USB board holding sheet metal for holding the USB board. The image forming unit has an exposure device,
7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said USB board is positioned above said exposing device. further comprising a power switch for the image forming apparatus;
8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said power switch is positioned below said upper housing. further comprising a power switch for the image forming apparatus;
The upper housing has an operation panel for operating the image forming apparatus,
9. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the power switch is positioned closer to the second side wall than the center in the width direction and is positioned so as not to overlap with the operation panel in plan view. . The first side wall has a second opening into which an extension board is inserted, and a cover that opens and closes the second opening by turning about a turning shaft arranged at the upper end of the second opening. Item 10. The image forming apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 9.

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