JP2832094B2 - Dividable device with locking mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dividable device having a lock mechanism, and more particularly to an image reading device having a document reading system such as a facsimile, a copying machine, and an image reader.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image reading apparatus is configured to convey a document at a predetermined speed by a conveying means in a document reading system to an optical reading system, read its contents, and transmit image information to a recording system. ing.

The above-mentioned original reading system is divided into an upper original plate (upper unit) and a lower original plate (lower unit) with a document conveying path as a boundary, and one end of the upper original plate is rotatable with one end of the lower original plate. During normal operation, the other end of the upper platen is positioned and fixed to the other end of the lower platen. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the positioning and fixing are performed via a lower platen 1, a bearing (not shown), a torsion coil spring 2, and a shaft 3.
A lock member 4 rotatably attached to both ends of the shaft 3,
This is performed by the embosses 6 at both ends of the upper document table 5. The upper platen 1 is released from the lower platen 5 by the upper platen 1.
Then, the release button 8 attached by the screw and the tension spring 7 is operated in the A direction. When the release button 8 is operated by the method A, the 4a portion of the lock member 4 is pressed by the pressing portion 8a of the release button 8 and rotates in the E direction, and comes off the upper document table emboss 6. Therefore, the upper platen 5 is rotatable around one end of the lower platen 1. However, even if the upper document table 5 is forcibly opened (rotated) without operating the release button 8, conventionally, the shape of the lock member 4 </ b> C causes the lock member 4 to move in the opposite direction to the E direction with respect to the force in the F direction. Or, since it acts only in the direction of moving in the F direction, it was impossible to open.
The upper document table 5 is opened when the document is jammed.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the upper platen is not released from the lower platen unless the release button is operated, so that there are the following drawbacks.

In the case where the original document is jammed (when it is necessary to open the upper original table), if the user forcibly opens the upper original table without operating the release button, the upper original table and the lower The platen may be deformed, and the image reading device may lose its original function.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided means for releasing the upper unit from the lock mechanism regardless of the operation of the release button when a certain load or more acts in the upper unit releasing direction. By providing them, deformation and the like of the upper unit and the lower unit are prevented.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an image reading apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an image reading system of a facsimile will be described as an image reading apparatus.

First, a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG.

The document reading system includes a lower document table 56 including a preliminary transport roller 50, a separation roller 51, a paper feed roller 52, a contact image sensor 53, a paper discharge roller 54, and a lower document guide 55; A pressing member 57 for pressing the separation roller 51, a separation piece 58 for pressing the separation roller 51, a feeding roller 59 forming a pair with the feeding roller 52, a platen 60 for bringing a document into close contact with the contact image sensor 53, and a pair with the discharging roller 54. And an upper document table 62 composed of a discharge roller 61 to be formed.

The document is fed downstream by a pre-conveyance roller 50 and a pressure contact member 57 and separated one by one by a separation roller 51 and a separation piece 58. The document image is read by being conveyed to the contact image sensor 53, and is discharged to a discharge tray (not shown) by the discharge roller 54 and the discharge roller 61.

Next, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG.
Will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper document table 62 is rotatably screwed and fixed to one end of the lower document table 56, and both embosses 63 at the other end are supported on the lower document table 56 by bearings.
It is positioned and fixed to the lower document table 56 by a claw 67a of a lock member 67 rotatably mounted via a shaft 65 and a torsion coil spring 66. The upper platen 62
A step screw 68 and a tension spring 69
By pressing and releasing the release button 70 attached in the direction B,
The part b is pushed by the part 70a of the release button 70, rotates in the direction C, comes off the upper platen emboss 63, and becomes rotatable around one end of the lower platen 56.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the upper document table 62 is forcibly pulled up in the release (D) direction without operating the release button 70 as shown in FIG. (Inclined upward by θ degrees), a force acting to rotate the lock member 67 in the C direction acts on the force in the D direction. Therefore, the upper document table 62 can be opened from the lower document table 56 with a certain load or more. The upper document table 62 is operated to release the lower document table 56 by operating the release button 70 in the direction B when the document is jammed or the like, and performs a necessary treatment. After treatment,
When the upper platen is pressed in the opposite direction to the direction D, the emboss 63 turns the lock member 67 counterclockwise due to the shape of the lock member claw upper surface 67a (inclined downward by α degrees). Instead, it is positioned and fixed to the lower platen as shown in FIG.

Note that θ is around 12 degrees and α is around 25 degrees, but is not limited thereto.

[Other Embodiments] FIGS. 6 and 7 show the upper platen 1
In this configuration, the embosses 102 at both ends of the sheet No. 01 are positioned and fixed to an elastic lock member 103 attached to a lower document table (not shown). On the upper platen 101,
A release button 104 for releasing the embossment 102 from the lock member 103, a spring 105 supporting the release button 104, and a guide member 106 holding the spring 105 are attached.

In normal operation, the release button 104
Is pressed in the G direction, the wedge portion 104a of the release button 104 pushes the concave portion 103b of the lock member 103 in the H direction to release the upper platen 101 from the lower platen. When the release button 104 is pressed to spread the forked portion 103a, the upper platen 101, which has been released from the inhibition, is raised by the spring force. The release button 104 is at a position where the lifting of the emboss 102 is not hindered.

When the upper document table 101 is forcibly released without operating the release button 104, if a certain force or more acts in the direction opposite to the direction G, the bifurcated portion of the elastic locking member 103 is used. 103a is the shape and emboss 102
As a result, the emboss 102 spreads in the H direction, and the emboss 102 is released from the lock member 103. Therefore, even in such a configuration, the same effect as the present invention can be obtained.

[0018]

As described above, when a load equal to or more than a certain value acts in the upper unit releasing direction, the upper unit is released from the lock mechanism regardless of the operation of the release button. In addition, the lower unit can be prevented from being deformed and the like, and even if the user performs an erroneous operation, the original function of the dividable device such as the image reading device is not lost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a detailed view of a main part of a lock mechanism embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a reader including a lock mechanism embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view schematically showing a facsimile image reading apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of a main part of a conventional lock mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a reader having a conventional lock mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 56 Lower platen 62 Upper platen 63 Upper platen emboss 65 Axis 66 Torsion coil spring 67 Lock member 68 Step screw 69 Tension spring 70 Release button

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04N 1/00 G03G 15/00 B65D 43/22

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A lock mechanism for positioning and fixing an upper unit rotatably attached to one end of the lower unit to the other end of the lower unit; and a release mechanism for releasing the lock mechanism. By operating the upper unit, the upper unit is released from the lock mechanism.In a divisible type device having a lock mechanism, when a certain load or more acts in the upper unit release direction, the operation of the release mechanism is Irrespective of this, there is provided a means for releasing the upper unit from the lock mechanism, and the splittable device having a lock mechanism is provided.