JP3304180B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a replaceable supply unit such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, and a printer, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of a photoreceptor by a charger and an optical writing unit, and the electrostatic latent image is formed by a developing unit. Image formation is performed by transferring a toner image visualized with toner or the like onto a transfer sheet by a transfer unit and then fixing the toner image by a fixing unit. In such an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and the like, a removable guide rail, a guide rail introduction section, a photosensitive drum cartridge, and a guide member for the cartridge are provided, and the replaceable drum cartridge is safely, reliably, and easily removed. Such a technique is known (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-110573).

Further, the supply unit of the image recording device of the image forming apparatus is rotated to an angle at which the supply unit can be inserted and removed from the upper cover and the apparatus main body in conjunction with the opening operation of the upper cover. There is also known a technique for improving the workability of the replacement of the battery (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 1-261662). However, in these conventional image forming apparatuses, when the supply unit such as the photosensitive drum cartridge is replaced, replacement and maintenance and inspection are performed with the main body upper frame or the main body front frame opened.
When the upper frame or the front frame of the main unit is open, the supply unit is attached to the main unit.When the supply unit is detached from the main unit, the upper part of the main unit should be easily detached by the user. It is necessary to increase the open angle of the frame or the front frame of the main body, and there has been a problem that the center position of the hinge is restricted by the layout.

Further, in the case of the crocodile system in which the upper frame including the exposure unit is opened so that the supply unit can be easily taken out, the weight of the opened upper frame is heavy and large, and the strength of parts such as hinges is increased. In order to ensure the above, there is a problem that the cost of the entire apparatus becomes high. Furthermore, when replacing the supply unit and performing maintenance and inspection with the main unit upper frame or the main unit front frame open, it is necessary for the user to put his hands inside the main unit to perform replacement and maintenance and inspection work. However, there has been a problem that it is not easy to take out the supply unit. Further, when the main body upper frame or the main body front frame is opened, a large gap is generated between the main body fixed side cover and the open cover, and the gap between both sides is erroneously set, particularly, compared with the opening for replacing the supply unit. There is a danger that the hand may be pinched, and if a damper or the like is provided in the hinge portion in order to prevent such danger, a problem such as an increase in cost has occurred.

[0005]

In a conventional image forming apparatus, a supply unit such as a photosensitive drum cartridge is exchanged by opening a main body upper frame or a main body front frame in a largely open state. However, there is a problem in that the operation of removing the supply unit is difficult as well as a safety hazard.

[0006]

The object of the present invention is to solve such a problem. That is, in the replacement operation of the supply unit, even if the upper frame or the front frame of the main body is not opened, the entire apparatus is reduced in size, the number of parts is reduced, the cost is reduced, and the attaching and detaching and removing operations of the supply unit can be performed easily and easily. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can be performed safely.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a replaceable supply unit, wherein the cover is a part of an exterior cover and opens and closes when the supply unit is replaced. Positioning means provided in the main body of the image forming apparatus and supporting the supply unit so as to be able to guide and move the supply unit between a set position where image formation can be performed and a replaceable position, and provided at both ends in the width direction of the opening / closing cover. And an engagement portion with which the supply unit is formed. The supply unit can be exchanged with the set position via the engagement portion by opening and closing the open / close cover. It is characterized by being moved between positions.

[0008]

In the image forming apparatus constructed as described above, the replaceable supply unit is moved between the set position and the replaceable position in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing cover. The supply unit can be easily attached and detached and taken out without opening the front frame of the main body.

[0009]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus having a replaceable supply unit such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, and the like. In this embodiment, a magazine-shaped supply unit in which all or a part of the units forming the image forming unit are integrated is connected to a cover for opening and closing the device housing, and the supply unit is linked with the opening and closing operation of the cover. It is characterized by a structure that is detachable.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an entire configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. An outer cover (housing) 1 covers main components of the image forming apparatus. The exterior cover 1 is provided with an opening / closing cover 3 that opens and closes when the supply unit 2 is replaced so as to rotate in the direction of arrow A shown in the figure. By opening and closing the opening and closing cover 3, the supply unit 2 is supported and positioned by the positioning means 4 fixed to the main body side. Each of the walls 5A provided at both ends in the width direction (both ends in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface) of the opening / closing cover 3 is provided with a groove-shaped engaging portion 5 which engages with the supply unit 2. The mounting of the unit 2 and the pulling out of the supply unit 2 in the pulling out direction are performed.

Here, the supply unit 2 is a process cartridge including, for example, a photoconductor, a charger, a developing unit, a cleaning unit, and the like (not shown). A toner image is obtained by forming an electrostatic latent image on the upper surface of a photosensitive member (not shown) by a charger (not shown) and an optical writing unit 6 and visualizing the electrostatic latent image with a toner or the like by a developing unit (not shown) in the supply unit 2. . The transfer paper 11 fed from the paper supply cassette 8 in the direction of the registration roller pair 10 by the paper supply roller 9 is conveyed to a lower portion of a photoconductor (not shown) at a timing by the registration roller pair 10 and transferred to the transfer unit 7. After receiving the transfer of the toner image, the fixing unit 12 fixes the toner image, and the sheet is discharged from the sheet discharging unit 13 to form an image.

These operations are performed not only on the recording paper fed from the paper feed cassette 8 but also on the transfer paper 11 inserted from the multi manual feed 8a and fed by the multi manual feed roller 9a. The same applies to the case. The opening / closing cover 3 is centered on a rotation center 3a provided at a lower part.
The opening / closing cover 3 can be opened and closed by rotating in the direction of arrow A, and the engagement portions 5 provided at both ends in the width direction of the opening / closing cover 3 are cut out in a groove shape as shown in the figure, and are not shown. Pins 2 a protruding from both end surfaces of a supply unit 2, which is a process cartridge including a body, a charger, a developing unit, a cleaning unit, and the like, can be engaged in the groove of the engaging portion 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the cover 3 is closed, a gap is maintained between the pin 2a provided in the supply unit 2 and the groove-shaped engaging portion 5, A pressurizing section 3b (composed of a spring 3b 'and a spring cap 3b ", which urges diagonally to the lower left in the drawing) provided on the upper part of the opening / closing cover 3 urges the upper right shoulder of the supply unit 2 to the lower left. For this reason, the supply unit 2 is in a state in which the reference pin 2b is pressed against the innermost portion (left end) of the recess 4b of the positioning means 4 integrated with the main body side frame by the pressing action of the pressing portion 3b. The opening / closing cover 3 is configured to be locked to the main body side frame by a lock lever (not shown), and the configuration of the positioning means 4 is shown in FIG. As shown The opening / closing cover 3 side, which is the end side, is opened, and the other end side is formed in a guide groove shape which becomes a dead end recess 4b.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which the cover is opened to a certain angle, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a state in which the cover is completely opened. The groove-shaped engaging portions 5 provided at both ends of the opening / closing cover 3 have hook-shaped portions 5a, and the hook-shaped portions 5a are connected to pins 2a provided on the supply unit 2 when the opening / closing cover 3 is closed. Is engaged.
When the opening / closing cover 3 is turned in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 3 to be in a fully opened state as shown in FIG. 3, the supply unit 2 is pulled by the hook-shaped portion 5a in conjunction with this opening operation, and the arrow C shown in FIG. Direction and move to a replaceable position where it can be easily removed.

Engaging portions 5 formed at both ends of opening / closing cover 3
The wall 5A is located at a position overlapping with a part of the exterior cover 1 (an opening portion opened by opening the opening / closing cover) when the opening / closing cover 3 is in an open state, and a front side between the opening / closing cover 3 and the opening portion. Since it is configured to cover the gap on the back side, it is possible to prevent a hand or the like from being accidentally inserted into the main body from the gap.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the supply unit and the opening / closing cover are separated from each other.
Is set simply and securely by simply opening the open / close cover 3 and lowering the cover 3 in the direction of arrow D shown in the figure. The reference pin 2b of the supply unit 2 abuts on the end 4a of the positioning means 4, and the pin 2a is seated at an appropriate position in the engagement portion 5. In this state, the mounting of the supply unit is completed only by closing the opening / closing cover 3. When taking out the supply unit, the supply unit 2 may be taken out upward in the direction opposite to the arrow D with the opening / closing cover 3 opened as shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an operation of mounting the supply unit. A U-shaped portion 5b is provided at a deep portion of the hook-shaped portion 5a provided with the engaging portions 5 provided at both ends of the opening / closing cover 3. Is provided, and the U-shaped portion 5b and the pin 2a provided on the supply unit 2 are engaged with each other. On the other hand, the end 4a of the positioning means 4 integrated with the main body side frame (see FIG. 4).
When the reference pin 2b provided on the supply unit 2 is placed on the supply unit 2, the open / close cover 3 is closed by rotating the cover 3 in the direction of arrow E shown in FIG.
Is guided by the positioning means 4 and moves in the direction of the arrow F shown in the figure to be in the mounted state (see FIG. 1).

[0018]

According to the present invention, as described above, the supply unit is attached and detached and the supply unit is pulled out in the pull-out direction by opening / closing the opening / closing cover. However, even if the upper frame of the main body or the front frame of the main body is not opened, the whole apparatus is small, the number of parts is small, the cost is low, and the work of attaching and detaching and taking out the supply unit is easily and safely performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in a state where an opening / closing cover is closed.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state in which an opening / closing cover is partially opened;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which the openable cover is fully opened;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state in which a supply unit is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Exterior cover, 2 ... Supply unit, 2a
... Pin, 2b ... Reference pin, 3 ... Open / close cover, 3a ... Rotation center, 3b ... Pressure unit, 4 ...
Positioning means, 5: engaging portion, 5a: hook-shaped portion, 5b: U-shaped portion, 6: optical writing portion, 7
... Transfer unit, 8 ... Paper cassette, 8a ... Multi manual feed, 9 ... Feed roller, 9a ... Multi manual feed roller, 10 ... Registration roller pair, 11.・ ・
Transfer paper, 12: fixing unit, 13: paper discharge unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-43752 (JP, A) JP-A-3-61957 (JP, A) JP-A-63-161462 (JP, A) JP-A-4- 333066 (JP, A) JP-A-60-48067 (JP, A) JP-A-64-49056 (JP, A) JP-A-4-147272 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/00 550 G03G 21/16-21/18

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus having a replaceable supply unit, comprising: an open / close cover that is part of an exterior cover and opens and closes when the supply unit is replaced;
Positioning means for supporting the supply unit so that the supply unit can be guided and moved between an image forming operable set position and a replaceable position; and the supply unit formed on walls provided at both ends in the width direction of the open / close cover. Has an engaging portion to be engaged, and by opening and closing the open / close cover, the supply unit is moved between the set position and a replaceable position via the engaging portion. Characteristic image forming apparatus.