JP3514126B2 - 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 such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine, and more particularly to a structure of an image forming apparatus which can be easily maintained.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine has a document reading section, a recording section for recording image data on a sheet, and a sheet feeding section for feeding the sheet to the recording section. Is usually provided. In recent small-sized facsimile machines and copying machines, a contact image sensor (CIS) in which a light source and an image detection unit are housed in an integrated case is used in a document reading unit for downsizing. Some have appeared (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-291476).

As the document reading unit, the contact type image sensor, a document feeding roller for feeding a document to be read so as to pass through the portion, and the like are previously incorporated in a unit case and fixed to the main lower case. On the other hand, a plastic document placing table with guides for guiding the left and right sides of the document to be conveyed is configured separately, and is detachably attached to the cover that covers the upper surface of the main lower case. There were many things I did.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-20738, a main lower case containing a recording portion is divided into a front upper cover and a rear upper cover, and is divided into a front upper cover. Includes an original reading unit and an operation panel section covering the upper surface thereof, and the front upper cover is detachably attached to the main lower case, while the original upper surface of the rear upper cover is an original placing table for sending the original. And a mounting hole for the paper feed cassette, and is pivotally attached to the main lower case so that the rear upper cover can be flipped up and rotated about the rear end of the main cover. There was one configured so that the second half of the upper surface could be largely opened.

[0005]

However, in any of the above-mentioned prior arts, in order to open the upper surface of the main lower case largely for the replacement work of the recording unit and the maintenance, the original reading unit and the operation panel unit are required. It is necessary to remove the top cover of the side equipped with from the main lower case,
To remove the operation panel section, either turn off the power to the entire device, or if it is not turned off, connect the top cover including the operation panel section to the main lower case with a signal line or power cable. Must be retained.

When the power is turned off, the upper cover including the operation panel section must be attached to the main lower case again, and then the key operation for confirming the operation of the recording section must be executed. However, there was a problem that maintenance work was troublesome.

When the power is turned on while the upper cover including the removed operation panel is connected with a cable, a short circuit (electrical short circuit) occurs when the lower surface of the upper cover is placed on a table or the like. There is also a problem in that it is necessary to separately consider not to do so, and if the upper surface cover is not held in a stable posture on the table, the key input operation to the operation panel unit becomes unstable.

Such a problem similarly occurs in a facsimile machine including a communication section.

The present invention has been made in order to solve these problems, and provides an image forming apparatus in which key input operations and the like on an operation panel can be easily performed and maintenance work can be easily performed. The purpose is.

[0010]

In order to achieve this object, an image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is a front-rear inside a main lower case having an open upper surface in the image forming apparatus.
A recording section for recording an image on a sheet is configured to be housed in the middle part, and is used for the recording section at the rear of the main lower case.
Place a sheet feeding cassette for feeding paper to the inclined shape, close before the upper surface of the upper case for covering the upper surface of the main lower case
A manuscript reading unit is arranged in the part, and a rear part of the operation panel part for covering the upper part of the manuscript reading unit
The front side of the operation panel rotates up and down around the position
The upper case is mounted so that the front half of the upper case can be rotated up and down largely with respect to the main lower case in the middle of the front and rear. The posture that covers the upper part of the recording unit and the front half of the upper case are the main
The lower case is configured so that it can be selected as a posture facing the front of the image forming apparatus.

The invention described in claim 2 is the same as claim 1.
In the image forming apparatus described in the item [1], various keys and a display unit are arranged on the upper surface of the operation panel unit.

The invention described in claim 3 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
Center of vertical rotation of the upper case with respect to the main lower case
Is configured to be on the front side of the recording unit .

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view of a facsimile apparatus 1 as an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of the facsimile apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of an upper case with an operation panel unit 6 removed. Figure 4
FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a pivoting support portion between the upper case and the lower main case, and FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view showing a posture in which the upper case is erected substantially vertically so that the operation panel section 6 and the document reading unit 5 face forward. It is a figure.

The main body case of the facsimile apparatus 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a paper feed cassette 3 for accommodating the ink jet type recording unit 2 and for supplying a paper P for forming an image is made of a synthetic resin. And a main lower case 1a and a synthetic resin upper case 1b covering the upper side of the main lower case 1a. The upper case 1b is attached to a bracket 14 on the side of the main lower case 1a shown in FIG. It is pivotally attached.

As shown in FIG. 4, one end 8a is locked to one metal bracket 14, the coil portion 8b is wound around the outer circumference of the rotary cylinder shaft portion 4, and the other end 8c is made of metal in the upper case 1b. The metal torsion spring 8 held at an appropriate position on the chassis 40 urges the upper surface of the upper case 1b toward the front, and the upper case 1b is normally pushed by a hook (not shown). The upper surface is fixed so that it faces upward.

The chassis 40 is provided with a document separating / feeding roller 35a of a document reading unit 5, which will be described later, and a transport driving roller 36a and a driven roller 36b disposed upstream of the transport.
A transport driving roller 37a and a driven roller 37b disposed on the downstream side of the transport, and the rollers 35, 36a, 37.
A metal plate for supporting the respective parts such as the document conveying system drive unit 39 housed in the frame by a drive motor for driving a and a gear train, and for shielding electrical noise from the outside to the CIS 34. It is also connected to a shield plate (not shown).

Then, as shown in FIG.
The sliding contact piece 40a cut and raised from the upper case 1b is made to face the coil portion 8b of the torsion spring 8 through the hole 41 formed in the upper case 1b. As a result, electrical noise from the document conveying system drive unit 39 or the like and static electricity accumulated on the rollers 35, 36a, 37a or the like are conducted to the bottom plate 11 or the like on the main lower case 1a side to be grounded. Further, the torsion spring 8 can have both the function of rotating the upper case 1b and the function of the conducting member for grounding, and the sliding contact piece 40a is provided on the coil portion 8b. The pressing and sliding contact brings about an effect that it can also serve as a damper for alleviating the momentum of rotation.

Further, a document reading unit 5 as a document reading unit is mounted on the front side portion of the upper surface of the upper case 1b, and the operation panel unit 6 covers the upper side of the document reading unit 5. Operation key portion 6a such as various function keys and numeric keys on the surface, and the input value at the operation key portion 6a,
The operation panel unit 6 including a display unit 6b such as a liquid crystal panel capable of displaying various command characters (characters) has a large front and rear rotation centering on the pivot shafts 7 on the left and right sides of the rear portion. It is configured to move. The operation panel 6 is provided near the rear of the upper surface of the upper case 1b.
The document placing portion 9 is integrally formed adjacent to the rear end of the
A pair of left and right document guide bodies 10, 10 for guiding the left and right side edges of a document to be conveyed are mounted on the document placing section 9 in a manner that the document guide bodies 10, 10 can be moved left and right in synchronization with each other.

The lower surface of the main lower case 1a is closed by a bottom cover plate 11 made of a metal plate or the like, and a control board, a power supply board, and a telephone line (not shown) are provided in the internal space of the main lower case 1a. NCU (Network Control Unit) for enabling conversation and transmission / reception of facsimile data with other telephone devices and facsimile devices via
A substrate or the like is located. Furthermore, the main lower case 1a
A handset 1 for conversation with another telephone device on a cradle 13 projecting outward from the side of the
2 is placed. Speaker for calling (not shown)
Is fixed to the rear side of the right side surface of the main lower case 1a.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the lower portion of the carriage 18 in the recording unit 2 is pivotally supported by a round shaft-shaped guide shaft 17 mounted on a chassis frame 16 which is long in the left and right directions. The upper part of the frame 16 is in sliding contact with the vertical guide piece 16a so that the frame 16 can be moved left and right. And
A color ink jet recording head 15 is mounted downward on the carriage 18. The recording head 15 for executing color recording has four nozzles for ejecting inks of cyan, yellow, magenta, and black, and the ink to be supplied to each recording head 15 is stored. The cartridges 19 for the respective colors are detachably attached to the carriage 18.

A timing belt 20 extending parallel to the guide shaft 17 is fixed to a driven pulley 21 arranged on one side of the chassis frame 16 and an output shaft of a drive motor 22 such as a stepping motor capable of rotating in forward and reverse directions. The carriage 18 is wound around the drive pulley 23, and by connecting one portion of the timing belt 20 to the carriage 18, the carriage 18 can reciprocate in parallel with the guide shaft 17. The sheets P stacked in the sheet feeding cassette 3 are
Although not shown in the drawings, a sheet feed mechanism having a conventionally well-known structure, which is disposed in the rear portion of the main lower case 1a, separates the sheets P one by one by the intermittently rotating rotating sheet feed roller and the separation pad. , The position of the leading edge of the sheet is once adjusted at the position of a registration roller (not shown), and the sheet is fed below the recording head 15 by the transport upstream roller 24,
While being sandwiched and conveyed by a pair of upper and lower conveying rollers 25 and 26 on the downstream side of the conveyance, ink droplets are ejected onto the upper surface of the paper P according to a print command to record an image, and thereafter, a portion of the paper discharge tray 27. It is configured to be discharged to.

Further, the carriage 18 moves out of the recording area.
Moving end, the right end side shown in FIG. 5, for example, has a maintenance unit 29. In this maintenance part 29,
A nozzle wiping device (wiper device) 31 for wiping ink droplets adhering to the surface of the nozzle portion of the recording head 15;
A purge device (nozzle suction device) 30 for recovering ink ejection failure or ejection failure of the recording head 15 is disposed.
The nozzle portion is covered with a suction cap (not shown), and the defective ink in the recording head 15 is sucked by the negative pressure generated by the pump to recover from the defective recording. Further, at a home position on the opposite side of the recording area from the purging device 30, a protective cap 32 for covering the nozzle portion of the recording head 15 and preventing the ink from drying is arranged as the carriage 18 moves closer. .

Next, the structure of the document reading unit 5 arranged on the upper case 1b will be described. 2 and 3
And, as shown in FIG. 6, a unit case 4 made of synthetic resin.
2 is a horizontal contact image sensor (CIS) 34
A document separation feed roller 35a arranged near the document placing portion 9, a conveyance drive roller 36a and a driven roller 3 arranged upstream of the contact type image sensor 34 in conveyance.
6b and a conveyance drive roller 37a arranged on the downstream side of conveyance
And the driven roller 37b and the rollers 35, 36a,
A document feeding system drive unit 39 in which a drive motor for driving 37a and a gear train are housed in a frame is provided. The lower surface of the operation panel portion 6 configured to be pivotable up and down about the pivot shaft 7 is provided on the lower surface side of the unit case 42 when the original separation feed roller is covered. Separation pad 35b abutting on the upper surface of 35a, and said contact-type image sensor 34
Is provided with a pressing plate 38 whose lower surface is in contact with the upper surface of the operation panel 6 and which is coated in white. , The document separation feed roller 35a and the separation pad 35b are separately fed one by one, and when the document passes between the pressing plate 38 and the upper surface of the CIS 34, the image of the document is read. Has been done.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, one side (front side) of the unit case 42 of the document reading unit 5 is engaged with and disengaged from a plurality of engaging holes 43 formed in the upper case 1b. The compound claw 44 is projected downward. Also,
As a means for easily positioning the unit case 42 with respect to the upper case 1b, the plurality of recesses 45, 45 formed on the rear side of the flat surface of the unit case 42 are provided with positioning holes 47a, 47b. On the other hand, positioning protrusions 46a, 4 protruding upward from the upper case 1b
6b is provided and the protrusions 46a and 46b are fitted into the positioning holes 47a and 47b, respectively, so that the positioning can be performed. Further, the unit case 42 is configured to be fixed to the upper case 1b by the screw 48 in each recess 45.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 6, the unit case 42 is located on the upstream side of the document feeding of the document reading unit 5 and adjacent to the rotation base end side of the operation panel section 6.
In the document placing portion 9 formed integrally with the document mounting portion 9, the edge guide portions 1 of the pair of left and right L-shaped document guide bodies 10, 10 in front view.
The operating plate 10b, from which 0a protrudes and extends horizontally from the lower end of each guide portion 10a, is arranged along the lower surface side of the unit case 42 via an insertion hole (not shown). Each operating plate 10
When the rack teeth formed on one side of b are meshed with the gear 51 projecting on the lower surface side of the unit case 42, one of the document guide bodies 10 is moved left and right with a finger,
The other document guide body 10 moves relatively far and near so that the left and right edges of the document to be conveyed are guided to the inner surfaces of the pair of left and right edge guide portions 10a, 10a.

In the facsimile apparatus 1 according to the present invention, various processing operations are set and a document image is read by the document reading unit 5 in accordance with various commands input by the user in response to various key operations on the operation panel section 6. A unit for reading, converting original images into transmission data, encoding transmission data, transmitting / receiving facsimile data to be transmitted to another facsimile device via a communication line such as a telephone line, decoding received data, and recording a decoded facsimile data In addition to the normal facsimile function of executing recording on the paper P at the same time, the CIS (contact image sensor) 34 of the document reading unit 5 is also used.
A copy (copy) processing function of reading a document by each unit and forming a color image on a sheet P by each unit of the recording unit, print data transmitted from an external device such as a personal computer (not shown) via a printer cable or wireless such as infrared rays. It also has a printer processing function of receiving and forming a color image on the paper P in accordance with the data, and a scanner processing function of transmitting the image data read by the document reading unit 5 to the external device.

FIG. 8 shows a functional block diagram of a control unit for executing the above-mentioned functions, and a CPU 52 for executing various controls and calculations, and a ROM 5 storing a control program.
3. A RAM 54, a part of which is used as a reception buffer memory 54a, an NCU board 56, a modem 55 for transmitting / receiving facsimile data to / from another facsimile machine via the NCU board 56, and a conversation with another telephone device. A handset 12, a recording unit 2 including a maintenance unit 29, a carriage drive motor 22, and the like; a paper feeding unit 57 for performing a paper feeding operation from a paper feeding cassette 3;
The document reading unit 5, the key operation section 6a and the display section 6b
The operation panel section 6 equipped with the
Connected through.

In the recent facsimile device 1, data is transferred from an external service center to the facsimile device 1 for maintenance management such as changing various setting values, and a maintenance worker performs the facsimile operation. The maintenance control for communicating with the service center is executed during maintenance.

However, in a normal use state, the upper case 1b is held in a substantially horizontal posture so as to cover the recording section 2 and the like in the main lower case 1a, and the operation panel section 6 on the upper surface of the upper case 1b is also raised. It is set substantially parallel to the upper surface of the case 1b, and the operator operates the operation key unit 6 on the operation panel unit 6
By performing various key operations of a, it is possible to perform facsimile transmission with another facsimile device or copy.
In these cases, the original to be transmitted or copied is placed on the original placing section 9. The document read while passing through the CIS 34 is discharged to the document receiving tray 60 on the front side of the main lower case 1a. If the document feed is blocked at the original reading unit 5 or the like, the front side of the operation panel unit 6 is lifted to open the upper side of the original reading unit 5 as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. The original can be removed.

Data received from another facsimile machine and printer data are printed on the paper P by the recording unit 2 and then discharged to a paper discharge tray 27. This recording unit 2
When the paper P is clogged at the time, when the ink cartridge 19 of the recording unit 2 is replaced, or when the recording unit 2 or the maintenance unit 29 is maintained and inspected, a lock button (not shown) is pressed to release the lock, As shown in, the upper case 1b is placed on the rear side (original placing section 9 side).
As the limit switch (not shown) is turned off and the power is cut off, the upper case 1b rotates forward about the rotary cylinder shaft portion 4 in the middle of the front and rear, and the operation panel unit 6 Since the upper case 1b can be held in a substantially vertical posture so that it is directed to the front, the inside of the recording unit 2 and the like can be maintained.

By operating a specific key of the operation key portion 6a in advance, it is possible to prevent the power from being cut off. In this case, the power supply is not attached to the upper case 1b rotated in the forward direction. Moreover, in the operation panel section 6 which is vertically rotatable around the location of the pivot shaft 7 on the rear side of the upper case 1b, the direction of the operation key section 6a can be arbitrarily changed. Then, in this state, the key operation on the operation key unit 6a is possible, and the display on the display unit 6b is also possible.
Therefore, during a periodic inspection by a maintenance worker, the posture of the operation panel unit 6 can be changed so that the display unit 6b can be easily seen to indicate that the replacement of the ink cartridge 9 is completed, and the display can be displayed during the communication work with the service center. Part 6
The operation key unit 6 so that the key operation is easy while looking at b.
It is also possible to arbitrarily change the vertical direction of a.

It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied not only to the above-mentioned facsimile machine but also to a copying machine and an image scanner.

[0033]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention is arranged in the front and rear inside the main lower case having an open upper surface in the image forming apparatus.
A recording unit for recording an image on a sheet is configured to be housed in the middle of the direction, and the recording unit is provided at the rear of the main lower case.
Arrange the paper feed cassette for feeding paper in an inclined shape,
The front side of the upper surface of the upper case that covers the upper surface side of the main lower case
A document reading unit is arranged at the rear portion and a rear portion of the operation panel part for covering the upper side of the document reading unit.
The front side of the operation panel is greatly turned up and down around the part
The upper case is configured to be movable, and the front half of the upper case is larger than the main lower case in the middle part before and after the upper case.
Ku vertical pivot so that it becomes attached, the attitude and the upper case covers the upper portion of the recording portion, the first half portion of the upper case Mei
In the lower case, the image forming apparatus can be selected to have a posture facing the front .

Therefore, by mounting the operation panel section on the upper side of the document reading unit mounted on the upper case so that the operation panel section can be opened and closed, it is covered by the operation panel section having a large area during a normal document reading operation, and the operation panel section is external to the document reading. Light does not come in,
Since the adverse effect of external light is not exerted, the image signal of the read document is not disturbed.

Further, since the manuscript reading unit is provided on the upper surface side of the upper case and the operation panel part is attached to the upper case so as to be openable and closable, only the operation panel part is opened when a document jam occurs. Thus, it is possible to easily remove the jammed document.

If the upper case is opened largely forward and the upper case is placed in a substantially vertical posture, the upper surface of the main lower case can be opened in a large range.
This has the effect of making maintenance and inspection work for the recording unit, etc. in the main lower case extremely easy.

The operation panel section is located near the rear section.
Center of the operation part of the operation panel
Since the front side is configured to rotate up and down largely, it is possible to easily remove the jam of the original document by simply opening the front side of the operation panel section wide with respect to the upper case in a substantially horizontal state. With the case in a substantially vertical position, it is extremely easy to set the operation panel part in a substantially horizontal position so that the key operation and the display part can be easily viewed, and maintenance and inspection work can be facilitated. .

The invention described in claim 2 is the same as claim 1
In the image forming apparatus according to the item (1), since various keys and a display section are arranged on the upper surface of the operation panel section, during maintenance and inspection of the image forming apparatus,
By changing the rotation posture of the operation panel with respect to the rotatable upper case, maintenance workers can easily operate the keys,
This has the effect of making the display easier to see.

The invention according to claim 3 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
Center of vertical rotation of the upper case with respect to the main lower case
Is configured to be in front of the recording unit.
Therefore, during maintenance and inspection, open the upper part of the main lower case.
The effect that the internal parts such as the recording part can be maintained from the free part
Play the fruit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a facsimile device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of a facsimile device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the upper case of the facsimile apparatus with the operation panel section removed.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a rotating portion between an upper case and a lower main case.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a recording unit.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side sectional view of an upper case, a document reading unit, and a unit case.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a state in which an upper case is opened with respect to a main lower case.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of a control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

P paper 1 Facsimile machine 1a Main lower case 1b upper case 2 recording section 3 paper cassettes 4 Rotating cylinder shaft 5 Document reading unit 6 Operation panel section 6a Operation key section 6b Display section 7 pivot branch 8 torsion spring 9 Document placing section 34 Contact image sensor (CIS) 42 unit case

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A main lower case of an image forming apparatus is configured such that a recording section for recording an image on a sheet is housed in a middle part in the front-rear direction in a main lower case having an open upper surface .
Paper feed cassette for feeding paper to the recording unit at the rear
Is arranged in an inclined shape, and a document reading unit is arranged in a front portion of the upper surface of the upper case that covers the upper surface side of the main lower case , and a rear portion of the operation panel portion that covers the upper portion of the document reading unit. Centering on the operation panel
The front side is configured to be pivotable up and down , and the front half of the top case can be pivoted up and down with respect to the main bottom case at a midway portion of the front and rear .
Mounted on earthenware pots, and figure the upper case covers the upper side of the recording unit
The image forming apparatus is configured so that the force can be selected from among the force and the front half of the upper case in the main lower case . 2. The keys and the display unit are arranged on the upper surface of the operation panel unit.
The image forming apparatus according to item 1. 3. The upper case with respect to the main lower case
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein a vertical rotation center of the sheet is on a front side of the recording unit .