JP4484210B2 - Drawer unit and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, or a complex machine thereof. In such an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus is provided so as to be freely drawable in the main body of the image forming apparatus, and is provided with a pair of unit side plates opposed to the front side and the back side in the drawing direction, and the image forming apparatus between the unit side plates. The present invention relates to a drawer unit that supports a part of a unit, a device, or a part installed in the body.

  For example, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a pair of main body side plates are provided in the image forming apparatus main body so as to face each other, and the image carrier is disposed between the pair of main body side plates and is arranged around the image carrier to be charged. An apparatus, an exposure apparatus, a developing apparatus, a transfer apparatus, a cleaning apparatus, a static elimination apparatus, and the like. Then, along with the rotation of the image carrier, charging, exposure and development are performed to form an image on the image carrier, and the image is transferred to a recording medium conveyed around the image carrier. The recording medium after the image transfer was put in a fixing device to fix the transferred image, while the surface of the image carrier after the image transfer was cleaned and discharged to prepare for another image formation.

  In such an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, for the convenience of maintenance such as jam processing or parts replacement, a drawer unit is provided to the image forming apparatus main body through a guide rail so that it can be pulled out. A pair of unit side plates are provided opposite to each other on the front side and the back side in the pulling direction, and some units, devices, and parts installed in the image forming apparatus main body are supported between the unit side plates.

  In such a drawer unit, a pair of unit side plates are passed through, and a support shaft is rotatably spanned between them, and an operation lever is attached to the front end of the support shaft, and an engagement member is provided on the back end. When the drawer unit is pushed into the main body of the image forming apparatus, the engagement member passes through the escape hole of the main body side plate on the back side and is inserted to the back side of the main body side plate on the back side, and the operation lever is rotated. The support shaft is rotated, and the engaging member is engaged with and engaged with the main body side plate on the back side, which is a member on the main body of the image forming apparatus, and the drawing unit is prevented from being pulled out from the main body of the image forming apparatus. There is something.

  When jamming or replacing parts, turn the operating lever back to release the engaging member from the image forming apparatus main body, remove the latch, and hold the operating lever. By pulling the drawer unit to the near side, the engagement member passes through the escape hole of the back body side plate and is pulled out to the near side of the back body side plate, and the drawer unit is pulled out from the image forming apparatus body. The recording medium conveyance path on the drawer unit was opened.

  However, in an image forming apparatus including such a drawer unit, when the drawer unit is pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body and the hand is released from the operation lever, the support shaft is rotatable and the engagement member provided on the support shaft is provided. When the rotation posture is changed and the image forming apparatus is pushed into the image forming apparatus main body again, there is a problem that the engaging member does not enter the escape hole well and collides with the main body side plate on the back side to make it difficult to push in the drawer unit.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a pull-out unit as described above when the support shaft freely rotates when pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body and is pushed into the image forming apparatus main body again. The object is to eliminate the occurrence of problems such as the engaging member colliding with the main body side plate and making it difficult to push the drawer unit.

  A second object of the present invention is to stabilize the fitting member and the lever fixing member by ensuring the operation of the fitting member or the lever fixing member when the drawing unit as described above is pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body. In order to steadily prevent rotation of the support shaft.

  A third object of the present invention is to improve the operability when the drawer unit as described above is prevented from rotating the support shaft when pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body.

  A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus provided with a drawer unit that achieves the above object.

  A fifth object of the present invention is to prevent the pivoting of the support shaft before and after the drawer of the drawer unit in the image forming apparatus and ensure the stability of the operation.

  A sixth object of the present invention is to prevent the pivoting of the support shaft before and after the pushing-in of the drawer unit in the image forming apparatus and to ensure operational stability.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the first object described above, the image forming apparatus main body is provided so as to be freely drawable, and has a pair of unit side plates facing the front side and the back side in the drawing direction. , Which is installed in the image forming apparatus main body between the unit side plates, and supports a part of units, devices and parts related to image formation and recording medium conveyance, and penetrates the pair of unit side plates to them. The support shaft is spanned, a handle-like operation lever is attached to the front end of the support shaft, and an engagement member is provided on the back end, which is engaged when the operation lever is rotated by pushing it into the image forming apparatus main body. In a drawer unit that engages a member on the image forming apparatus main body side, for example, a cam portion formed on the main body side plate, and prevents withdrawal from the image forming apparatus main body.
A locking member that is fixed on the support shaft, a first lever that is supported by the unit bottom plate so as to be rotatable about the fulcrum shaft, and that is rotated by the locking member when the operation lever is pulled out, and the first lever A second lever that pushes the main body side plate of the image forming apparatus main body by rotating
For example, the support shaft is provided with a fitting member having a claw portion, and a lever fixing member that is fitted with the fitting member and prevents rotation of the support shaft when pulled out is supported by, for example, a unit side plate. It is characterized by.

  When the drawer unit according to the first aspect is pushed into the image forming apparatus main body and the operation lever is rotated, the engaging member is engaged with the member on the image forming apparatus main body side to release the image forming apparatus main body from the image forming apparatus main body. Prevent withdrawal. On the other hand, when the rotation of the operation lever is returned during maintenance or the like, the engagement between the engaging member and the member on the image forming apparatus main body side is released, and the drawing from the image forming apparatus main body becomes possible. When the drawer unit is pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body, the fitting member provided on the spindle is fitted with the lever fixing member to prevent the spindle from rotating.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the third object described above, in the drawer unit according to the first aspect , the lever fixing member is detachably supported by the unit side plate and the lever fixing member is biased. When the member is urged and pushed into the image forming apparatus main body, the lever fixing member is applied to a member on the image forming apparatus main body side, for example, the main body side plate, and moves against the urging force of the urging member, The fitting member is moved based on the urging force of the urging member when pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body, and the fitting member and the lever fixing member are fitted to each other. .

The drawer unit according to claim 2, when pushed into the image forming apparatus main body, against the lever fixing member to member of the image forming apparatus main body side, fitted to move against the urging force of the urging member The fitting with the joint member is released, the support shaft can be rotated and the operation lever can be rotated, while the fitting member is moved based on the urging force of the urging member when pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body. Thus, the fitting member and the lever fixing member are fitted together to restrict free rotation of the support shaft .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, or the like comprising the drawer unit according to the first or second aspect to achieve the fourth object. is there.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the fifth object described above, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect , the operation lever is returned and the drawer unit is pulled out from the main body of the image forming apparatus. The engaging member is engaged with the member on the image forming apparatus main body side until it becomes possible, and the fitting between the fitting member and the lever fixing member is started at the same time as the drawing unit starts to be pulled out.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in order to achieve the sixth object described above, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect , the fitting member and the lever are fixed until the drawer unit is completely pushed into the main body of the image forming apparatus. The engagement with the member is continued to prevent free rotation of the support shaft, and after completely pushing in, the engagement between the engagement member and the member on the image forming apparatus main body side is started.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the drawer unit according to the first aspect is pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body, the fitting member provided on the spindle is fitted with the lever fixing member to rotate the spindle. Therefore, it is possible to maintain the rotational position of the support shaft and maintain the rotation posture of the engaging member provided on the support shaft. When the drawer unit is pushed into the image forming apparatus main body again, for example, It is possible to eliminate the occurrence of problems such as the engagement member entering the escape hole of the main body side plate and colliding with the main body side plate, making it difficult to push the drawer unit. A locking member fixed on the supporting shaft; a first lever that is supported by the unit bottom plate so as to be rotatable about the fulcrum shaft; and is pulled out by holding the operation lever; Since the second lever that presses the main body side plate of the image forming apparatus main body by the rotation of one lever is provided, the repulsive force that the second lever presses the main body side plate can push the pulling unit back and help the pulling out. .

According to the invention described in claim 2, provided with a biasing member for biasing the lever fixing member, the biasing force of the biasing member when the drawer unit is pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body according to claim 2 since moving the engaging member on the basis of fitting the fitting member and the lever fixing member, stabilize the fitting member and the lever fixing member actuation when pulled out drawer unit from the image forming apparatus main body as a reliable And the rotation of the support shaft can be steadily prevented.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, when pushed into the image forming apparatus main body, against the lever fixing member to member of the image forming apparatus main body, to move against the urging force of the urging member Since the fitting with the fitting member is released, the support shaft can be rotated in conjunction with the pushing operation of the drawer unit according to claim 2 into the image forming apparatus main body, and the operation lever can be turned freely. Can do. On the contrary, when pulling out from the image forming apparatus main body, the pressing of the lever fixing member against the member on the image forming apparatus main body side is released, and interlocked with the pulling-out operation of the drawer unit according to claim 2 from the image forming apparatus main body. Thus, the rotation of the support shaft can be prevented and the operation lever cannot be turned. Operability can be improved by automatically enabling or preventing the rotation of the support shaft in conjunction with the push-out operation of the drawer unit.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the image forming apparatus includes the drawer unit according to the first or second aspect , an image forming apparatus including the drawer unit having the above-described effect can be provided.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the engaging member is engaged with the member on the image forming apparatus main body side until the drawing unit can be pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body. The engaging member can be engaged with the member on the image forming apparatus main body side to prevent rotation of the support shaft until the drawing unit can be pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body. In addition, since the fitting member and the lever fixing member start to be fitted together with the start of pulling out of the drawer unit, the fitting member and the lever fixing member are now fitted together with the start of drawing out of the drawer unit, and the support shaft continues to rotate. Can be prevented. As a result, before and after the drawer unit is pulled out, the support shaft is prevented from freely rotating to maintain the rotation direction position of the support shaft, and the rotation posture of the engaging member provided on the support shaft is maintained to stabilize the operation. Sex can be secured.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the fitting member and the lever fixing member are continuously fitted until the drawer unit is completely pushed into the image forming apparatus main body, free rotation of the support shaft is prevented. The fitting member and the lever fixing member can be fitted to prevent the rotation of the support shaft until the drawer unit is completely pushed into the image forming apparatus main body. Since the engagement between the engaging member and the member on the image forming apparatus main body side is started after being completely pushed in, the engagement member and the member on the image forming apparatus main body side are now engaged after being pushed in completely. Accordingly, the rotation of the support shaft can be prevented. As a result, before and after the drawer unit is pushed in, the rotation of the support shaft is prevented and the rotation direction position of the support shaft is maintained, and the rotation posture of the engagement member provided on the support shaft is maintained to stabilize the operation. Sex can be secured.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an overall schematic configuration of an internal mechanism of an electrophotographic tandem indirect transfer color copying machine. The illustrated copying machine is an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

  In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a copying machine main body as an image forming apparatus main body, 200 denotes a paper feed table on which it is placed, 300 denotes a scanner mounted on the copying machine main body 100, and 400 denotes an automatic document feeder (ADF) further mounted thereon. is there.

  In the copying machine main body 100, an endless belt-like intermediate transfer member 10 is provided at the center so as to be able to rotate and convey clockwise in the drawing by being wound around one drive roller 14 and two driven rollers 15 and 16 in the illustrated example. . Of course, it may be hung around four or more rollers, such as hung around a roller for adjusting the offset of the intermediate transfer member 10 separately. The intermediate transfer member 10 is stretched almost horizontally in the illustrated example, but may be stretched obliquely instead of horizontally.

  In this illustrated example, a belt cleaning device 17 for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body 10 after image transfer is provided on the left side of one driven roller 15.

  Further, on the intermediate transfer member 10 horizontally stretched between the driving roller 14 and the driven roller 15, four monochrome image forming means 18 of yellow, cyan, magenta and black are arranged side by side along the conveying direction. A tandem imaging device 20 is provided. An exposure device 21 is further provided on the tandem image forming device 20.

  On the other hand, a secondary transfer device 22 is provided below the stretched area of the intermediate transfer body 10. In the illustrated example, the secondary transfer device 22 is configured by spanning a secondary transfer belt 24, which is an endless belt, between two rollers 23, and is pressed against the other driven roller 16 to form an image on the intermediate transfer body 10. Is transferred to a recording medium.

  A fixing device 25 for fixing the transferred image on the recording medium is provided beside the secondary transfer device 22. The fixing device 25 is configured by pressing a pressure roller 27 against a fixing belt 26 that is an endless belt. In the example shown in the drawing, a part of the intermediate transfer member 10 is provided so as to enter below the stretched region of the intermediate transfer member 10.

  The secondary transfer device 22 described above is also provided with a medium transport function for transporting the recording medium after image transfer to the fixing device 25. Of course, a non-contact charger may be arranged as the secondary transfer device 22, and in such a case, it is difficult to provide this medium conveyance function together.

  Under the secondary transfer device 22 and the fixing device 25, a recording medium reversing device for reversing the recording medium so as to form images on both sides of the recording medium in parallel with the direction in which the intermediate transfer member 10 is stretched. 28.

  By the way, when making a copy using this color copying machine, a document is set on the document table 30 of the automatic document feeder 400. Alternatively, the automatic document feeder 400 is opened, a document is set directly on the contact glass 32 of the scanner 300, and the automatic document feeder 400 is closed and pressed by it.

  When a start switch (not shown) is pressed, when the document is set on the automatic document feeder 400, the document is transported and moved onto the contact glass 32, and then the scanner 300 is driven to read the document content. . When an original is set directly on the contact glass 32, the original content is read as it is.

  When a start switch (not shown) is pressed, the drive roller 14 is driven to rotate by a drive motor (not shown), the driven rollers 15 and 16 are driven to rotate, and the intermediate transfer body 10 is rotated and conveyed. At the same time, the individual image forming means 18 rotates the image carrier 40 to form yellow, cyan, magenta, and black monochrome images on the image carriers 40, respectively. Then, along with the conveyance of the intermediate transfer member 10, the single color images are sequentially overlapped and primary transferred to form a composite color image on the intermediate transfer member 10.

  On the other hand, when a start switch (not shown) is pressed, one of the paper feed rollers 42 of the paper feed table 200 is selectively rotated at an appropriate timing, and the recording medium is loaded from one of the paper feed cassettes 44 provided in the paper bank 43 in multiple stages. The paper is fed out and separated one by one by the separation roller 45 and put into the paper feed path 46, transported by the transport roller 47, led to the paper feed path 48 in the copying machine main body 100, abutted against the registration roller 49 and stopped.

  Alternatively, by rotating the paper feed roller 50, the recording medium set on the open manual feed tray 51 is fed out, separated one by one by the separation roller 52, and put into the manual paper feed path 53, and also abutted against the registration roller 49. Stop.

  Then, the registration roller 49 is rotated in synchronization with the composite color image on the intermediate transfer body 10, the recording medium is fed between the intermediate transfer body 10 and the secondary transfer device 22, and the intermediate transfer is performed by the secondary transfer device 22. The composite color image on the body 10 is batch-transferred to form a color image on the recording medium.

  The recording medium after the image transfer is transported by the secondary transfer device 22 and sent to the fixing device 25. The fixing device 25 applies heat and pressure to fix the transferred image, and then the recording medium is switched by the switching claw 55 and discharged. The paper is discharged by a roller 56 and stacked on a paper discharge tray 57. Alternatively, it is switched by the switching claw 55 and put into the recording medium reversing device 28, where it is reversed and led again to the transfer position, an image is formed on the back surface, and then discharged onto the discharge tray 57 by the discharge roller 56.

  On the other hand, the intermediate transfer member 10 after the image transfer is removed by the belt cleaning device 17 to remove residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member 10 after the image transfer, so that the tandem image forming device 20 prepares for another image formation.

  Now, in the tandem image forming apparatus 20 described above, each monochrome image forming means 18 includes, for example, a charging device 60, a developing device 61, a primary device around a drum-shaped image carrier 40 as shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus includes a transfer device 62, a cleaning device 63, a charge removal device 64, and the like.

  Although not shown in the drawing, a process cartridge may be formed by all or part of the parts constituting the monochromatic image forming means 18 so as to be detachable from the copying machine main body 100 in a lump to improve maintainability. .

  Of the parts constituting the monochromatic image forming means 18, the charging device 60 uses a charging roller in the illustrated example to contact the image carrier 40 and apply a voltage to charge the image carrier 40. The primary transfer device 62 is formed in a roller shape and is pressed against the image carrier 40 with the intermediate transfer member 10 interposed therebetween. Separately, it is not limited to a roller shape, and may be a non-contact charger. The neutralization device 64 is, for example, a lamp, and initializes the surface potential of the image carrier 40 by irradiating light.

  Then, along with the rotation of the image carrier 40, the surface of the image carrier 40 is first uniformly charged by the charging device 60, and then the writing light from the above-described exposure device 21 according to the reading content of the scanner 300 by a laser, LED, or the like. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the image carrier 40 by irradiating L.

  Thereafter, toner is attached by the developing device 61 to visualize the electrostatic latent image, and the visible image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer member 10 by the primary transfer device 62. The surface of the image carrier 40 after the image transfer is cleaned by removing residual toner with the cleaning device 63, and the surface of the image carrier 40 is neutralized with the static eliminator 64 to prepare for another image formation.

  Incidentally, in the illustrated tandem image forming apparatus 20, as shown in detail in FIG. 3, four monochrome image forming means 18Y, 18C, 18M, and 18K of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black are provided, and black single color image forming means 18K is provided. The intermediate transfer member 10 is arranged in order along the conveyance direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing, located on the most downstream side. In the figure, the symbols Y, C, M, and K added after the symbols indicate yellow, cyan, magenta, and black.

FIG. 4 shows a structure provided in the copying machine shown in FIGS.
In the figure, reference numeral 66 denotes a main body casing that is a structure of the copying machine main body 100, and 67 denotes a table casing that is a structure of the paper feed table 200.

  A main body side plate 68 on the front side is provided on the front side of the main body housing 66, and a main body side plate on the back side is provided on the back side (not shown) so as to face each other. Between them, the above-described driving roller 14, driven rollers 15 and 16, belt cleaning device 17, tandem image forming device 20 and the like are supported. The lower side of the main body side plate 68 on the front side is opened, and a drawer unit 70 is provided there. The drawer unit 70 is provided in the copying machine main body 100, which is the main body of the image forming apparatus, so that it can be pulled out as indicated by an arrow in the figure.

  FIG. 5 shows the drawer unit 70 as viewed obliquely from above. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the drawer unit 70 includes a pair of unit side plates 71 and 72 facing the front side and the back side in the drawing direction a. In the unit side plate 71 on the near side, positioning holes 73 and 74 are formed in the lower right and upper left. On the other hand, although not shown in the figure, the positioning pins are stood on the back side in the pulling-out direction a.

  Then, between the unit side plates 71 and 72, the registration roller 49, the secondary transfer device 22, the fixing device 25, the switching claw 55, etc., which are installed in the copying machine main body 100, are used for image formation and recording medium conveyance. Supports some of such units, devices and parts. Further, a round bar-shaped support shaft 75 is passed through the pair of unit side plates 71 and 72 so as to be rotatable and slightly movable in the axial direction.

  A handle-like operation lever 76 is attached to the front side end of the support shaft 75. When the holding lever 76 is rotated, the support shaft 75 is rotated. An engagement member 77 is provided at the back end of the support shaft 75. Further, a locking member 78 is fixed on the support shaft 75 in front of the unit side plate 72 on the back side.

  The locking member 78 is brought into contact with one end of the first lever 80 that is lightly biased. The first lever 80 is supported by the bottom plate 82 of the drawer unit 70 so as to be rotatable about a fulcrum shaft 81, and the other end is connected to the base end of the second lever 83 so as to be rotatable with respect to each other. . The tip of the second lever 83 protrudes straight through the unit side plate 72 on the back side and toward the back side in the drawing direction a.

  FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of the vicinity of the back end of the support shaft 75 when viewed from the back side. As shown in FIG. 6, a prismatic fitting member 86 is attached to the back end of the support shaft 75. On both the left and right sides of the fitting member 86, a pair of fitting protrusions 87 are provided, and the above-described engaging member 77 is provided. The engaging member 77 includes a support shaft 88 standing on the fitting member 86 in a direction orthogonal to the support shaft 75, and a roller 89 attached to the support shaft 88 so as to be rotatable around the support shaft 88.

  As can be seen from FIG. 6, the fitting member 86 is inserted from the outside, and a lever fixing member 90 is attached to the back side of the unit side plate 72 on the back side. The lever fixing member 90 forms arm portions 92 on both sides of the main body portion 91 by bending the longitudinal direction of an elongated plate material at a right angle. The arm portions 92 are inserted into rectangular holes 93 formed in the unit side plate 72 on the back side, respectively, and can be moved in the pulling-out direction a of the pulling unit 70, but rotate around the fitting member 86. Is regulating. In the body portion 91, a pair of fitting holes 94 are opened facing a hole edge through which the fitting member 86 is inserted. Further, the abutting projections 95 are extended from the bent positions of the both arm portions 92 toward the back side in the pulling direction.

  When a coil spring is inserted as a biasing member 97 between the main body 91 and the rear unit side plate 72 with the support shaft 75 in between, the drawer unit 70 is pulled out from the copying machine main body 100. The lever fixing member 90 is moved by being urged by the urging member 97, and the pair of fitting protrusions 87 are fitted into the pair of fitting holes 94, thereby preventing free rotation of the support shaft 75. In FIG. 6, the abutting protrusion 95 is abutted against a member (not shown), the urging member 97 is deflected, the lever fixing member 90 is moved in the support shaft direction, and the pair of fitting holes 94 and the pair of fittings are moved. The state which removed the fitting with the protrusion 87 is shown. 6 shows the locking member 78, the first lever 80, the fulcrum shaft 81, the second lever 83, and the connecting pin 84 shown in FIG. 5 as viewed from below.

  In the pulled-out unit 70 described above, the engaging member 77 is held in a horizontal state as shown in FIG. The drawer unit 70 is mounted in the copying machine main body 100 using two sets of left and right guide rails 98 (see FIG. 5), and is provided so as to be freely drawn out as shown in FIG. For example, one set of three guide rails is used, one is attached to the copying machine main body 100 side, the other is attached to the drawer unit 70, and the remaining one is connected to both guide rails. The drawer unit 70 can be pulled out by holding the operation lever 76.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 9, a rectangular escape hole 111 is formed horizontally in the main body side plate 110 provided in the main body housing 66 in the main body 100 of the copying machine. From the upper and lower hole edges of the escape hole 111, the cam portion 112 is formed by bending outward at a right angle. A cam end surface 113 in which the amount of protrusion from the plate surface of the main body side plate 110 gradually increases and a stepped portion 114 are provided symmetrically around the support shaft 75 at the tips of both cam portions 112.

  Then, when the drawer unit 70 is pushed into the copying machine main body 100 as indicated by an arrow b in FIG. 5, the escape member 111 in which the engaging member 77 in the horizontal state is opened in the main body side plate 110 on the back side of the main body housing 66. After passing, the abutting protrusion 95 is abutted against the main body side plate 110 on the back side, and the pushing unit 70 is pushed in and the urging member 97 is deflected against the urging force of the urging member, so that the lever fixing member 90 And the fitting between the pair of fitting holes 94 and the pair of fitting projections 87 is gradually released.

  When the drawer unit 70 is completely pushed into the copying machine main body 100, the fitting between the pair of fitting holes 94 and the pair of fitting projections 87 is completely released, and the engaging member 77 is moved to the copying machine main body 100 side. Engagement with the cam part 112 of the main body side plate 110 which is a member of the above is started.

  At this time, the positioning pin 116 stood on the copying machine main body 100 side as shown in FIG. 7 fits into the positioning hole 73 of the unit side plate 71 on the near side, and the copying is performed in the positioning hole 74 as shown in FIG. Positioning pins 117 erected on the machine body 100 side are fitted. Although not shown, two positioning pins standing on the unit side plate 72 on the back side fit into two positioning holes on the copying machine main body 100 side. Thereby, the drawer unit 70 is positioned in the left-right and up-down directions in the copying machine main body 100.

Next, after the drawer unit 70 is completely pushed into the copying machine main body 100 and the operation lever 76 is rotated, the roller 89 engages with the cam end surface 113 and rolls along the cam end surface 113. Is gradually pulled into the copying machine main body 100, the operation lever 76 is completely rotated, the roller 89 is applied to the stepped portion 114 as shown in FIG. A hole edge such as the positioning holes 73 and 74 is abutted against an intermediate step portion such as the above, and the drawer unit 70 in the copying machine main body 100 is positioned in the front-rear direction. At the same time, the drawer unit 70 is prevented from being pulled out from the copying machine main body 100. At this time, the tip of the second lever 83 is positioned close to the main body side plate 110 on the back side.

  On the other hand, when pulling out the drawer unit 70 from the copying machine main body 100 during maintenance or the like, hold the operation lever 76 by hand, rotate the operation lever 76 back, and rotate the support shaft 75 to engage. The member 77 is turned in the direction of arrow c in FIG. 9, and the roller 89 is rolled on the cam end surface 113 to return the engaging member 77 to the horizontal state. Then, the engagement between the engaging member 77 and the cam portion 112 of the main body side plate 110 which is a member on the copying machine main body 100 side is released, and the drawing unit 70 can be pulled out from the copying machine main body 100.

  When the operation lever 76 is pulled forward, only the support shaft 75 is moved in the axial direction first, and the locking member 78 rotates the first lever 80 against the urging force to move the second lever 83 to the back side. The main body side plate 110 at the back side is pushed at the tip, and the support shaft 75 is applied to the unit side plate 72. Therefore, with the repulsive force that the second lever 83 pushes the main body side plate 110, the support shaft 75 pushes the unit side plate 72 and pushes back the drawer unit 70, thereby assisting in its drawing.

  As a result, when the drawer unit 70 moves away from the main body side plate 110 at the back side with the start of the drawing, the abutment of the abutment protrusion 95 against the main body side plate 110 is gradually loosened, and the lever fixing member 90 is moved by the urging force of the urging member 97. The pair of fitting projections 87 are inserted into the pair of fitting holes 94 and the fitting of the fitting member 86 and the lever fixing member 90 is started. As the drawer unit 70 is pulled out, the engaging member 77 in the horizontal state passes through the escape hole 111 opened in the main body side plate 110 on the back side, and the pair of fitting protrusions 87 are gradually inserted into the pair of fitting holes 94. Fits deeply into.

  When the drawer unit 70 is pulled out, the pair of fitting protrusions 87 are completely fitted into the pair of fitting holes 94, the rotation of the support shaft 75 is prevented, and the rotational direction position of the support shaft 75 is maintained. The rotation posture of the engagement member 77 provided on the support shaft 75 around the support shaft 75 is maintained horizontally as shown in the example of the drawing, for example. Accordingly, when the drawer unit 70 is pushed into the copying machine main body 100 again, for example, the engaging member 77 enters the escape hole 111 of the main body side plate 110 and collides with the main body side plate 110 to push the drawer unit 70. The occurrence of problems such as difficulty can be solved.

  When the drawer unit 70 is pulled out, as shown in FIG. 4, the recording medium conveyance path is exposed upward to facilitate jamming and the like.

  In the above example, the case where the drawer unit is provided in the electrophotographic tandem type indirect transfer color copying machine has been described. However, it goes without saying that the drawing unit is not limited to the electrophotographic type, tandem type, indirect transfer type, or color copying machine. Nor. For example, the present invention can be applied to a so-called direct transfer type image forming apparatus in which an image formed on an image carrier is directly transferred to a recording medium without an intermediate transfer member. Further, the image forming apparatus is not limited to a copying machine, and may be another image forming apparatus such as a printer or a facsimile.

1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of an internal mechanism of an electrophotographic tandem indirect transfer color copying machine. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram around a monochromatic image forming means provided in the copier. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram around a tandem image forming apparatus provided in the copier. It is a perspective view of the structure with which the copier is equipped. It is a perspective view of the drawer unit with which the copier is equipped. It is a perspective view which expands and shows a part of the drawer unit seeing from the back back side. It is a partial expansion perspective view in the state where a drawer unit was pushed in. It is another partial expansion perspective view in the state where the drawer unit was pushed in. It is a perspective view which shows the engagement state of the engaging member of a drawer unit, and the cam part of a main body side plate.

Explanation of symbols

40 image carrier
70 Drawer unit 71 Front side unit side plate 72 Back side unit side plate 75 Support shaft 76 Operation lever 77 Engagement member
78 Locking member
80 1st lever
81 fulcrum shaft
82 Bottom plate
83 Second lever 86 Fitting member 87 Fitting protrusion 88 Support shaft 89 Roller 90 Lever fixing member 91 Main body part 92 Arm part 93 Rectangular hole 94 Fitting hole 95 Abutting protrusion 97 Biasing member 100 Copier main body (Image Forming device body)
110 Main body side plate 111 Escape hole 112 Cam portion of main body side plate (member on image forming apparatus main body side)
113 Cam end surface 114 Stepped portion a Pull-out direction

Claims (5)

A unit, apparatus, or component that is provided in the image forming apparatus main body so that it can be pulled out freely, and is provided with a pair of unit side plates facing each other on the front side and the rear side in the pulling direction. A part of the support plate, penetrating the pair of unit side plates and spanning the support shaft to them, attaching an operation lever to the front side end of the support shaft, and providing an engagement member on the back side end, A drawer unit that engages the engaging member with a member on the image forming apparatus main body side to prevent the image forming apparatus main body from being pulled out when the operation lever is rotated by being pushed into the image forming apparatus main body;
A locking member fixed on the supporting shaft, a first lever that is supported by a unit bottom plate so as to be rotatable about a fulcrum shaft, and that is rotated by the locking member when the operation lever is pulled out; A second lever that pushes the main body side plate of the image forming apparatus main body by rotating the first lever;
A drawer unit characterized in that a fitting member is provided on the support shaft, and a lever fixing member that is fitted with the fitting member and prevents rotation of the support shaft when pulled out. Said unit side plates in and supported freely out the lever fixing member and urged by the urging member and the lever fixing member, the lever fixing member when pushed into the image forming apparatus main body member of the image forming apparatus main body The fitting member moves against the urging force of the urging member to release the fitting with the fitting member, and on the other hand, when the drawing member is pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body, the fitting member is based on the urging force of the urging member. The drawer unit according to claim 1 , wherein the fitting member and the lever fixing member are fitted to each other by moving . Characterized in that it comprises a drawer unit according to claim 1 or 2, the image forming apparatus. The engaging member is engaged with a member on the image forming apparatus main body side until the drawing unit can be pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body, and when the drawing unit starts to be pulled out, the fitting member and the lever fixing member The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the fitting is started. The fitting member and the lever fixing member continue to be fitted until the drawer unit is completely pushed into the image forming apparatus main body to prevent free rotation of the support shaft. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the engagement between the combined member and the member on the image forming apparatus main body side is started.

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