JP4850080B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus arranged so that a paper discharge unit interferes with a vertically upward region of a housing space in a housing for housing an object such as a laser scanner unit or an image forming unit. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of improving workability when an object is attached to or detached from a casing from vertically above.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as a color printer has been designed such that a process unit or the like housed in a housing is attached or detached from the top of the housing in order to minimize the work space during assembly or maintenance. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).
Here, a color printer Z will be described with reference to FIG. 1 as an example of an image forming apparatus that attaches and detaches the contents from the vertical direction of the housing.
As shown in FIG. 1, the color printer Z includes a housing 10 having a housing space that is open in the vertical upward direction so as to accommodate a storage object from above. The casing 10 accommodates a toner container 1, an intermediate transfer unit 2, an image forming unit 3, a laser scanner unit 4, and the like (hereinafter referred to as “container”). These items are attached and detached from the vertically upward direction of the casing 10 in a state where the openable and closable upper surface cover 11 provided at the upper part of the casing 10 is opened. The top cover 11 also serves as a paper discharge tray on which paper after image formation is placed.
Further, the housing 10 includes a paper discharge unit 5 for discharging paper after image formation to the top cover 11 and a fixing unit 6 for fixing toner on the paper and guiding it to the paper discharge unit 5. Installed. Here, the fixing unit 6 is configured so that it can be easily attached and detached for maintenance in case of trouble such as winding of paper around an internal heat roller. For example, the electrical system is configured to be connected / disconnected by attaching / detaching the fixing unit 6.
JP 2006-10769 A

Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 1, in the color printer Z, a part of the paper discharge unit 5 is disposed so as to interfere with a vertically upward region R2 of the storage space of the storage in the housing 10. ing. Thereby, the color printer Z can be reduced in size.
However, in the color printer Z, since the paper discharge unit interferes with the region R2, when the storage unit is attached to or detached from the housing 10 after the paper discharge unit 5 is attached to the housing 10, , It is necessary to perform attachment / detachment work by inclining the contents to avoid contact with the paper discharge unit 5, which results in poor workability. In particular, when assembling the color printer Z, it is possible to mount the discharge unit 5 after storing the contents in the housing 10, but during the maintenance, the discharge unit 5 is mounted. In this state, the contents are attached to and detached from the housing 10. In addition, there is a risk that damage or failure may occur due to accidental contact with the paper discharge unit 5 when the storage is attached or detached.
In particular, the laser scanner unit 4 has an adjustment accuracy of an optical device such as a light source and a lens provided therein, which greatly affects the image quality. Therefore, the laser scanner unit 4 is used when the color printer Z is assembled or maintained. It is not desirable to incline 4 or to accidentally contact the paper discharge unit 5 or the like to give an impact.
Although it is conceivable to remove the paper discharge unit 5, in general, the paper discharge unit 5 is configured so that it cannot be easily attached and detached unlike the fixing unit 6. In order to attach and detach the cable, for example, complicated work such as electric wiring connection work is required, and there is a problem that it takes time for assembly and maintenance.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vertically upward direction of the housing space in an image forming apparatus that attaches and detaches things to and from the housing space of the housing from the vertically upward direction. The paper discharge unit interferes with this area to reduce the size of the apparatus and improve the workability at the time of attaching / detaching the contents to / from the housing.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a housing having a housing space that is open at least in the vertically upward direction to accommodate one or a plurality of objects from the vertically upward direction, and a vertically upward region of the housing space. A paper discharge unit that discharges paper after image formation, and is detachable at a position outside the vertical space in the accommodation space and adjacent to the paper discharge unit. And a fixing unit that fixes a developer on a sheet and guides it to the paper discharge unit. The whole of the paper discharge unit is arranged vertically in the housing space. Discharging unit support means for supporting the whole or a part of the discharging unit so as to be movable toward the space after the fixing unit is removed until the fixing unit is located outside the upper area. Configured as an image forming apparatus according to.
According to the present invention, it is possible to temporarily retract the paper discharge unit to the outside of the vertically upward region of the stored item using the space after the fixing unit is removed. In addition, when the stored item is inclined and inserted while avoiding the paper discharge unit, the stored item and the paper discharge unit may be brought into contact by mistake. By retracting the unit, contact can be avoided, so that damage or failure during assembly or maintenance of the image forming apparatus can be prevented.
In particular, in the image forming apparatus, since the adjustment accuracy of the optical equipment provided inside the laser scanner unit greatly affects the image quality, the laser scanner unit is tilted when the laser scanner unit is attached or detached, or the discharge is mistakenly performed. Contacting the paper unit is undesirable. However, according to the present invention, even if the discharge unit interferes with a vertically upward region of the housing space for housing the laser scanner unit, the laser scanner unit is not tilted. In order to attach and detach the housing from the vertically upward direction, the paper discharge unit can be easily retracted from the vertically upward area of the housing space.
Note that the paper discharge unit support means may be, for example, a member that rotatably or entirely supports the paper discharge unit. Thereby, the paper discharge unit can be retracted by a simple operation of rotating the whole or a part of the paper discharge unit.

  According to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus that attaches and detaches an object to and from a housing space from a vertically upward direction, the apparatus is reduced in size by causing a paper discharge unit to interfere with a vertically upward region of the housing space. In addition, it is possible to improve workability at the time of attaching and detaching the contents to and from the housing. Specifically, using the space after the fixing unit is removed, the paper discharge unit can be easily retracted out of the vertically upward area of the stored item. Further, by retracting the paper discharge unit, contact can be avoided, so that damage or failure during assembly or maintenance of the image forming apparatus can be prevented.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be understood. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the color printer X according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the laser scanner unit 4 and a discharge unit in the casing 10 of the color printer X according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a region A in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an example of an attaching / detaching operation of the laser scanner unit 4 in the color printer X according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating.
First, a schematic configuration of the color printer X according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the color printer X includes a toner container 1, an intermediate transfer unit 2, an image forming unit 3, a laser scanner unit 4 (hereinafter abbreviated as "LSU4"), a paper discharge unit 5, a fixing unit 6, The paper feeding cassette 7, the housing 10, the top cover 11, the front cover 12, and the like are schematically configured. The color printer X also has other components provided in a general color printer, such as a control circuit for controlling the operation of the color printer X.

The housing 10 has a vertically upper position to accommodate the toner container 1, the intermediate transfer unit 2, the image forming unit 3, the LSU 4, and the like (hereinafter collectively referred to as “container”) from the vertically upward direction. The housing space R1 (see FIG. 4) is opened in the direction. In the storage space R1, the LSU 4, the image forming unit 3, the intermediate transfer unit 2, and the toner container 1 are stored in this order from the bottom to the top.
An openable and closable upper surface cover 11 serving also as a paper discharge tray on which paper after image formation is placed is provided vertically above the housing space R1 of the housing 10. Is provided with an openable / closable front cover 12 that covers the paper discharge unit 5 and the fixing unit 6.

The toner container 1 contains toner of each color of BCMY, and the toner of each color is supplied to the image forming unit 3.
The image forming unit 3 has a plurality of image forming units corresponding to the respective colors of BCMY, and each of the image forming units includes a photosensitive drum and a developing device. In the image forming unit 3, the toner supplied from the toner container 1 is used to form a monochrome or color toner image on the photosensitive drum. The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is primarily transferred to an intermediate transfer belt provided in the intermediate transfer unit 2.
The intermediate transfer unit 2 secondarily transfers the toner image primarily transferred from the image forming unit 3 onto the intermediate transfer belt onto the paper supplied from the paper feed cassette 7. The paper feed cassette 7 accommodates paper and is configured to be detachable from the front cover 12 side, for example.
The LSU 4 has various optical system devices such as a light source, a polygon mirror, a reflection mirror, and a deflection mirror, and is based on image data on a photosensitive drum provided in each image forming unit of the image forming unit 3. An electrostatic latent image is formed. The LSU 4 is screwed and fixed to the housing 10 by a plurality of screws 41 (see FIG. 2) from above while being accommodated in the housing 10.

By the way, in the color printer X, in order to reduce the size of the apparatus, the paper discharge unit 5 partially interferes with a vertically upward region R2 of the housing space R1 of the housing 10 as shown in FIG. Are arranged as follows. On the other hand, the fixing unit 6 is provided adjacent to the paper discharge unit 5, but is disposed outside the region R2 so as not to interfere with the region R2. Further, the fixing unit 6 is configured so that it can be easily attached and detached for maintenance in case of trouble such as winding of paper around an internal heat roller. For example, the electrical system is configured to be connected / disconnected by attaching / detaching the fixing unit 6.
The paper discharge unit 5 discharges the paper transported from the fixing unit 6 onto the upper surface cover 11 and has a paper discharge roller and the like. The fixing unit 6 is for fixing the toner image transferred onto the paper by the intermediate transfer unit 2 and then guiding the paper to the paper discharge unit 5 and includes a heater roller.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the state where the paper discharge unit 5 interferes with the region R2, the space of the region R2 becomes narrow, so that the contents do not come into contact with the paper discharge unit 5. It is necessary to insert the accommodated item into the accommodating space R1 (see FIG. 4) of the casing 10 in a tilted state. For this reason, there is a risk that when the stored item is attached or detached, the stored item may be brought into contact with the paper discharge unit 5 by mistake. Also, if the paper discharge unit 5 is removed, it can be easily attached and detached by moving the container in the vertical direction without tilting, but various electric wirings are connected to the paper discharge unit 5. For this reason, the removal of the paper discharge unit 5 is complicated and causes a delay in the work.
However, in the color printer X according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to easily retract the paper discharge unit 5 to a position where it does not interfere with the region R2 without being removed when the accommodation is attached or detached. Hereinafter, this point will be described in detail.

2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the paper discharge unit 5 and the LSU 4 are mounted on the housing 10, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a region A in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the vicinity of the lower ends of both end portions of the paper discharge unit 5, a rotation shaft 51 for rotating the paper discharge unit 5 as a whole is provided. For example, the rotation shaft 51 may be ribs formed at both ends of the paper discharge unit 5. It should be noted that the electrical wiring connected from the control circuit (not shown) to the paper discharge unit 5 may be designed to have a length corresponding to the rotation range of the paper discharge unit 5.
Further, the housing 10 is provided with a bearing portion 10a that rotatably supports the paper discharge unit 5 by supporting the rotation shaft 51. For example, the bearing portion 10 a has a U-shaped notch that holds the rotating shaft 51.

However, in the color printer X, when the fixing unit 6 disposed adjacent to the paper discharge unit 5 is mounted on the housing 10 as shown in FIG. The rotation of the fixing unit 6 in the direction (left direction in FIG. 1) is restricted by contact with the fixing unit 6.
On the other hand, the paper discharge unit 5 is rotated in the opposite direction (right direction in FIG. 1) of the fixing unit 6 when the paper discharge unit 5 is in the normal position as shown in FIG. 10 is limited by contact with a first restricting portion (not shown) provided at 10. The first restricting portion (not shown) is provided with a lock mechanism (not shown) for locking the rotation of the paper discharge unit 5.
Accordingly, in a state where the paper discharge unit 5 and the fixing unit 6 are mounted on the housing 10, the paper discharge unit 5 contacts both the fixing unit 6 and the first restricting portion (not shown). In this state, the sheet is accurately positioned, and the sheet can be conveyed from the fixing unit 6 to the sheet discharge unit 5.

On the other hand, in the color printer X, as shown in FIG. 2, when the fixing unit 6 is detached from the housing 10, a lock provided in the first restricting portion (not shown) of the housing 10. By releasing the mechanism (not shown), the paper discharge unit 5 can be rotated in the direction of the space R3 after the fixing unit 6 is removed.
At this time, the sheet discharge unit 5 is rotated in the direction of the space R3 when the sheet discharge unit 5 is rotated until the sheet discharge unit 5 is located outside the region R2. 2 It is limited by contacting the regulating part. Note that a lock mechanism (not shown) for locking the rotation of the paper discharge unit 5 is also provided in the second restricting portion (not shown), so that the paper discharge unit 5 is positioned outside the region R2. It becomes possible to hold in.
As described above, in the color printer X, the paper discharge unit 5 is directed toward the space R3 after the fixing unit 6 is removed until the entire paper discharge unit 5 is positioned outside the region R2 in the vertically upward direction of the storage space R1. The entire discharge unit 5 is rotatably supported by the bearing portion 10a (an example of a discharge unit support unit). It should be noted that the rotation range of the paper discharge unit 5 only needs to exceed at least the range in which the entire paper discharge unit 5 is retracted outside the region R2, and the further rotation range may be designed arbitrarily.

Hereinafter, an actual work example when the LSU 4 is accommodated in the housing 10 as an example of the accommodation will be described with reference to FIGS. Since the same operation may be performed when the LSU 4 is removed, the description is omitted here.
Here, FIG. 4A shows a state in which the paper discharge unit 5 and the fixing unit 6 are mounted on the casing 10. In this state, the paper discharge unit 5 interferes with the region R2 for housing the LSU 4 in the housing space R1 from the vertically upward direction of the housing 10 (see FIG. 1). The LSU 4 comes into contact with the paper discharge unit 5 simply by moving it straight into the accommodation space R1.
Therefore, first, the fixing unit 6 provided adjacent to the paper discharge unit 5 is removed. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 4B, a space R3 is formed in the direction opposite to R2 of the paper discharge unit 5. At this time, as described above, the fixing unit 6 is configured so that it can be easily attached and detached for maintenance, so that it can be easily removed.
Next, a lock mechanism (not shown) provided in the housing 10 that locks the rotation of the paper discharge unit 5 is released. As a result, the paper discharge unit 5 can be rotated.

Then, the paper discharge unit 5 is moved to the state shown in FIG. 4C by rotating in the space R3 direction around the rotation shaft 51. At this time, the rotation of the paper discharge unit 5 is stopped at a position in contact with a second restricting portion (not shown) provided on the housing 10. As described above, at the position where the paper discharge unit 5 comes into contact with the second restricting portion (not shown), the whole paper discharge unit 5 is located outside the region R2.
Therefore, in the state shown in FIG. 4C, the LSU 4 is inserted into the accommodation space R1 by moving it straight downward from the vertical direction of the accommodation space R1 in the housing 10 without tilting. Can do. Further, in the state shown in FIG. 4C, when the paper discharge unit 5 is at the position shown in FIG. 4A, the screw 41 is screwed or removed in the vertically downward direction of the paper discharge unit 5. Can also be done easily. In particular, since the LSU 4 is arranged at the bottom of the accommodation space R1, it is difficult to attach and detach the LSU 4, but as described above, the paper discharge unit 5 is retracted to secure a wide space in the region R2. This greatly improves work efficiency.
Thereafter, the image forming unit 3, the intermediate transfer unit 2, and the toner container 1 can be similarly inserted into the housing space R 1 simply by moving vertically from the region R 2.

As described above, in the color printer X, the paper discharge unit 5 can be removed without removing the paper discharge unit 5 using the space R3 after the fixing unit 6 that can be easily attached and detached is removed. Can be easily retracted from the region R2 simply by rotating in the direction of the space R3. Accordingly, the work efficiency of the attachment / detachment work can be remarkably improved, and the assembly work and the maintenance work can be performed quickly. Moreover, as described above, by retracting the paper discharge unit 5, contact with the contents can be avoided, so that damage or failure during the assembly or maintenance of the color printer X can be prevented. Can do.
In this embodiment, the case where the entire paper discharge unit 5 is rotated has been described as an example. However, only a part of the paper discharge unit 5 that interferes with the region R2 is rotated. In another embodiment, the entire paper discharge unit 5 is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the region R2.
Further, the case where the paper discharge unit 5 is rotatably supported by the bearing portion 10a has been described as an example. However, for example, other methods such as sliding the paper discharge unit 5 may be used. It is also possible to implement a configuration in which the paper discharge unit 5 can be easily retracted outside the region R2 by using the paper discharge unit 5 to be movably supported.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a color printer X according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the laser scanner unit 4 and the paper discharge unit 5 are mounted on the housing 10 of the color printer X according to the embodiment of the present invention. The expansion perspective view of the area | region A in FIG. The figure for demonstrating an example of the attachment or detachment operation | work of the laser scanner unit 4 in the color printer X which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1. Toner container (example of contents)
2 ... Intermediate transfer unit (example of contents)
3. Image forming unit (an example of the contents)
4 ... Laser scanner unit (example of contents)
41 ... Screw 5 ... Paper discharge unit 51 ... Rotating shaft 6 ... Fixing unit 7 ... Paper feed cassette 10 ... Housing 10a ... Bearing part (an example of paper discharge unit support means)
11 ... Top cover 12 ... Front cover

Claims (3)

A housing having a housing space that is open at least in the vertical upward direction so as to accommodate one or more objects from the vertical upward direction;
A paper discharge unit that is provided so that at least a part thereof interferes with a vertically upward region of the storage space, and discharges paper after image formation;
A fixing unit which is detachably provided at a position adjacent to the paper discharge unit outside the vertical space of the housing space, and fixes the developer on the paper and guides it to the paper discharge unit;
An image forming apparatus comprising:
The whole or a part of the paper discharge unit is supported so as to be movable toward the space after the fixing unit is removed until the whole paper discharge unit is located outside the vertically upward region of the accommodation space. An image forming apparatus comprising a discharge unit support means.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the container includes a laser scanner unit.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the paper discharge unit support means rotatably supports the whole or a part of the paper discharge unit.

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