JP5316106B2 - 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 the like, or an image forming apparatus that combines these functions.

  Conventionally, an image forming apparatus is known (Patent Document 1).

  The image forming apparatus includes a main body housing, an image reading unit that reads a document image, an image forming unit that forms a recorded image, a writing unit, a transfer unit, and a unit that generates heat such as a toner supply unit. And. The image reading unit is provided above the main body housing. Between the image reading unit and the image forming unit, there is a paper discharge space for discharging a recording sheet on which a recording image is formed by the image forming unit. It is partitioned. The units of the image forming unit are stacked in the main body casing.

  However, in the conventional image forming apparatus, since the units are provided in a state of being stacked in the main body casing, heat is easily generated in the main body casing, and this heat may cause a problem in each unit.

  For example, since the toner is solidified by heat, the toner in the toner bottle of the toner replenishing unit is solidified by the heat generated in the main body housing, causing a problem that the toner is not supplied to the image forming unit. As described above, when each unit in the main body casing is unintentionally overheated due to heat, there is a concern that the normal operation of the image forming apparatus may be hindered.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus that hardly generates heat in the main body of the image forming apparatus.

In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to claim 1
An image forming apparatus main body provided with an image forming unit for forming a recorded image on a recording sheet;
An image reading unit provided above the image forming apparatus main body via a support for reading a document ;
A cover member provided with a blocking wall portion forming an upper wall of the image forming apparatus main body;
A paper discharge space formed between the image reading unit and the closed wall portion of the cover member ;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a discharge port provided in an inner wall portion of the support that faces the paper discharge space so that the recording sheet on which a recording image is formed by the image forming unit can be discharged into the paper discharge space. In the device
The closing wall portion extends in a direction away from the inner wall portion, and a discharge tray portion provided with a receiving surface having an inclined surface whose height decreases toward the inner wall portion at a portion on the inner wall portion side, Extending in a direction away from the inner wall portion and being arranged in parallel with the paper discharge tray portion, and having a bulging portion bulged higher than the receiving surface,
The discharge port is provided at a position shifted to the discharge tray portion side so that the recording sheet is not discharged onto the bulging portion,
A plurality of exhaust holes for exhausting air in the main body of the image forming apparatus are provided in portions other than the upper wall of the bulging portion and the inclined surface of the paper discharge tray portion.

The image forming apparatus according to a second aspect is the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the plurality of exhaust holes are formed in the entire upper wall of the bulging portion .

The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the bulging portion is a first bulging portion, and a center of the discharge tray portion in a direction along the inner wall portion. The part is provided with a second bulging part extending in the same direction as the first bulging part,
The upper surface of the second bulging portion is inclined so that the portion on the opposite side to the inner wall portion is formed flat and the height on the inner wall side decreases toward the inner wall portion. Said inclined surface,
The paper discharge tray portion has flat portions on both sides of the second bulging portion along the inner wall portion, and a plurality of exhaust holes for exhausting air in the image forming apparatus main body are the flat portion. And provided on a flat upper surface of the second bulging portion .

The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the suction hole is formed in the outer wall of the image forming apparatus main body, for sucking the outside air from the intake hole inlet A fan is provided.

The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, provided an exhaust fan for exhausting the air in the interior space of the image forming apparatus main body from the exhaust holes It is characterized by that.

The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the imaging unit includes a imaging unit for imaging the output image, the image forming unit A toner replenishing unit for supplying toner is provided.

  According to the present invention, since the exhaust hole for exhausting the air in the image forming apparatus main body is provided in the cover member of the image forming apparatus main body, the high-temperature air in the image forming apparatus main body can be discharged, and the image forming apparatus main body It will be difficult to heat inside.

1 is a schematic diagram of a vertical cross section of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 with an image reading unit not shown. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 with an ADF removed. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state where an image reading unit, a left cover, and a front cover of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 2 are removed. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which an image reading unit of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 2 is removed and a state in which a recording sheet is discharged into a discharge space. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an internal space of an image forming apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 3 and a toner replenishing unit disposed therein. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an internal space of the image forming apparatus main body of FIG. 3 and a transfer unit disposed therein. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an internal space of the image forming apparatus main body of FIG. 3 and an image forming unit disposed therein. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an internal space of the image forming apparatus main body of FIG. 3 and a writing unit disposed therein. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an internal space of the image forming apparatus main body of FIG. 3 and a paper feeding unit disposed therein. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an internal space of the image forming apparatus main body of FIG. 3 and a drive unit disposed therein. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an internal space of the image forming apparatus main body of FIG. 3 and a drive unit disposed therein. FIG. 6 is a side view of the image forming apparatus viewed from the left in FIG. 5. It is a fragmentary sectional view which follows the QQ line of FIG. FIG. 3A is a right side view of the image forming apparatus. (B) It is a fragmentary sectional view in alignment with the TT line | wire of (a), and is a figure which shows the front cover MF1 inside of FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view of the image forming apparatus as viewed from the left side, and is a diagram illustrating a state where a sheet is discharged. It is a figure which shows the state which the recording sheet of FIG. 15 covered the 1st convex part of the cover member. FIG. 17 is a view showing a state where the recording sheet of FIG. 16 is blown upward by exhaust from the exhaust hole. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a state where the recording sheet of FIG. 17 is placed on a receiving surface of a paper discharge tray unit. (A) It is a right view of the image forming apparatus of the other example of an Example. (B) It is a fragmentary sectional view in alignment with the UU line of (a), and is a figure which shows a front cover inside. (C) It is a figure which shows another example of the other example of an Example.

Embodiments of an image forming apparatus will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1A to 11, the lower right indicates the front of the image forming apparatus, the upper left indicates the rear, the lower left indicates the left, and the upper right indicates the right.

The image forming apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment is configured as a multifunction machine having functions of a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes an operation unit (not shown), an image forming apparatus main body 10 that performs image formation, and an image reading unit that reads a document image provided on the upper part of the image forming apparatus main body 10. 12 (partially not shown).

A discharge space Y for the recording sheet P is defined between the image reading unit 12 and the image forming apparatus main body 10.
<Image forming apparatus body>
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 12, the image forming apparatus main body 10 includes a housing unit 10 </ b> A, an image forming unit 11 that is provided in the housing unit 10 </ b> A and forms a recording image on a recording sheet P, and a housing unit 10 </ b> A. And a cover member 25 that divides the space HT and the paper discharge space Y in the image forming apparatus main body 10. The image reading unit 12 is supported by the image forming apparatus main body 10 via a support 10B and a support 10C.

A front cover MF2 that can be freely opened and closed is provided on the front surface 45 of the housing part 10A, and paper feed cassettes 19A to 19D are provided below the front cover MF2 so as to be able to be inserted into and removed from the housing part 10A. Yes.
A left cover ML is provided on the left side surface 46 of the housing 10A, and a pair of left and right intake holes 29 are formed in the left cover ML. Intake fans 27 and 27 are provided inside the left cover ML corresponding to the positions of the intake holes 29 and 29 (see FIG. 3).
By the rotation of the intake fans 27, 27, outside air is sent to the periphery of the transfer unit 16 in the space HT in the housing portion 10A.

On the other hand, the inside of the support 10B is hollow as shown in FIG. 1, and communicates with the inside of the housing portion 10A. In the support 10B, paper discharge rollers 14 and 14 and a paper discharge path 13 are provided, and a recording sheet P on which an output image is fixed is discharged by a paper discharge roller 14 and a discharge port of a cover member 25 described later. The paper is discharged into the paper discharge space Y via 47.
In addition, a front cover ML1 is provided on the front surface of the support 10B, and an after-mentioned intake fan 31 is provided inside the front cover ML1. On the other hand, the support 10C is also hollow as shown in FIG. 1 and communicates with the housing 10A.
<Image reading unit>
The image reading unit 12 includes an automatic document feeder ADF and a scan table 12A provided below the automatic document feeder ADF.

The scan table 12A includes a light source 12a, first to third mirrors 12b, 12c, and 12d, an imaging lens 12e, and a CCD 12f that is an example of a photoelectric conversion element, and these are included in the scan table 12A. The contact glass C is fixed to the upper part.
When a print start key of an operation unit (not shown) is pressed, a document set on the document table of the automatic document feeder ADF is automatically fed onto the contact glass C and placed on the scan table 12A. Is done. A document placed on the contact glass C is indicated by a symbol D in FIG.

On the other hand, the light source 12a and the first mirror 12b, and the second and third mirrors 12c and 12d move to the right in FIG. 1, and the original D is illuminated by the light from the light source 12a. The light is reflected by the three mirrors 12b, 12c, and 12d, passes through the imaging lens 12e, and reaches the CCD 12f. In this way, the original image is formed on the CCD 12f, and this is photoelectrically converted.
<Cover member>
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 15, the cover member 25 is continuously formed at the closing wall portion (outer wall) 25 b constituting the upper wall of the housing portion 10 </ b> A and the right end portion of the closing wall portion 25 b and the support member 10 </ b> B. And an inner wall portion 25a that forms an inner wall.
The front side and the left side of the image forming apparatus 100 are opened in the paper discharge space Y so that an operator can insert a hand into the paper discharge space Y from the side.

(Blocking wall)
The closing wall portion 25 b of the cover member 25 has a paper discharge tray portion 44 and a first convex portion (bulging portion) 41 integrally formed on the rear side of the paper discharge tray portion 44. The first convex portion 41 bulges in a casing shape and has a flat upper wall 48. The first convex portion 41 extends in the left-right direction from the inner wall portion 25a of the support 10B of the image forming apparatus 100 to the vicinity of the left end of the housing portion 10A.

The upper wall 48 of the first convex portion 41 is positioned higher than the paper discharge tray portion 44, and a plurality of exhaust holes 26 (see FIG. 13) are formed in the upper wall 48 at equal intervals. Has been. The space HT of the housing portion 10A and the paper discharge space Y, that is, the inside and the outside of the housing portion 10A communicate with each other through these exhaust holes 26,.
A housing-like second convex portion (bulging portion) 42 extending in the left-right direction is formed at the center of the paper discharge tray portion 44.

The upper wall 35 of the left side portion of the second convex portion 42 is formed flat, and the upper surface of the right side portion is an inclined surface 36 whose height decreases as it goes to the right.
Further, the paper discharge tray portion 44 has flat portions (planar portions) 40 and 43 formed on both sides (front and rear) of the second convex portion 42, and is formed continuously to the right of the flat portion 40 and is the same as the inclined surface 36. An inclined surface 39 inclined in the direction, a flat portion 38 continuously formed to the right of the inclined surface 39, and an inclined surface 37 continuously formed to the right of the flat portion 43 and inclined flush with the inclined surface 36. have.
The inclined surfaces 36 and 37 and the flat portion 38 serve as a receiving surface R for the discharged recording sheet P, and the discharged recording sheets P are stacked.

When the recording sheet P discharged by the inclined surfaces 36 and 37 is stacked on the receiving surface R, the recording sheet P is displaced and does not become uneven.
A plurality of exhaust holes 26,... Are formed at equal intervals in the upper wall 35 of the second convex portion 42 and the flat portions 40, 43 on both sides thereof. Above the above-described exhaust holes 26,... Are covered with the image reading unit 12, and safety is maintained so that foreign matter does not enter.
(Inner wall of support)
On the other hand, in the inner wall portion 25a of the support 10B, a discharge port 47 for discharging paper to the discharge tray portion 44 is located at a position slightly above the portion where the recording sheets P of the discharge tray portion 44 are stacked. Is provided.

The paper discharge port 47 is substantially at the same height as the upper wall 48 of the first convex portion 41, so that the paper discharge port 47 is not discharged onto the upper wall 48 of the first convex portion 41. As shown in FIG. 12, the positions are shifted in the front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus 100 (left-right direction in the figure).
As a result, the recording sheet P normally discharged by the exhaust from the exhaust hole 26 of the first convex portion 41 is prevented from being blown up.
<Image creation part>
On the other hand, the illustrated image forming unit 11 is provided inside the housing unit 10A, and includes a transfer unit 16 having an intermediate transfer belt 16a as an image carrier, an image forming unit 17 for forming an image on the intermediate transfer belt 16a, To the writing unit 18 that forms an electrostatic latent image in this image formation, the paper feeding unit 19 that feeds the recording sheet P for output between the secondary transfer device 20 and the intermediate transfer belt 16a, and the image forming unit 17. A toner replenishing unit 21 that supplies toner, a drive unit 23 (see FIG. 11) that drives each unit, a secondary transfer device 20 that relays an image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 16a, and the like. .
Each unit constituting the image forming unit 11 is disposed in the housing unit 10A in a stacked state.

(Transfer unit)
The transfer unit 16 includes a plurality of support rollers 16b, 16c, and 16d that are rotatably supported in the housing 10A, and an intermediate transfer belt 16a that is stretched over the support rollers 16b, 16c, and 16d. ing.
The intermediate transfer belt 16a is a heat-affected member that expands when the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature. The intermediate transfer belt 16a travels counterclockwise in FIG. 1 when any one of the support rollers (for example, the support roller 16b) is driven to rotate.

(Imaging unit)
The image forming unit 17 is a so-called tandem image forming apparatus, which is disposed below the intermediate transfer belt 16a located between the support rollers 16c and 16d of the transfer unit 16.
The image forming unit 17 includes a yellow image forming unit 17Y, a cyan image forming unit 17C, a magenta image forming unit 17M, and a black image forming unit 17K arranged in parallel in the traveling direction of the intermediate transfer belt 16a.
Each of the image forming units 17Y to 17K includes a photosensitive drum 17A that is in surface contact with the intermediate transfer belt 16a of the transfer unit 16, a charging device (not shown) as a heat-affected member for charging the photosensitive drum 17A, and a photosensitive member. A developing device that uses the electrostatic latent image of the photosensitive drum 17A formed by the writing unit 18 in contact with the photosensitive drum 17A as a toner image.

(Writing unit)
The writing unit 18 is an exposure device that forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of each photosensitive drum 17 </ b> A, and is disposed below the image forming unit 17.
The writing unit 18 has a laser writing unit (not shown), and emits a laser beam light-modulated in accordance with the image information read by the image reading unit 12 from the laser writing unit. The surface of the photosensitive drum 17A is exposed by this laser light irradiation. By this exposure, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 17A.

(Secondary transfer device)
The secondary transfer device 20 is disposed adjacent to the transfer unit 16. The secondary transfer device 20 has an endless belt 20d stretched between support rollers 20a, 20b, and 20c. The endless belt 20d is disposed in a pressed state by the support roller 20a against the intermediate transfer belt 16a. In this case, the image primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 16a is secondarily transferred onto the recording sheet P.
(Feeding unit)
On the other hand, the sheet feeding cassettes 19A to 19D of the sheet feeding unit 19 respectively store recording sheets P made of, for example, transfer paper or resin sheets, and the uppermost recording sheet P in any one of the sheet feeding cassettes 19A to 19D. When the recording sheet P is fed in the direction of arrow E and passes between the endless belt 20d and the secondary transfer roller 20e, the superimposed toner image on the endless belt 20d of the secondary transfer device 20 is transferred to the recording sheet P. Transcribed at once. The transfer residual toner adhering to the surface of the endless belt 20d after the toner image transfer is removed by the cleaning device 22.
(Fixing device)
The image secondarily transferred onto the recording sheet P is fixed to the recording sheet P above the secondary transfer device 20, that is, slightly below the support 10B of the housing portion 10A of the image forming apparatus main body 10. A fixing device 24 is provided.

The fixing device 24 includes a fixing roller 24a as a heat generating member and an endless belt (not shown) pressed against the fixing roller 24a, and fixes the toner image transferred on the recording sheet P by the action of heat and pressure. .
Below the secondary transfer device 20 and the fixing device 24, a sheet reversing device (not shown) used for image formation on both sides of the recording sheet P is disposed.
The recording sheet P on which the output image is fixed by the secondary transfer device 20 is discharged into the discharge space Y by the discharge rollers 14 and 14.

(Drive unit)
The drive unit 23 (see FIGS. 10 and 11) has a gear mechanism (not shown), and via this gear mechanism, the photosensitive drum 17A of the image forming unit 17 and the charging member (charging roller and charging brush) of the charging device. The driven member such as each member (cleaning roller and cleaning brush) of the cleaning device 22 is driven.

(Toner supply unit)
The toner replenishing unit 21 is, for example, a toner replenishing device disclosed in Patent Document 2, and includes toner conveying means, and includes toner bottles 21Y, 21C, 21M, and 21K for yellow, cyan, magenta, and black (see FIG. 1). keeping.
The toner supply unit 21 supplies toner to the developing device of the image forming unit 17 by the toner transfer means.
As described above, the image forming unit 11 includes at least an image carrier on which a recording image including a toner image is formed on the recording sheet P and a toner image is formed.
<Intake fan 31>
The intake fan 31 (see FIG. 14) is located in the vicinity of the fixing roller 24a of the fixing device 24, and a plurality of ribs 32a and 32v are provided on the back surface of the front cover MF1 that covers the intake fan 31 as shown in FIG. , 32h are provided.
Among these, the rib 32a surrounds the intake fan 31 and is formed to expand downward. Further, a rib 32A (hereinafter referred to as an intake wall 32A) is provided at the lower portion of the front cover MF1. A plurality of slits 33A are formed in the intake wall 32A at equal intervals in the left-right direction (in FIG. 14).

The front cover MF2 has an upper wall 32B, and a gap S is formed between the front covers MF1 and 2 by the upper wall 32B and the intake wall 32A (see FIG. 14A).
When the intake fan 31 rotates, outside air is taken into the housing 10A through the gap S and the slit 33A of the take-in wall 32A. The gap S is formed between the front cover MF1 and the front cover MF2, and since the separation distance of the gap S is set to be narrow, it is difficult to recognize the portion that sucks outside air, and the design is impaired. I can't.
<Exhaust fan 34>
As shown in FIG. 3, the exhaust fan 34 is fixed to the back surface of the upper wall 48 of the first convex portion 41 of the cover member 25 so that the air blowing direction is on the upper side. The exhaust fan 34 can exhaust the air in the housing 10 </ b> A to the paper discharge space Y through the exhaust hole 26 in the upper wall 48 of the first convex portion 41.

The exhaust fan 34 is disposed so as to be in the vicinity of the front end portion of the recording sheet P discharged from the discharge port 47 of the cover member 25 to the discharge tray portion 44 in the left-right direction of the image forming apparatus 100. . Further, the mounting position of the exhaust fan 34 is in the vicinity of the toner supply unit 21.
Further, since the exhaust fan 34 is provided at a higher position than the paper discharge tray portion 44, it is easy to blow hot air staying in the upper part of the paper discharge space Y by the air blow of the exhaust fan 34 to the outside of the paper discharge space Y. It has become.
The above-described image forming apparatus 100 can also be used as a facsimile or a printer. Since the operation at this time is obvious from a technique known per se, the description thereof is omitted.
Hereinafter, the operation and effect of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment will be described.
When the image forming apparatus 100 is driven, each unit in the housing portion 10A is driven to generate heat, and the air around each unit is heated and the temperature rises. Since the units are stacked in the housing portion 10A, heat is transferred from the lowermost unit (paper feeding unit 19) to the upper unit, and the higher the temperature, the higher the temperature. That is, the upper layer unit in the housing 10A is likely to be overheated.

In the present embodiment, since the exhaust hole 26 for communicating the inside and outside of the housing portion 10A is provided in the closing wall portion 25b of the cover member 25 constituting the upper wall of the housing portion 10A, the exhaust layer 26 is provided in the upper layer in the housing portion 10A. The moved high-temperature air is exhausted to the discharge space Y by natural convection by heat through the exhaust hole 26, and the heat in the housing 10A is exhausted together with the exhaust.
Therefore, each unit (toner supply unit 21, transfer unit 16, image forming unit 17, writing unit 18, secondary transfer device 20, paper feed unit 19, fixing device 24) is not cooled and overheated. . For this reason, for example, thermal deterioration of each plastic component in the housing portion 10A is prevented.
Further, the toner replenishment unit 21 does not overheat, so that the toner in the toner replenishment unit 21 can be prevented from solidifying. Thereby, for example, in the operation of supplying toner to the developing device of the image forming unit 17, there is no possibility of disturbing normal operation.
Since the periphery of the transfer unit 16 is not overheated, for example, there is no possibility that the intermediate transfer belt 16a expands and normal transfer is not performed, and normal transfer is ensured.

In the image forming unit 17, the surroundings thereof are not overheated. For example, there is no possibility that the toner of the developing device is solidified due to the heat to cause uneven development and the quality of the output image is deteriorated. Is secured.
In the writing unit 18, the surroundings are not overheated, so that thermal expansion of each member of the writing unit can be suppressed. For example, when thermal expansion occurs, misalignment between the members occurs due to a difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the members of the writing unit 18, but normal writing is ensured without such a fear.
Since the periphery of the fixing device 24 is not overheated, the toner that should be fixed on the recording sheet P is offset to the surface of the fixing roller 24a, and then adheres to the recording sheet P sent to the fixing device 24 and becomes dirty. There is no risk of image problems (hot offset).

Since the periphery of the sheet feeding unit 19 is not overheated, that is, temperature fluctuation is suppressed, for example, the recording sheet P is less likely to be curled. The risk of paper jams due to curling is reduced.
In the drive unit 23, the periphery thereof is not overheated, so that the inter-axis distance does not move from the original position due to, for example, a linear expansion change of the gear. Further, since gear wear that may occur due to this thermal expansion can be suppressed, the efficiency of power interlocking is not impaired.
In addition, the intake fans 27 and 27 can suck outside air into the housing 10A to cool each unit in the internal space of the housing 10A.

When outside air is drawn into the housing 10A, the same amount of air is forcibly exhausted from the housing 10A through the exhaust hole 26 of the cover member 25. For this reason, ventilation efficiency increases in addition to natural convection by heat, and cooling efficiency of each unit increases.
As shown in FIG. 15, for example, when the recording sheet P discharged by some force during the discharge of the recording sheet P moves above the first convex portion 41 of the cover member 25, the discharge space Y Is surrounded by the lower surface of the scanning base 12A (see FIG. 1) of the image reading unit 12 and the support 10B and the support 10C of the image forming apparatus main body 10, so that the recording sheet P goes out of the paper discharge space Y. There is no end.

Then, as shown in FIG. 16, when a part of the recording sheet P moves onto the upper wall 48 of the first convex portion 41, the exhaust fan 34 causes the first convex portion 41 to A part of the recording sheet P is blown from below by the air blown from the exhaust hole 26, and the recording sheet P moves to the receiving surface R side of the paper discharge tray unit 44. Then, as shown in FIG. 18, the sheet is placed on the receiving surface R on the paper discharge tray unit 44.
As described above, since the exhaust hole 26 is not covered with the recording sheet P by the recording sheet P moved rearward (left side in FIGS. 15 to 18), the exhaust hole 26 is blocked and the heat radiation efficiency is lowered. There is no end. In addition, it is possible to prevent the recording sheet P from being misaligned due to a shift in the paper discharge position.
The operation and effect of the image forming apparatus according to the second and subsequent aspects will be described below.

Further, since the exhaust hole is not covered by the discharged recording sheet, heat can be radiated together with exhaust.

  Further, since the exhaust hole is provided in the cover member portion higher than the recording sheet discharge tray portion formed on the cover member, the recording sheet discharged to the discharge tray portion by the air blown from the exhaust hole Can be prevented from being misaligned.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the fourth aspect, the cooling effect inside the image forming apparatus main body can be enhanced by forcibly sucking external cold air into the image forming apparatus main body by the intake fan.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the fifth aspect, it is possible to enhance the cooling effect inside the image forming apparatus main body by forcibly discharging the high-temperature air inside the image forming apparatus main body.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the sixth aspect, solidification of the toner can be prevented by exhausting the high-temperature air around the toner.

Then, the slit 33B is made to coincide with the slit 33A of the front cover MF2 in the vertical direction, and another slit 33C is formed in the side portion 32C of the front cover MF2 to change the air flow (see FIGS. 14 and 19).
A negative pressure is generated by the rotation of the intake fan 31, and the outside air is taken into the front cover MF2 from the slit 33C of the front cover MF2. The taken outside air is taken into the front cover MF1 through the slits 33B and 33A, and taken into the housing portion 10A.

According to this other example, when the outside air is taken into the front cover MF1, the slit 33A of the front cover MF1 and the slit 33B of the front cover MF2 are aligned in the vertical direction, so that air is guided like a chimney. Due to the chimney effect, outside air is easily sucked into the front cover MF1.
Further, FIG. 19C shows another example of the other example described above. In this other example, the positions of the slits 33A and 33B of the front cover MF1 and the front cover MF2 are set to gaps that do not allow parts such as screws used in the main body housing 10 to pass, and the left and right sides of the slits 33A and 33B. Shift the direction.

According to another example of this, even if the part is detached from the attachment location for some reason, the part is caught on the intake walls 32A and 33A, so that it is not easily lost.
As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention has been described based on the above embodiments. However, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and the invention according to each claim of the claims is not limited thereto. Design changes and additions are allowed without departing from the gist.

HT space MF1, 2 front cover ML left cover P recording sheet R receiving surface S gap Y paper discharge space 10 image forming apparatus main body 10A housing 10B, 10C support 11 image forming unit 12 image reading unit 21 toner replenishing unit 23 drive unit 24 Fixing device 25 Cover member 25a Inner wall portion 25b Closed wall portion 26 Exhaust holes 27, 31 Intake fan 34 Exhaust fans 41, 42 First convex portion, second convex portion 44 Paper discharge tray portion 47 Paper discharge port 100 Image forming apparatus

JP 2002-354173 A JP 2002-278237 A

Claims (6)

An image forming apparatus main body provided with an image forming unit for forming a recorded image on a recording sheet;
An image reading unit provided above the image forming apparatus main body via a support for reading a document ;
A cover member provided with a blocking wall portion forming an upper wall of the image forming apparatus main body;
A paper discharge space formed between the image reading unit and the closed wall portion of the cover member ;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a discharge port provided in an inner wall portion of the support that faces the paper discharge space so that the recording sheet on which a recording image is formed by the image forming unit can be discharged into the paper discharge space. In the device
The closing wall portion extends in a direction away from the inner wall portion, and a discharge tray portion provided with a receiving surface having an inclined surface whose height decreases toward the inner wall portion at a portion on the inner wall portion side, Extending in a direction away from the inner wall portion and being arranged in parallel with the paper discharge tray portion, and having a bulging portion bulged higher than the receiving surface,
The discharge port is provided at a position shifted to the discharge tray portion side so that the recording sheet is not discharged onto the bulging portion,
An image forming apparatus, wherein a plurality of exhaust holes for exhausting air in the image forming apparatus main body are provided in a portion other than the upper wall of the bulging portion and the inclined surface of the discharge tray portion . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of exhaust holes are formed in an entire upper wall of the bulging portion . The bulging portion is a first bulging portion, and a second bulging portion extending in the same direction as the first bulging portion is provided at a central portion of the discharge tray portion along the inner wall portion. Provided,
The upper surface of the second bulging portion is inclined so that the portion on the opposite side to the inner wall portion is formed flat and the height on the inner wall side decreases toward the inner wall portion. Said inclined surface,
The paper discharge tray portion has flat portions on both sides of the second bulging portion along the inner wall portion, and a plurality of exhaust holes for exhausting air in the image forming apparatus main body are the flat portion. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is provided on a flat upper surface of the second bulging portion . The image forming apparatus to form an outer wall on the intake hole of the main body, an image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a suction fan for sucking the outside air from the intake port. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a exhaust fan for exhausting the air in the interior space of the image forming apparatus main body from the exhaust holes. The imaging unit includes a imaging unit for imaging the output image, in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a toner supply unit for supplying toner to the image forming unit The image forming apparatus described.

Images