JP5392311B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which an expansion member is provided at a lower portion of an apparatus main body in order to attach a large capacity sheet feeding tray to the apparatus main body.

  Conventionally, an apparatus main body having an accommodation space for accommodating a normal size paper feed tray, an expansion member attached to a lower portion of the apparatus main body, and a large-capacity paper feed disposed in the accommodation space expanded by the expansion member An image forming apparatus including a tray is known (see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-4-323122

  However, in the above-described technology, since the main body frame constituting the apparatus main body is merely placed on the expansion member, there is a problem that a seam is formed between the main body frame and the expansion member, and the appearance is impaired. .

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to suppress the loss of the aesthetic appearance of an image forming apparatus.

In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a tray capable of storing a recording sheet for conveyance to an image forming unit, a pair of main body frames opposed to each other with an upper portion of the tray interposed therebetween, and the tray A pair of expansion members attached under the main body frame so as to face each other with the lower part of the main body frame therebetween.
A cover member that covers the joint between the main body frame and the expansion member is provided outside the main body frame and the expansion member.

  According to the present invention, since the seam can be hidden by the cover member, it is possible to suppress deteriorating the aesthetic appearance of the image forming apparatus.

  The cover member is preferably positioned with respect to the main body frame.

  According to this, the cover member can be provided at an appropriate position with respect to another member (for example, a panel forming the upper surface) attached to the main body frame.

  The cover member is preferably configured to be restricted from moving in a direction away from the expansion member by engaging the expansion member in a direction opposite to the expansion member. Further, this configuration is preferably applied when a handle portion for hooking a user's hand is provided at the lowermost portion of the cover member.

  According to this, since it is possible to prevent the cover member from separating from the expansion member, when the user lifts the image forming apparatus by grasping the handle portion, the lower ends of the pair of cover members do not open. The image forming apparatus can be reliably lifted.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress deteriorating the beauty of the image forming apparatus.

It is sectional drawing which shows the laser printer which has a small capacity | capacitance paper feed tray. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram (a) schematically showing a laser printer having a large capacity tray, and an explanatory diagram (b) schematically showing a laser printer having a small capacity paper feed tray. It is a perspective view which shows a pair of expansion member connected with the underbar. It is an expansion perspective view which shows each handle part of a main body frame and an expansion member. It is a perspective view which shows the state which attached the cover member to the main body frame and the expansion member. They are an enlarged perspective view (a) showing the structure near the positioning hole, and an enlarged perspective view (b) showing the structure near the boss hole. It is sectional drawing which shows the engagement protrusion of a cover member.

<Overall configuration of laser printer>
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In the following description, the general configuration of a general laser printer will be described first, and then the laser printer as an example of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail.

  In the following description, the direction will be described with reference to the user when using the laser printer. That is, in FIG. 1, the right side toward the paper surface is “front side (front side)”, the left side toward the paper surface is “rear side (back side)”, the back side toward the paper surface is “right side”, and it faces the paper surface. Let the near side be the “left side”. In addition, the vertical direction toward the page is defined as the “vertical direction”.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the laser printer 1 includes an apparatus main body 2, a feeder unit 3 for feeding a sheet P as an example of a recording sheet to an image forming unit 4, and an image for forming an image on the sheet P. And an image forming unit 4.

  The apparatus main body 2 includes a pair of left and right main body frames 21, an upper panel 22 that connects upper portions of the main body frames 21, and a front cover 23 that is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the main body frames 21. On the upper panel 22, a paper discharge tray 22 </ b> A for placing paper P discharged outside the apparatus main body 2 is formed.

  The feeder unit 3 is provided at a lower portion in the apparatus main body 2 and includes a paper feed tray 31 that is detachably mounted from the front side, and a pressure plate 32 provided in the paper feed tray 31. The feeder unit 3 includes a supply roller 33 provided above the front end of the paper P stacked in the paper feed tray 31 and a separation roller 34 provided on the downstream side of the supply roller 33 in the conveyance direction of the paper P. And a separation pad 35. The supply roller 33 and the separation roller 34 are supported by a single member (reference numeral omitted) and are rotatably provided.

  The supply roller 33 is provided so as to be rotatable about the separation roller 34. The pressure plate 32 is supported by the paper feed tray 31 so that the front end 32B can rotate toward the supply roller 33 around the rear end 32A. Further, the feeder unit 3 is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the paper dust removing roller 36A, the transport roller 36B facing the paper dust removing roller 36A, and the paper dust removing roller 36A. And a pair of registration rollers 37.

  The paper feed tray 31 is detachable from the main body frame 21 in the front-rear direction. The supply roller 33, the separation roller 34, and the transport roller 36 </ b> B are held by the apparatus main body 2, but the separation pad 35 and the paper dust removal roller 36 </ b> A are held by the paper feed tray 31. Therefore, when the paper feed tray 31 is removed, the nip between the separation roller 34 and the separation pad 35 and the nip between the paper dust removal roller 36A and the conveyance roller 36B are opened.

  In the feeder unit 3 configured as described above, the paper P in the paper feed tray 31 is urged to the supply roller 33 by the rotation of the pressure plate 32, and is sent out by the supply roller 33 to be separated by the separation roller 34. And the separation pad 35. Thereafter, the paper P passes through the various rollers 36 and 37 and is then conveyed to the image forming unit 4 one by one.

  The image forming unit 4 includes a scanner unit 5, a process cartridge 6, and a fixing device 7.

  The scanner unit 5 is provided at an upper portion in the apparatus main body 2 and includes a laser light emitting unit (not shown), a polygon mirror, a lens, a reflecting mirror, and the like that are not shown. In the scanner unit 5, a laser beam is irradiated on the surface of a photosensitive drum 61 described later by high-speed scanning.

  The process cartridge 6 can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 2 through an opening formed by opening the front cover 23, and includes a photosensitive drum 61, a transfer roller 62, a charger, a developing roller, and a layer thickness regulation, which are not shown. A blade and a toner storage chamber.

  In the process cartridge 6, the surface of the rotating photosensitive drum 61 is uniformly charged by a charger and then exposed by high-speed scanning of a laser beam from the scanner unit 5. As a result, the potential of the exposed portion is lowered, and an electrostatic latent image based on the image data is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 61.

  Next, the toner in the toner storage chamber is supplied to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 61 by the developing roller, and a toner image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 61. Thereafter, the paper P is conveyed between the photosensitive drum 61 and the transfer roller 62, whereby the toner image on the photosensitive drum 61 is transferred onto the paper P.

  The fixing device 7 includes a heating unit 71 that includes a halogen heater, a fixing film, a nip plate, and the like that are not shown, and a pressure roller 72 that holds the fixing film between the nip plate of the heating unit 71. ing. In the fixing device 7 configured as described above, the toner transferred onto the paper P is thermally fixed while the paper P passes between the heating unit 71 and the pressure roller 72.

  The paper P thermally fixed by the fixing device 7 is conveyed to a paper discharge roller R disposed on the downstream side of the fixing device 7, and is discharged from the paper discharge roller R onto a paper discharge tray 22A.

<Laser printer according to the present invention>
As schematically shown in FIG. 2A, the laser printer 100 according to the present invention is more than the paper feed tray 31 in place of the paper feed tray 31 of the laser printer 1 described above (see FIG. 2B). In order to provide a large capacity tray 110 as an example of a large tray, a pair of expansion members 200 are provided below the pair of main body frames 21. That is, a pair of expansion members 200 are attached below the pair of main body frames 21 in order to expand the accommodation space of the paper feed tray 31 formed below the pair of main body frames 21 to a size that can accommodate the large capacity tray 110. ing.

  In other words, the laser printer 100 includes a large-capacity tray 110, a pair of resin body frames 21 facing each other with the upper portion of the large-capacity tray 110 interposed therebetween, and a pair of resin-made members facing each other with the lower portion of the large-capacity tray 110 interposed therebetween. The expansion member 200 and a pair of resin cover members 300 are provided. The laser printer 100 also includes a structure (image forming unit 4, upper panel 22, etc.) other than the paper feed tray 31 of the laser printer 1 described above.

  The large capacity tray 110 is formed deeper than the above-described paper feed tray 31 (see FIG. 2B) and can accommodate more paper P than the paper feed tray 31. It is detachable in the front-rear direction. The large-capacity tray 110 has substantially the same configuration as the pressure plate 32, the separation pad 35, and the paper dust removing roller 36A provided on the paper feed tray 31 described above.

  The paper feed tray 31 is detachably moved in the front-rear direction by being guided on a first rail (not shown) extending in the front-rear direction at the lower part of the main body frame 21. The large capacity tray 110 is detachably moved in the front-rear direction by being guided on the second rail R2 (see FIG. 5) extending in the front-rear direction at the lower part of the expansion member 200.

  With this configuration, it is possible to share the main body frame 21 when using the paper feed tray 31 and when using the large capacity tray 110. In other words, when there is a demand for a commonly used image forming apparatus for the paper feed tray 31 (for example, the maximum number of stacked sheets 250 sheets), only the main body frame 21 is used and the large capacity tray 110 (for example, the maximum stacking capacity) is used. When there is a demand for 500 image forming apparatuses, the main body frame 21 and the expansion member 200 may be combined.

  A positioning projection 21A and a positioning boss 21B for positioning the cover member 300 are provided on the front surface of the main body frame 21. The positioning protrusion 21A is provided in the upper part of the front surface of the main body frame 21, and is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape protruding forward. The positioning boss 21B is provided in the lower part of the front surface of the main body frame 21 and is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape protruding forward.

  Specifically, since the main body frame 21 is the same main body frame 21 as the laser printer 1 including the small-capacity paper feed tray 31 illustrated in FIG. 2B, the positioning protrusion 21 </ b> A and the positioning boss on the main body frame 21. The position 21B is the same in both the small-capacity laser printer 1 and the large-capacity laser printer 100.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the pair of expansion members 200 are members that extend in the front-rear direction, and are connected by two underbars 210 that are provided at intervals in the front-rear direction (the attachment / detachment direction of the large capacity tray 110). Are attached to a pair of body frames 21.

  At the bottom of the expansion member 200, a handle portion 250 is provided for catching the user's hand when carrying the laser printer 100. The handle portion 250 is formed so as to be recessed upward and inward in the left-right direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the handle portion 250 is provided at the same position in the front-rear and left-right directions as the concave body-side handle portion 21 E formed at the lowermost portion of the main body frame 21. It has been.

  Specifically, a protruding portion 251 that protrudes upward is formed on the upper portion of the handle portion 250. The projecting portion 251 is formed in a size that enters the main body side handle portion 21E and is close to the upper surface of the main body side handle portion 21E.

  As a result, the laser printer 100 can be lifted with the same good balance as the small-capacity laser printer 1 is lifted.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the cover member 300 includes a cover main body 310 formed to have a size that covers the main body frame 21 and the expansion member 200 from the left and right outer sides, and a left and right inner side from the front end of the cover main body 310. The front wall 320 is bent mainly, and is attached to the outside of the main body frame 21 and the expansion member 200. As a result, since the joint between the main body frame 21 and the expansion member 200 is covered by the cover member 300, it is possible to prevent the appearance of the laser printer 100 from being impaired.

  A handle portion 311 for catching the user's hand is formed at the bottom of the cover main body portion 310. The handle portion 311 is a concave portion having a shape that follows the handle portion 250 of the expansion member 200 described above, and is fitted into the handle portion 250 of the expansion member 200. As a result, a hand can be hooked on the handle portion 250 of the expansion member 200 via the handle portion 311 of the cover main body portion 310, so that the laser printer 100 can be lifted with good balance.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the front wall portion 320 is divided into upper and lower portions, and a positioning hole 321 that engages with the positioning protrusion 21 </ b> A described above is formed in the upper front wall portion 320 </ b> A. A boss hole 322 that engages with the positioning boss 21B described above is formed in the lower front wall portion 320B.

  Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the cover member 300 has a structure in which the lower part of the cover member 400 of the small-capacity laser printer 1 is extended by the height of the expansion member 200. The positioning hole 321 and the boss hole 322 are formed in the same arrangement, size, and shape as the positioning hole 421 and the boss hole 422 formed in the cover member 400 of the laser printer 1 for small capacity.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6A, the positioning hole 321 is a round hole through which the positioning protrusion 21 </ b> A is inserted, and the positioning hole 321 and the positioning protrusion 21 </ b> A engage with each other, thereby covering the cover member. The upper part of 300 is positioned vertically and horizontally with respect to the main body frame 21. As shown in FIG. 6B, the boss hole 322 is a long hole that is long in the vertical direction through which the positioning boss 21B is inserted, and the left and right ends of the boss hole 322 are engaged with the positioning boss 21B. Thus, the lower portion of the cover member 300 is positioned to the left and right with respect to the main body frame 21.

  Thus, the cover member 300 is positioned with respect to the main body frame 21, so that the cover member 300 is positioned at an appropriate position with respect to other members (for example, the upper panel 22 shown in FIG. 1) attached to the main body frame 21. Can be provided. That is, since the positional accuracy between the cover member 300 and the other members is increased, the gap between each other is reduced, and the aesthetic appearance can be maintained. The front wall portion 320B of the cover member 300 is fixed to the main body frame 21 by screwing a screw (not shown) into the positioning boss 21B in the state shown in FIG. 6B. .

  Further, the cover member 300 is configured to be restricted from moving in a direction away from the expansion member 200 by engaging with the expansion member 200 in the left-right direction (a direction facing the expansion member 200). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, a lower wall portion 330 extending inward in the left-right direction is formed at the lower end of the cover main body portion 310, and the lower wall portion 330 is located near the tip of the lower wall portion 330. An engagement protrusion 331 is formed on the engaged portion 221 that protrudes upward from the inner side in the left-right direction and is formed on the frame 220 of the expansion member 200.

  Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the lower end of the cover member 300 from being separated from the expansion member 200, so that when the user lifts the laser printer 100 by grasping the handle portion 311, the lower ends of the pair of cover members 300 are The laser printer 100 can be reliably lifted without opening.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can utilize with various forms so that it may illustrate below.
In the above-described embodiment, the image forming unit 4 including the scanner unit 5, the process cartridge 6, and the fixing device 7 is employed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, an image forming unit using an LED head, An image forming unit using a photosensitive belt or an image forming unit using a heating roller may be employed.

  In the embodiment, one underbar 210 is provided at each of the front end portion and the rear end portion of the expansion member 200. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, only one underbar 210 may be provided at the front end portion. Further, for example, only one may be provided in the central portion.

  In the embodiment, the cover member 300 is positioned with respect to the main body frame 21, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be positioned on another member such as an expansion member.

  In the above-described embodiment, paper P such as thick paper, postcard, and thin paper is used as an example of the recording sheet. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be, for example, an OHP sheet.

  In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to the laser printer 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to other image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine and a multifunction machine.

4 Image forming unit 21 Main body frame 21A Positioning protrusion 21B Positioning boss 100 Laser printer 110 Large capacity tray 200 Expansion member 250 Handle part 300 Cover member 321 Positioning hole 322 Boss hole 331 Engaging protrusion P Paper

Claims (4)

A tray capable of storing a recording sheet for conveyance to an image forming unit;
A pair of body frames opposed across the top of the tray;
An image forming apparatus comprising a pair of expansion members attached under the main body frame so as to face each other with a lower portion of the tray interposed therebetween,
A cover member that covers the joint between the main body frame and the expansion member is provided outside the main body frame and the expansion member ,
At the bottom of the main body frame, a concave main body side handle portion that is recessed upward is provided,
At the lowest part of the expansion member, a handle portion for hooking a user's hand is provided,
An image forming apparatus , wherein an upper portion of the handle portion of the expansion member is provided with a protrusion portion that protrudes upward and enters the main body side handle portion .   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover member is positioned with respect to the main body frame.   The said cover member is controlled to move in the direction away from the said expansion member by engaging with the said expansion member in the direction facing the said expansion member, The Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. The image forming apparatus described in 1. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a handle portion for hooking a user's hand is provided at a lowermost portion of the cover member.

Images