JP5900290B2 - Connection device and electronic device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connection device and an electronic apparatus.

  Patent Document 1 describes that an intermediate connector board is provided in order to input and output power and signals to and from a plurality of process units that can be attached to and detached from the main body. In the intermediate connector board, a plurality of connectors are arranged in a straight line, and the process unit is electrically connected to the connectors.

JP 2009-192664 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for suppressing a space occupied by a connector in a drawer portion when the connector is arranged in a drawer portion that is taken in and out of the frame.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connecting device that moves in a direction to be taken out from a frame and a direction to be put in the frame, and is a lead portion formed of a hollow tube, and is a first penetrating from the outer surface to the inner surface of the lead portion. A lead-out part having a second hole penetrating from the outer surface of the surface facing the end surface or the surface intersecting the end surface to the inner surface of the tube; And a connector disposed through the connector.

  In the connecting device according to claim 2 of the present invention, the first hole is provided in a plurality along the direction of the central axis of the tube, and the connector is predetermined according to the device provided in the drawer portion. It has the structure arrange | positioned at 1 hole.

  In the connection device according to claim 3 of the present invention, the connectors are arranged in the plurality of first holes, and the plurality of arranged connectors are arranged symmetrically from the center in the direction in which the connectors are arranged on the end face. It has the composition which is.

  In the connecting device according to claim 4 of the present invention, the connector has a plate portion for fixing the connector to the drawer portion on the outer surface, and the plate portion is fixed to the inner surface of the tube forming the drawer portion. It has the composition which is.

  An electronic apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention includes the connection device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the frame, and a connector connected to the connector.

According to the configuration of the first and fifth aspects, the board or connector arrangement member is provided on the drawer part, and the space occupied by the connector in the drawer part is suppressed as compared with the case where the connector is arranged on the board or connector arrangement member. be able to.
According to the structure of Claim 2, the space which a connector occupies in a drawer part can be restrained according to the apparatus provided in a drawer part.
According to the structure of Claim 3, compared with the structure which does not arrange | position a some connector symmetrically, when a connector is connected to the connector in a flame | frame, it can suppress that the force applied to a connector varies.
According to the structure of Claim 4, compared with the structure which fixes a board part to the outer surface of the pipe | tube which forms a drawer | drawing-out part, the space which a connector occupies in a drawer | drawing-out part can be suppressed.

1 is an external view of a frame 10 and an image forming unit 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the image forming unit 20 is pulled out from the frame 10. The figure which looked at the frame 200 from the upper surface side. The figure which looked at the frame 200 from the back side. The figure which looked at the frame 200 to which the male connector 30 was fixed from the upper surface side. The figure which looked at the frame 200 to which the male connector 30 was fixed from the back side. FIG. 3 is a diagram of the image forming unit 20 as viewed from the back side of the frame 10. The figure which looked at the part which opposes the frame 200 in the flame | frame 10 from the front side. The figure which looked at the part which opposes the frame 200 in the flame | frame 10 from the back side. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 9. The figure which looked at the female connector 40 from the back side of the flame | frame 10. FIG. The figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the frame 200. FIG. The figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the frame 200. FIG. The figure for demonstrating the modification of arrangement | positioning of the female connector 40. FIG.

[Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is an external view of a frame 10 and an image forming unit 20 provided in an image forming apparatus 1 (an example of an electronic apparatus) according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a part according to the feature of the present invention is illustrated, and other parts are not shown. The frame 10 is a structure in which a plurality of square pipes are combined by welding. The frame 10 supports devices and components that constitute the image forming apparatus 1. In FIG. 1, the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis that are orthogonal to each other indicate the orthogonal coordinates of the three-dimensional space, and the direction along the long side of the frame 10 when viewed from the Z axis in the vertical direction. Is the X axis, and the direction along the short side of the frame 10 is the Y axis. In the following description, for convenience of explanation, the positive direction side of the Y axis is referred to as the front side, the negative direction side of the Y axis is referred to as the back side, the positive direction side of the Z axis is referred to as the upper surface side, and the negative direction side of the Z axis is referred to as the lower surface side. There is a case.

  The image forming apparatus 1 is an apparatus that forms an image by electrophotography on paper that is an example of a recording medium. The image forming apparatus 1 includes an image forming unit 20 that forms an image on a recording medium. The image forming unit 20 includes a cylindrical photoreceptor, which is an example of an image carrier, a charger, an exposure device, a developing device, a removal device, and the like. The photoreceptor is charged by a charger. The exposure apparatus irradiates the charged photosensitive member with laser light so that an electrostatic latent image of the image to be formed is formed. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor is developed with toner supplied from the developing device, and a toner image is formed on the photoreceptor. The toner image formed on the photoreceptor is transferred to a recording medium. The toner remaining on the photosensitive member without being transferred to the recording medium is removed by a removing device.

  The image forming unit 20 is pulled out from the frame 10 (the positive direction of the Y axis) and inserted into the frame 10 (the negative direction of the Y axis) so that it is easy to replace the devices and components of the image forming unit 20. ). FIG. 2 shows a state in which the image forming unit 20 is pulled out from the frame 10.

  The image forming unit 20 has a frame 200 that supports an apparatus included in the image forming unit 20 on the lower surface side. The frame 200 is an example of a drawer portion according to the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a view of the frame 200 as viewed from the upper surface side. Note that FIG. 3 is illustrated with dimensions different from the actual dimensions in order to facilitate understanding of the shape of the frame 200. The frame 200 is formed by welding rectangular pipes 202A to 202D in a rectangular shape, and a metal plate 201 that closes the lower surface side of the frame 200 is welded to the lower surface side. When the plate 201 is fixed to the frame 200, it may be screwed instead of welding.

  In the present embodiment, a plurality of notches 210 (an example of a second hole) are provided in the square pipe 201 </ b> B that has a long side in the frame 200 and is positioned on the back side when stored in the frame 10. The notch 210 cuts the square pipe 202B from the inner peripheral side to the outer peripheral side of the frame 200 with a predetermined length a and a predetermined length b in the direction along the longitudinal direction when viewed from the upper surface side. It is formed by.

  FIG. 4 is a view of the frame 200 as seen from the back side. In the frame 200, a rectangular hole 211 (an example of a first hole) penetrating from the outer surface side of the square pipe 202B to the inner surface side on the outer peripheral side of the position where the notch 210 is provided is a central axis of the square pipe 202B. It is provided along the direction. Screw holes 212 are provided on both sides of the hole 211.

  The square male connector 30 is fixed at the position of the hole 211. 5 is a view of the frame 200 to which the male connector 30 is fixed as viewed from the upper surface side, and FIG. 6 is a view of the frame 200 to which the male connector 30 is fixed as viewed from the rear side. The male connector 30 is fixed to the square pipe 202B so that the contact side where the contact pins are exposed is located outside the square pipe 202B, and the terminal side is located inside the square pipe 202B. The male connector 30 has a rectangular metal fitting 31 and is fixed to the frame 200 by fitting a screw 32 into a hole (not shown) formed in the metal fitting 31 and a screw hole 212.

  On the terminal side of the male connector 30, a terminal connected to the contact pin is provided for each of the plurality of contact pins, and an electric wire covered with an insulator is soldered to each terminal. Note that the connection between the detection and the electric wire is not limited to soldering, and the terminal and the electric wire may be connected by caulking. The plurality of electric wires soldered to the terminal side are bundled on the side opposite to the side soldered to the terminal side, and are soldered to a connector having a plurality of pins. The image forming unit 20 has a board on which electronic components for controlling each part of the image forming unit 20 are soldered. The connector connected to the male connector 30 by the bundled electric wires is the board. Connected to.

  In addition, in the frame 200, it is preferable that the male connector 30 is disposed symmetrically from the center in the X-axis direction when viewed from the upper surface side. For example, when three male connectors 30 are provided in the frame 200 as shown in FIG. 6, the distance L2 from the center of the male connector 30 located at the center to the center of the male connector 30 on the left side, and the male located at the center. The difference from the distance L3 from the center of the connector 30 to the center of the male connector 30 on the right side is preferably within a predetermined range (for example, within a range of several mm). Further, the difference between the distance L1 from the center of the male connector 30 at the left end to the left end of the frame 200 and the distances L2 and L3 is within a predetermined range, and the right end of the frame 200 from the center of the male connector 30 at the right end. It is preferable that the difference between the distance L4 and the distances L2 and L3 is within a predetermined range.

  FIG. 7 is a view of the image forming unit 20 in a state where various devices and parts are mounted on the frame 200 as viewed from the back side of the frame 10. In addition, in FIG. 7, the part which concerns on the characteristic of this invention is shown in figure, and illustration of another part is abbreviate | omitted so that the position of the male connector 30 can be grasped | ascertained easily. When the image forming unit 20 moves in the direction in which the image forming unit 20 is housed in the frame 10, the male connector 30 is positioned on the back side in the frame 10 as shown in FIG. 7.

  Next, FIG. 8 is a view of a portion of the frame 10 facing the frame 200 as viewed from the front side, and FIG. 9 is a view of a portion of the frame 10 facing the frame 200 as viewed from the back side. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 9. FIG. 11 shows the frame 11 in which the plate 11 provided on the back side of the image forming unit 20 and the female connector 40 to which the male connector 30 is fitted. It is the figure seen from the back side. Also in FIG. 11, in order to easily grasp the position of the female connector 40, the part according to the feature of the present invention is illustrated, and the other parts are not shown.

  On the back side of the image forming unit 20, a metal plate 11 is fixed to the frame 10 along the vertical direction. A hole 12 penetrating from the front surface of the plate 11 to the back surface is formed at a position facing the male connector 30 on the plate 11. Screw holes 13 are provided on both sides of the hole 12.

  A rectangular female connector 40 is fixed to the position of the hole 12 with a screw 42. The female connector 40 is fixed to the plate 11 such that the contact side on which the male connector 30 is fitted is located on the front side of the plate 11 and the terminal side is located on the back side of the plate 11. The female connector 40 has a rectangular metal fitting 41 and is fixed to the plate 11 by fitting a screw 42 into a hole (not shown) formed in the metal fitting 41 and the screw hole 13.

  A terminal is provided for each of the plurality of contacts on the terminal side of the female connector 40, and an electric wire covered with an insulator is soldered to each terminal. The plurality of electric wires soldered to the terminals are bundled on the side opposite to the side soldered to the terminals, and are soldered to a connector having a plurality of pins. The image forming apparatus 1 has a substrate having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that controls the image forming unit 20, and the connector connected to the female connector 40 by the bundled electric wires is connected to the substrate having the CPU. Connected.

  Next, an operation when the image forming unit 20 is moved will be described. In the state in which the image forming unit 20 is pulled out from the frame 10, as shown in FIG. 12, the female connector 40 and the male connector 30 are separated from each other. When the frame 200 is pushed in the negative direction of the Y axis from the state of FIG. 12, the frame 200 moves in the negative direction of the Y axis. When the frame 200 moves in the negative direction of the Y axis, the male connector 30 contacts the female connector 40. When the frame 200 is further pushed in the negative direction of the Y axis while the male connector 30 is in contact with the female connector 40, the contact pins of the male connector 30 are fitted into the contacts of the female connector 40 as shown in FIG. The connector 30 and the female connector 40 are electrically connected.

For comparison with the present embodiment, a board or connector arrangement member on which a plurality of male connectors 30 are arranged is arranged on the upper surface side of the frame 200, and the male connector 30 arranged on this board or connector arrangement member is arranged on the frame 10 side. Consider the case of connection to the female connector 40 provided in the above. In this case, it is necessary to secure a place in the image forming unit 20 where the board having the male connector 30 and the connector arrangement member are arranged, and the space in the image forming apparatus 1 becomes narrow. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the male connector 30 is arranged in the image forming unit 20 without providing a board having the male connector 30 or a connector arrangement member. Space becomes wider.
In the present embodiment, since the difference in distance between the centers of the plurality of male connectors 30 is small, when the frame 200 is pushed toward the back side of the image forming apparatus 1 and the male connector 30 and the female connector 40 come into contact with each other, The force pushing the image forming unit 20 is less concentrated on any one of the connectors.

[Modification]
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, It can implement with another various form. For example, the present invention may be implemented by modifying the above-described embodiment as follows. In addition, you may combine each of embodiment mentioned above and the following modifications.

  In the embodiment described above, the male connector 30 is fixed to the outer surface of the square pipe 202B, but is not limited to this configuration. The male connector 30 is inserted into the square pipe 202B from the notch 210 side, and the metal fitting 31 is fixed to the inner surface of the square pipe 202B with a screw 32, so that the metal fitting 31 and the terminal side of the male connector 30 are connected to the square pipe 202B. You may make it locate in the inside.

In the embodiment described above, the notch portion 210 is provided to draw out the bundle of electric wires connected to the male connector 30 from the square pipe 202B. It is not limited to. For example, in the frame 200, a hole penetrating from the outer surface side to the inner surface side of the square pipe 202B may be provided on the inner peripheral side of the position where the hole 211 is provided, and a bundle of electric wires may be taken out from this hole. .
Moreover, the position of the hole which takes out the bundle of electric wires is not limited to the front side of the square pipe 202B. For example, you may make it provide the hole which takes out the bundle of an electric wire in the upper surface side of the square pipe 202B.

In the embodiment described above, the male connector 30 is disposed in each of the holes 211 provided in the square pipe 202B, but is not limited to this configuration.
It is good also as a structure which arrange | positions the male connector 30 in the hole 211 of one place among the some holes 211, and the structure which arrange | positions the male connector 30 in the two holes 211. When two male connectors 30 are arranged, the male connector 30 may be arranged in the holes 211 at both ends, or the male connector 30 may be arranged in the center hole 211 and either the left or right hole 211. Good.

  Further, the number of holes 211 provided in the frame 200 is not limited to the number described above, and may be two or less or four or more. Further, the position of the hole 211 and the position of the notch 210 are not limited to the positions of the above-described embodiments, and may be other positions. Moreover, the dimension of the hole 211 and the dimension of the notch part 210 are not limited to the dimension of embodiment mentioned above, Other dimensions may be sufficient. When there are a plurality of holes 211, the dimensions of each hole 211 may be different. Moreover, also when the notch part 210 has two or more notch parts 210, each dimension may differ.

In the embodiment described above, the number of holes 211 and the number of notches 210 are the same, but the number of holes 211 and the number of notches 210 may not be the same. For example, the number of holes 211 may be greater than the number of notches 210, and the number of notches 210 may be greater than the number of holes 211.
For example, when the number of the holes 211 is three and the number of the notches 210 is one, a bundle of electric wires connected to the male connector 30 fixed at the position of each hole 211 is cut at one place. It can be pulled out from the notch 210.
Further, when the number of the holes 211 is two and the number of the notch portions 210 is three, the bundle of electric wires drawn from one male connector 30 is divided into two, and one bundle and the other bundle May be pulled out from another notch 210.

In the above-described embodiment, the female connector 40 is fixed to the plate 11, but is not limited to the configuration in which the female connector 40 is fixed to the plate 11. 14 (a) and 14 (b) are diagrams for explaining a modification according to the present invention. The plate 11 is cut in the Y-axis direction above the female connector 40, and the cross section is viewed from the upper surface side. FIG.
In this modification, the screw 42 has a first portion that fits into the screw hole 13. The screw 42 is between the screw head and the first portion, and has a second portion that is larger in diameter than the first portion and does not enter the screw hole 13. Since the screw 42 has the second portion, when the first portion is fitted to the plate 11, the second portion and the head are positioned on the back side from the plate 11. In this modification, the screw 42 is fixed to the plate 11 through the inside of the coil spring 43. Thereby, the coil spring 43 is positioned between the head of the screw 42 and the metal fitting 41.
In a state where no force is applied to the female connector 40 from the front side, the metal fitting 41 is pressed against the plate 11 by the coil spring 43 as shown in FIG. Next, when the male connector 30 comes into contact and a force is applied from the male connector 30 to the female connector 40, the female connector 40 moves to the back side and the coil spring 43 is compressed as shown in FIG. Is done.

  In the embodiment described above, the image forming apparatus 1 includes the frame 200 having the male connector 30. However, the apparatus including the frame 200 having the male connector 30 is limited to the image forming apparatus 1. is not. An apparatus different from the image forming apparatus 1 may be used as long as the apparatus includes a unit that is inserted into and removed from the frame.

In the embodiment described above, the male connector 30 is disposed on the frame 200 and the female connector 40 is disposed on the plate 11. However, the female connector 40 is disposed on the frame 200 and the male connector 30 is disposed on the plate 11. It may be.
In the above-described embodiment, the connector is disposed on the plate 11, but is not limited to this configuration. For example, in the frame 10, a square pipe may be arranged at a position facing the square pipe 202B, and the female connector 40 may be arranged on this square pipe.

  In the embodiment described above, the frame 200 is configured to move in the horizontal direction, but is not limited to this configuration. For example, the frame 200 may be arranged such that the longitudinal direction is a direction along the Z axis and the longitudinal direction moves along the Z axis.

  In the embodiment described above, the frame 200 is formed by welding a plurality of square pipes, but the configuration of the frame 200 is not limited to this configuration. For example, the frame 200 may be formed by bending a single pipe.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 10 ... Frame, 11 ... Plate, 13 ... Screw hole, 20 ... Image forming unit, 30 ... Male connector, 31 ... Metal fitting, 32 ... Screw, 40 ... Female connector, 41 ... Metal fitting, 42 ... Screw 43 ... Coil spring, 200 ... Frame, 201 ... Plate, 202A to 202D ... Square pipe, 210 ... Notch, 211 ... Hole, 212 ... Screw hole.

Claims (5)

A drawer portion that is moved in a direction to be taken out from the frame and a direction to be put in the frame and formed by a hollow tube, and has a first hole penetrating from the outer surface to the inner surface of the drawer portion on the end surface on the direction side to be put in the frame. And the drawer part which has the 2nd hole penetrated from the outer surface of the surface which meets the end face in the tube or the surface which intersects the end surface to the inner surface,
And a connector disposed through the first hole.   The said 1st hole is provided with two or more along the direction of the central axis of the said pipe | tube, The said connector is arrange | positioned in the said 1st hole predetermined according to the apparatus provided in the said drawer | drawing-out part. Connection equipment. The connection device according to claim 2, wherein the connectors are arranged in a plurality of the first holes, and the arranged connectors are arranged symmetrically from the center in the direction in which the connectors are arranged on the end surface. The said connector has the board part which fixes the said connector to the said drawer | drawing-out part on the outer surface, and the said board part is being fixed to the inner surface of the pipe | tube which forms the said drawer | drawing-out part. The connecting device according to item. A connection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The frame;
An electronic device comprising: a connector connected to the connector.

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