JP5966627B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that includes a holder that holds a plurality of photosensitive drums and that can be pulled out from an apparatus main body.

  Generally, as an image forming apparatus provided with a plurality of photosensitive drums, a plurality of photosensitive drums are integrally held and a holder configured to be able to be pulled out from the apparatus main body is provided, so that the photosensitive drums can be easily replaced. What can be done is known.

  Conventionally, as an image forming apparatus provided with such a holder, one that can position the holder with respect to the apparatus main body when the holder is mounted on the apparatus main body is known (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

  Specifically, the holder includes a pair of metal plates that sandwich and support a plurality of photosensitive drums from both sides in the axial direction of the photosensitive drums, and a positioning shaft that connects upstream ends of the pair of metal plates in the mounting direction. . Each metal plate has a notch at the downstream end in the mounting direction. When the holder is attached to the apparatus main body, the notch comes into contact with a metal reference shaft (positioning member) extending in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum provided in the apparatus main body, and the positioning shaft is connected to the apparatus main body. Is supported from below by a sheet metal frame.

JP 2007-178657 A

  However, in the above-described technique, there is a possibility that the notch portion may be worn due to the reference shaft directly contacting the notch portion while the use of the image forming apparatus is repeated. Thus, when the notch is worn, it becomes difficult to accurately position the holder with respect to the apparatus main body.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus that can suppress wear of a notch provided in a holder.

In order to achieve the above-described object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention integrally holds an apparatus main body and a plurality of photosensitive drums arranged in a predetermined arrangement direction, and an inner position and an inner position where the apparatus main body is mounted. And a holder that is movable in the arrangement direction between an outer position located outside the apparatus main body.
The apparatus main body includes a positioning member extending in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum, and the holder includes a notch portion disposed at a downstream end in the moving direction from the outer position to the inner position of the holder, and at least a part of the notch portion. And a covering member configured to contact the positioning member when the holder is located at the inner position.

  According to the image forming apparatus configured as described above, a part of the notch is protected by the covering member, so that the wear of the notch due to the contact of the positioning member can be suppressed.

In the image forming apparatus described above, the holder has a pair of side plates disposed on both sides in the axial direction of the plurality of photosensitive drums, and the notch is formed at the downstream end in the moving direction of at least one of the side plates. You may have the 1st surface mounted on a member from the top and the 2nd surface pressed by the positioning member from the said movement direction downstream when a holder is located in an inner position.
In this case, the covering member is preferably configured to cover either the first surface or the second surface.

  According to the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the cost is lower than when both the first surface and the second surface are covered.

The image forming apparatus having the first surface and the second surface with the notch described above is disposed above or below the plurality of photosensitive drums, and among the surfaces of the photosensitive drums, the highest point or the lowest point of the photosensitive drums. And an exposure member that exposes a portion in a range of less than ± 45 ° in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum.
In this case, the covering member is desirably configured to cover the first surface.

  According to the image forming apparatus configured as described above, it is possible to prevent the position of the exposure surface from changing and the size of the image from changing, thereby affecting the image formation.

  In the image forming apparatus configured such that the covering member covers the first surface, the positioning member contacts the covering member when moving the holder from the outer position to the inner position, and then the second surface. It is desirable to be comprised so that it may contact | abut.

  According to the image forming apparatus configured in this way, when the holder is mounted on the apparatus main body, the positioning member comes into contact with the notch after the impact is absorbed by the covering member, so that the wear of the notch is further suppressed. can do.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus configured such that the covering member covers the first surface, the covering member moves between a contact position in contact with the first surface and a separated position separated from the first surface. It is possible that, when the holder moves from the outer position to the inner position, it is desirable that the holder is moved from the separated position to the contact position by contacting the positioning member.

  According to the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the covering member can be brought into close contact with the first surface as compared with the case where the covering member is fixed at a position in contact with the first surface. Thereby, the positioning accuracy can be further improved.

In the image forming apparatus in which the holder includes the side plate, the positioning member may be formed of metal and grounded, and the side plate may be formed of metal.
In this case, the covering member is preferably formed of a resin.

  According to the image forming apparatus configured as described above, since the positioning member and the side plate are made of metal, the side plate can be grounded when the positioning member directly contacts the notch. And since the coating | coated member is formed with resin, it can suppress that a coating | coated member wears because a positioning member contact | abuts compared with the case where it forms with metal.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus in which the notch has the first surface and the second surface, the covering member is configured to extend to the outside in the axial direction from the first surface so as to cover the first surface. Is desirable.

  According to the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the covering member can be in contact with the positioning member over a wide area, whereby wear of the covering member can be reduced.

  And it is desirable for the said axial direction edge part of the coating | coated member comprised so that it may extend to the said axial direction outer side rather than the above-mentioned 1st surface, and it is bending toward the upper direction.

  According to this, the corners of the covering member can be rounded.

In the image forming apparatus in which the holder has a side plate, the positioning member may be formed of metal and grounded, and the side plate may be formed of resin.
In this case, the covering member is preferably made of metal and covers the second surface.

  According to the image forming apparatus configured as described above, wear of the first surface can be suppressed when the positioning member comes into contact with the first surface. Moreover, the grounding of the side plate can be ensured and the strength of the covering member can be maintained by forming the covering member from metal.

In the image forming apparatus in which the above-described holder has a pair of side plates, the notch portions may be provided on both of the pair of side plates.
In this case, the covering member is desirably provided for each of the pair of side plates.

  According to the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the positioning accuracy can be further ensured as compared with the case where the covering member is provided only on one side.

  According to the present invention, since a part of the notch portion provided in the holder is covered with the covering member, it is possible to suppress the notch portion from being worn when the positioning member abuts.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a color printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the state pulled out from the apparatus main body of the holder. It is an exploded perspective view of a holder holding a plurality of photosensitive drums. They are the perspective view (a) which shows the right end part of a rear beam, and a covering member, and the perspective view (b) which shows a covering member. It is a perspective view which shows the right side of the rear-end part of the holder which removed the side wall. It is a perspective view which shows a sheet metal frame, a shaft, and a pin. It is a figure explaining mounting | wearing to the apparatus main body, Comprising: The figure (a) which shows the state just before a shaft and a covering member contact | abut, and the 1st surface of a notch part contact | abutted to the shaft via the covering member It is a figure (b) which shows a state, and a figure (c) which shows the state where the 2nd surface of a notch contacted the shaft. It is a figure explaining the exposure range of the photosensitive drum by a scanner unit. It is the side view (a) which shows the metal plate and coating | coated member of the color printer which concern on a 1st modification, and Z arrow directional view (b) of (a). It is a side view which shows the notch part and coating | coated member of the color printer which concern on a 2nd modification.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In the following description, first, the overall configuration of the color printer 1 as an example of an image forming apparatus will be described, and then the details of the features of the present invention will be described.

  In the following description, the direction will be described with reference to the user when using the color 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”.

<Overall configuration of color printer>
As shown in FIG. 1, the color printer 1 includes an image forming unit in which a paper feeding unit 20 that supplies paper P, an image forming unit 30 that forms an image on the fed paper P, and an image are formed. And a paper discharge section 90 for discharging the paper P.

  The paper feed unit 20 includes a paper feed tray 21 that accommodates the paper P, and a paper transport mechanism 22 that transports the paper P from the paper feed tray 21 to the image forming unit 30.

  The image forming unit 30 includes a scanner unit 40 as an example of an exposure member, four process cartridges 50, a holder 100, a transfer unit 70, and a fixing unit 80.

  The scanner unit 40 is provided in an upper part of the apparatus main body 10 and includes a laser light emitting unit, a polygon mirror, a lens, a reflecting mirror, and the like (not shown). In the scanner unit 40, the laser beam is irradiated on the surface of each photosensitive drum 51 by high-speed scanning through a path indicated by a two-dot chain line in the drawing. Specifically, in this embodiment, the scanner unit 40 exposes the surface of the photosensitive drum 51 from directly above the photosensitive drum 51 (see FIG. 8).

  The process cartridge 50 is arranged in the front-rear direction (predetermined arrangement direction) above the paper supply unit 20 and includes a photosensitive drum 51, a known charger (not shown), a developing roller 53, a toner storage chamber, and the like. Has been.

The holder 100 integrally holds the four process cartridges 50. The holder 100 is configured to be movable along a conveyor belt 73 described later with respect to the apparatus main body 10. The holder 100 is accommodated in the apparatus main body 10 and positioned with respect to the apparatus main body 10 through an opening 10A (see FIG. 2) formed by opening the front cover 11 disposed on the front surface of the apparatus main body 10. It is configured to be movable between an inner position (attached to the apparatus main body 10) (position in FIG. 1) and an outer position (position in FIG. 2) located outside the apparatus main body 10 relative to the inner position. Has been.
Details of the structure around the holder 100 will be described later. In the following description, the moving direction from the outer position to the inner position of the holder 100 (direction from the front side to the rear side) is simply referred to as “mounting direction”.

  The transfer unit 70 is provided between the paper feeding unit 20 and the four process cartridges 50 and includes a driving roller 71, a driven roller 72, a transport belt 73, and a transfer roller 74.

  The driving roller 71 and the driven roller 72 are arranged in parallel in a spaced manner in the front-rear direction, and a conveyance belt 73 formed of an endless belt is stretched between them. More specifically, the driving roller 71 is disposed slightly behind the driven roller 72 behind the driven roller 72. Thereby, the conveyance belt 73 is inclined downward from the upstream side in the mounting direction to the downstream side, that is, from the front side to the rear side.

  In addition, four transfer rollers 74 that sandwich the conveyor belt 73 between the photosensitive drums 51 are arranged inside the conveyor belt 73 so as to face the photosensitive drums 51. A transfer bias is applied to the transfer roller 74 by constant current control during transfer.

  The fixing unit 80 is disposed on the rear side of the four process cartridges 50 and the transfer unit 70, and includes a heating roller 81 and a pressure roller 82 that is disposed to face the heating roller 81 and presses the heating roller 81.

  In the image forming unit 30 configured as described above, first, the surface of each photosensitive drum 51 is uniformly charged by a charger and then exposed by the scanner unit 40. As a result, the potential of the exposed portion is lowered, and an electrostatic latent image based on the image data is formed on each photosensitive drum 51. Thereafter, the toner in the toner storage chamber is supplied to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 51 by the developing roller 53, so that the toner image is carried on the photosensitive drum 51.

  Next, the paper P supplied onto the conveyance belt 73 passes between each photosensitive drum 51 and each transfer roller 74, so that the toner image formed on each photosensitive drum 51 is transferred onto the paper P. The Then, as the paper P passes between the heating roller 81 and the pressure roller 82, the toner image transferred onto the paper P is thermally fixed.

  The paper discharge unit 90 mainly includes a plurality of transport rollers 91 that transport the paper P. The sheet P on which the toner image has been transferred and heat-fixed is transported by the transport roller 91 and discharged outside the apparatus main body 10.

<Structure around holder>
Next, the structure around the holder 100 which is a characteristic part of the present invention will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 3, the holder 100 mainly includes a pair of left and right side walls 110, a front beam 120, a rear beam 130, a metal plate 140 as an example of a pair of left and right side plates, and two covering members 150. Configured.

  The front beam 120 is made of resin and connects the front ends of the pair of side walls 110. The front beam 120 has a handle 121 on the front surface (see FIG. 1). Thereby, the holder 100 can be moved between the outer position and the inner position by the user gripping the handle portion 121.

  The rear beam 130 is made of resin and connects the rear ends of the pair of side walls 110. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, the rear beam 130 includes a recess 131 in which a shaft 13 as an example of a positioning member to be described later is disposed on the rear surface when the holder 100 is in the inner position, and a recess 131 has a covering member holding portion 132 (only the right covering member holding portion 132 is shown in FIG. 4A) provided on both left and right end portions of 131.

  The recess 131 is a portion where the rear surface of the rear beam 130 is recessed forward, and has a width larger than the diameter of the shaft 13 so that the rear beam 130 does not interfere with the shaft 13 when the holder 100 is located at the inner position. Is formed.

  The covering member holding portion 132 is a portion that holds a covering member 150 to be described later so as to be movable up and down. Specifically, the covering member holding portion 132 is a groove formed on the side surface of the rear beam 130 and extends upward from the lower end of the side surface. And the covering member holding | maintenance part 132 has a pair of clamping part 132A which protruded in the front-back direction inner side at the lower end of the front-back wall surface. The distance between the pair of sandwiching portions 132A is substantially the same as the size in the front-rear direction of the extension portion 152 of the covering member 150 described later.

  Returning to FIG. 3, each metal plate 140 is disposed on the axial direction of the four (plural) photosensitive drums 51 (hereinafter simply referred to as “axial direction”), that is, on both sides in the left-right direction, and the four photosensitive drums 51. Is supported rotatably. The metal plate 140 is made of a steel plate or the like and has a shape in which the front and rear ends extend upward along the four photosensitive drums 51, and the front end and the rear end are the side walls 110 inside the pair of side walls 110. And the front beam 120 and the rear beam 130.

  A shaft, which will be described later, is disposed at an upper portion of the rear end (downstream end portion in the mounting direction) of each metal plate 140, more specifically, at a position corresponding to the recess 131 of the rear beam 130 at the rear end of each metal plate 140. A notch 141 with which 13 is engaged is formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7A, the notch 141 is formed so that the rear end of the metal plate 140 is recessed forward, and has a shape that tapers toward the front. Specifically, the notch 141 has a first surface 141A that extends substantially in the front-rear direction and a second surface 141B that slopes downward from the front toward the rear below the first surface 141A. The notch 141 is arranged on the rear side of the photosensitive drum 51 arranged on the most downstream side in the mounting direction so that the holder 100 located at the inner position is stably supported by the apparatus main body 10. Is desirable (see FIG. 1).

  The covering member 150 is made of resin, and is configured to cover the first surface 141A of the notch 141 when the holder 100 is located at the inner position. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, the covering member 150 includes a covering portion 151, an extending portion 152, and a flange portion 153.

  The covering portion 151 is formed in a flat plate shape, and the upper and lower surfaces are parallel to the first surface 141A. In addition, the width of the covering portion 151 in the axial direction is larger than the width (thickness) of the metal plate 140 in the axial direction (see FIG. 5).

The extending portion 152 is a portion that extends upward from the front end portion of the upper surface of the covering portion 151.
The flange portion 153 is a portion extending from the upper end of the extension portion 152 toward the outside in the front-rear direction.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the covering member 150 configured as described above has the covering portion 151 disposed below the first surface 141A of the notch portion 141 of the metal plate 140 (see FIG. 5). The protruding portion 152 is held by each covering member holding portion 132 of the rear beam 130 so that the protruding portion 152 is sandwiched between the pair of holding portions 132A of the rear beam 130. That is, the covering member 150 is provided for each of the pair of metal plates 140.

  Accordingly, the covering member 150 can move up and down while the extension portion 152 is sandwiched between the pair of sandwiching portions 132A, and is in contact with the first surface 141A (positions of FIGS. 7B and 7C). ) And a spaced position (position in FIG. 7A) spaced downward from the first surface 141A. Further, the cover member 150 is restricted from moving downward when the flange portion 153 engages with the upper end edges of the pair of sandwiching portions 132A.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the apparatus main body 10 includes a pair of sheet metal frames 12 made of metal, a shaft 13, and pins 14.

  The sheet metal frame 12 is disposed so as to be opposed to each other on the outer side in the axial direction than the pair of metal plates 140 of the holder 100 in a state where the holder 100 is mounted in the apparatus main body 10. A metal pin 14 (only the right pin 14 is shown) is inserted into the inner surface of the sheet metal frame 12 below the front side. The pin 14 is disposed at a position where it abuts the lower end of the front portion of the pair of metal plates 140 in a state where the holder 100 is mounted on the apparatus main body 10.

  The shaft 13 is a metal shaft extending in the left-right direction. The shaft 13 connects the pair of sheet metal frames 12 by being inserted into holes shown by omitting the reference numerals of the pair of sheet metal frames 12. The shaft 13 is grounded by a ground member (not shown).

Next, a method for positioning the holder 100 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the user opens the front cover 11 and inserts the holder 100 into the apparatus main body 10 along the conveyor belt 73, the conveyor belt 73 moves from the upstream side to the downstream side in the mounting direction. Accordingly, the holder 100 is mounted while being pulled backward by its own weight.

  When the holder 100 is attached to the apparatus main body 10, the shaft 13 in the apparatus main body 10 engages with the notch 141 of the holder 100.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the holder 100 moves to the near side of the inner position, the notch 141 approaches the shaft 13 from the upper front side. From this state, first, as shown in FIG. 7B, the shaft 13 comes into contact with the lower surface (covering member 150) of the covering portion 151, so that the covering member 150 moves upward with respect to the metal plate 140. Thus, the upper surface of the covering portion 151 contacts the first surface 141A of the notch portion 141. Thus, when the first surface 141A is placed on the shaft 13 with the covering portion 151 of the covering member 150 sandwiched from above, the holder 100 is restricted from moving downward by its own weight, and the holder 100 is positioned in the vertical direction. Is done.

  When the holder 100 further moves in the mounting direction and is positioned at the inner position, as shown in FIG. 7C, the shaft 13 comes into contact with the second surface 141 </ b> B of the notch 141 from an obliquely upper side on the downstream side in the mounting direction. . As a result, the second surface 141B is pressed against the shaft 13 from the downstream side in the mounting direction, so that the holder 100 is restricted from moving toward the downstream side in the mounting direction due to its own weight, and the holder 100 is positioned in the front-rear direction. Further, since the notch 141 abuts the shaft 13 so as to sandwich the shaft 13 from above and below, the holder 100 is prevented from rattling up and down.

  Moreover, while the notch part 141 engages with the shaft 13, the pin 14 contacts the front part of a pair of metal plates 140 of the holder 100 as shown in FIG. Specifically, the pin 14 abuts the lower end of the metal plate 140 from the lower side upstream of the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum 51 disposed on the most upstream side in the mounting direction from the lower side of the holder 100. Supporting the department. By supporting the front portion of the holder 100 in this way, it is possible to prevent the holder 100 from rotating about the shaft 13, so that the holder 100 is held at a stably positioned position.

  By positioning the holder 100 with respect to the apparatus main body 10 in this way, the position of the photosensitive drum 51 supported by the holder 100 with respect to the apparatus main body 10 is determined, and the scanner unit 40 exposes the surface of the photosensitive drum 51. be able to.

  Here, since the scanner unit 40 exposes the surface 51A of the photosensitive drum 51 from directly above as shown in FIG. 8, if the photosensitive drum 51 moves in the vertical direction, the size of the image is likely to change. . However, since the first surface 141A of the notch 141 is covered with the covering member 150 as in the present embodiment, the first surface 141A is less likely to be worn and the vertical position of the photosensitive drum 51 is less likely to change. . From this point of view, when the upper or lower portion of the surface 51A of the photosensitive drum 51 is exposed, the size of the image is easily changed by the vertical movement of the photosensitive drum 51 as in the present embodiment. In such a case, it is preferable to cover the first surface 141A. The upper or lower portion of the surface 51A of the photosensitive drum 51 is defined by the angle α formed by the tangent plane with respect to the vertical plane V passing through the rotation axis 51B of the photosensitive drum 51 in the surface 51A of the photosensitive drum 51. , 45 ° to 90 °, that is, a portion of the surface 51A of the photosensitive drum 51 that is within a range of less than ± 45 ° in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 51 from the uppermost point or the lowermost point of the photosensitive drum 51. is there.

  Further, when the holder 100 is mounted on the apparatus main body 10, the notch 141 (specifically, the second surface 141 </ b> B) of the metal plate 140 directly contacts the grounded shaft 13, so that the photosensitive drum 51 is supported. The metal plate 140 can be grounded.

According to the above, the following effects can be obtained in the present embodiment.
Since the first surface 141A of the notch 141 is protected by the covering member 150, the first surface 141A (the notch 141) can be prevented from being worn by the shaft 13 coming into contact therewith.

  Since the covering member 150 covers the first surface 141A for positioning the holder 100 in the vertical direction of the notch 141, the position of the exposure surface of the photosensitive drum 51 changes and the size of the image changes. Thus, it is possible to suppress the influence on image formation.

  In addition, since the covering member 150 covers only the first surface 141A of the notch portion 141, the cost is lower than when covering both the first surface 141A and the second surface 141B.

  When the shaft 13 moves the holder 100 in the mounting direction, the shaft 13 comes into contact with the second surface 141B after coming into contact with the covering member 150. Therefore, the shaft 13 is notched after the impact is absorbed by the covering member 150. It abuts on the part 141. Thereby, abrasion of the notch part 141 can be suppressed more.

  Further, since the covering member 150 moves from the separated position to the contact position by contacting the shaft 13 when the holder 100 moves in the mounting direction, the covering member 150 is fixed at a position where the covering member 150 contacts the first surface 141A. Compared with the case where it is provided, the covering member 150 can be adhered to the first surface 141A. Thereby, the positioning accuracy of the holder 100 can be ensured.

  And since the covering member 150 is formed with resin, it can suppress that the covering member 150 wears because the shaft 13 contact | abuts compared with the case where it forms with metal.

  Moreover, since the notch part 141 is provided in both of a pair of metal plates 140, and the coating | coated member 150 is provided with respect to each of a pair of metal plates 140, compared with the case where the coating | coated member 150 is provided only in one side. Therefore, the positioning accuracy can be ensured.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. About a concrete structure, it can change suitably in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention.

  In the embodiment, the pair of metal plates 140 (side plates) are formed of metal and the covering member 150 is formed of resin. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, both the pair of side plates and the covering member may be formed of metal, the pair of side plates may be formed of resin, and the covering member may be formed of metal.

  Specifically, the case where both the pair of side plates and the covering member are made of metal will be described. As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the covering member 250 is made of a single thin metal plate. It is comprised from the leaf | plate spring formed by bending.

  Specifically, the covering member 250 extends to the outer side in the axial direction from the first surface 141A, and the outer end in the axial direction is bent upward, and the inner end in the left-right direction of the covering 251 And a locking portion 252 extending toward the outside in the left-right direction. That is, the axial end of the covering portion 251 is bent upward, and the corners of the covering portion 251 can be rounded.

  The covering member 250 is held by the rear beam 130 by the engaging portion 252 being hooked on a portion of the rear beam 130 adjacent to the metal plate 140. Further, in the state where the shaft 13 is not in contact with the covering member 250, the covering portion 251 is separated from the first surface 141 </ b> A, and when the shaft 13 comes into contact, the locking portion 252 is bent and the covering portion 251 is bent. Is in close contact with the first surface 141A.

  By configuring the covering member 250 in this manner, the covering member 250 comes into contact with the shaft 13 over a wide area, so that wear of the covering member 250 can be reduced. In addition, when the metal plate 140 is formed by sheet metal processing, even if there is a burr on the edge of the notch 141, the burr can be covered with the covering unit 251.

  Next, the case where the pair of side plates are formed of resin and the covering member is formed of metal will be described. As shown in FIG. A notch 341 having a first surface 341A and a second surface 341B having the same shape as that of FIG. The covering member 350 is made of metal and is provided so as to cover the second surface 341B.

  As described above, the pair of side plates 340 are formed of resin, and the covering member 350 is formed of metal, thereby suppressing wear of the first surface 341A when the shaft 13 contacts the first surface 341A. Can do. Moreover, since the covering member 350 is a metal, the grounding of the side plate 340 can be ensured and the strength of the covering member 350 can be maintained.

  In the embodiment, the second surface 141B of the notch 141 is formed so as to incline downward from the front toward the rear, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the second surface is Any configuration may be used as long as the holder 100 can be positioned in the front-rear direction by being pressed against the shaft 13 from the downstream side in the mounting direction. Specifically, the second surface may be a surface extending in a substantially vertical direction in contact with the shaft 13 from the front.

  In the embodiment, the scanner unit 40 is disposed above the plurality of photosensitive drums 51. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the scanner unit is disposed below the plurality of photosensitive drums. May be.

  In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the color printer 1. 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.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Color printer 10 Apparatus main body 13 Shaft 40 Scanner unit 51 Photosensitive drum 51A Surface 51B Rotation axis 100 Holder 140 Metal plate 141 Notch part 141A 1st surface 141B 2nd surface 150 Covering member V Vertical surface

Claims (9)

The device body;
A plurality of photosensitive drums arranged in a predetermined arrangement direction are integrally held, and an interval between an inner position where the photosensitive drum is attached to the apparatus main body and an outer position located outside the apparatus main body with respect to the inner position is A holder that is movable along the arrangement direction,
The apparatus main body has a positioning member extending in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum,
The holder covers at least a part of the cutout portion disposed at the downstream end in the moving direction from the outer position to the inner position of the holder, and the holder is located at the inner position. It possesses the positioning member and the covering member configured to abut,
The holder has a pair of side plates disposed on both sides in the axial direction of the plurality of photosensitive drums,
The notch is
Formed at the downstream end of the moving direction of at least one of the side plates,
A first surface mounted on the positioning member from above, and a second surface pressed against the positioning member from the downstream side in the movement direction when the holder is located at the inner position;
The covering member covers either the first surface or the second surface, and the first surface or the second surface covered when the holder is at the inner position, and the positioning member An image forming apparatus configured to be sandwiched. The covering member covers the first surface;
The positioning member, when moving the holder from the outer position to the inner position, after the covering member abuts, claim 1, characterized in that it is configured so as to be in contact with the second surface The image forming apparatus described in 1. The device body;
A plurality of photosensitive drums arranged in a predetermined arrangement direction are integrally held, and an interval between an inner position where the photosensitive drum is attached to the apparatus main body and an outer position located outside the apparatus main body with respect to the inner position is A holder that is movable along the arrangement direction,
The apparatus main body has a positioning member extending in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum,
The holder covers at least a part of the cutout portion disposed at the downstream end in the moving direction from the outer position to the inner position of the holder, and the holder is located at the inner position. It possesses the positioning member and the covering member configured to abut,
The holder has a pair of side plates disposed on both sides in the axial direction of the plurality of photosensitive drums,
The notch is
Formed at the downstream end of the moving direction of at least one of the side plates,
A first surface mounted on the positioning member from above, and a second surface pressed against the positioning member from the downstream side in the movement direction when the holder is located at the inner position;
The covering member is
Configured to cover the first surface;
It is possible to move between a contact position that contacts the first surface and a separation position that is separated from the first surface,
An image forming apparatus configured to move from the separated position to the contact position by contacting the positioning member when the holder moves from the outer position to the inner position. The device body;
A plurality of photosensitive drums arranged in a predetermined arrangement direction are integrally held, and an interval between an inner position where the photosensitive drum is attached to the apparatus main body and an outer position located outside the apparatus main body with respect to the inner position is A holder that is movable along the arrangement direction,
The apparatus main body has a positioning member extending in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum,
The holder covers at least a part of the cutout portion disposed at the downstream end in the moving direction from the outer position to the inner position of the holder, and the holder is located at the inner position. It possesses the positioning member and the covering member configured to abut,
The holder has a pair of side plates disposed on both sides in the axial direction of the plurality of photosensitive drums,
The notch is
Formed at the downstream end of the moving direction of at least one of the side plates,
A first surface mounted on the positioning member from above, and a second surface pressed against the positioning member from the downstream side in the movement direction when the holder is located at the inner position;
The image forming apparatus, wherein the covering member covers the first surface and extends to the outside in the axial direction with respect to the first surface. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the end portion in the axial direction of the covering member is bent upward. Exposing the plurality of photosensitive drums from directly above or directly below , a portion of the surface of the photosensitive drum that is within a range of less than ± 45 ° from the highest point or lowest point of the photosensitive drum in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum An exposure member for exposing
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the covering member is configured to cover the first surface. The positioning member is made of metal and grounded;
The side plate is made of metal,
The covering member, the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it is formed of a resin. The covering member, the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that covers the second surface. The notch is provided on both the pair of side plates,
The covering member, the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that provided for each of the pair of side plates.

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