JP6026043B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which an image forming unit that performs a predetermined image forming process based on image information read by the image reading unit is provided below an image reading unit that reads image information of a document. In particular, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that makes it easy to visually recognize paper discharged to a paper discharge unit.

  Conventionally, an image forming apparatus as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 is known. These image forming apparatuses are so-called copying machines, and are formed in an image forming unit main body having an image forming unit and a paper storage unit therein and stacked on the upper part of the image forming unit main body. And an image reading apparatus main body having an image reading unit for reading a document image. The image forming unit main body and the image reading unit main body form an apparatus main body.

  In these image forming apparatuses, contact glass is fitted into the upper surface opening of the image reading unit main body. An automatic document feeder for feeding documents one by one from a bundle of documents placed on the document tray toward the contact glass is provided. The original supplied on the contact glass by the automatic original supply device is conveyed, and the original image on the original surface is read by the image reading unit. The document from which the document image is read is discharged to a document discharge tray (a discharge tray 52 in Patent Document 1 and a document discharge tray 31 in Patent Document 2) provided above the contact glass.

  The document discharge tray of Patent Document 1 is set to a dark color so that the brightness difference is 2.0 compared to the brightness of the document. By discharging the document to the document discharge tray having such a brightness difference, the document can be easily viewed even from a distance, and the workability of the copying operation can be improved.

  On the other hand, the document discharge tray of Patent Document 2 includes a plurality of ribs extending in the document transport direction on the document discharge tray. Since the document discharged onto the document discharge tray by the ribs is slightly lifted without coming into close contact with the document discharge tray, the lifted document can be easily seen from a distance, and the copying operation can be performed. Workability can be improved.

JP 2004-10333 A JP 2006-52077 A

  By the way, in the image forming apparatus of Patent Document 1, only the color of the document discharge tray is darker than the color of the document as a whole. The problem is that it is difficult to reach out to the discharged document accurately.

  In the image forming apparatus of Patent Document 2, since the rib is provided only on the document discharge tray, the document is easily visually recognized when the line of sight is matched with the height level of the discharge surface of the document discharge tray. However, depending on the position of the line of sight, it is not known that the document is raised, and the rib effect is not utilized.

  The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems, and provides an image forming apparatus capable of improving the visibility of paper discharged onto a discharge tray as compared with the conventional case. It is an object.

  An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes an image reading unit main body that includes an image reading unit that reads image information of an original, and a first image forming unit that is disposed below the image reading unit main body and is erected in the left-right direction. An image forming unit comprising a front surface portion and a pair of first side surface portions erected in the front-rear direction, and including an image forming portion that performs a predetermined image forming process based on image information read by the image reading portion A main body, a left end portion erected in the front-rear direction, and a right end portion erected in the front-rear direction, and a connecting portion that connects the image reading unit main body and the image forming unit main body in the vertical direction; Disposed between the image reading unit main body and the image forming unit main body, formed between the left end and the right end, and subjected to a printing process by an image forming process in the image forming unit. And a paper discharge unit for receiving the discharged paper. The section is darkly colored as a whole, extends in the left-right direction on the front edge side of the paper discharge section, further includes a light-colored band colored in a strip shape, and the left-right direction of the light-colored band Both end portions of the connecting portion are inclined and extended rearward, and the left end portion and the front portion of the right end portion that are erected in the front-rear direction among the connecting portions are colored in the dark color, The dark colored area of the front portion and the dark colored area of the paper discharge unit are continuous, and in the first front surface portion of the image forming unit main body, below the paper discharge unit. And a manual feed tray that is openable and closable, and the upper end of the manual feed tray is arranged to extend in the left-right direction along the front edge of the paper discharge unit, and the center of the upper end of the manual feed tray in the left-right direction. The part has a notch that has a shape that is notched downward. And butterflies.

  According to this configuration, the paper on which the image forming process has been performed by the image forming unit is discharged to the paper discharge unit. Since the entire discharge section is colored in a dark color, the discharged white sheet is easily visually recognized by contrast with the dark color of the discharge section.

  In addition to this, since a light-colored belt colored in a strip shape is formed on the periphery of the paper discharge unit, the area where paper is discharged in the paper discharge unit colored in dark color is the light color. It is in an extremely emphasized state surrounded by a belt, and the edge of the paper discharge unit is clearly recognized. Accordingly, the paper discharged to the paper discharge unit becomes very easy to see as if it floated in the dark part of the paper discharge unit, and it is easy to take it out using the light color band as a guide.

  In the above configuration, of the left end portion erected in the front-rear direction of the connecting portion and the front portion of the right end portion, the inner surface facing the paper discharge portion is all colored in the dark color. It is desirable that

  Further, in the above configuration, the image reading unit main body is erected in the front-rear direction above the first front surface part and the second front surface part erected in the left-right direction above the first front surface part. A pair of second side surface portions, and upper and lower ends of the second front surface portion and a front portion of the pair of second side surface portions above an area extending toward the rear side of the light color belt. A pair of inclined surfaces to be connected, and the left inclined surface of the pair of inclined surfaces as viewed from the front is a surface facing a substantially intermediate direction between the front and the left, of the pair of inclined surfaces The inclined surface on the right side when viewed from the front is preferably a surface facing a substantially intermediate direction between the front and the right.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, since the entire paper discharge unit is colored in a dark color, the discharged white sheet can be easily discharged due to the contrast with the dark color of the paper discharge unit. And it can be visually recognized with certainty. Specifically, for example, when the paper discharge unit is viewed from a position slightly separated from the image forming apparatus, it is not possible to clearly see whether or not the paper is discharged to the paper discharge unit. It is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of inconvenience that the workability is reduced.

  In addition, since a light-colored belt colored in a strip shape is formed on the periphery of the paper discharge unit, the region where paper is discharged in the dark-colored paper discharge unit is the light color belt. By being surrounded and extremely emphasized, the edge of the paper discharge unit can be clearly recognized. Therefore, the paper discharged to the paper discharge unit becomes very easy to see as if it floated in the dark part of the paper discharge unit. It is possible to make it very easy to take out.

  Further, even when the space where the image forming apparatus is installed is in a dim state or when the user is a person with low vision, the dark color of the paper discharge unit and the bright color of the periphery It is possible to easily recognize the arrangement state of the image forming apparatus with the color contrast, and to effectively prevent an erroneous operation related to the image forming process.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A illustrates a state where a document pressing member is closed, and FIG. 1B illustrates a state where a document pressing member is opened. Each is shown. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIA-IIA in FIG. 1A, and a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIB-IIB in FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows one Embodiment of a storage structure. FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of the storage structure shown in FIG. 3. It is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a front frame frame. It is a front view which shows the state in which the image forming apparatus is installed between other apparatuses. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a paper discharge unit for explaining a color contrast between a paper discharge unit, a sheet discharged to the paper discharge unit, and a belt-like bright color band. FIG. 8A is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a front cover provided in place of the front frame, where FIG. 8A shows a state in which the paper discharge tray and the front cover are closed, and FIG. 8B shows a paper discharge tray. And the state where the front cover is opened.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present invention. FIG. 1A shows a state in which a document pressing member 13 is closed, and FIG. 1B shows a document pressing member. 13 shows the opened state. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along line IIA-IIA in FIG. 1A, and a line IIB-IIB in FIG. It is sectional drawing. 1 and 2, the X-X direction is referred to as the width direction (left-right direction), the Y-Y direction is referred to as the front-rear direction, and in particular, the -X direction is leftward, the + X direction is rightward, and the -Y direction is frontward. The + Y direction is referred to as the rear.

  As shown in these drawings, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a document reading unit 20 that reads an image formed on a document, an image forming unit 30 provided below the document reading unit 20, and the document reading unit 20. An operation unit 40 provided at a portion projecting forward from the front position of the paper, and a paper discharge unit 50 from which the printed paper P is discharged by the image forming unit 30 performing image forming processing. It has the basic composition provided with.

  The image forming apparatus 10 is formed by interior of the respective parts in a predetermined housing 11. The casing 11 includes an image reading section casing (image reading section main body) 12 having a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape for housing an optical system unit 23 described later, which is a component of the document reading section 20, and the image reading section. An original document pressing member 13 which is stacked on the upper part of the document housing 12 so as to be openable and closable, an automatic document supply unit housing 14 which includes a document automatic supply unit 21 which will be described later formed on the document pressing member 13, and image formation An image forming unit housing (image forming unit main body) 15 formed below the image reading unit housing 12 is provided to house the unit 30. The automatic document feeder housing 14 is provided at a substantially left half position of the document pressing member 13.

  Between the image reading unit housing 12 and the image forming unit housing 15, there is provided a connecting unit 16 having a U shape in a plan view in a state where three sides are surrounded except for the front. In the present embodiment, the connecting portion 16 is formed by extending three sides excluding the front of the image forming unit casing 15 upward. The paper discharge unit 50 is formed between the automatic document supply unit housing 14 and the image forming unit housing 15 via the connecting unit 16. Accordingly, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is referred to as an in-body discharge type.

  In this embodiment, the conveyance direction of the original P1 in the original reading unit 20 and the conveyance direction of the paper P in the image forming unit 30 are set so as to be orthogonal to each other. Specifically, as indicated by a two-dot chain line arrow in FIG. 1A, the document P1 is conveyed in the left-right direction, while the paper P is conveyed in the front-rear direction.

  This is done for the following reason. That is, when the user places the document P1 on the document tray 22 at the top of the casing 11, the placement state (particularly whether or not the leading end of the document bundle is surely positioned at the mounting position) is visually recognized. Is more convenient when the document P1 is oriented sideways as viewed from the user. On the other hand, in the case of the in-body discharge type paper discharge unit 50, it is convenient for the paper P to be discharged toward the user to pull out the bundle of the paper P from the paper discharge unit 50. In order to satisfy both of these conditions, in the present embodiment, the transport direction of the paper P and the transport direction of the paper P are orthogonal.

  The document reading unit 20 is an automatic document supply unit on which an automatic document supply unit 21 that automatically supplies a document to a predetermined image reading position and a bundle of documents P1 to be supplied to the automatic document supply unit 21 are placed. A document tray 22 extending obliquely upward from the right side opening of the unit 21 to the right, and an optical system unit 23 for optically reading a document image from each document supplied by the automatic document supply unit 21. It has.

  The image reading unit housing 12 is fitted with a contact glass 24 for bringing the image forming surface of the document into contact with a rectangular upper opening. As shown in FIG. 1B, the contact glass 24 is arranged on the left side of the placed original glass 241 that substantially covers the center of the upper surface of the image reading unit housing 12 and the placed original glass 241. And an automatically fed document glass 242 elongated in the front-rear direction.

  On the other hand, the document pressing member 13 is connected at its rear edge to the upper surface of the rear edge of the image reading unit housing 12 via a pair of left and right hinge members 131 and rotates forward and backward about each hinge shaft 132. Thus, the posture can be changed between a closed posture (see FIG. 1A) where the contact glass 24 is closed and an open posture (see FIG. 1B) where the contact glass 24 is opened.

  For example, when reading a document image of a thick document P1 such as a book document, the document P1 is placed on the document glass 241 so that the document surface is in close contact with the document pressing member 13 open. Thereafter, an original image is read by the optical system unit 23 in a state where the original pressing member 13 is closed.

  On the other hand, when reading the original image of each original P1 from the bundle of originals P1 made of sheet paper, the original bundle is in the state where the original pressing member 13 is set to the closed posture (FIG. 1A). It is placed on the tray 22 and the start button 43 is pushed in this state. As a result, the original P1 is fed out from the original bundle on the original tray 22 one by one toward the automatic paper supply original glass 242 by a predetermined operation of the automatic original supply unit 21, and the original surface is on the automatic paper supply original glass 242. The original image is read by the optical system unit 23 when passing through.

  Hereinafter, the optical system unit 23 will be described with reference to FIG. The optical system unit 23 is a so-called CCD (charge coupled device) moving type, and includes a moving frame 230 that moves in the left-right direction, an irradiation lamp 231 that is built in the moving frame 230, and the irradiation lamp. From a plurality of reflection mirrors 232 that further reflect the reflected light from the document surface of the light emitted from 231, the lens unit 234 that adjusts the focal length by collecting the reflected light from these reflection mirrors 232, and the lens unit 234 And a CCD image sensor 235 for converting image information from the incident light into an electrical signal. The irradiation lamp 231 is provided in an upper part of the moving frame 230 at a position slightly to the right of the center position in the left-right direction.

  The reflection mirror 232 is provided at the right half position in the movable frame 230, and the first mirror 232a that receives and reflects the reflected light from the original P1 of the light irradiated by the irradiation lamp 231 first, and the first mirror 232a. Three mirrors are used: a second mirror 232b that receives and reflects the reflected light from the mirror 232a, and a third mirror 232c that further reflects the reflected light from the second mirror 232b and enters the lens unit 234. . The third mirror 232c is formed by a concave mirror in particular, and the lens unit 234 is positioned at the focal position.

  The lens unit 234 is provided at a substantially central position of the image reading unit housing 12, and the CCD image sensor 235 is provided at a substantially central position in the front-rear direction and immediately to the left of the lens unit 234. The light condensed by the lens unit 234 is output to the CCD image sensor 235 as it is. Then, the CCD image sensor 235 receiving the light from the lens unit 234 converts the light into an electric signal corresponding to the intensity and digitizes it, and then exposes the image forming unit 30 via a predetermined storage device. Output to the device 315.

  In the optical system unit 23, a moving mechanism 25 for moving the moving frame 230 is provided. The moving mechanism 25 includes a drive motor 251 installed on the bottom plate 121 at the right end in the image reading unit housing 12, a gear mechanism 252 that transmits the driving force of the drive motor 251 in a decelerated state, and the gear A driving pulley 253 to which the driving force of the driving motor 251 is transmitted via the mechanism 252, a driven pulley 254 disposed opposite to the driving pulley 253 at the left end position of the bottom plate 121, and between the driven pulley 254 and the driving pulley 253. And a scanner belt 255 stretched around. A part of the scanner belt 255 is fixed at an appropriate position of the moving frame 230 of the optical system unit 23.

  According to the moving mechanism 25, by driving the drive motor 251 forward and reverse, this drive is transmitted to the drive pulley 253 in a decelerated state via the gear mechanism 252, whereby the drive pulley 253 and the driven pulley of the scanner belt 255 are driven. The optical system unit 23 fixed to the scanner belt 255 is moved forward and backward by the circulation between the 254.

  Accordingly, when reading the document surface of the document P1 placed on the placed document glass 241, the moving frame 230 is rotated around the scanner belt 255 by the drive motor 251 so that the moving frame 230 is positioned at the left end in the image reading unit housing 12. The image of the document P1 on the placed document glass 241 is scanned with the light from the irradiation lamp 231 while being moved rightward from the unit (home position), and the CCD image sensor 235 is reflected via reflected light by the scanning. Is input to read the original image.

  On the other hand, when the original P1 is automatically fed out one by one from the bundle of originals P1 placed on the original tray 22 and the image of each original P1 is read, first, the moving frame 230 stops at the home position. Will be left. In this state, the automatic document feeder 21 is driven to feed the originals P1 one by one from the original bundle, and the irradiation lamp 231 is set at the timing when the original surface of the original P1 faces the automatic paper supply original glass 242. Illuminated. Then, when the document surface sequentially passes through the automatic paper feeding document glass 242, the document image is read by the CCD image sensor 235 with the reflected light of the light from the irradiation lamp 231.

  Next, the outline of the image forming unit 30 will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming unit 30 includes a transfer unit 31 that transfers a document image read by the document reading unit 20 to a sheet as a toner image, a fixing unit 32 that fixes a toner image of the sheet transferred by the transfer unit 31, and A sheet storage section 33 that stores sheets fed toward the transfer section 31 is formed in the image forming section casing 15 having a box shape.

  The transfer unit 31 includes a photosensitive drum 311 in which an electrostatic image and a toner image are sequentially formed on the peripheral surface, a registration roller pair 312 that feeds paper to the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 311 at a timing, and a photosensitive member. A developing unit 313 for supplying toner to the peripheral surface of the drum 311;

  Then, on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 311 that is uniformly charged by the charger 314 while rotating around the axis, an image of the original that is read by scanning with the optical system unit 23 and stored in the storage device Laser light based on information is emitted from the exposure device 315, whereby electrostatic images are sequentially formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 311, and the electrostatic image is developed from the developing device 313 on the downstream side of the scanning light irradiation position. Is supplied, a toner image is formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 311. The toner image on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 311 is transferred to the paper P fed through the registration roller pair 312.

  The fixing unit 32 performs a fixing process on the transfer image of the paper P on which the toner image is transferred by the photosensitive drum 311 in the transfer unit 31. The fixing unit 32 includes a fixing roller 321 in which an energizing heating element such as a halogen lamp is internally provided, and a pressure roller 322 arranged to face the fixing roller 321 at a lower portion.

  Then, the sheet P conveyed from the transfer unit 31 by the driving rotation of the photosensitive drum 311 is fed between the fixing roller 321 and the pressure roller 322, and is heated by the fixing roller 321 so that a toner image is formed. It is fixed on the paper P. The paper P that has passed through the fixing unit 32 passes through a carry-out path 34 provided at the most downstream end, and is discharged from the paper discharge port 35 toward the paper discharge unit 50.

  The paper storage unit 33 includes a paper cassette 331 that is detachably attached to the image forming unit housing 15, and one end of the paper cassette 331 (the front end in the example shown in FIG. 2B). And a pickup roller 332 provided corresponding to the above. By the rotation of the pickup roller 332, the uppermost one of the bundles of sheets P loaded in the sheet cassette 331 is sequentially fed out and fed toward the transfer unit 31.

  Then, the paper P led out from the paper cassette 331 via the pickup roller 332 is conveyed via the registration roller pair 312, and the toner image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 311 is transferred to the paper P. Subsequently, the fixing unit 32 fixes the toner image. After the heat fixing process by the roller 321, the paper is discharged from the paper discharge port 35 to the paper discharge tray 51 of the paper discharge unit 50 through the carry-out path 34.

  In addition, a paper manual feed unit 60 is provided at a front position of the image forming unit housing 15. The manual paper feed unit 60 includes an openable and closable manual feed tray 61 and a pickup roller 62 that takes in the paper P placed on the open manual feed tray 61 and feeds the paper P toward the transfer unit 31.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the operation unit 40 includes an operation unit case 41 formed by projecting the front edge portion of the image reading unit case 12 toward the front, and the operation unit case. An operation panel 42 formed on the upper surface of the body 41 is provided. The operation panel 42 is provided with operation members such as a start button 43, various operation buttons 44, and a display 45 including a (Liquid crystal display) LCD for displaying various information for image formation on the screen. A specific image forming process is executed by operating or visually recognizing these operation members.

  Hereinafter, the storage structure 70, the front inverted triangular wall 76 (triangular plate portion), and the front frame 80 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 as necessary based on FIGS. 3 to 5. 3 and 4 are perspective views showing an embodiment of the storage structure 70, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view, and FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the front frame 80. 3 to 5 are the same as those in FIG. 1 (X is the left-right direction (-X: leftward, + X: rightward), Y is the front-rear direction (-Y: forward, + Y: backward)).

  First, the storage structure 70 according to the present embodiment utilizes the fact that the horizontal width dimension of the image reading unit casing 12 is larger than the horizontal width dimension of the image forming unit casing 15 as shown in FIG. Is formed. In other words, if the image reading unit housing 12 is longer in the left-right direction than the image forming unit housing 15, the center of the image reading unit housing 12 is overlapped on the upper surface of the image forming unit housing 15. In the combined state, as shown in FIG. 3, the edge of the image reading unit housing 12 extends from the left and right edges of the image forming unit housing 15 (however, only the left edge is shown in FIG. 3). It becomes the protrusion edge part 122 protruded toward outward.

  Accordingly, the article interferes with others on the inner side of the surface (planar or curved surface) S connecting the leading edge of the protruding edge 122 and the left and right lower edges 151 of the lower end of the image forming unit housing 15. A marginal space V that can be properly stored without being formed is formed. And the storage structure 70 which can store various articles | goods using this margin space V is formed in this invention.

  In the present embodiment, the storage structure 70 includes a cover body (exterior plate) 71 along the surface S attached to the left frame plate 152 of the image forming unit housing 15, as shown in FIG. A storage door 72 attached to the cover body 71 so as to be openable and closable is provided.

  The cover body 71 includes a front inverted triangular wall (triangular plate portion) 76 having an inverted triangular shape, a rear inverted triangular wall 712 facing the front inverted triangular wall 76 at the rear, and the inverted triangular walls 76 and 712 before and after these. A left wall 713 provided between the left edges. The front and rear inverted triangular walls 76 and 712 are shaped so that the left wall 713 is along the surface S. A cover body 71 ′ (FIG. 2) similar to the cover body 71 is provided on the right surface of the image forming unit housing 15, but the storage door 72 is not provided on the cover body 71. Therefore, no storage portion is provided in the right cover body 71 '.

  The rear inverted triangular wall 712 is set so as to extend straight in the left-right direction with its surface extending straight up and down, whereas the front inverted triangular wall 76 has its upper edge (cover) The upper and lower front corners of the bodies 71 and 71 'are notched obliquely and the notched edges 76a) are slanted in both the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, and the outer surface side is front and left. It is set so as to face in the substantially middle direction with respect to the direction, and further, the shape is set so as to go forward as it goes downward (that is, the corner portion of the upper front portion is notched obliquely). .

  A ceiling wall 714 is installed between the upper edge portions of the front and rear inverted triangular walls 76 and 712. The ceiling wall 714 includes an upper ceiling wall 714a corresponding to the upper edge of the left wall 713, a lower ceiling wall 714b corresponding to the upper edge of the front inverted triangular wall 76, a front edge of the upper ceiling wall 714a, and The vertical wall 714c is constructed between the rear edges of the lower ceiling wall 714b. The reason why the ceiling wall 714 is formed in such a staircase shape is to correspond to the shape of the other side (that is, the image reading unit housing 12 and the image forming unit housing 15) to which the storage structure 70 is attached. .

  And in this embodiment, the accommodating part 73 for accommodating the articles | goods formed by denting the approximate center position of the left wall 713 toward right is provided. The storage portion 73 includes a bottom plate 731 extending in the front-rear direction, a pair of front and rear side plates 732 having a reverse trapezoidal shape, a top plate 733 installed between upper edges of the pair of side plates 732, It is formed by a space surrounded by a side plate 732 and a back plate 734 installed between the right edges of the top plate 733.

  On the other hand, the left frame plate 152 of the image forming unit housing 15 is provided with a vent 153 at a position corresponding to the fixing unit 32, and a fan device 150 is attached to the vent 153. A louver 74 is provided on the left wall 713 of the cover body 71 at a position corresponding to the fan device 150 of the left frame plate 152 at the upper rear side. Then, the airflow after the cooling process is performed on the fixing unit 32 is exhausted to the outside through the vent 153 and the louver 74 by driving the fan device 150.

  Further, a handle recess 75 into which a fingertip can be inserted is provided at a position above the central portion in the front-rear direction of the left wall 713. In the present embodiment, a cover body 71 ′ (FIG. 2) having the same external shape corresponding to the cover body 71 of the storage structure 70 is provided on the right side of the image forming unit housing 15. The cover body 71 ′ is not provided with the storage portion 73 or the louver 74, but is provided with a handle recess 75 ′ corresponding to the handle recess 75.

  When lifting and carrying the pair of handle recesses 75, 75 ′, the fingers of both hands are inserted, whereby the image forming apparatus 10 can be easily lifted. This prevents the image reading unit casing 12 from being lifted directly, so that the image reading unit casing 12 in which the precision device is installed is not deformed, and the precision caused by the deformation of the image reading unit casing 12 is not affected. It is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of inconvenience that the image reading process cannot be performed properly due to the device error.

  The front inverted triangular wall 76 is provided with a half-moon notch 761 at an upper position on the front edge thereof. The half-moon-shaped notch 761 is used to insert a finger when opening / closing a front frame 80 described later of the image forming unit housing 15 in a state where the storage structure 70 is assembled to the image forming unit housing 15. belongs to. The half-moon notch 761 can also serve as a vent.

  Further, the front inverted triangular wall 76 has three through holes 762 provided in series in the vertical direction at the front edge thereof. On the other hand, screw holes 154 are screwed at positions corresponding to the through holes 762 in the front edge portion of the left frame plate 152 of the image forming unit casing 15. Then, with the cover body 71 overlapped with the left frame plate 152, the bolt 77 is inserted into the through hole 762, and is screwed into the screw hole 154 of the left frame plate 152 via the hanging column 82 of the front frame frame 80 described later. By fastening, the cover body 71 is attached to the image forming unit housing 15 via the front frame 80.

  The cover body 71 is provided with through holes in various places other than the through hole 762 in the front edge portion of the front inverted triangular wall 76, and the bolt 77 is attached to the object of the image forming unit housing 15 through these through holes. It is made to be screwed into a screw hole provided at a position.

  The storage door 72 is attached to an opening portion facing the left side of the storage portion 73 so as to be openable and closable. The flat door body 721 and the front and rear of the door body 721 extending in the left-right direction in FIG. And a U-shaped frame body 722 having a U-shape fixed to the left edge in FIG. 3.

  The U-shaped frame body 722 includes a pair of front and rear side edge frame bodies 722a and an end edge frame body 722b provided between the pair of side edge frame bodies 722a. Then, the screw shaft 723 that penetrates the right end portion in FIG. 3 of each side edge frame body 722a is screwed into the screw hole 732a that is screwed to the lower end portion of each side plate 732 of the storage portion 73, so that the storage is performed. As shown in FIG. 4, the door 72 is mounted between the side plates 732 so as to be rotatable around a screw shaft 723.

  Instead of the screw shaft 723, a pair of cylindrical protrusions projecting in opposite directions are provided at the base ends of the pair of side edge frames 722a of the storage door 72, and the pair of cylindrical protrusions are stored in the storage portion. 73 may be fitted into support holes respectively provided at the base end portions of the inner wall surfaces facing each other in the front-rear direction of 73, thereby rotating the storage door 72 integrally around the cylindrical protrusion.

  The edge frame 722b of the storage door 72 is provided with a columnar piece 724 having a part of the peripheral surface protruding outward from a pair of front and rear square holes. These columnar pieces 724 are biased by a leaf spring (not shown) in a direction protruding outward from the square hole of the end frame 722b.

  On the other hand, the top plate 733 of the storage portion 73 is provided with a locking hole 733 a into which the columnar piece 724 can be fitted at a position corresponding to each columnar piece 724. Therefore, when the storage door 72 in the opened state is rotated clockwise around the screw shaft 723 as shown in FIG. 4, each cylindrical piece 724 interferes with the left end portion of the top plate 733. After entering the square hole once against the urging force of the leaf spring, it protrudes at the position of the locking hole 733a and fits into the locking hole 733a, whereby the storage door 72 is stably closed.

  In addition, an operation recess 713 a formed by cutting the left wall 713 upward is provided at the position of the center portion in the front-rear direction of the top plate 733. Then, when opening the closed storage door 72 (see FIG. 1), a finger is inserted into the operation recess 713a and the edge frame body 722b is pulled leftward. Thus, the storage door 72 is rotated counterclockwise around the screw shaft 723 and opened as shown in FIG.

  Further, in the present embodiment, since the anti-slip 725 is formed in a portion corresponding to the operation recess 713a in the edge frame 722b, the storage door 72 can be more easily held by pressing the anti-slip 725 with a finger. Can be opened.

  Since the storage structure 70 is configured as described above, various kinds of articles such as an instruction manual of the image forming apparatus 10, cleaning cloths, and repair tools are stored in the storage portion 73. Can do.

  Hereinafter, the front frame 80 that is detachably mounted on the front surface of the image forming unit housing 15 will be described based on FIG. 5 and with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the front frame 80, showing a state in which the manual feed tray 61 is opened by a solid line, and a state in which the manual feed tray 61 is closed by a two-dot chain line. The direction display by X and Y in FIG. 5 is the same as in FIG. 3 (X is the left-right direction (−X: leftward, + X: rightward), Y is the front-back direction (−Y: forward, + Y: backward). )).

  As shown in this figure, the front frame 80 is attached to the upper front edge of the image forming unit housing 15 in an intimate contact state with an L-shaped upper crosspiece 81 and the upper crosspiece 81. A pair of left and right hanging posts 82 attached to the left and right vertical edge plates 155 of the image forming unit housing 15 respectively hung from the left and right ends, and from the left and right ends of the upper crosspiece 81 toward the rear A pair of left and right extended plate pieces 83 stacked on left and right horizontal edge plates (notched edge portions) 156 at the front upper part of the image forming unit casing 15 are provided. The manual feed tray 61 is interposed between a pair of hanging posts 82.

  Further, the upper crosspiece 81 extends in the horizontal direction of the horizontal crosspiece 811 that holds the C-shaped frame 157 integrated with the discharge tray 51 formed at the front edge of the discharge section 50, and the horizontal crosspiece 811. It consists of a vertical crosspiece 812 formed in a state of being bent at a right angle from the front edge portion downward.

  On the other hand, a C-shaped frame 157 (FIG. 3) with the outer surface side made of L-shaped steel facing up and down and forward is provided at the front upper edge of the image forming unit housing 15. The upper crosspiece 81 is in close contact with the C-shaped frame 157 with its inner surface facing downward and rearward.

  Each of the suspended columns 82 extends in a perpendicular state from the front column 821 suspended in a flush state from the front side of the upper crosspiece 81 to the rear from the mutually opposed edges of the pair of front columns 821. And an orthogonal column 822 extending in the vertical direction. Each orthogonal column 822 has a through hole 823 corresponding to the through hole 762 of the front inverted triangular wall 76.

  Then, in a state where the front frame 80 is pressed against the front side of the image forming unit housing 15, the cover body 71 is further pressed against the left frame plate 152, and in this state, the through holes 762 of the front reverse triangular wall 76 and A bolt 77 is inserted into the through-hole 823 of the orthogonal support column 822 of the front frame frame 80, and is screwed and fastened to the front frame frame 154 of the left frame plate 152, whereby the cover body 71 and the front frame frame 80 are shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming unit housing 15 is attached. The cover body 71 is attached to the image forming unit housing 15 through the through holes formed in various places in addition to those through the through holes 762 and 823. Omitted.

  When the front frame 80 once attached to the image forming unit housing 15 is removed for maintenance work or the like in the image forming apparatus 10, after the bolt 77 is removed, the front inverted triangular wall 76 is cut in a half-moon shape. What is necessary is just to insert a hand in the notch part 761 and to pull the orthogonal support | pillar 822 of the front frame 80 ahead. By doing so, the front frame 80 can be easily detached from the image forming unit housing 15.

  Moreover, since the through hole 762 is provided on the front edge side of the front inverted triangular wall 76, the image forming apparatus 10 is installed between other devices M as shown in FIG. Even in this case, since the left and right half-moon notches 761 of the cover body 71 are located at positions separated from the other adjacent devices M, the half-moon-shaped cuts are not obstructed by the other devices M. It is possible to insert a hand into the notch 761, whereby the front frame 80 can be easily removed from the image forming unit housing 15.

  In the present embodiment, the paper discharge unit 50 is set to a dark color as a whole, thereby making it easier to visually recognize the paper P discharged to the paper discharge tray 51. This is because the paper discharge unit 50 employs a so-called in-body paper discharge type in which a paper discharge tray 51 is formed between the image reading unit housing 12 and the image forming unit housing 15. Therefore, when the paper discharge tray 51 is light, it is difficult to reliably see whether or not the paper P is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 51 with a long distance. In order to avoid the contrast between the dark color 51 and the white color of the paper P, the paper discharge unit 50 is colored dark.

  In the present embodiment, the horizontal bar 811 in the upper bar 81 of the front frame 80 is colored white. By doing so, the paper discharge unit 50 is a plan view of the paper discharge unit 50 shown in FIG. 7 (the direction display by X and Y is the same as in FIG. 1 (−X: left side, + X: right side, -Y: front, + Y: rear)), the horizontal tray 811 and the extended plate 83 are edged in white with respect to the discharge tray 51 and the surrounding dark color. Is vividly emphasized by this border.

  Then, in a state where the paper P is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 51, the paper P is in a state where the white color is lifted from the dark paper discharge tray 51. P can be easily visually recognized even at a distance.

  As described above in detail, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is connected to the image forming unit housing 15 including the document reading unit 20 that reads image information of the document P1 and the lower part of the document reading unit 20. The image forming unit housing 15 including the image forming unit 30 that performs a predetermined image forming process based on the image information read by the document reading unit 20 and the image forming process in the image forming unit 30 perform the printing process. And a paper discharge unit 50 for receiving the discharged paper P.

  Then, the paper discharge unit 50 is colored in a dark color as a whole except for the peripheral edge, and in the peripheral edge, the horizontal crosspiece 811 and the extended plate piece as a light colored belt according to the present invention which are belt-like and brightly colored. 83 is provided.

  According to such a configuration, the discharged white paper P can be easily and reliably visually recognized due to the contrast with the dark color of the paper discharge unit 50. For example, it is slightly separated from the image forming apparatus. When the paper discharge unit 50 is viewed from the position where the paper is discharged, it cannot be clearly seen whether or not the paper P is discharged to the paper discharge unit 50, and the workability of the copying operation is reduced. Occurrence can be effectively prevented.

  Further, since a light-colored belt colored in a belt shape is formed on the periphery of the paper discharge unit 50, the region where the paper P is discharged in the dark-colored paper discharge unit 50 is the light color. By being in a highly emphasized state surrounded by the color band, the paper discharge unit 50 can be clearly recognized. Accordingly, the paper P discharged to the paper discharge unit 50 is in a very easy-to-see state as if it is lifted up in the dark part of the paper discharge unit 50, and this is coupled with the fact that the light color band is a standard. The paper P can be made very easy to be taken out.

  The paper discharge unit 50 employs a so-called in-body paper discharge type paper discharge tray 51 formed between the image forming unit housing 15 and the image forming unit housing 15. The occupied space of the image forming apparatus can be reduced as compared with the case where the portion 50 is provided protruding from the apparatus main body.

  In an in-body discharge type image forming apparatus, it is difficult to visually recognize whether or not the paper P has been discharged to the discharge tray 51 of the discharge unit 50, and it is usually inconvenient. Since the edge of the paper discharge unit 50 colored in color is bordered by a light color band, the paper discharge tray 51 can be clearly visually recognized by the contrast. Therefore, even a user who is unfamiliar with the image forming apparatus of the in-body paper discharge type does not have a problem that he / she wonders where to take out the paper P on which image formation processing has been performed.

  Further, the image forming unit housing 15 has a front frame 80 that can be attached and detached on the front side. The front frame frame 80 has an upper crosspiece 81 as a band-shaped peripheral covering band that covers the periphery of the paper discharge unit 50 in the state where the front frame frame 80 is mounted on the image forming unit casing 15, and also has a light color band. Is formed by the upper surface of the peripheral covering band, that is, the horizontal beam 811 of the upper beam 81. Accordingly, since the peripheral edge of the paper discharge unit 50 is covered with the horizontal crosspiece 811 of the front frame frame 80 in a state in which the front frame frame 80 is mounted on the image forming unit casing 15, Lifting is prevented and strength is improved.

  In addition, the image forming unit casing 15 has a width that is set to be longer than the width of the image forming unit casing 15 and extends in the front-rear direction of the end of the image forming unit casing 15 in the width direction. A cover body 71 is provided along a surface S that connects the edge portion and a lower edge portion extending in the front-rear direction of the end portion in the lateral width direction of the image forming unit housing 15 corresponding to the edge portion. A storage portion 73 for storing articles is formed. The cover body 71 is provided with a storage door 72 that can be opened and closed with respect to the storage portion 73.

  According to such a configuration, the instruction manual for the image forming apparatus 10 does not increase the volume of the image forming apparatus 10 (specifically, without providing a protruding portion for storage from the housing 11 of the image forming apparatus 10). It is convenient that various articles such as tools and tools can be stored in the storage unit. Further, by opening the storage door 72 provided on the cover body 71, the articles can be taken in and out of the storage portion, and the storage door 72 is closed to prevent the articles from dropping from the storage portion. Can do.

  Hereinafter, an example in which a front cover 90 that can be easily opened and closed by a turning operation instead of the front frame 80 that is bolted will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the front cover 90. FIG. 8A shows a state in which the paper discharge tray 51 and the front cover 90 are closed, and FIG. The state where the front cover 90 is opened is shown. Further, the inside of the circle is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the dual-purpose gear 97. The direction display by X and Y in FIG. 8 is the same as in FIG. 1 (X is the left-right direction (−X: leftward, + X: rightward), Y is the front-rear direction (−Y: forward, + Y: rearward). )).

  First, as shown in FIG. 8 (A), the front cover 90 includes a pair of side frames 91 extending in the vertical direction and a top frame constructed between the upper edges of the pair of side frames 91. 92 and a front frame 93 suspended from the front edge of the top frame 92 by a predetermined dimension. In the space surrounded by the pair of side frames 91, the top frame 92 and the front frame 93, the manual feed tray 61 is pivotally supported around an unillustrated axis installed between the side frames 91. Yes.

  The front cover 90 is pivotally supported so that the lower ends of the pair of side frames 91 can rotate about a frame shaft 911 supported by a not-shown housing frame of the image forming unit housing 15, thereby FIG. The posture can be changed between the closed posture shown in FIG. 8A and the open posture shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, the discharge tray 51 protrudes rearward from the tray main body 511 whose front end is set at the same level as the top frame 92 of the front cover 90, and both left and right end portions of the rear end of the tray main body 511. A pair of left and right brackets 512 having a U-shape is provided, and a pair of tray shafts 513 projecting from the brackets 512 in opposite directions.

  Then, the paper discharge tray 51 is configured such that the pair of tray shafts 513 are supported at appropriate positions on a housing frame (not shown) of the image forming unit housing 15 and are rotated forward and backward around the tray shaft 513, as shown in FIG. The posture can be changed between the horizontal posture shown in FIG. 8A and the oblique posture shown in FIG.

  The paper discharge tray 51 and the front cover 90 are connected to each other via a synchronous opening / closing mechanism 94. The synchronous opening / closing mechanism 94 includes a front cover side rack 95 projecting rearward from a substantially central portion in the vertical direction of the left side frame 91, and a tray main body so as to intersect the front cover side rack 95. 511 includes a tray-side rack 96 suspended from the front of the left edge of 511, and a dual-purpose gear 97 disposed at the intersection of the tray-side rack 96 and the front cover-side rack 95 so as to mesh with both. It is configured.

  The front cover rack 95 is provided with rack teeth 951 at the lower edge thereof. The front cover rack 95 is pivotally supported around a first shaft 952 projecting inwardly at a substantially central portion of the left side frame 91. The edge surface of the front cover rack 95 on which the rack teeth 951 are provided is a slightly concave circular arc surface toward the lower side.

  The tray rack 96 is provided with rack teeth 961 at the front edge thereof. The tray-side rack 96 is pivotally supported around a second shaft 962 that protrudes outward (leftward) from the front position of the left edge of the tray body 511. The edge surface of the tray side rack 96 on which the rack teeth 961 are provided is an arc surface that is slightly convex toward the front and downward.

  The dual-use gear 97 is disposed below the front cover rack 95 near the intersection of the front cover rack 95 and the tray rack 96 and at a position on the front side of the tray rack 96. . As shown in the circle of FIG. 8, the dual-purpose gear 97 is laminated with a partition disk 971 and the left surface side of the partition disk 971 so as to be concentrically and integrally rotatable, and with rack teeth 951 of the front cover side rack 95. A first gear 972 that meshes, a second gear 973 that is concentrically and integrally stacked on the right surface side of the partition disk 971 and meshes with the rack teeth 961 of the tray-side rack 96, the partition disks 971, The gear shaft 974 penetrates through the central positions of the first gear 972 and the second gear 973 so as to be integrally rotatable.

  The first and second gears 972 and 973 are both set to have a diameter smaller than that of the partition disk 971. Accordingly, the rack 95 and 96 are partitioned by the partition disk 971 while the front cover rack 95 is engaged with the first gear 972 and the tray rack 96 is engaged with the second gear 973. There are no inconveniences that interfere with each other.

  According to the synchronous opening / closing mechanism 94 configured as described above, the front cover 90 is in the half-moon-shaped notch 76 (FIG. 4) in the state where the front cover 90 is set to the closed posture as shown in FIG. When a hand is inserted and the front cover 90 is pulled out forward, the front cover 90 rotates around the frame shaft 911 in the clockwise direction in FIG. As a result, the front cover rack 95 moves forward while rotating counterclockwise around the first shaft 952, so that the first gear meshing with the rack teeth 951 of the front cover rack 95 is engaged. The gear 972 rotates around the gear shaft 974 in the clockwise direction.

  Due to the rotation of the first gear 972, the second gear 973 integrated with the first gear 972 also rotates clockwise through the partition disk 971, whereby the rack teeth 961 mesh with the second gear 973. The existing tray side rack 96 rises. As a result, the tray body 511 is pushed upward via the second shaft 962 and is rotated counterclockwise around the tray shaft 513.

  When the front cover 90 is changed to the open posture, the discharge tray 51 is also changed from the horizontal posture to the oblique posture. As shown in B), an opening that rises toward the front is formed, so that maintenance work can be easily performed through this opening.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and includes the following contents.

  (1) In the above embodiment, a copying machine has been described as an example of the image forming apparatus 10. However, the present invention is not limited to the image forming apparatus 10 being a copying machine, and may be a printer. There may be a facsimile machine. The image forming apparatus 10 is not limited to monochrome printing, and may be capable of color printing.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the transport direction of the document P1 in the document reading unit 20 and the transport direction of the paper P in the image forming unit 30 are set so as to be orthogonal to each other. The direction of the original P1 in the original reading unit 20 may be set so that the conveyance direction of the paper P in the image forming unit 30 is the same direction. Further, the image forming apparatus may be a so-called multi-function peripheral (MFP) having functions of a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine.

  (3) In the above embodiment, the storage portion 73 is provided only in the left cover body 71, but the storage portion may also be provided in the right cover body 71 '.

  (4) In the above embodiment, the protruding edge 122 of the image reading unit housing 12 with respect to the image forming unit housing 15 is formed only in the left-right direction, but it may be formed rearward. By doing so, more storage units can be secured.

  (5) In the above embodiment, the in-body discharge type image forming apparatus 10 in which the discharge unit 50 is formed between the image reading unit casing 12 and the image forming unit casing 15 is taken as an example. As described above, the present invention is not limited to the in-body discharge type of the image forming apparatus 10, and is a normal image forming apparatus in which a discharge tray protrudes from the apparatus main body. Also good.

P sheet P1 document S surface (planar or curved surface) V margin space 10 image forming apparatus 11 casing 12 image reading section casing (image reading section main body)
121 Bottom plate 122 Projection edge 13 Document pressing member 131 Hinge member 14 Document automatic supply unit casing 15 Image forming unit casing (image forming unit main body)
151 Lower edge 152 Left frame plate 153 Vent 154 Screw hole 155 Vertical edge plate 156 Horizontal edge plate (notched edge)
16 Linking Unit 20 Document Reading Unit 21 Document Automatic Supply Unit 22 Document Tray 23 Optical System Unit 230 Moving Frame 231 Irradiation Lamp 232 Reflecting Mirror 232a First Mirror 232b Second Mirror 232c Third Mirror 234 Lens Unit 24 Contact Glass 241 Mounted Document Glass 242 Automatic Paper Feed Document Glass 25 Movement Mechanism 251 Drive Motor 252 Gear Mechanism 253 Drive Pulley 254 Driven Pulley 255 Scanner Belt 30 Image Forming Section 31 Transfer Section 311 Photosensitive Drum 312 Registration Roller 313 Developer 314 Charger 315 Exposure device 32 Fixing unit 321 Fixing roller 322 Pressure roller 33 Paper storage unit 331 Paper cassette 332 Pickup roller 34 Unloading path 35 Paper discharge port 40 Operation unit 41 Operation unit case 42 Operation panel 43 Star Button 44 operating button 45 display 50 paper discharge unit 51 discharge tray 60 sheet manual feed section 61 bypass tray 62 pickup roller 70 accommodating structure 71 cover body (outer casing)
712 Rear inverted triangular wall 713 Left wall 713a Operation recess 714 Ceiling wall 714a Upper ceiling wall 714b Lower ceiling wall 714c Vertical wall 72 Storage door 721 Door body 722 U-shaped frame body 722a Side edge frame body 722b End edge frame body 723 Screw Shaft 724 Cylindrical piece 73 Storage portion 731 Bottom plate 732 Side plate 732a Screw hole 733 Top plate 733a Locking hole 734 Back plate 74 Louver 75 Handle recess 76 Front inverted triangular wall 761 Semi-moon-shaped notch 762 Through hole 80 Front frame (frame)
81 Upper beam material 811 Horizontal beam material (bright colored belt, edge coating belt)
812 Vertical beam 82 Suspended column 821 Front column 822 Orthogonal column 83 Extended plate piece 90 Front cover 91 Side frame 911 Frame shaft 92 Top frame 93 Front frame 94 Synchronous opening / closing mechanism 95 Front cover side rack 951 Rack tooth 952 First shaft 96 tray side rack 961 rack tooth 962 second shaft 97 dual-purpose gear 971 partition disk 972 first gear 973 second gear 974 gear shaft

Claims (3)

An image reading unit main body equipped with an image reading unit for reading image information of a document;
An image read by the image reading unit, comprising: a first front surface portion disposed below the image reading portion main body and erected in the left-right direction; and a pair of first side surface portions erected in the front-rear direction. An image forming unit main body equipped with an image forming unit that performs a predetermined image forming process based on the information;
A connecting portion that includes a left end portion erected in the front-rear direction and a right end portion erected in the front-rear direction, and connects the image reading unit main body and the image forming unit main body in the vertical direction;
Arranged between the image reading unit main body and the image forming unit main body, formed between the left end and the right end, and subjected to printing processing by image forming processing in the image forming unit. And a paper discharge unit for receiving the discharged paper,
The paper discharge unit is colored in a dark color as a whole,
A light color band that extends in the left-right direction on the front edge side of the paper discharge unit and is colored in a band shape, further includes:
Both ends of the light color band in the left-right direction are inclined and extended toward the rear,
The left end portion and the front portion of the right end portion erected in the front-rear direction of the connecting portion are colored in the dark color, and the region colored in the dark color of the front portion and the paper discharge portion The area that is colored in the dark
The first front portion of the image forming unit main body further includes a manual feed tray that is disposed below the paper discharge unit and can be opened and closed.
The upper end portion of the manual feed tray is disposed so as to extend in the left-right direction along the front end edge of the paper discharge portion, and the shape of the upper end portion of the manual feed tray is cut out downward An image forming apparatus characterized in that a notch portion is formed.   Among the left end portion and the front portion of the right end portion erected in the front-rear direction of the connecting portion, the inner surface facing the paper discharge portion is all colored in the dark color. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The image reading unit main body includes a second front surface portion that is erected in the left-right direction above the first front surface portion, and a pair of second side surface portions that are erected in the front-rear direction above the first side surface portion. A pair of inclined surfaces connecting the left and right end portions of the second front surface portion and the front portions of the pair of second side surface portions above the region extending rearward in the light color band; With
Of the pair of inclined surfaces, the left inclined surface when viewed from the front is a surface facing a substantially intermediate direction between the front and the left, and the right inclined surface when viewed from the front of the pair of inclined surfaces is the front The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a surface facing a substantially intermediate direction between the right side and the right side.