JP6225831B2 - Document holding device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a document pressing device and an image forming apparatus including the document pressing device, and more particularly to a technique for preventing the document pressing device from being damaged.

  Copiers, scanners, facsimile machines, multifunction devices, etc. are equipped with a document holding device that presses down the document placed on the contact glass of the document reading unit. The original is placed on the contact glass of the unit with the reading surface facing down, and the original reading unit reads the image of the original. At this time, in order to prevent the original from floating from the contact glass, the original is brought into close contact with the contact glass by closing the original pressing cover and pressing the original against the contact glass.

  For example, as disclosed in the following Patent Documents 1 to 3, the lower surface of the document pressing cover, which faces the contact glass, has a plate member (document pressing plate) via an elastic member such as a sponge. ) Is provided. In a state in which the document pressing cover is closed, the document pressing plate has an elastic force by an elastic member and reliably contacts the document with the contact glass.

JP 2002-350997 A JP 2008-152185 A JP 2010-68246 A

  Since the elastic member that connects the document pressing cover and the document pressing plate is deteriorated due to a high temperature and high humidity environment in the installation environment or a change with time, the document pressing plate may be peeled off from the document pressing cover by its own weight. In addition, some document pressing plates are attached to the document pressing cover by hook-and-loop fasteners affixed to an elastic member and can be removed from the document pressing cover during maintenance. When the original pressing plate is peeled off from the hook-and-loop fastener, the elastic member is torn and may be broken in the worst case. On the other hand, if the elastic member is made of a hard material that is difficult to break, the automatic document feeder rises above the normal height with respect to the contact glass. There is a possibility that a reading failure or a document conveyance failure may occur.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to prevent damage to an elastic member attached to a document pressing plate in a document pressing device.

A document pressing device according to an aspect of the present invention is rotatably supported at one end of a document reading unit, and can be brought into and out of contact with the contact glass of the document reading unit, and is placed on the contact glass of the document reading unit. A document holding cover that holds the placed document,
An elastic member fixed to a lower surface of the document pressing cover and facing the contact glass;
The projecting the elastic member be a both side position of the document pressing your Keru the elastic member to the lower surface of the cover at positions sandwiching from both sides, is shorter projecting length than the thickness of the elastic member, opening the lower end portion Is a set of perforated ribs,
It is a film having flexibility and a hooking projection formed at both ends, which has a width that is the same as the width of the opening and that is wider than the portion that covers the elastic member. Covering the lower surface of the member, the latching protrusion passes through the opening from the inside of the rib on the elastic member side to the outside, and the outside portion has a play on the set of ribs and latches With film,
Attached by hook and loop fastener to the film, in a state absorbed by the elastic member relative pressing from the previous SL contact glass when the document pressing cover is closed relative to the contact glass, the original A document pressing plate pressed against the contact glass .

  According to the present invention, the original can be brought into close contact with the contact glass by the elastic pressure of the elastic member attached to the original pressing plate, and the resistance of the elastic member against aging and pulling can be increased. Breakage can be prevented.

1 is a front sectional view showing a structure of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention . It is a top view of the lower surface of the document pressing device showing the positional relationship between the elastic member and its peripheral members. It is a side view of the rib attachment position in the document pressing device. FIG. 6 is a front sectional view of an elastic member mounting position in a document pressing device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, a document pressing device and an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing the structure of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. An image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a multifunction machine having a plurality of functions such as a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function. The image forming apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 11 that includes an operation unit 47, an image forming unit 12, a fixing unit 13, a paper feeding unit 14, a document feeding unit 6, a document reading unit 5, and the like.

  The operation unit 47 receives instructions such as an image forming operation execution instruction and a document reading operation execution instruction from the operator regarding various operations and processes that can be executed by the image forming apparatus 1. The operation unit 47 includes a display unit 473 that displays operation guidance to the operator.

The document reading unit 5 is placed on the contact glass 161 mounted on the upper surface of the document reading unit 5, an openable / closable document pressing cover 162 for pressing the document placed on the contact glass 161, and the contact glass 161. A reading mechanism 163 that reads an image of a document is provided. The reading mechanism 163 optically reads an image of a document using a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or the like.

  The document feeding unit 6 includes a document placing table 61 on which a document is placed, a document discharge unit 66 from which an image-read document is discharged, and a document transport mechanism 65. The document transport mechanism 65 includes a paper feed roller, a transport roller, and a paper reversing mechanism (not shown). The document transport mechanism 65 drives the paper feed roller and the transport roller to feed the document placed on the document placing table 61 one by one to a position facing the document reading slit 53, and passes the document reading slit 53 through the document reading slit 53. Then, after reading by the reading mechanism 163 is possible, the document is discharged to the document discharge unit 66.

  Further, the document feeding unit 6 is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the apparatus main body 11 so that the front side thereof can move upward. By moving the front side of the document feeder 6 upward to open the upper surface of the contact glass 161 as a document table, the user places a read document, for example, a book in a spread state, on the upper surface of the contact glass 161. it can. In other words, in the present embodiment, the document feeder 6 corresponds to the document pressing device in the claims.

  When the image forming apparatus 1 performs a document reading operation, the document reading unit 5 optically reads a document fed by the document feeding unit 6 or a document placed on the contact glass 161, and image data. Is generated. Image data generated by the document reading unit 5 is stored in a built-in HDD or a network-connected computer.

  When the image forming apparatus 1 performs an image forming operation, it is based on image data generated by the document reading operation, image data received from a computer connected to a network, image data stored in a built-in HDD, or the like. The image forming unit (printing unit) 12 forms a toner image on the recording paper P as a recording medium fed from the paper feeding unit 14. When performing color printing, the magenta image forming unit 12M, the cyan image forming unit 12C, the yellow image forming unit 12Y, and the black image forming unit 12Bk of the image forming unit 12 respectively A toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 121 by charging, exposure, and development processes based on an image composed of each color component constituting data, and the toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 125 by the primary transfer roller 126. Let them transcribe.

  The toner images of the respective colors transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 125 are superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 125 with the transfer timing adjusted to form a color toner image. The secondary transfer roller 210 passes the toner image of the color formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 125 from the paper supply unit 14 through the conveyance path 190 at a nip N between the intermediate transfer belt 125 and the driving roller 125a. It is transferred to the recording paper P that has been conveyed. Thereafter, the fixing unit 13 fixes the toner image on the recording paper P to the recording paper P by thermocompression bonding. The recording paper P on which the color image has been formed after completion of the fixing process is discharged to a discharge tray 151.

The paper feed unit 14 includes a plurality of paper feed cassettes. The control unit 10 0, the pickup roller 145 of the paper feed cassette recording paper of the designated size is accommodated by an instruction by the operator are rotationally driven, the nip the recording sheet P accommodated in the paper feed cassette Transport toward part N.

  In the case of performing double-sided printing in the image forming apparatus 1, the recording paper P having an image formed on one side by the image forming unit 12 is nipped by the discharge roller pair 159, and then the recording paper P is switched back by the discharge roller pair 159 and sent to the reverse conveyance path 195, and the conveyance roller pair 19 conveys the recording paper P again upstream in the conveyance direction of the recording paper P with respect to the nip portion N and the fixing unit 13. As a result, an image is formed on the other surface of the recording paper by the image forming unit 12.

Next, a document pressing device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described .

  The document pressing device according to this embodiment includes the document pressing cover 162 described above. A plurality of elastic members 165 are arranged on the lower surface of the document pressing cover 162 at predetermined intervals. The elastic member 165 has, for example, a thickness of several centimeters, has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape in a side view, and is formed of urethane, sponge, or the like having an appropriate repulsive force. The elastic member 165 is fixed to the lower surface of the document pressing cover 162 and the surface facing the contact glass 161 with an adhesive, double-sided tape, or the like.

  On the lower surface of the document pressing cover 162, ribs 162 a protrude from the both sides of the elastic member 165 at a distance from both sides of the elastic member 165. The protruding length of the set of ribs 162a is preferably shorter than the thickness of the elastic member 165.

Further, the lower surface of the document pressing cover 162, the film 166 is hooked into the elastic underside of the member 165 covers the surface (the surface facing the contact glass 161), and both ends of the pair of ribs 162a. The film 166 is made of a flexible material such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

A surface fastener 167 is affixed to the surface of the film 166 (the surface facing the contact glass 161), more specifically, the surface opposite to the contact surface with the elastic member 165. A document pressing plate that is a plate-like member is attached to the film 166 via a hook-and-loop fastener 167. The document pressing plate receives a pressing force from the elastic member 165 and presses the document against the contact glass 161 in a state where the document pressing cover 162 is closed. That is, the document pressing plate, the relative pressing from co down tact glass 161 in a state absorbed by the elastic force of the elastic member 165, presses the original document on the contact glass 161.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the lower surface of the document pressing device showing the positional relationship between the elastic member 165 and its peripheral members. FIG. 3 is a side view of the attachment position of the rib 162a in the document pressing device.

  An opening 162b is perforated near the lower end of the rib 162a. The height of the opening 162b is about the thickness of the film 166, and the width of the opening 162b is about the width of the film 166.

  The film 166 has latching protrusions (hooks) 166a at both ends. When the leading end of the film 166 is inserted into the opening 162b of the rib 162a, the latching protrusion 166a is caught on the side surface of the rib 162a and prevents the film 166 from coming out of the opening 162b. At the time of this latching, it is preferable that the latching protrusion 166a is latched with a slight play with respect to the rib 162a. When the leading end of the film 166 passes through the opening 162b of the rib 162a, the leading end of the film 166 bends so that the leading end can pass through the opening 162b.

As described above, the protruding length of the ribs 162a (the height in the direction toward the contact lens 161) is that is shorter than the thickness of the elastic member 165. The film 166 is made of a flexible material. As a result, when the document pressing cover 162 is closed, the elastic member 165 contracts according to the thickness of the document placed on the contact glass 161, and the gap between the lower surface of the document pressing cover 162 and the document pressing plate changes. . For example, in the case of a thick document such as a book, the elastic member 165 is crushed to the protruding length of the rib 162a, and the gap between the lower surface of the document pressing cover 162 and the document pressing plate is reduced. On the other hand, in the case of a thin document such as paper, the elastic member 165 is relatively less crushed, and the gap between the lower surface of the document pressing cover 162 and the document pressing plate is increased. In any case, the crushed elastic member 16
An appropriate elastic force is applied to the document pressing plate by the repulsive force 5, and the document can be securely attached to the contact glass 161.

When the document pressing plate is removed for maintenance or the like, the document pressing plate is peeled off from the surface fastener 167. Since the surface fastener 167 is affixed to the surface of the film 166, the pulling force when the original pressing plate is peeled off is transmitted to the film 166 but not to the elastic member 165. For this reason, the elastic member 165 is not easily broken and there is no fear that the elastic member 165 is broken.

Next, a document pressing device according to a reference example of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the mounting position of the elastic member 165 in the document pressing device according to the reference example of the present invention.

The document pressing device according to this reference example includes the document pressing cover 162 described above. A plurality of elastic members 165 are arranged on the lower surface of the document pressing cover 162 at appropriate intervals. In FIG. 4 , one elastic member 165 is representatively shown. The elastic member 165 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape with a thickness of several centimeters, and is made of urethane or sponge having an appropriate repulsive force.

As shown in FIG. 4 , a film 166 is wound around the elastic member 165, and the upper surface, the lower surface, and both side surfaces of the elastic member 165 are covered with the film 166. The film 166 is made of a flexible material such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The elastic member 165 around which the film 166 is wound is fixed to the lower surface of the document pressing cover 162 (the surface facing the contact glass 161) with an adhesive, a double-sided tape, or the like.

A surface fastener 167 is affixed to the surface of the film 166, more specifically, the surface opposite to the contact surface with the elastic member 165 (the surface facing the contact glass 161). A document pressing plate, which is a plate member, is attached to the film 166 via a hook-and-loop fastener 167. The document pressing plate presses the document against the contact glass 161 with the elastic force from the elastic member 165 when the document pressing cover 162 is closed.

When the document pressing plate is removed for maintenance or the like, the document pressing plate is peeled off from the surface fastener 167. Since the surface fastener 167 is affixed to the surface of the film 166, the pulling force when the original pressing plate is peeled off is transmitted to the film 166 but not to the elastic member 165. For this reason, the elastic member 165 is not easily broken and there is no fear that the elastic member 165 is broken.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the original can be brought into close contact with the contact glass 161 by the pressing force of the elastic member 165 connected to the original pressing plate , and the elastic member 165 is resistant to aging and pulling. To prevent the elastic member 165 from being damaged.

  The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described using a multifunction peripheral. However, this is merely an example, and other electronic devices such as a scanner device, a copier, Other image forming apparatuses such as a facsimile apparatus may be used.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, the structure and process which were shown by the said embodiment using FIG . 1 thru | or FIG. 4 are only one Embodiment of this invention, and are not the meaning which limits this invention to the said structure and process.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 5 Document reading part 161 Contact glass 162 Document pressing cover 162a Rib 162b Opening part 165 Elastic member 166 Film 166a Hanging protrusion part 167 Surface fastener

Claims (3)

A document pressing cover that is rotatably supported at one end of the document reading unit and is capable of coming into contact with and separating from the contact glass of the document reading unit, and presses the document placed on the contact glass of the document reading unit;
An elastic member fixed to a lower surface of the document pressing cover and facing the contact glass;
Said projecting longitudinal said resilient member a both side position of the document pressing your Keru the elastic member to the lower surface of the cover at positions sandwiching from both sides, is shorter projecting length than the thickness of the elastic member, the lower end portion A pair of ribs with perforated openings ,
A latching protrusion having a flexibility, a width of a portion covering the elastic member being substantially the same as a width of the opening, and a portion wider than the portion covering the elastic member is a longitudinal direction. A film formed on both ends of the elastic member, covering the lower surface of the elastic member, and the latching protrusion portion is inserted through the opening from the inside of the rib on the elastic member side to the outside, A film that is latched with play on the set of ribs;
Attached by hook and loop fastener to the film, in a state absorbed by the elastic member relative pressing from the previous SL contact glass when the document pressing cover is closed relative to the contact glass, the original A document pressing device comprising: a document pressing plate that presses against the contact glass. The film is located at the center in the longitudinal direction, and has a shape symmetrical with respect to a center line in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction,
The document pressing device according to claim 1, wherein a height of the opening is a thickness of the film . The document reading unit;
An image forming unit for forming an image of a document image obtained by reading by the document reading unit;
Image forming apparatus having a document holding device according to claim 1 or claim 2.