JP6478550B2 - Terminal, terminal unit and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a male terminal that is electrically connected to a female terminal by being inserted into the female terminal, and an image forming apparatus having the male terminal.

  In an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus, in an image forming operation, a color image composed of a plurality of colors is formed using toners of different colors respectively supplied from a plurality of developing units onto a photoreceptor. Therefore, the toner on the photoconductor is not directly transferred to the sheet, but the respective toner images are superimposed on the intermediate transfer body and transferred (primary transfer), and then the toner images of a plurality of colors are collectively transferred to the sheet (secondary transfer). Next transfer). As a means for transferring the toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer member onto the sheet, a transfer roller that contacts the surface of the intermediate transfer member while rotating is used. When the sheet is passed between the transfer roller and the intermediate transfer body, the toner on the intermediate transfer body is transferred onto the sheet by applying a bias reverse to the polarity of the toner from the transfer roller. The sheet on which the secondary transfer has been performed is heated and pressurized in the fixing unit, whereby the toner image is fixed on the sheet.

  Here, in order to apply a bias to the rotating transfer roller, a conductive path is formed from the high-voltage substrate of the image forming apparatus to the transfer roller, and a metal thin plate having spring properties is brought into contact with the rotation shaft of the transfer roller. By doing so, the high voltage substrate and the transfer roller are electrically connected. In the middle of the conductive path, there is a portion that is electrically connected using a male terminal and a female terminal.

  Conventionally, a male terminal and a female terminal as proposed in Patent Document 1 have been disclosed for such male terminals and female terminals. When the male terminal (18) is inserted into the female terminal (11), the male terminal is pressed by the upper contact piece (13a) and the lower contact piece (14) of the female terminal, and the male terminal and the female terminal are pressed. The terminals are electrically connected.

  Normally, the male terminal as described above has a conductive path formed by crimping a bundled wire to the end on the female terminal side, or is brought into contact with another conductive member via a spring. Also, a method of forming a conductive path by fastening another conductive member with a screw has been used. However, when the conductive path is formed by the above-described method, the number of parts increases, leading to an increase in cost.

  In order to eliminate the above-described adverse effects, a method has been proposed in which the end of the male terminal that is not engaged with the female terminal is extended and brought into contact with the rotation shaft of the transfer roller. In this method, the extended portion of the male terminal is formed as a leaf spring, and the leaf spring presses the rotation shaft of the transfer roller, thereby electrically connecting the male terminal and the transfer roller.

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-132072

However, when the male terminal and the transfer roller are arranged within a limited volume, it is necessary to shorten the length of the leaf spring. The plate thickness of the sheet metal used for the male terminal is 0.5 mm or more, but if the length of the plate spring is short, the spring constant of the plate spring becomes high. As the spring constant increases, the pressing force applied to the rotation shaft of the transfer roller increases, which may cause the rotation shaft to wear.

  On the other hand, when the thickness of the sheet metal used for the male terminal is a thin plate of 0.3 mm or less, the spring constant can be lowered and the rotating shaft can be prevented from being worn. However, the male terminal is connected to the female terminal by being sandwiched between the female terminals in the thickness direction. When the thickness of the sheet metal is 0.3 mm or less, the conventional female terminal that does not support the thin male terminal cannot hold the male terminal with sufficient pressure, and the electrical connection is unstable. Become.

  In the male terminal that is not a spring material such as brass that has been used in the past, there are some that form a male terminal that is twice the thickness by hemming the thin plate, but in places where it is used as a leaf spring Hemming cannot be performed because the spring material is broken. Further, when trying to make the female terminal correspond to the thin male terminal, the interval between the upper contact piece and the lower contact piece needs to be 0.3 mm or less, but the processing is very difficult.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to reduce the thickness of the male terminal without making the electrical connection between the male terminal and the female terminal unstable.

In order to achieve the above object, the male terminal of the present invention is:
A male terminal connected to a female terminal provided in the image forming apparatus,
A plate-like portion that is a leaf spring having a bent portion;
A fixing portion that is formed thicker than the plate-like portion on one end side with respect to the bent portion of the plate-like portion, and is sandwiched and fixed in the thickness direction by the female terminal;
An abutting portion that elastically abuts against a peripheral surface of a roller metal core rotatably provided on the image forming apparatus on the other end side of the bent portion of the plate-like portion;
I have a,
The plate-like portion is engaged with a protrusion formed on the female terminal so that movement of the male terminal in a direction orthogonal to the thickness direction of the male terminal is restricted on the one end side. Have holes to mate,
The fixing portion has a tip portion formed at a tip on the one end side of the plate-like portion, and a pair of side portions respectively extending from both ends of the tip portion toward the other end side,
The tip portion and the side portion have a shape rising from the plate-like portion in a direction perpendicular to the flat portion of the plate-like portion,
It characterized that you have been formed so as to surround the hole by the said front end portion and the side portions.

In order to achieve the above object, the terminal unit of the present invention is
The male terminal;
The female terminal;
It is characterized by having.

In order to achieve the above object, the image forming apparatus of the present invention includes:
An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium with a developer,
The terminal unit;
Power supply,
A roller electrically connected to the power supply via the terminal unit;
Have
The female terminal is connected to the power source;
The male terminal is fixed at one end to the female terminal connected to the power source at the fixed portion, and at the other end, the plate-shaped portion is elastically applied to the core metal of the roller in a leaf spring shape. It is characterized by touching.

  According to the present invention, the thickness of the male terminal can be reduced without making the electrical connection between the male terminal and the female terminal unstable.

1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus having a male terminal according to Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows the state in which the male terminal is electrically connected to the transfer roller. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a male terminal and a female terminal according to the first embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the state which the male type terminal has engaged with the female type terminal. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a male terminal and a female terminal according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a male terminal and a female terminal according to a third embodiment. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a male terminal and a female terminal according to a fourth embodiment.

Example 1
Example 1 will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus having a male terminal according to the first embodiment.
An image forming operation in the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a photosensitive drum 2, a developing roller 3, an intermediate transfer body 4, a fixing unit 5, a transfer roller 6, a conveyance path 7, a conveyance roller 8, a paper feed roller 9, a paper feed unit 10, and a paper discharge unit 11. Have The photosensitive drum 2 includes photosensitive drums 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K, and the developing roller 3 includes developing rollers 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K.

  A sheet S (corresponding to a recording medium) stacked on the paper supply unit 10 is supplied to the conveyance path 7 by a paper supply roller 9. The fed sheet S is transported toward the paper discharge unit 11 by the transport roller 8. The photosensitive drum 2 is irradiated with a laser based on a print job to form an electrostatic latent image. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 2 is developed by supplying toner (corresponding to a developer) by the developing roller 3, and a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 2.

  The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 2 is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer body 4. Here, the image forming apparatus 1 has a plurality of photosensitive drums 2 and developing rollers 3, and toner images of different colors are formed on the respective photosensitive drums 2. A plurality of color toner images are transferred onto the intermediate transfer body 4 in an overlapping manner.

  The toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer body 4 is conveyed to a transfer position T that is a position between the intermediate transfer body 4 and the transfer roller 6, and transferred to the sheet S at the transfer position T. Thereafter, the sheet S to which the toner image is transferred is heated and pressed by the fixing unit 5, and the toner image is fixed to the sheet S. The sheet S on which the toner image is fixed is discharged from the paper discharge unit 11.

  Here, the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer body 4 is transferred to the sheet S at the transfer position. By applying a bias having a polarity opposite to the polarity of the toner to the transfer roller 6, the toner image is transferred to the sheet S. S is transferred to S. In order to apply 6 bias to the transfer roller, in the image forming apparatus 1, a conductive path is formed from a high voltage substrate (corresponding to a power source) (not shown) to the transport roller 8 by a bundle line or the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the male terminal is electrically connected to the transfer roller.
In FIG. 2, the male terminal 100 is connected to the female terminal 200. In the male terminal 100, a leaf spring portion 101 (plate-like portion) that is a portion not inserted into the female terminal 200 is formed in a leaf spring shape, and corresponds to an end portion (the other end of the leaf spring portion 101). ), The metal core 6a of the transfer roller 6 is elastically contacted with a predetermined contact pressure. The end of the leaf spring 101 presses the cored bar 6a, so that the male terminal 100 and the transfer roller 6 are electrically connected. Here, since the leaf | plate spring part 101 is used as a leaf | plate spring within the limited volume, a plate | board thickness is 0.3 mm or less so that the bending amount of a leaf | plate spring arm part can be earned.

Here, the relationship between the plate thickness and the deflection amount in the leaf spring portion 101 will be described. For example, if the material is SUS304-CSP-H, the arm length from the bending root to the contact part with the cored bar 6a is 30 mm, the plate width is 7 mm, and the force for urging the cored bar at the contacted part is 100 gf, The plate thickness is 0.
In the case of 3 mm, the amount of bending of the arm at the contact portion is 3.1 mm. Further, when the plate thickness is 0.5 mm, the amount of bending of the arm at the contact portion is 0.7 mm.

  When the lower limit of the biasing force is 50 gf, the amount of bending is further reduced. When the plate thickness is 0.3 mm, the amount of bending of the arm at the contact portion is 1.6 mm, but when the plate thickness is 0.5 mm. The bending amount of the arm at the contact portion is 0.3 mm. When the bending amount of the leaf spring portion 101 is 0.3 mm, strict accuracy is required for the leaf spring portion 101, the cored bar 6a, and the components interposed therebetween, so that the degree of freedom in design is reduced. Therefore, the plate thickness of the leaf spring portion 101 is desirably 0.3 mm or less.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the male terminal and the female terminal according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 3, the longitudinal direction of the male terminal 100 is the X direction, the short direction of the male terminal 100 is the Y direction, and the thickness direction of the male terminal 100 is the Z direction, and the X, Y, and Z directions. Are orthogonal to each other. In other drawings, the relationship among the X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction is the same. Here, a unit having a male terminal and a female terminal corresponds to a terminal unit.

  The male terminal 100 has a leaf spring portion 101, a fixing portion 111 and a hole 112. The thickness of the leaf spring portion 101 is formed thinner than the thickness of the conventional male terminal. A fixing portion 111 is provided at an end portion (corresponding to one end) of the male terminal 100 in the X direction, and the fixing portion 111 is formed thicker than the leaf spring portion 101. In the first embodiment, the fixing portion 111 is formed by bending the leaf spring portion 101 in the Z direction.

  Here, the height of the fixed portion 111 in the Z direction is equal to the thickness of the conventional male terminal. By providing the male terminal 100 with the fixing portion 111, the thickness of the male terminal 100 which is thinner than the conventional one is compensated. Further, a hole 112 is formed in the vicinity of the male terminal 100 where the fixing portion 111 is formed.

  Next, the configuration of the female terminal 200 will be described. The female terminal 200 includes a bottom plate 201, a side surface 202, an upper contact piece 203, a protruding portion 204, a lower contact piece 205, and a pressing portion 206. The end of the bottom plate 201 is electrically connected to a high voltage substrate (not shown). The side surfaces 202 are formed at both ends of the bottom plate 201 in the Y direction.

  The upper contact piece 203 extends continuously from the side surface 202 and is bent into a U shape so that the opposed upper contact pieces 203 approach each other. The tip of the bent upper contact piece 203 faces the bottom plate 201, and when the male terminal 100 is connected to the female terminal 200, the upper contact piece 203 places the male terminal 100 in a direction opposite to the Z direction (one (Corresponding to the direction). Here, the upper contact piece 203 presses the male terminal 100 by pressing the fixing portion 111 of the male terminal 100.

  The lower contact piece 205 is formed by cutting and raising the bottom plate 201. The lower contact piece 205 has elasticity and presses the male terminal 100 in the Z direction (corresponding to the other direction). Further, the lower contact piece 205 is provided with a protrusion 204, and the protrusion 204 engages with the hole 112 of the male terminal 100. The engagement of the hole 112 and the protruding portion 204 restricts the movement of the male terminal 100 in the direction orthogonal to the Z direction. Further, a pressing portion 206 is provided at an end portion on the X direction side of the lower contact piece 205, and by pressing the pressing portion 206, the protruding portion 204 can be moved in the Z direction.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the male terminal is connected to the female terminal.
When the male terminal 100 is connected to the female terminal 200, the male terminal 100 is inserted into the female terminal 200 in the X direction. The male terminal 100 inserted into the female terminal 200 is sandwiched and fixed between the upper contact piece 203 and the lower contact piece 205 in the Z direction. Thereby, the male terminal 100 and the female terminal 200 are engaged, and the male terminal 100 and the female terminal 200 are electrically connected. In the male terminal 100, the upper contact piece 203 presses the fixing portion 111 formed on one surface of the male terminal 100, and the lower contact piece 205 presses the other surface of the male terminal 100. The male terminal 100 is clamped and fixed to the female terminal 200.

  Further, the hole 112 formed in the male terminal 100 is engaged with the protrusion 204 formed in the lower contact piece 205, and the movement of the male terminal 100 in the direction orthogonal to the Z direction is restricted. The engagement between the hole 112 and the protrusion 204 is released when the pressing portion 206 is pressed in the direction opposite to the Z direction.

  Here, in Example 1, the thickness of the leaf spring portion 101 is 0.03 mm, which is formed with a thickness thinner than the conventional one. On the other hand, the female terminal 200 has a conventional structure. Therefore, if a thin male terminal is connected to the conventional female terminal 200, the force with which the female terminal 200 presses the male terminal is weakened, and the electrical connection between the male terminal and the female terminal 200 is reduced. Connection may become unstable.

  Therefore, in the first embodiment, the fixing portion 111 is formed by bending the end portion of the male terminal 100 on the side connected to the female terminal 200, and the thickness of the leaf spring portion 101 is compensated. Here, the thickness of the fixing portion 111 is the same as the thickness of the conventional male terminal. When the male terminal 100 is connected to the female terminal 200, the fixing portion 111 is sandwiched between the upper contact piece 203 and the lower contact piece 205, so that the male terminal 100 is attached to the female terminal 200 with the same pressure as before. Pressed. As a result, the male terminal 100 and the female terminal 200 are stably electrically connected. There is a concern that cracks may occur in the leaf spring portion 101 starting from the hole 112 by forming the hole 112 in the leaf spring portion 101 by reducing the thickness of the leaf spring portion 101. However, the leaf spring portion 101 can be prevented from breaking by bending the end portion of the male terminal 100.

  As described above, in Example 1, the leaf spring portion 101 of the male terminal 100 is formed thinner than the conventional male terminal, thereby reducing the spring coefficient of the leaf spring portion 101 of the male terminal 100. be able to. Thereby, even if the male terminal 100 is disposed in a small space, the male terminal 100 can press the core metal 6a of the transfer roller 6 with a desired pressure. Further, by providing the fixing portion 111 at a part of the male terminal 100 that is connected to the female terminal 200, the thickness of the thinly formed leaf spring portion 101 is compensated, and the male terminal 100 and the female terminal 200 are compensated. Can be electrically connected stably.

  In this embodiment, the bending angle of the fixing portion 111 is 90 degrees, but the bending angle of the fixing portion 111 may be 90 degrees or less. When the bending angle of the fixing portion 111 is 90 degrees or less, the leaf spring portion 101 can be prevented from cracking.

(Example 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the second embodiment, parts having the same functions as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the male terminal 300 and the female terminal 200 according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment and the first embodiment, the female terminal 200 has the same configuration.

In the second embodiment, the male terminal 300 includes a fixing portion 301 at a portion connected to the female terminal 200 in the leaf spring portion 101. In the leaf spring portion 101, the fixing portion 301 is formed at a position farther from the end of the leaf spring portion 101 on the side connected to the female terminal 200 than the hole 112. Similar to the first embodiment, the male terminal 300 includes the fixing portion 301, so that the thickness of the leaf spring portion 101 formed thinner than the conventional one can be compensated. Accordingly, the male terminal 300 can be sandwiched and pressed by the female terminal 200 with the same pressure as the conventional male terminal, and the male terminal 300 and the female terminal 200 are electrically stable. Can be connected.

  Further, in the male terminal 100, the end of the leaf spring portion 101 presses the core metal 6 a, so that vibration in the core metal 6 a is transmitted to the male terminal 100. When the male terminal 100 vibrates, the hole 112 formed in the male terminal 100 and the protrusion 204 formed in the female terminal 200 may be disengaged. When the leaf spring portion 101 is swung in the thickness direction of the leaf spring portion 101 due to vibration, the engagement between the hole 112 and the projection portion 204 may be disengaged.

  However, in the second embodiment, the fixing portion 301 is formed in the leaf spring portion 101 at a position farther from the end of the leaf spring portion 101 on the side connected to the female terminal 200 than the hole 112. As a result, vibration on the side of the hole 112 with respect to the fixing portion 301 is reduced, and the engagement between the hole 112 and the protruding portion 204 can be prevented from being released.

(Example 3)
Next, Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described.
In the third embodiment, parts having the same functions as those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the male terminal 400 and the female terminal 200 in the third embodiment. In the third embodiment and the first and second embodiments, the female terminal 200 has the same configuration.

  In the third embodiment, the fixing portion 401 is formed by increasing the thickness of the edge portion of the male terminal 400 that is connected to the female terminal 200. Similar to the first and second embodiments, the male terminal 400 includes the fixing portion 401, so that the thickness of the leaf spring portion 101 formed thinner than the conventional one can be compensated. Accordingly, the male terminal 400 can be sandwiched and pressed by the female terminal 200 with the same pressure as the conventional male terminal, and the male terminal 400 and the female terminal 200 are electrically stable. Can be connected.

Example 4
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the fourth embodiment, parts having the same functions as those in the first to third embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the male terminal 500 and the female terminal 200 in the fourth embodiment. In the fourth embodiment and the first to third embodiments, the female terminal 200 has the same configuration.

  In the fourth embodiment, the fixing portion 501 is formed by bending a part of a portion of the male terminal 500 connected to the female terminal 200, and is formed to have elasticity. In addition, the fixing portion 501 is formed in the leaf spring portion 101 at a position farther from the hole 112 than the end of the leaf spring portion 101 on the side connected to the female terminal 200. Here, the thickness of the fixing portion 501 is slightly larger than the thickness of the conventional male terminal.

  In the fourth embodiment, as in the first to third embodiments, the male terminal 500 includes the fixing portion 501 so that the thickness of the leaf spring portion 101 formed thinner than the conventional one can be compensated. Accordingly, the male terminal 500 can be sandwiched and pressed by the female terminal 200 with the same pressure as the conventional male terminal, and the male terminal 500 and the female terminal 200 are electrically stable. Can be connected.

  In the case of the fourth embodiment, since the fixing portion 501 has elasticity, the fixing portion 501 can be stably pinched and pressed by the upper contact piece 203 and the lower contact piece 205. Thereby, the male terminal 500 and the female terminal 200 are stably electrically connected.

  In addition, in each Example, although the fixing | fixed part is formed as a specific shape and provided in the specific position, it is not necessarily restricted to this. For example, the fixing portion may be formed on the entire portion of the male terminal connected to the female terminal. The fixing part may be formed so that the male terminal and the female terminal are electrically connected stably by making a part of the male terminal thicker than the leaf spring part.

  In each embodiment, the bias application to the roller of the conductive path has been described. However, the same effect can be obtained in other conductive paths using the same configuration.

100 male terminal, 101 leaf spring part, 111 fixing part, 200 female terminal

Claims (8)

A male terminal connected to a female terminal provided in the image forming apparatus,
A plate-like portion that is a leaf spring having a bent portion;
A fixing portion that is formed thicker than the plate-like portion on one end side with respect to the bent portion of the plate-like portion, and is sandwiched and fixed in the thickness direction by the female terminal;
An abutting portion that elastically abuts against a peripheral surface of a roller metal core rotatably provided on the image forming apparatus on the other end side of the bent portion of the plate-like portion;
I have a,
The plate-like portion is engaged with a protrusion formed on the female terminal so that movement of the male terminal in a direction orthogonal to the thickness direction of the male terminal is restricted on the one end side. Have holes to mate,
The fixed portion has a tip portion formed at a tip on the one end side of the plate-like portion, and a pair of side portions extending from the both end sides of the tip portion toward the other end side, respectively.
The tip portion and the side portion have a shape rising from the plate-like portion in a direction perpendicular to the flat portion of the plate-like portion,
A male terminal characterized in that the hole is surrounded by the tip portion and the side portion . The male terminal according to claim 1, wherein the plate-like portion has the same thickness except for the fixed portion. The male terminal according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The female terminal;
A terminal unit comprising: The female terminal is
An upper contact piece for pressing the male terminal from one direction in the thickness direction;
A lower contact piece for pressing the male terminal from the other direction in the thickness direction;
The terminal unit according to claim 3 , further comprising: The fixing portion is formed on one surface of the plate-like portion,
The upper contact piece presses the fixed portion from one direction in the thickness direction,
The terminal unit according to claim 4 , wherein the lower contact piece presses the other surface of the plate-like portion from another direction in the thickness direction. The female terminal has a protrusion on the lower contact piece,
The protrusion so as to restrict the movement of the direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the male terminal, to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that to engage the hole formed in the male terminal The described terminal unit. The lower contact piece has a pressing part capable of pressing the lower contact piece in a direction opposite to a direction in which the protruding part protrudes so that the engagement between the hole and the protruding part is released. The terminal unit according to claim 6 . An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium with a developer,
The terminal unit according to any one of claims 3 to 7 ,
Power supply,
A roller electrically connected to the power supply via the terminal unit;
Have
The female terminal is connected to the power source;
The male terminal is fixed at one end to the female terminal connected to the power source at the fixed portion, and at the other end, the plate-shaped portion is elastically formed on a peripheral surface of the core metal of the roller. Image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus comes into contact with each other.

Images