JPH04196863A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the better improvement of harness processing by opening an upper unit housing a printed board to a lower device while making one end side in parallel to an original advancing direction as a turning center. CONSTITUTION:A cover 6 being a purpose to partition a space with the lower part of a device is provided on the lower part of a printed board 1 and an upper side unit is constituted in a state holding the printed board 1 between it and an outer cover 5. The upper part unit is turned in an arrow G direction around a supporting point 21 of this side as a center and since a thermal head 17 and a paper discharging roller 14 are carried to an upper part unit side in the open state, the exchange of recording paper 16, the taking-out of an original, etc., can easily be executed. Besides, when the partitioning board 6 of the upper part unit is made of metal, it becomes effective for the electromagnetic shielding of the printed board 1 and becomes the countermeasure of an EMI. Thus, consideration related to the harness processing is unnecessary, the degree of freedom of the design of a mechanism system is increased and the EMI countermeasure is easily realized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a device configuration in, for example, a facsimile machine.

[Prior Art] The conventional technology of this type of image forming apparatus will be explained using a facsimile as an example.

FIG. 5 shows a cross section of a main part of an example of a conventional facsimile. A document 102 placed on a document table 100 is conveyed from the left to the right in the figure by the action of each roller 103, 104, 105° 106 of the document conveying means.

The position of this transport process 107 receives light from a light source 108, and this reflected light passes through mirrors 10'l and 110, further passes through a lens 111, and is imaged on a photoelectric conversion element 112 such as a charge-coupled device CCD. Replaced with electrical signals. A printed circuit board 113 (hereinafter referred to as "0PCN") that controls the operation function is installed above the document transport means 103 to 106.
A "T board" (hereinafter simply referred to as "T board") is provided, on which means such as switches are configured, and receives operator input from the outside.

The upper halves of the document conveying means 103 to 106 are included in the operation panel unit, and have a structure that opens in the direction of arrow A with rotation center 114 in the figure. Therefore, when a document jams, the paper path is opened and the document can be easily removed.

A roll of thermal paper 115 is stored in the center of the figure, and is discharged toward the direction of arrow B while being printed and recorded by the cooperative action of a thermal head 116 and a platen roller 117 arranged at the bottom of the document table.

In the figure, 118 is a power supply, 119 is a printed circuit board for system control (hereinafter referred to as "5CNT board"), and 120 is a network control unit (hereinafter referred to as "NCU board") for connection with a telephone line. (abbreviated as ). OP CNT substrates 113 and 5
Power supply lines and signal lines (not shown) travel between the CNT substrates 119 and between the NCU substrate 120 and the 5CNT substrate 119, respectively.

FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of a main part of an example of a facsimile equipped with a telephone as another conventional example.

When the document 103 is inserted into the feed roller 132, the document 103 starts to be conveyed, and is conveyed while being pressed by the image sensor unit 133, the platen roller 134, and the image sensor 133. During this time, the image is read and conveyed in the direction of arrow C. be done. An operation panel unit 135 is configured above the document transport means, and an OP C'NT board 1 is installed in this unit.
36 are stored.

On the other hand, the rolled thermal paper 137 is transferred to the thermal head 138.
Printing is recorded by the cooperative action of the and platen rollers 139, and the paper is discharged to the outside of the machine in the direction of the arrow. Here, 140 is a power supply, 141 is the 5CNT board 119 and the NCU board 1.
20 combined boards, 142 represents the telephone circuit board that serves the speech network. Here 0PCNT board 136
and S CN T 119 board, between the telephone circuit board and 5
Between the CNT substrates 119, a power supply line and a signal line respectively go back and forth.

[Section N to be invented or solved] In the case of the conventional facsimile mentioned above, OPCN T 1
36 is located at the top due to necessity of operation, or other printed circuit boards, SCN T 119, NCU 120.
Telephone circuits etc. are arranged separately. Therefore, it was inevitable that a harness process would be developed to connect the boards.

Therefore, problems related to harness processing include: (1) A space is required to pass the harness through, which requires space.

(2) It is necessary to weave between the mechanical systems, and care must be taken to avoid touching the moving parts of the mechanical systems and sharp edges. However, it has the drawback of reducing the degree of freedom in mechanical system design and creating various constraints.

(3) A connector for receiving the harness was required on each board, which was disadvantageous in terms of space and cost. (4) As in the example shown in FIG. 5, <OP CNT board 113
or, if mounted on a rotating unit, eight-
It was necessary to process the nest through the center of rotation or to take up slack, and there were mechanical constraints such as preventing jamming after opening and closing operations.

(5) The more harnesses there are in a device, and the longer they are, the more likely electromagnetic interference (EMI') will occur.As EMI regulations have increased in recent years, dealing with this has become difficult and costly. There is.

(6) The more harnesses there are in the device, the more the productivity and quality will suffer, so it is desirable to reduce the number of harnesses.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art as described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus of this type that solves these problems.

In particular, the aim is to further improve harness processing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, in the present invention, the main functions of an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile are housed on a single printed circuit board, and this is placed on the upper side of the apparatus, and the document is placed on the lower part of the printed circuit board. The above object is achieved by providing a conveyance system, a recording material conveyance system, etc., and by configuring the upper unit to be openable to the lower device.

Further, this re-opening direction is attempted to be realized by creating a structure in which the device is laterally opened with one end of the device parallel to the document conveyance direction as the center of rotation.

[Operation] With the above-described configuration, it is possible to eliminate the drawbacks associated with harness processing of the conventional apparatus, and to provide a facsimile apparatus whose performance of the paper feeding system is comparable to that of the conventional apparatus.

[Example] The present invention will be explained below based on examples.

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of essential parts of an embodiment of a facsimile according to the present invention.

l is OP CNT113°5CN in the conventional example
A printed circuit board that combines the functions of T119, NCU120, etc. is installed from the front of the device to the back (from left to right in the diagram).
It is largely structured. On this board 1, for example, a switch 2 for receiving input from an operation panel,
CPU3 for system control. An NCU let coil 4 is arranged, and each functional part is connected by a printed pattern. 5 is an exterior cover that includes an operation panel and covers the upper side of the device.

A cover 6 is disposed below the printed circuit board 1 to partition it from the lower part of the device, and the printed circuit board 1 is held between the outer cover 5 and the upper unit.

When the document 7 placed on the desk is inserted by 8 feeding rollers, it is fed into the apparatus by cooperation with the platen roller 9, and its image is read by the image sensor 1O along the way. The image sensor IO is connected to a lever 11, rotates around a fulcrum 12, and comes into contact with the surface of the platen roller 9. Further, the image sensor 10 is constantly urged toward the platen roller 9 by an elastic urging means 13 such as a compression coil spring. The read document is ejected in the direction of arrow E by the cooperation of the paper ejection roller 14 and the platen roller 9. That is, after being inserted rightward in the figure from the original insertion slot, the document is conveyed in a U-turn, and a power supply device 15 is disposed in the center of the apparatus, which is formed from the upper part of the insertion slot. A roll of thermal paper 16 is placed at the back of the device (on the right side of the figure), and a thermal radar 17 and a platen roller 18 configured in the upper unit are installed.
It is printed and recorded in cooperation with the printer, and is discharged outside the machine in the direction of arrow F. The thermal head 17 is supported on a lever 19, is rotatable, and is biased toward the platen roller 18 by a compression coil spring 20.

The upper unit rotates about the fulcrum 21 on the front side in the direction of arrow G as shown in FIG. It is also possible to easily replace the recording paper 16 and take out the original.

Furthermore, if the partition plate of the upper unit is made of metal, it will be effective for electromagnetic shielding of the printed circuit board l, and will be a countermeasure against EMI.

[Other Embodiments] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention incorporating a telephone function.

The handset 22 is arranged on the left side of the upper cover 5, and the curl coat 23 comes out from one end 22a and is attached to the upper cover 5.
It is attached to a part 24 of.

In the front area 25 of the device, an input/output section mainly for facsimile functions is arranged. In other words, the number key part 26, the one-touch key part 27, and the LC required when making a call or registering.
These include a display 28 such as D, a group of facsimile function keys 29 such as density switching and linear density switching, a start key 30, etc. On the other hand, on the back side of the device, a group of keys 31 for different functions are arranged. These constitute functions that are closely related to the telephone circuit, such as a call dial key, a hold key, and the volume of a speaker for line monitoring.

This configuration allows for a layout that separates the facsimile function and telephone function, making it difficult to make mistakes in use. In addition, from a manufacturing standpoint, if telephone circuits are constructed at corresponding locations on the printed circuit board 1 disposed under the upper cover, functional separation can be achieved and pattern traffic can be reduced.

That is, according to this embodiment, since the upper part of the upper cover 5 of the device can be used as an area for the operation panel, it is possible to rationally separate and arrange each function on the printed circuit board l and to improve the design. This means that it is possible to create a more flexible design than in the conventional example, perhaps by striking a balance with improved usability.

Further, unlike the conventional example, there is no need to process harnesses to connect each function, and since the printed pattern is used, wiring can be easily performed.

Further, there is a hook switch (not shown) below the handset 22, which is also integrally formed on the printed circuit board 1, eliminating the need for harness processing.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining a configuration in which the upper unit is laterally opened with one end parallel to the document conveyance direction as the center of rotation.

On the front side of the device, there is a contact sensor lO and a document detection sensor (not shown), in the middle there is a power supply, for example, a drive device motor (not shown), and at the back there is a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of recording paper (not shown). (not shown) are arranged below the device, and the signals coming from them pass through the Riet wire 30 or the center of rotation 31, and are connected to the upper unit. In other words, from the front to the back of the device, these wires are connected to the upper unit by passing through the center of rotation at the shortest possible distance.

This allows for more optimal harness processing between the upper and lower parts than the vertical opening shown in Figure 1.

Of course, even if you open it horizontally like this, you can easily remove jammed documents,
The ease of loading recording paper or the maintenance of the apparatus is not impaired in any way.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the main functions of an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile are housed in one printed circuit board and arranged on the top side of the apparatus, so that the operation function is , system control, network control units, telephone circuits, and other functions that were conventionally connected using harnesses can now be connected without harness processing.

Therefore, it has the effect of eliminating all of the problems of the prior art related to harness processing. In other words: (1) No space is needed for the harness to pass through.

(2) Considerations regarding harness processing are no longer required, increasing the degree of freedom in mechanical system design.

(3) EMI countermeasures become easier.

(4) Productivity and quality can be improved.

(5) Each function can be arranged separately on the printer board, increasing the degree of freedom in designing the operation panel.

(6) Since each function of the image forming apparatus is housed on a single printed circuit board, shielding becomes easy and EMI countermeasures become easier.

(7) Since the entire top surface of the device can be used as an operation panel, even when downsized, the operation panel can be easily constructed and the cost can be reduced.

(8) As described above, it is possible to provide an apparatus in which the performance of the paper feeding system for originals and recording paper is not impaired even when the printed circuit board is arranged upward. Such.

(9) By configuring the upper unit of the device to be open, the harnesses for signal lines, power lines, etc. for sensors, motors, etc. that connect the upper and lower units can be configured with the shortest lengths. This prevents the harness from needlessly running around inside the device, thereby suppressing the generation of unnecessary noise, and providing effects such as ease of assembly and handling of the harness.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of the facsimile of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram of the upper part of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention with a telephone set, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the present invention, showing the facsimile machine in a horizontally opened state, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional facsimile machine. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a main part of another example of a conventional telephone-mounted type. 1-...Printed circuit board 5...Top cover 6...Lower partition plate 7...Document 9...Platen roller lO...Image sensor 15...Power source 16...Rolled recording paper 17 Thermal head 18 is a platen roller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A device in which main functions such as a system control function, an operation function, and a network control function of the device are configured on a single printed circuit board, and the printed circuit board is disposed in a space above the device, comprising: 2. An image forming apparatus, characterized in that an upper unit that houses the printed circuit board is configured to be openable to a lower device with one end parallel to a document traveling direction as the center of rotation.