JPH04328585A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent floating caused by the coupling load of connectors, the failure of appearance, the faulty transmission of a signal, a mulfunction and the faulty feeding of a sheet from occurring in an image forming device which is divided into upper and lower units, couples the upper and the lower units and simultaneously couples the connectors. CONSTITUTION:In the image forming device that the lower unit A and the upper unit B are loaded by a positioning means which is not shown in a figure and the male and the female connectors 10a and 10b are coupled at the same time, P>F is attained, where P is the load exerted between the connectors 10a and 10b based on the gravity of the upper unit B and F is the coupling load of the male and the female connectors.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer or an electrophotographic copying machine, and particularly to a side apparatus for forming an image on a sheet of transfer material. In the above, sheet materials include transfer paper, photosensitive paper, thermal paper, electrostatic recording paper, printing paper, etc., which are supplied to the equipment in office machines such as copying machines, printers, printing machines, and other various types of equipment using sheet materials. It is a sheet of paper (cut sheet) such as paper, manuscript, card, envelope, etc. The material is not limited to paper.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, image forming apparatuses are known which can be equipped with various options in order to meet the various demands of users. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining such an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 shows a sheet material feeding device A mounted on a stand C.
is placed on the sheet material feeding device A, and the printer B as the main device is placed on the sheet material feeding device A using a positioning means (not shown), and the sheet material feeding device A and the printer B are in a combined state. It is. When placing and setting in this way, the male connector (not shown) and female connector 10b, which are electrical coupling members provided relatively to the sheet material feeding device A side and the printer B side, are moved by the above setting operation. Combine at the same time.

Alternatively, after the printer B is properly placed on the sheet material feeding device A with an electrical coupling, a plug (not shown) is inserted into a socket (not shown) on the printer B side.

[0005]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] When connecting connectors at the same time as the unit is set, it is difficult to insert the connectors to the correct position due to the resistance load of the connection part, for example, the load when connecting the electrical coupling members such as the insertion resistance load of the connector. Otherwise, the device on the upper side will be lifted up, and poor matching between image forming device A and sheet material feeding device B will cause visual defects, poor signal transmission, malfunctions, and poor sheet feeding. There was a time when I had to put it away.

[0006]Alternatively, even though it is troublesome, the work of joining the electrical coupling members has been performed separately.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and provides an image forming apparatus having upper and lower units in which the upper unit is attached to and detached from the lower unit in the vertical direction. The load generated at the joint when
The coupling load is greater than the coupling load of the electrical coupling member provided between the upper and lower units, and the unit installation is completed simply by placing the unit.

For example, due to the weight of the object on the upper side,
The structure is such that the load applied to the electrical coupling member is greater than the coupling load of the electrical coupling.

[0009] According to the first aspect of the present invention, the upper unit is vertically removable with respect to the lower unit, and the members to be connected to each other in the upper and lower units are attached to the lower unit. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the load applied to the joint part when the upper and lower units are mounted is greater than the load required to join the joint parts of the members to be joined when the upper and lower units are mounted. This is an image forming apparatus.

[0010] The second aspect of the present invention is the image forming method according to the first aspect, wherein the load applied to the joint portion when it is attached is a load applied by the own weight of the upper side when it is attached. It is a device.

A third aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect or the second aspect, wherein the members provided in the upper and lower units to be connected to each other are electrical couplings. It is.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is any one of the first to third aspects, characterized in that the upper unit is a printer and the lower unit is a sheet material feeding device.
The image forming apparatus described in .

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained in detail below based on the illustrated embodiments.

``Embodiment 1'' FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a sheet material feeding apparatus A constructed according to the present invention as an embodiment, and a laser beam printer B as a main unit combining the same.

The sheet material feeding device A of this embodiment is configured as a detachable optional unit device that is separate from the printer B as a main unit and used in combination with the printer B. The example is stand C
(FIG. 4) A sheet material feeding device A is placed on top of the sheet material feeding device A, and a printer B as a main body device is positioned and placed on top of the sheet material feeding device A by a positioning means (not shown). Device A and printer B are combined with each other. A motor 30 serves as a driving means for the paper feeding roller 26 and the conveying roller 28, and a gear train meshing with the gear G1 fixed to the motor 30 is provided with gears G1 to G5. Gear G5 is connected to the sheet material conveying roller shaft 27. The gear G3 is fixedly connected to the sheet material feeding roller shaft 25 via a rotary spring clutch 31.

Hollow pedestals 21L and 21R are provided on the left side and right side of the top plate 21 as the upper member of the feeding device, and are parallel to each other and are long block members in the front-rear direction. A paper cassette (not shown) is stored in the space between the pedestals 21L and 21R. Hole 24 in top plate 21
is provided. A sheet feeding roller 26 as a sheet material feeding means is integrally provided on a sheet material feeding roller shaft 25 rotatably supported by a bearing between the left and right pedestals 21L and 21R. Similarly, a sheet conveyance roller 28 is integrally attached to a sheet material conveyance roller shaft 27 rotatably supported by bearings between the left and right pedestals 21L and 21R.

Lead wires 30a and 31b for energizing the motor 30 and the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 31a are as follows:
When the printer B is properly placed and set on the sheet material feeding device A, the connector male 10a, which is an electrical coupling member provided relatively to the sheet material feeding device A side and the printer B side, is shown in the figure. The female connector 10b of No. 1 is connected to the control circuit (not shown) of the printer B so that the motor 30 and the electromagnetic solenoid plunger 31a are connected to the lead wire 30a.
, 31b. In this embodiment, the insertion resistance force F of the male connector 10a and the female connector 10b is smaller than the load P applied to the male connector 10a and female connector 10b due to the weight of the printer B located above. In other words, in order to maintain the relationship P>F, the connector is provided at a position corresponding to the vicinity of the power supply section 11 (near the center of gravity), which accounts for a considerable proportion of the weight of the printer B.

Therefore, the electrical coupling is completed by placing the printer B on the sheet material feeding device A, which improves work efficiency. Furthermore, since the connector is reliably inserted to the correct position, printer B will not be lifted up due to insertion resistance, and signal transmission errors due to poor coupling will not occur.

[0019] In this embodiment, the vertical relationship is the same when used and when installed, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and it goes without saying that the load applied to the joint portion during the installation work is discussed.

"Embodiment 2" FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a part of FIG. 2.

This is an embodiment in which a sheet material feeding device A, which is a unit, is fixed to a printer B, which is a main body, with screws. Stack the sheet material feeding device A on the printer B and tighten the machine screw 33.
is inserted through the elongated hole 24 provided in the top plate 21 of the sheet material feeding device A, and screwed into the internal screw 32 provided in the printer B. Connecting parts, i.e., male connector 10a and female connector 1, by screwing.
When the load applied between 0b and 0b is P, the force required to insert the male connector 10a and female connector 10b, which are electrical couplings, is F, and the distance between the screwed part and the male and female connectors 10a and 10b is X, P and X are There is a proportional relationship, and if the load component of printer B applied to the connector part is PC, then P + PC
>F, but by applying the present invention, since the bonding has already been completed, there is no need to set P+PC>F to X, which satisfies So-called attracting (attracting) with a screw member
This eliminates the problem of poor workability due to the need for longer screws than the required length for the fastened state, and the need to rotate the screws many times.There are no restrictions on screw fastening positions, and the screw position can be selected at a convenient location. can.

[0022]

As explained above, the image forming apparatus of the present invention requires very troublesome processes such as the process of inserting a plug into a socket, etc., which is necessary for attaching the upper and lower units to each other. Not only does connection work become unnecessary, but the electrical coupling is completed simply by placing the unit as part of the unit installation work, which improves work efficiency. In addition, connection errors and loose installation do not occur. As machines become lighter, they will become even more effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet material feeding device and a printer B as one embodiment constructed according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sheet material feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining a second embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

A Sheet material feeding device B Printer 10a Male connector 10b Connector female 11 Power supply section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus having an upper unit that is vertically attachable to and removable from the lower unit, and members that are provided on the upper and lower units and that are to be connected to each other when the upper and lower units are attached to the lower unit. An image forming apparatus characterized in that the load applied to the connecting portions of the members to be connected when the upper and lower units are installed is greater than the load required to connect the connecting portions of the members to be connected when the upper and lower units are installed. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the load applied to the joint portion when installed is a load applied by the own weight of the upper side when installed. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the members provided in the upper and lower units to be coupled to each other are electrical couplings. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper unit is a printer and the lower unit is a sheet material feeding device.