JPH04365729A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a paper feed cassette from falling off at the time of transporting a device main unit. CONSTITUTION:An engaging member 60 having a hook part 63 and a handle part 61 is turnably mounted to a device main unit 10. In the engaging member 60, when the device main unit 10 is placed in a horizontal directional stationary attitude, a refuge position S2 raised by the own weight is taken. Here by large taking refuge from a front side wall 50b of a paper feed cassette 50, in the hook part 63, the paper feed cassette 50 can be freely mounted and removed. On the other hand, when the device main unit 10 is transported, after it is drawn out by gripping the handle part 61 to rotate the engaging member 60 at 90 deg. in a direction of arrow mark C, the device main unit in the stationary attitude is 90 deg. raised and placed in a vertical directional transportation attitude. Here by taking an engaging position S1 (two-dot chain line), where the front side wall 50b of the paper feed cassette 50 is engaged with the hook part 63, in the engaging member 60, the paper feed cassette is prevented from falling off during transportation.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and printers, and more particularly to a compact image forming apparatus that can be carried in a vertical position.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses are known in which the entire apparatus is compact and lightweight and can be easily carried. As an example, a small-sized copying machine will be described with reference to FIG.

[0003] This apparatus has an original placing table 11 made of a transparent member such as glass on the upper part of the main body 10 of the apparatus, and the original placing table 11 reciprocates in the direction of arrow A while placing the original to be scanned. .

A short-focus, small-diameter imaging element array 12 is disposed directly below the original platen 11, and the original image on the original platen 11 is illuminated by an illumination lamp 13, and the reflected light image is reflected from the element array. 12 performs slit exposure onto the photosensitive drum 15. Note that this photosensitive drum 15 rotates in the direction of arrow B. The photosensitive drum 15, which has been uniformly charged by the charger 16, is imagewise exposed by the element array 12 to form an electrostatic latent image. This electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing device 17 using toner made of a resin or the like that softens and dissolves when heated.

On the other hand, the sheet material P is fed by a feed roller 20 from within a paper feed cassette 19 mounted at the bottom of the apparatus main body 10, and is sent to a pair of registration rollers 22 via a guide 21. Alternatively, the sheet material P is sent to the registration rollers 22 through the manual feed port 23 by the manual feed roller 25 in the same manner as in the case of the paper feed cassette 19. Sheet material P inserted into the nip portion of the registration rollers 22
is sent to the photosensitive drum 15, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 15 is transferred by the transfer charger 26. Thereafter, the sheet material P separated from the photosensitive drum 15 by a known means is guided to a fixing device 29 by a conveyor belt 27, heated and fixed, and then discharged onto a tray 30. Note that residual toner on the photosensitive drum 15 after the toner image is transferred is removed by a cleaner 31.

The apparatus main body 10 is portable, and a handle 32 is attached to the outer wall of the apparatus main body 10 on the paper feeding side (right side in the figure) for gripping by hand during transportation. The handle 32 is rotatably supported by the main body around a shaft 33, and normally hangs downward due to its own weight (
When transporting the device body 10, the device body 10 is rotated in the C direction (double-dashed line in the figure) to lift the device body 10. In this example, a handle 32 is provided on the paper feed side, and the device main body 10, which takes a fixed horizontal position during use, is carried in a vertical transport position with the paper feed side facing upward. The following two are mainly mentioned. One problem is the weight balance within the device main body 10.
Generally, the weight of the fixing device 29 is relatively large compared to other component units, so it is relatively stable when lifting the main body 10 of the apparatus by placing the fixing device 29 side downward. Furthermore, if the fixing device 29 side is set upward, the developing device 17
The toner inside the photosensitive drum 15 will be biased in the opposite direction to the photosensitive drum 15 due to gravity, and there is a possibility that the toner supply performance to the photosensitive drum 15 will deteriorate. Mainly for the reasons mentioned above, the handle 32 is provided on the paper feed side, and the main body 10 of the apparatus is attached to the handle 3 when being transported.
It is designed to be transported vertically with 2 facing upward.

Next, when the sheet material P in the paper feed cassette 19 is used up, slide the paper feed cassette 19 toward the fixing device 19 and open the ejection port at the bottom of the paper ejection side (left side in the figure) of the main body 10 of the device. 35, stack and replenish the sheet material P into the paper feed cassette 19 in the removed state, and
The paper feed cassette 19 fully loaded with paper is attached to the main body 19 of the apparatus again. This makes it possible to restart paper feeding from the paper feeding cassette 19. In this example, the paper feed cassette 19
The removal direction is the fixing device 29 side, that is, the device main body 1.
0 is on the lower side when it is in a vertical transport position, but in addition to this, in consideration of the installation space and operability of the main body 10, an ejection port 35 is provided on the front side, from which the paper feed cassette 19 is inserted. Image forming apparatuses of a so-called front-loading type, in which the image forming apparatus can be attached and detached, are also becoming popular.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, when the apparatus main body 10 is carried by the handle 32, if the apparatus main body 10 assumes a vertical carrying position,
Since the outlet 35 on the opposite side of the handle 32 faces downward,
If left as is, the paper feed cassette 19 will fall off from the main body 10 of the apparatus. Therefore, when transporting, the paper feed cassette 19
The paper feed cassette 19 must be taken out from the apparatus main body 10 and transported separately, or a shutter means that can be opened and closed must be incorporated into the ejection port 35 to fix the paper feed cassette 19 and prevent it from falling off. However, according to this, if a worker or the like lifts the main body 10 of the apparatus without taking out the paper feed cassette 19 or fixing it with the shutter means, the paper feed cassette 19 will fall carelessly and the paper feed cassette 19 will be damaged. This may lead to damage and scattering of the sheet material P.

In addition, in the case of the front-loading paper feed cassette 19 described above, the ejection port 35 opens laterally when the main body 10 of the apparatus is transported, and the paper feed may be affected by shaking or slight tilting during transport. Cassette 1
9 may fall off from the main body 10 of the apparatus.

Therefore, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus in which the paper feed cassette is fixed and integrated with the main body of the apparatus only when the main body of the apparatus is transported, thereby preventing the paper feed cassette from falling off during transport. The purpose is to provide.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and will be explained with reference to FIG. 1, for example. ), and the device main body (10) includes:
In a portable image forming apparatus that takes a horizontal stationary position and a vertical transport position, the paper feed cassette is disposed on the apparatus main body (10) side and corresponds to the transport position of the apparatus main body (10). (50) Engagement position (S1) to lock
and a retracted position (to release the lock from the paper feed cassette (50) corresponding to the stationary posture of the apparatus main body (10)).
S2).

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
0) may take the engaging position (S1) and the retracted position (S2) by its own weight in accordance with the attitude of the apparatus main body (10).

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the engaging member (60) is provided with a handle portion (61) that moves in conjunction with the engaging member (60), so that the device main body (10) In the natural state of the handle (61) in a stationary position, the engaging member (60) assumes the retracted position (S2) and the apparatus main body (10) assumes the carrying position. In this state, the engaging member (60) may be in an engaged position.

[0014]

[Operation] Based on the above configuration, the engaging member (60) disposed on the apparatus main body (10) side is a locking member that locks the paper feed cassette (50) when the apparatus main body (10) assumes the transport attitude. Since the alignment position (S1) is taken, even if the apparatus main body (10) is transported in this state, the paper feed cassette (50) will not fall off from the apparatus main body (10). On the other hand, when the apparatus main body (10) assumes a stationary posture, the engaging member (60) engages the paper feed cassette (50).
), the paper feed cassette (50) relative to the main body (10) is taken.
cannot be prevented from being attached or detached.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
), the engagement member (60) automatically moves to the engagement position () according to the posture of the device body (10) without any special action by the operator or the like. S1) and the retracted position (S2).

Furthermore, if the engaging member (60) is provided with a handle portion (61) that interlocks with the engaging member (60), the engaging member (60) can be locked and retracted from the paper feed cassette (50) using the handle portion (61).
61) is operated normally.

[0017] The reference numerals in parentheses above are for comparison with the drawings, and do not limit the structure of the present invention in any way.

[0018]

[Embodiment] An embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, a small-sized copying machine as shown in FIG. An engaging member 60 that engages with and disengages from the paper cassette 50. It should be noted that each member constituting the device body 10 is substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 9 as a conventional example, and those having the same function are given the same numbers and the description thereof will be omitted.

The paper feed cassette 50 is provided with a swingable middle plate 51 that supports the front end side of the sheet material P from below.
The middle plate 51 is urged upward by a compression spring 52 interposed between the middle plate 51 and the bottom plate 50a of the paper feed cassette 50. Side walls are formed integrally with the bottom plate 50a on the four circumferences of the bottom plate 50a, and an appropriate distance is provided between the front side wall 50b on the front side and the tip of the middle plate 51, so that the distance between the two, that is, the front An engaging member 60 is adapted to engage with the inside of the side wall 50b.

The engaging member 60 is attached to the lower part of the apparatus main body 10 so as to be able to swing around a shaft 62 on the paper feed side (on the right side in FIG. 1). The engagement member 60 has an L-shaped hook portion 63 on one end and a handle portion 61 on the other end, and is integrally formed with a retracted position S2 (solid line in the figure) and an engagement position S1 (solid line in the figure). (double-dashed line).

That is, when copying a predetermined image onto the sheet material P, the main body 10 of the apparatus is placed in a horizontal position (the state shown in the figure). At this time, the engaging member 60 is Due to the weight balance, the hook part 63 is stably stopped in a substantially vertical standing state with the handle part 61 at the top and the handle part 61 at the bottom. In this state, the engaging member 60 assumes the retracted position S2 in which the hook portion 63 is widely separated from the front wall 50b of the paper feed cassette 50, so that the paper feed cassette 50
0 horizontally from the outlet 35 on the paper feed side (left side in FIG. 3) at the bottom of the apparatus main body 10, the engaging member 60 does not interfere with the drawing operation of the paper feed cassette 50 in any way. Furthermore, even when the paper feed cassette 50 that has been taken out of the apparatus main body 10 is installed into the apparatus main body 10 through the ejection port 35, the installation operation can be performed without any problem.

On the other hand, when transporting the device main body 10, first grasp the handle portion 61 of the engaging member 60 and rotate it approximately 90 degrees in the direction of arrow C in FIG. It swings in a tilted manner and assumes the engagement position S1. At this time, the tip of the hook portion 63 is connected to the front wall 5 of the paper feed cassette 50.
0b and locks the paper feed cassette 50. Next, the handle portion 61 is pulled up to rotate the entire device main body 10 approximately 90 degrees, so that the handle portion 61 is positioned upward, that is, the device main body 10 assumes a vertical transportation posture. At this time, the entire paper feed cassette 50 assumes an upright position within the apparatus main body 10, and the ejection port 35 on the opposite side to the handle portion 61 faces downward, but the paper feed cassette 50 is engaged by the engaging member 60. Since it is stopped, there is no risk of it coming off and falling out of the device main body 10 during transportation. Furthermore, the length at which the hook portion 63 of the engaging member 60 is inserted into the paper feed cassette 50, that is, the hook portion 63 is
3 and the front side wall 50b is set appropriately long, even if the main body 10 of the apparatus shakes during transportation and changes its posture slightly, the hook part 63 locks into the paper feed cassette 5.
0 securely.

After the transportation has been completed, the main body 10 of the device is rotated 90 degrees at the destination, returning from the vertical transportation posture to the horizontal stationary posture, and then when the handle portion 61 is released, the engagement occurs. The member 60 stands up again and returns to the retracted position S2.
Take. Therefore, the operation of attaching and detaching the paper feed cassette 50 for replenishing the sheet material P, etc. can be performed freely in the same manner as before transportation.

Next, referring to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, the second
An example will be explained. The engagement member 70 is configured to take a retracted position S2 (solid line in FIG. 4) and an engagement position S1 (double-dashed line in the figure) by its own weight. Engagement member 70
is rotatably supported by the apparatus main body 10 about a shaft 72, and has a hook portion 73 at one end that locks the paper feed cassette 50. The center of gravity of this engaging member 70 in the stationary posture of the device body 10 is located at point J, and due to the gravity F acting on this point J, a moment shown at G about the axis 72 is applied to the engaging member 70. It interferes with the device main body 10 and stops at the position shown by the solid line. In this state, the hook portion 73
is separated from the front side wall 50b of the paper feed cassette 50,
It does not prevent the paper feed cassette 50 from being attached or detached in the direction of arrow E.

Next, a case will be described in which the apparatus body 10 is transported in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Even if the paper feed side (right side in the figure) of the main body 10 of the apparatus is tilted upward using the handle 61, the paper feed cassette 50 will not touch the main body side guide member 10a until the angle θ shown in FIG. 4 is reached. It will not fall off from the device main body 10 due to friction. When the angle exceeds θ, the gravitational moment acting on the engaging member 70 is opposite to G, that is, a counterclockwise moment H acts, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, the hook portion 73 locks the front wall 50b of the paper feed cassette 50 to prevent the paper feed cassette 50 from falling off. Of course, the movement of the hook portion 73 is not limited to rotation as in this embodiment, but may also be performed by parallel movement.

Next, a third embodiment will be explained using FIGS. 7 and 8. The paper feed cassette 50 can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 10 by sliding in the direction of arrow K. The handle portion 61 is rotatably supported by the apparatus main body 10 around a shaft 62, and two hook portions 63 are provided at both ends of the handle portion 61, respectively, for locking the paper feed cassette 50.
is formed. In addition, the front wall 5 of the paper feed cassette 50
A locking portion 50c is formed at 0b. Engagement member 6
In normal use, as shown in FIG. 8, the handle part 61 is located almost directly under the shaft 62 due to its own weight balance, and the hook part 63 is separated from the front wall 50b of the paper feed cassette 50. Therefore, attachment and detachment of the paper feed cassette 50 in the direction of arrow K is not obstructed.

However, when transporting the device main body 10, the user grasps the handle portion 61 and rotates it as shown in FIG. 7 to lift the device main body 10. At this time, the hook portion 63
engages with the locking portion 10c of the paper feed cassette 50 to prevent the paper feed cassette 50 from falling off in the direction of arrow K. In this embodiment, unlike the first and second embodiments, the direction of gravity acting on the paper feed cassette 50 during transportation does not match the direction in which the paper feed cassette 50 is attached/detached. If this occurs, there is still a risk of the product falling off, so the means for preventing it from falling off as in this example is very effective.

In each embodiment, the engagement operation of the engagement members 60 and 70 with respect to the paper feed cassette 50,
The operation of raising the main body 10 of the apparatus into the transporting position is interlocked, that is, when the main body 10 of the apparatus takes the transporting position, the engaging members 60 and 70 always lock the paper feed cassette 50. Therefore, the paper feed cassette 50 will not accidentally fall off due to an artificial forgetting to engage the cassette.

[0030]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
By arranging an engaging member for the paper cassette that engages when the main body of the apparatus is being transported but retracts when the main body of the apparatus is in use, it is possible to prevent the paper cassette from falling off during transport and to prevent the paper cassette from falling off when the main body of the apparatus is in use. Paper cassettes can be attached and detached freely.

[0031] The operation of the engaging member at this time may be such that a special engaging operation is performed when transporting the main body of the device, for example by interlocking with the handle or by automatically moving it to a predetermined position by its own weight. The engaging member reliably locks the paper feed cassette without any interference.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an engaging member of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the engaging member and the paper feed cassette.

[Figure 3] Vertical side view showing the main body of the device

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a retracted state of the engaging member of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the engaged state.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the engaged state.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the engaged state of the engaging member of the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the retracted state.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing a conventional device main body.

[Explanation of symbols]

10　　　　　　　Device body 50 Paper cassette 60, 70 Engagement member 61 Handle part S1 Engagement position S2　　　　　　　　　　Evacuation position

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A portable image forming apparatus having a paper feed cassette that is detachably attached to the apparatus main body, and in which the apparatus main body takes a horizontal stationary position and a vertical transport position, wherein the apparatus main body side an engagement position that locks the paper feed cassette in accordance with the transportation attitude of the apparatus main body, and a retreat position that releases the lock with respect to the paper feed cassette in accordance with the stationary attitude of the apparatus main body. An image forming apparatus characterized by comprising an engaging member that takes: 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engaging member takes the engaging position and the retracted position by its own weight in accordance with the attitude of the apparatus main body. 3. The engaging member is formed with a handle portion that moves in conjunction with the engaging member, and the engaging member is in a retracted position when the handle portion is in a natural state in which the apparatus main body takes a stationary posture. and the engaging member assumes an engaging position when the handle section is in use, with the device main body in a carrying position;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: