JPH0575761U - Image forming apparatus having a two-part configuration - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Objective] The present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of being divided into two parts, and is intended for achieving good ground continuity between the upper frame and the lower frame. An image forming apparatus comprising an upper frame body and a lower frame body, wherein the upper frame body and the lower frame body open at the other end around one fulcrum, and the upper frame body is made of a metal material. A lock member made of an electrically conductive member provided on a side of the lower frame body made of a metal material that opens the other, and the lock member provided on the upper frame body or the lower frame body, and the upper frame body. When the body and the lower frame body are locked by the lock member, the upper frame body and the lower frame body are electrically connected to each other.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention is an apparatus used in an apparatus for recording an image by conveying a recording sheet in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and dividing the apparatus into two parts to replace, clean and record the image recording means in the machine. The present invention relates to an apparatus for improving electrical continuity failure by dividing an image forming apparatus into two in order to perform paper jam processing.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In the past, image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and printers have generally been equipped with a metal plate exterior plate on a machine frame, which is a metal plate frame. A resin-molded exterior that enables the above is becoming popular. In addition, resin-molded members are often used for the built-in recording means for image formation. Such a mechanism is convenient because it is easy to assemble and can be used and handled in a lightweight manner, but on the other hand, most of the image forming apparatuses described above use an electrophotographic system, A large number of discharging means such as a high-voltage generating device such as a photoconductor drum, a charging pole for applying an electric charge to the surface of the photoconductor drum, and a transfer pole for transferring an image to a recording sheet are provided, and these electrodes generate electricity. The generated charge is conducted by the earth means in the apparatus for each image formation, so that good image formation and safety are maintained. In particular, the photosensitive drum is generally provided on the upper frame of the image forming apparatus while being held by an insulating material such as a resin in terms of its structure. It is essential to maintain a stable earth state. However, as mentioned above, even if a part of the insulating material such as resin is composed of, for example, a metal upper frame and a lower frame, it can be divided into two parts and used for jam treatment, repair, parts replacement, etc. If the upper frame is opened and closed more frequently than the lower frame, the electrical connection cannot be safely maintained due to the earth, which adversely affects image formation.

[0003]

Although various improvements have been made in order to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks, in particular, one of the upper frame and the lower frame is opened so that one of them can be rotated by a support shaft. Since it is a general configuration that it is provided so that the other can be opened greatly, a lock claw for locking when closed is used. Was found to be an important constituent element of the earth, including the material, and there was a problem with this structure and material.

The present invention has been improved in view of the problems of the prior art. The purpose of the present invention is to improve the mechanical material of the lock pawl so as to always maintain a good grounding state. The image quality of the image forming apparatus is improved.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 To achieve the above object, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention comprises an upper frame body and a lower frame body, and the upper frame body and the lower frame body are configured such that one fulcrum is centered and the other is opened. In the image forming apparatus, the upper frame body made of a metal material, a lock member made of an electrically conductive member provided on a side of the lower frame body made of a metal material that opens the other side, and the lock member are provided in the upper frame body. It is provided on the body or on the lower frame so that the upper frame and the lower frame are electrically connected to each other when the upper frame and the lower frame are locked by the lock member. Further, the problem is solved by forming the lock member from an aluminum material.

[0006]

【Example】

 FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a lower frame of the image forming apparatus, and a half-moon-shaped paper feed roller 2 for feeding the recording paper P is provided in the lower frame 1 and a plurality of the recording papers P are incorporated. The sheet feeding cassette 3 is detachably attached to the lower frame body 1. A push-up plate 4 that is pushed up is provided in the paper feed cassette 3. The recording papers P are fed one by one from the paper feed cassette 3 by an appropriate separating means. Reference numeral 5 denotes a conveyance roller for the recording paper P provided on the lower frame 1, which is provided between a guide plate 6 for guiding the leading end of the recording paper P fed by the paper feed roller 2 and a reversing guide plate 7. ..

Reference numeral 8 denotes a guide plate for guiding the recording paper P to the registration rollers 9 after the recording paper P is reversed and fed, and guides the recording paper P to the registration rollers 9. Reference numeral 10 is a guide plate that guides the recording paper P passing through the registration roller 9 toward the transfer belt 11, and the transfer belt 11 is suspended by a transfer roller 12, a roller 13 and a drive roller 14. Reference numeral 15 is a fixing device for fixing the image transferred on the recording paper P. The fixing device 15 is composed of a fixing heating roller 16 and a pressure contact roller 17. A cleaning roller 18 is pressed against the fixing heating roller 16 and rotates in accordance with the rotation. To clean. Reference numeral 19 denotes a paper discharge roller for discharging the recording paper P from the fixing device 15. The discharged recording paper P is a recording paper guide member 20, a guide path 21 formed in the upper frame 1a, and a guide conveyance roller 22, The recording paper P is ejected to the paper ejection tray 24 provided on substantially the entire upper surface of the upper frame 1a by 23. Next, a photoconductor drum 25 for image formation is provided in the substantially central portion of the upper frame 1a, and four developing devices 26, 27, 28, 29 are provided along the surface of the photoconductor drum 25 from the top. The developing device frame 30 can be arranged. A polygon mirror 31 reflects the laser light emitted from the laser light source 32 by the reflection mirrors 33, 34 and 35 to expose the photosensitive drum 25. Reference numeral 36 denotes an optical system frame body integrally incorporating optical systems such as the polygon mirror 31, the reflection mirrors 33, 34 and 35, which is incorporated in the uppermost part of the upper frame body 1a.

Reference numeral 37 denotes a strip electrode for charging the entire surface of the photosensitive drum 25, which is provided on an upper frame plate 42 provided on a part of the upper frame 1a. A cleaning blade 38 is provided for cleaning the residual toner adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum 25 after transferring the image from the photosensitive drum 25 to the recording paper P. The cleaning blade 38 is provided on the upper frame plate 42 to receive the cleaned toner. A conveying device 39 for discharging the toner to the outside of the cleaning blade is provided, and a toner receiving member 40 that efficiently sends the developer scraped by the cleaning blade to the conveying device 39 is provided below the cleaning blade 37. Reference numeral 41 denotes a toner replenishing device which supplies color toner and black toner to the developing devices 26, 27, 28 and 29, respectively, and which is appropriately fixed to a part of the upper frame 1a. Although only one set, four sets are provided side by side, and for example, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black toners are supplied to the developing devices 26, 27, 28, and 29 to perform color development and black development. is doing. The lower frame 1 and the upper frame 1a are assembled around the spindle 1b so that the conveyance path of the recording paper P can be opened. When at least the fixing device 15 is not reached, the upper frame 1a can be opened with the support shaft 1b centered, and the recording paper P.sub.1 can be taken out. The photosensitive drum 25 is provided on an upper frame plate 42 provided with a cleaning blade 38 via a support shaft 25a, and the support shaft 25a is pivotally supported on the upper frame 1a.

Reference numeral 1c is an opening / closing lid that can open a part of the upper frame 1a when replenishing the toner replenishing device 41 with each color toner from the outside.

FIG. 2 shows the components of the present invention. The upper frame 1a is constructed so that it can be opened from the lower frame 1 by a support shaft 1b. The support shaft 1b provided on the frame 1a is provided on an upper substrate 42 made of a metal material on which the upper frame 1a is mounted, and the lower frame 1 is provided on a lower substrate 43 made of a metal material. The support shaft 1b is fitted in a bearing portion 44 provided on the lower substrate 43. On the other hand, on the open end side of the upper substrate 42, a locking claw member 45 having extremely good electrical conductivity is rotatably supported by a support shaft 46, and the locking claw member 45 is a spring member in the locking direction. Biased by 47. In order to lock the locking claw member 45 with the lower substrate 43, a locking hole 48 for locking the locking claw member 45 is provided on the open end side of the lower substrate 43. In FIG. 2, the locking claw member 45 is locked in the locking hole 48 by the spring member 47, and the open ends of the upper substrate 42 and the lower substrate 43 are accurately closed. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, it is closed so that image recording can be performed accurately. At the other end of the locking claw member 45, there is provided a pressing part 45A for releasing the claw. A damper provided between the upper substrate 42 and the lower substrate 43 of 49 holds the upper substrate 42 and the upper frame 1a in an open state when opened. Reference numeral 50 is a grounding conductive member that is closer to the inside than the back side of the locking hole 48 provided in the lower substrate 43, and is configured to fix the ground at an appropriate position of the lower substrate 43.

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the upper substrate 42 made of a metal material is grounded on the photosensitive drum 25, the belt electrode 37, the developing devices 26, 27, 28, 29, etc. shown in FIG. Although a large number of members are used, the ground current is brought into contact with the lower substrate 43 by the elastic force of the spring member 47 by the locking claw member 45 and the locking hole 48 and the grounding conductive member 50, respectively. , Make sure that the ground current flows to the lower board. Further, as described above, the locking claw member 45 is made of a material having extremely good electrical conductivity, for example, an aluminum material, the electrical resistance is reduced, and a good ground state is maintained.

In FIG. 3, when the pushing portion 45 A of the locking claw member 45 is pushed against the spring member 47, the claw of the locking claw member 45 is disengaged from the locking hole 48, and the upper substrate 42 is moved to the position shown in FIG. It can be opened with the support shaft 1b as a fulcrum. In this case, although not shown, for example, when the recording paper P is jammed between the photoconductor drum 25 and the transfer belt 11, the photoconductor drum 25 and the transfer belt 11 should be separated to remove the recording paper. You can At this time, the damper 49 provided between the upper substrate 42 and the lower substrate 43 holds the upper frame 1a together with the upper substrate 42 in an open state. After the paper jam processing is completed, if the upper frame 1a is pushed down again against the holding force of the damper 49, the locking claw member 45 is locked in the locking hole 48 of the lower substrate 43. The taper part 45A formed on the claw of the claw member 45 escapes from the plate part forming the locking hole 48, and then the spring force of the spring member 47 causes the locking claw member 45 to automatically move into the locking hole 48. The upper substrate 42 and the lower substrate 43 are closed so that they are locked and also contact the grounding conductive member 50 to ensure a complete electrical continuity.

Since the upper substrate 42 and the lower substrate 43 are provided on both sides of the upper frame 1a and the lower frame 1 shown in FIG. 1, locking claw members 45 are provided on both sides, respectively. It goes without saying that a stay may be formed between both sides and the locking claw member 45 may be engaged with the stay.

[0015]

[Effect of the device]

 According to the present invention, when the upper substrate 42 and the lower substrate 43, in which the respective members of the image forming apparatus are incorporated as described above, can be opened, particularly, the grounding connection of the image forming apparatus incorporated in the upper substrate 42 can be well maintained. In particular, the locking claw member 45 for combining the upper substrate 42 and the lower substrate 43 is made of a material having good conductivity, and further the ground current is flown to the lower substrate 43 by the locking claw member 45. Since the grounding conductive member 50 is provided, it is possible to always obtain a good image without deteriorating the image quality of the image forming apparatus due to interruption of the ground current.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an image forming apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a main part of the present invention, showing lower and upper substrates and a locking claw member.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which lower and upper substrates are opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Lower Frame 1a Upper Frame 11 Transfer Belt 15 Fixing Device 25 Photosensitive Drums 26, 27, 28, 29 Developing Device 30 Developing Device Frame 36 Optical System Frame 41 Toner Replenishing Device 42 Upper Substrate 43 Lower Substrate 45 For Lock Claw member 48 Locking hole 50 Grounding conductive member

Claims (4)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising an upper frame body and a lower frame body, wherein the upper frame body and the lower frame body open at the other end around one fulcrum, and the upper portion made of a metal material. A frame member, a lock member made of an electrically conductive member provided on the side of the lower frame member made of a metal material that opens the other, and the lock member is provided on the upper frame member or the lower frame member, An image having a two-division configuration characterized in that when the upper frame and the lower frame are locked by the lock member, the upper frame and the lower frame are electrically connected to each other. Forming equipment. 2. The image forming apparatus having a two-part structure according to claim 1, wherein the lock member is made of an aluminum material. 3. The image according to claim 1, wherein the upper frame body is provided with at least an image carrier and a developing device, and the lower frame body has at least a paper feeding means. Forming equipment. 4. The image forming apparatus having a two-divided structure according to claim 1, wherein an upper substrate is provided on the upper frame and a lower substrate is provided on the lower frame.