JPH06271108A - Image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce burden during work to easily and accurately position an upper frame body on a lower frame body even the upper frame body heavy at the time of stacking the frame bodies, and prevent damage to an electric connecting means or mechanical connecting means. CONSTITUTION:In a lase printer, a receiving part 51a and a positioning part 51b are provided on the upper surface 12a of a multi-stage sheet storage frame body 12, and a guide part 51c for connecting these parts is provided to form a leg holding-down part 51. A similar leg holding-down part 51 is provided on the upper surface 11a of a sheet storage frame body 11. When the sheet storage frame body 11 is placed on the multi-stage sheet storage frame body 12, the sheet storage frame body 11 is received firstly by the receiving part 51a to be positioned roughly. The sheet storage frame body 11 is then moved laterally and guided from the receiving part 51a to the positioning part 51b by the guide part 51c, and the sheet storage frame body 11 is positioned accurately. Similarly, a main frame body 10 is also placed on the sheet storage frame body 11 to be positioned.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printer, a copying machine,
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus such as a facsimile machine or a printing machine, which records on a sheet by printing, transferring, copying, printing or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that stacks a plurality of housings such as a main body housing, a sheet housing housing, and a multi-tiered seat housing to each other and stack them in multiple layers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a laser printer is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, on the lower side of the main body casing 1, there are provided downward guiding means 2, positioning means 3, electrical connecting means 4, and mechanical connecting means 5, while a separate structure, for example, On the upper surface of the housing housing 6, the guide means 2a, the positioning means 3a, the electrical connecting means 4a, and the mechanical connecting means 5a, which engage with the above-mentioned respective means 2, 3, 4, 5 at positions facing them. There was one that was provided upwards.

While keeping the lower surface of the main body housing 1 substantially parallel to the upper surface of the sheet storage housing 6, the main body housing 1 is guided by the guide means 2 and 2a, and the sheet storage housing is provided. By placing it on 6 and positioning by the positioning means 3 / 3a,
At the same time, the main body housing 1 and the sheet storage housing 6 are electrically and mechanically connected by the electric connecting means 4.4a and the mechanical connecting means 5.5a.

[0004]

However, the main body housing 1
With the seat lifted to the end, the lower sheet storage housing 6
Without stacking and positioning on top
The reliable positioning with the housing 6 cannot be performed. For example, if the main body housing 1 is forcibly placed on the sheet storage housing 6 while being tilted, for example, the pins of the connector used as the electrical connecting means 4 and 4a may be broken or the mechanical connecting means 5 For example, the teeth of the gear used as 5a may be damaged. Therefore, particularly when the main body housing 1 is heavy, not only a person who lifts the main body housing 1 but also a person who checks the tilt of the lifted main body housing 1 is required, which requires manpower and a long working time. There was a problem such as becoming.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce the load during work and to easily and reliably position on the lower housing even when the upper housing is heavy when stacking the housings, and the electrical connecting means and The purpose is to prevent damage to the mechanical connection means.

[0006]

Therefore, the invention described in claim 1 is, for example, as shown in the following embodiments, for example, a main body housing 10, a seat housing housing 11, and a multi-stage seat housing housing. In an image recording apparatus in which a plurality of casings such as the body 12 are positioned relative to each other and stacked in multiple stages, for example, the sheet storage casing 11 in the lower stage and the main casing 10 in the upper stage.
First, when the main body housing 10 is placed, the receiving portion 51a for receiving the upper main body housing 10 and roughly positioning it, the positioning portion 51b for accurately positioning the main body housing 10, and connecting them to the upper main body housing 10 in the horizontal direction. A guide portion 51c for guiding the receiving portion 51a to the positioning portion 51b when the sheet is moved in the direction, or, for example, in the lower multi-stage sheet storage case 12 and the upper sheet storage case. Body 11
First, when the sheet is placed, the sheet storage housing 1 on the upper stage is placed.
The receiving portion 51a which receives 1 and roughly positions, the positioning portion 51b which accurately positions, and the connecting portion 51b which connects them, and moves the upper side sheet storage housing 11 in the lateral direction from the receiving portion 51a. A guide portion 51c for guiding to the positioning portion 51b is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the first aspect, for example, as in the following illustrated embodiment, the sheet storage case 11 in the lower stage is provided with the main body case in the upper stage. A locking member such as a headed pin 55 or a hook 59 is provided for locking the body 10 in the upper body casing 10 when the body 10 is positioned by the positioning portion 51b so as to prevent the body 10 from rising, or a lower multi-stage structure. Seat housing 12
In addition, the upper sheet storage housing 11 is provided with the positioning portion 5
When positioned by 1b, the upper sheet storage housing 11
For example, the headed pin 5
5, a locking member such as the hook 5 and the hook 59 is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the second aspect, for example, as in the following illustrated embodiment, the state in which the locking member is locked in the upper main body casing 10 is described. Or the opening 40 through which the locking state of the locking member can be checked is provided in the upper sheet housing case 11.

Next, the invention as set forth in claim 4 is, for example, as shown in the following illustrated embodiment, such as a main body casing 10, a sheet storage casing 11, a multi-stage sheet storage casing 12 and the like. In a stacked image recording apparatus in which a plurality of such housings are positioned relative to each other in a multi-tiered manner, the receiving portion 5 which roughly receives and positions the upper housing when it is placed on the lower housing
1a and a guide portion 51c for guiding the upper casing received by the receiving portion 51a when the casing is moved laterally are provided in the lower casing and the guide portion 5 thereof is provided.
1c guides each other when the upper case is moved laterally to engage with each other to accurately position the upper case,
For example, upper and lower positioning portions such as the notch 45 of the stay 42, the neck portion 65c of the headed pin 65, the engaging hole 70 of the stay 43, and the engaging plate portion 66b of the hook 66 are provided in the upper and lower casings, respectively. It is characterized by

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the invention, when the upper case is stacked on the lower case, the upper case is placed on the lower case and first the receiving portion 51a is used. Then, the upper casing is moved laterally and guided by the guide portion 51c from the receiving portion 51a to the positioning portion 51b. The positioning portion 51b accurately positions the lower casing and the upper casing. Position the housing relative to each other.

According to the second aspect, the positioning portion 5
When the positioning is performed by 1b, the locking member provided in the lower housing is locked in the upper housing to suppress the floating thereof.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the locking member is locked in the upper casing, the locked state of the locking member is confirmed through the opening 40.

In the invention according to claim 4, when the upper casing is stacked on the lower casing, the upper casing is placed on the lower casing and roughly positioned by the receiving portion 51a. Then, the guides 51c guide the upper casing laterally to engage the upper and lower positioning portions with each other, and the upper and lower positioning portions accurately position the upper casing.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a laser printer which is an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 10 indicates a main body housing, reference numeral 11 indicates a seat housing housing, and reference numeral 12 indicates a multi-stage seat housing housing. A sheet feeding roller 13 and a sheet are provided in the sheet housing 11.
A sheet feeding cassette 14 for accommodating sheets is provided, and the sheet feeding rollers 15 and 16 and the sheet feeding cassettes 17 corresponding to the sheet feeding rollers 15 and 16 are provided in the multistage sheet accommodating housing 12.・
18 and 18 are provided. The sheet storage case 11 is loaded on the multi-stage sheet storage case 12, the main body case 10 is loaded on the sheet storage case 11, and each is electrically and mechanically. Connecting.

Then, the sheet feeding roller 19 and the sheet feeding roller provided in the main body casing 10 by the control means of the main body casing 10 (not shown).
Of any one of the rollers 13, 15, 16 and drives the corresponding paper feed roller 35, 14, 17, 1
The sheet fed from No. 8 is conveyed through the passage 20a to the conveyance path 20.
To the transfer rollers 21 and 2 in the middle of the transfer path 20.
The sheet is conveyed by 2 and is further conveyed by the registration roller 23 to the lower side of the photoconductor 24 at a proper timing. On the other hand, the photoconductor 2
4 is driven in the clockwise direction indicated by the arrow, and at that time, the charger 25
, The surface is uniformly charged, and a laser beam is emitted from the optical writing device 26 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 24. This latent image is visualized by toner when passing through the position of the developing device 27. Then, this visible image is transferred by the transfer device 28 onto the upper surface of the sheet conveyed to the lower side of the photoconductor 24. After the transfer, the sheet is guided by the transport guide 29 and fixed to the fixing device 3.
The image is conveyed to 0 and the visible image is fixed by the fixing device 30. Then, the sheet exiting the fixing device 30 is further conveyed by the transport roller 31.
The sheet is conveyed along the conveying path 32 by the sheet ejection roller 33, and is ejected onto the sheet ejection section 34 by the sheet ejection roller 33 and stacked. On the other hand, after the transfer, the surface of the photoconductor 24 is cleaned by the cleaning device 36.

By the way, in the illustrated printer, as shown in FIG. 1, an opening 40 is provided on the front face A side of the sheet housing 11. In addition, the handle portions 41 are provided in the lower center of both side surfaces, respectively. Furthermore, on the bottom side of the sheet housing 11,
Two steers 42 and 43 are attached to the left and right side plates (not shown). Each of the stations 42 and 43 has a U-shaped cross section and is attached with its opening side facing upward. Then, on the lower surfaces of the bottom plate portions 42a and 43a, columnar legs 44 are provided so as to project near both ends.

Of the stations 42 and 43, the front side A side station 42 extends the upper end of the rear side B side plate portion 42b to the rear side B side at a right angle to the side side plate portion 42b and assists the extended portion. The plate portion 42c is used. And the auxiliary plate portion 42c
In addition, the two notches 45, 45 are provided at even positions from substantially the center in the length direction. The notches 45, 45 are provided in a substantially U-shape facing the rear surface B side with the opening side widened. Further, a through hole 46 is formed in the bottom plate portion 42a of the stay 42 at substantially the center in the length direction. Further, in the vicinity of the inner left part of the seat housing 11, a connector 47 having a connecting surface facing the rear surface B side is provided.
To provide.

On the other hand, the upper surface 12 of the multi-stage sheet storage housing 12
In a, leg holding portions 51, 51 are provided near both ends on the front A side and near both ends on the back B side, respectively. Leg holder 51 /
Each of the reference numerals 51 is surrounded by a rib-shaped convex wall 52, the rear side portion thereof serves as a positioning portion 51b for holding the leg 44 of the main body housing 10 at a predetermined position, and the front side portion thereof is positioned by the positioning portion 51b. The receiving portion 51a has a size several times larger. Then, the convex wall 52 is moved from the positioning portion 51b to the receiving portion 5
It is formed so as to gradually spread to 1a, and a portion between the receiving portion 51a and the positioning portion 51b is used as a guide portion 51c.

Further, on the upper surface 12a of the multi-stage sheet accommodating housing 12, an opening of the seat vertical passage 20a is opened on the front surface A side thereof, and at a position on the rear surface B side of the opening, a female screw hole 54 is formed substantially at the center. To provide. Then, headed pins 55, 55 are provided so as to protrude upward from the female screw hole 54 at substantially equal positions on both sides. Then, at the left end of the upper surface 12a,
An opening 57 through which the gear 56, which is a mechanical connecting means, can be seen is opened, and a connector 58 whose connecting surface faces the front surface A side is provided on the upper surface of the left back portion.

Further, a hook 59 is attached to the back surface B of the multi-stage sheet storage housing 12. This hook 59
Is composed of a mounting plate portion 59a in the vertical direction and a locking plate portion 59b whose tip is bent slightly upward.
The shape is such that it floats from the upper surface 12a toward the side.

On the other hand, the main body casing 10 is provided with the stations 42 and 43 and the hand-holding portion 41 on the bottom side thereof, and a connector 47 having a connecting surface facing the rear surface B side near the left back portion, and the above-mentioned sheath. The configuration is similar to that of the housing 11. In addition, the seat housing 11 has a leg holding portion 51.5 on its upper surface 11a.
1, headed pins 55, 55, gear 5 as a mechanical connecting means
6 is provided with an opening 57 and the like, and a connector 58 is provided on the upper surface of the left back part, so that the multi-stage seat housing 1
The configuration is the same as that of 2.

In the illustrated printer, the sheet storage case 11 is placed on the multi-stage sheet storage case 12, and then the sheet is received.
The main body housing 10 is placed and stacked on the seat storage housing 11, but the main body housing 10 is placed on the seat storage housing 11 already placed on the multi-stage seat storage housing 12. The case will be described below. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the main body casing 10 is lifted by placing a hand on the handle portion 41 and placed on the sheet storage casing 11. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the legs 44 of the main body housing 10 are received in the receiving portions 51a of the sheet storage housing 11 to roughly position the main body housing 10.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, while looking inside the main body housing 10 through the opening 40, the main body housing 10 is pushed and moved inward in the lateral direction indicated by the arrow. Then, the leg 44 of the main body housing 10 is guided by the guide portion 52 from the receiving portion 51a to the positioning portion 51b, and is accurately positioned as shown in FIG. In addition, by moving the main body housing 10 in the lateral direction,
As shown in FIG. 6, the stay 43 moves to the back side and the hook 59 is locked to the upper edge of the stay 43 of the main body housing 10, and as shown in FIG. Move to
The headed pin 55 engages with the notch 45, thereby preventing the main body housing 10 from rising.

At the same time, the gear 56 of the seat housing 11 meshes with the gear (not shown) of the mechanical connecting means provided at the bottom of the main body housing 10, and the connector 47 of the main body housing 10 is seated. It is connected to the connector 58 of the housing 11.

Then, the engagement state of the hook 59 with respect to the stay 43 and the engagement state of the headed pins 55, 55 with respect to the stay 42 are confirmed from the opening 40, and a not shown thumb screw is attached.
The main body casing 10 is screwed into the female screw hole 54 on the upper surface of the sheet housing casing 11 from the through hole 46 of the stage 42 of the main body casing 10.
Is fixed so as not to move to the front side A with respect to the sheet housing 11.

In the above embodiment, as fixing means, a through hole 46 provided in the stage 42 of the main body housing 10 and a female screw hole 54 provided in the upper surface 11a of the sheet housing 11 are separately prepared. As shown in FIG. 8, a screw 60 is used in place of the headed pin 55 on the upper surface 11a.
A nut 61, which is fixed on the upper surface and provided with a knurl 61a on the peripheral surface, may be prepared as a fixing means.

Then, when the main body casing 10 is pushed and moved laterally inward, as shown in FIG.
The notch 45 in the 0-step 42 is engaged with the screw 60, the nut 61 is screwed into the head of the screw 60, and between the nut 61 and the screw 60, the auxiliary plate portion 42c of the step 42 is inserted.
Tighten. Then, the main body casing 10 is fixed to the sheet storage casing 11 so as not to move to the front side.

In the illustrated embodiment described above, when the sheet storage case 11 is placed on the multi-stage sheet storage case 12, positioning is performed in the same manner as described above, and the main body case 10,
The sheet storage case 11 and the multi-stage sheet storage case 12 are stacked in multiple stages.

By the way, in the above-described illustrated embodiment, when the upper body casing 10 is placed on the lower sheet storage casing 11, the upper body casing 10 is finally changed into its cylindrical legs. 44 is positioned by engaging the positioning portion 51b. However, when the material of such a leg is made of a material such as rubber or plastic having low rigidity, the leg is deformed by the weight of the upper casing at the time of this positioning, which may reduce the positioning accuracy. is there.

Therefore, in the invention described in claim 4, as in the illustrated embodiment shown below, instead of using such a leg,
The configuration is such that the upper casing is finally positioned. Figure 1
FIG. 1 shows a laser printer according to an embodiment of the invention, as in the case of FIG. 1, in which a main body housing, a sheet storage housing, and a multistage sheet storage housing are separated. Since the laser printer has almost the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 1 except for the positioning portion, the portions corresponding to the respective portions of FIG.

In the illustrated embodiment, the leg holding portions 51, 51 provided on the upper surfaces of the sheet storage case 11 and the multi-stage sheet storage case 12 are respectively received on the front side A.
1a and a positioning portion 51b on the back side.
As shown in 2, the positioning portion 51b is formed in a concave shape.
Further, the positioning portion 51b is formed such that its width is slightly larger than the diameter of the leg 44 described above, as shown in FIG.

Further, the sheet storage case 11 and the multi-stage sheet are provided.
As shown in FIG. 11, headed pins 65, 65 are provided on the upper surface of the housing 12 on both sides of the female screw hole 54 on the front surface A side, instead of the headed pins 55, 55 described above. . The headed pins 65, 65 are, as shown in FIG.
Narrow necks 65c and 65c are formed between the body portions 65a and 65a and the head portions 65b and 65b. And the trunk 65a.6
The upper edge of 5a and the lower edges of the heads 65b and 65b are chamfered. The neck portions 65c and 65c are formed to have a length that can be engaged with the notch 45 according to the thickness of the auxiliary plate portion 42c of the front A side stay 42.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, hooks 66, instead of the hooks 59, are attached to the rear surfaces B of the sheet storage case 11 and the multi-stage sheet storage case 12 at substantially the center thereof. Become. As shown in FIG. 15, the hook 66 is composed of a mounting plate portion 66a in the vertical direction and an engagement plate portion 66b whose tip is slightly tapered.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rear B-side stays 43 in the main body casing 10 and the sheet storage casing 11 are provided with engaging holes 70 at substantially the center of the side plate portion 43b on the rear B side in the length direction. To provide. This engagement hole 70 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the hook 66 is formed in a laterally long shape according to the width of the engaging plate portion 66b, and both ends thereof are narrowly opened according to the plate thickness of the engaging plate portion 66b.

Therefore, for example, when placing the main body casing 10 on the seat storage casing 11 already placed on the multi-stage sheet storage casing 12, the main body is held by the hand-holding portion 41. The housing 10 is lifted, and the legs 44 of the housing 10 are received in the receiving portion 51a of the seat housing 11 to roughly position the housing 10. Next, from the opening 40 to the main body housing 1
While pushing inside the main body housing 10 while looking at 0, the guide portion 51c guides the legs 44 to move the main body housing 10 in the lateral direction.
As shown in FIG. 3, the leg 44 is put into the positioning portion 51b. In addition, by moving the main body casing 10 in the lateral direction, the
As shown in FIG. 4, the stay 42 moves to the back side, the neck portion 65c of the headed pin 65 engages with the notch 45, and the stay 43 moves to the back side as shown in FIG. The engaging plate portion 66b of the hook 66 engages with the engaging hole 70, whereby the main body housing 10 is accurately positioned. At this time, each leg 44 is in a floating state without contacting with the positioning portion 51b. And two headed pins 65 and hooks 66
The main body casing 10 is prevented from being lifted up at three points, and is positioned stably without backlash.

At the same time, the sheet storage housing 11
Gear 56 meshes with a gear (not shown) of a mechanical connecting means provided at the bottom of the main body housing 10, and the connector 47 of the main body housing 10 is connected to the connector 58 of the sheet storage housing 11. Thereafter, as described above, for example, a knob screw (not shown) is screwed into the female screw hole 54 on the upper surface of the sheet housing case 11 from the through hole 46 of the station 42 of the body case 10 to fix the body case 10. .

[0038]

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the upper case is stacked on the lower case, the upper case is placed on the lower case and the receiving section is used. After roughly positioning, the upper casing is moved horizontally, and the guide unit guides it from the receiving unit to the positioning unit.The positioning unit accurately positions the lower casing and the upper casing. Since the casings are positioned relative to each other, even when the casings in the upper part are heavy when the casings are stacked, the burden on the work can be reduced and the casings can be easily and reliably positioned in the lower casing. Can be prevented from being damaged.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the positioning member is positioned, the locking member provided in the lower casing is locked to the upper casing to suppress the floating thereof, so that the upper and lower casings are suppressed. The body can be fixed together.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the locking member is locked in the upper casing, the locked state of the locking member can be confirmed from the opening, so that the work can be performed easily and reliably. It can be carried out.

According to the invention as set forth in claim 4, when the upper casing is roughly positioned by the receiving portion, and then the upper casing is moved laterally by being guided by the guide portion, the upper and lower positioning portions are moved. Since the upper case is accurately positioned by engaging with each other, even if the legs of the upper case that are placed on the lower case are easily deformed, the accuracy of the upper case is improved regardless of that. Can be well positioned.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a laser printer according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the main body housing, the sheet storage housing, and the multi-stage sheet storage housing in a separated state.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the main body casing is placed on the sheet storage casing and first roughly positioned.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state in which the legs of the main body housing are positioned in the receiving portion at that time.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the main body casing is moved in the horizontal direction on the sheet storage casing and accurately positioned.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state in which the legs of the main body housing are positioned by the positioning portion at that time.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state where the hook is locked to the station.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which the headed pin is engaged with the station.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another example of fixing means for the main body housing and the sheet storage housing.

FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state where the main body casing is fixed by the fixing means.

FIG. 10 is an overall schematic configuration diagram showing an internal mechanism of the laser printer.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the invention according to claim 4;
FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the printer with a main body housing, a sheet storage housing, and a multi-stage sheet storage housing separated from each other.

FIG. 12 is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state of the legs when the main body casing is positioned.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a state in which the headed pin is engaged with the station.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a state where the hook is engaged with the engagement hole of the stay.

FIG. 16 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a case of a conventional laser printer with a housing separated.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 main body housing 11 sheet storage housing 12 multi-stage sheet storage housing 40 opening 45 notch of stay (upper positioning portion) 51a receiving portion 51b positioning portion 51c guide portion 55 headed pin (locking member) 59 Hook (Locking Member) 65c Neck of Headed Pin (Lower Positioning Part) 66b Engagement Plate of Hook (Lower Positioning Part) 70 Engagement Hole of Stay (Upper Positioning Part)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image recording apparatus in which a plurality of casings are positioned relative to each other and stacked in multiple stages, wherein:
When the upper case is placed on the upper case, the receiving section that first receives the upper case and roughly positions it, and the positioning section that accurately positions the case are connected to connect the upper case horizontally. An image recording apparatus, comprising: a guide unit that guides the receiving unit to the positioning unit when the image recording apparatus moves in a predetermined direction. 2. The lower housing is provided with a locking member that locks the upper housing when the upper housing is positioned by the positioning portion to prevent the housing from rising.
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the upper casing is provided with an opening through which the locked state of the locking member can be confirmed. 4. An image recording apparatus for positioning a plurality of casings relative to each other and stacking them in multiple stages, and a receiving portion for roughly positioning the lower casings when receiving the upper casings. A guide part that guides the upper casing received by the receiving part when moved laterally, and the lower casing is provided with the guide part to guide the upper casing to the upper casing. Upper and lower positioning portions that engage with each other when accurately moved in the lateral direction to accurately position the upper housing are provided in the upper and lower housings, respectively.
Image recording device.