JPH07117780B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable image forming apparatus having a locking means, and more particularly to a portable image forming apparatus in which an apparatus body can be opened and closed.

[Conventional technology and problems]

For example, a small electronic copying machine, especially a small copying machine for personal use, requires a small installation space, a small storage space when not in use, and an easy carrying property. .

However, the conventional copy machine requires the minimum document size area for both the fixed platen type and the movable platen type. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the height of the main body of the machine, but the installation area is small. It was difficult to reduce. Also, it was difficult to carry because it had to be held with both hands when carrying it.

In view of this, USP 4465359 has proposed a copying machine that can be easily held with one hand by keeping the main body of the apparatus upright when not in use to make the storage space small and carrying it upright.

However, in the case of a so-called alligator type copier in which the main body of the device can be divided into upper and lower parts to facilitate paper jam handling, the lever that opens the main unit can be accidentally touched when standing upright. Then, when the main body opens,
It is not preferable because the inside may be damaged by falling or impact.

[Structure for solving problems]

According to the present invention for solving the above problems, an image forming unit for forming an image is provided, and a first unit and the first unit are provided.
A device main body including a second unit that is supported so as to be divided into units, a locking position that locks the first unit and the second unit, and the first unit and the second unit are opened. In an image forming apparatus having locking means movable to an open position and blocking means for blocking the locking means from moving from the locking position to the open position, the blocking means includes the device body. When the apparatus main body is moved from the usable posture to the standing posture with its side face down, the device main body moves to a position that prevents movement of the locking means by gravity. Image forming apparatus.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a copying machine main body to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a document table on which a document is placed, which is made of a transparent member such as glass, and is a motor (not shown)
In response to the driving force from the rail, it reciprocates on a rail (not shown) in the direction of arrow a. Reference numeral 2 denotes a short-focus small-diameter image-forming element array, which is placed on the document table 1 and exposes the reflected light image of the document 0 illuminated by the illumination lamp L onto the photosensitive drum 3 in a slit exposure manner. Reference numeral 4 denotes a charger, which uniformly charges the photosensitive drum 3. The element array 2 is attached to the uniformly charged drum 3.
Image exposure is carried out by means of, and an electrostatic image is formed. Next, the electrostatic latent image is visualized by the developing device 5. On the other hand, the transfer paper P is fed onto the drum 3 by the paper feed roller 6 and the registration roller 7 which rotates at a timing so as to register with the image on the photosensitive drum 3. Next, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 3 is transferred onto the transfer paper P by the transfer charger 8. Then, the transfer paper P separated from the drum 3 is guided to the fixing device 10 by the guide 9,
After the toner image on the transfer paper P is fixed, it is ejected by the paper ejection roller 11. Note that U is a document pressure plate.

In the copying machine of this embodiment, the copying machine main body C can be divided into an upper unit 35 as a second unit and a lower unit 36 as a first unit (see FIG. 2). The upper unit 35 of the main body of the copying machine is rotatably supported about the lower unit 36 and the shaft 13 (direction of arrow b), and is rotated upward by a biasing means (not shown) such as a torsion spring. The power to do is added.

Now, referring to FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), an embodiment of the characteristic portion of the present invention will be described. Reference numeral 14 is a hook that constitutes locking means, and the hook portion 14a fixes the lower unit 36 of the main body. It fits in the hole 15a of the side plate 15 and is in the locking position, and keeps both upper and lower units of the main body closed against the pushing force of the aforementioned torsion spring (Fig. 1). That is, the hook 14 is in a locked state in which the upper and lower units are locked so that they cannot be separated. This state is maintained by being pressed against the stopper 31 by the spring 30. The hook 14 is attached to a shaft 18 rotatably supported by the upper unit 35 so as to rotate together. 20 is a lever for opening the main body,
It is rotatably supported on 18. When the lever 20 is pulled up in the direction of arrow d, the movement of the lever 20 is transmitted to the hook 14 via the spring 21, and the hook 14 also rotates in the direction of arrow d. Then, the hook portion 14a comes off from the side plate hole portion 15a of the lower unit 36,
When moved to the open position, the upper unit 35 opens upward (see FIG. 2). In addition, 22 is a handle of the apparatus main body C,
Storage and transportation are performed with the handle 22 facing up. The lever 20 is pressed against the stopper 33 by the spring 21. Reference numeral 23 is a regulating member which constitutes a blocking means for blocking the movement of the hook 14 when the apparatus main body C is upright, and is rotatably supported on a shaft 24 fixed to the upper unit 35. Figure 1 (a),
When the apparatus main body C of (b) is placed horizontally, the regulating member
The weight of one end 23a of 23 causes a clockwise rotation moment to hold the claw portion 14b of the hook 14 and the hook portion 23b of the regulating member in a separated state. That is, the restricting member 23 is in a state in which the switching of the state of the hook 14 is not blocked.

Next, in FIG. 3 in a state where the main body of the apparatus is erected vertically, since one end 23a of the regulating member is located on the left side of the shaft 24,
The counterclockwise moment acts and the hook 23b
It engages with the claw portion 14b of 4. Even if the lever 20 is operated in this state, since the counterclockwise movement of the hook 14 is regulated by the regulating member 23, the movement of the lever 20 is absorbed by the extension of the spring 21, and the movement of the hook 14 is reduced. The part 14a cannot be opened from the upper and lower units without being disengaged from the hole 15a of the fixed side plate 15.

Although the embodiments of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Although the copying machine has been described in the embodiments, the present invention is also effective for an image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer. Further, it is needless to say that the image forming means may be a device that is dispersedly arranged in each of the divided device main bodies or a device that is centrally arranged in either one of them.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the present invention, when the apparatus main body is moved from the usable posture to the posture in which the side surface of the main body is placed downward, the first unit and the second unit cannot be opened. For example, when the apparatus body is placed in an upright state or when the apparatus body is transported in an upright state, the apparatus body is not accidentally opened and the apparatus is no longer damaged. Moreover, in the present invention, the blocking means is provided in the main body of the apparatus and moves to the position for blocking the movement of the locking means by gravity. It was not possible to move it from the position, and it became possible to lock the device body more reliably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a copying machine in which the state of the regulating means changes according to the posture of the apparatus main body to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 1 (b) is FIG. 1 (a). FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which the structure of FIG. 1 (a) is divided into a first main body and a second main body, and FIG. 3 is a stand up of the copying machine of FIG. 1 (a). It is a sectional view showing the state where it was opened. 13 …… Axis 14 …… Hook 20 …… Lever 21 …… Spring 22 …… Grip 23 …… Regulator

Continuation of the front page (56) References Open 61-110767 (JP, U) Open 61-176370 (JP, U) Open 61-71636 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image forming means for forming an image is provided,
A device main body including a first unit and a second unit that is supported by the first unit in a separable manner, a locking position for locking the first unit and the second unit, and the first unit. An image forming apparatus comprising: locking means movable to an open position for opening the second unit; and blocking means for preventing the locking means from moving from the locking position to the open position, The blocking means is provided in the apparatus main body, and when the apparatus main body moves from a usable posture to a standing posture with its side surface facing down, gravity prevents the movement of the locking means. An image forming apparatus that moves to a position.