JPH07137401A - Exterior member - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an exterior member that sufficiently meets both an external apperarance function and a function as an internal part and can be reused by a method wherein the exterior member for covering at least a part at a device, such as an office equipment, is composed of a first exterior member as an externally shown part and a second exterior member made of a material different from the first member. CONSTITUTION:An exterior member 10 provided with a first exterior member 11 having characteristics as an externally shown surface and a second exterior member 12 having a function as an internal part is molded by two-color molding, press molding, or the like with a sheet 13 between the exterior members 11, 12. The sheet 13 is made of a material., such as PTFE or PFA, having a high melting point and a high releasability and is as thin as 0.005-1mm in thickness. Aplurality of slots 13a are formed in the sheet 13. Resins we flow into the slots 13a, thereby directly contacting and integrally bonding the exterior members 11, 12 with each other. The exterior member 10 is provided with cutouts for facilitating the separation of the exterior members 11, 12 from each other and insertion holes for a driver or the like, whereby the both members can be easily separated after use.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exterior member that covers at least a part of a device such as an office machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 shows a laser beam printer as an example of an office machine.

In the laser beam printer shown in FIG. 8, a cassette 1 for stacking paper, a paper feed roller 2 for separating and feeding a sheet S in the cassette 1, and a cassette 1 are provided.
A registration roller 3 for aligning the position of the image with the front end of the sheet S fed from the sheet S, a transfer unit 5 for transferring the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 4 by the electrophotographic method onto the sheet S, A fixing unit 6 for fixing the toner image transferred onto the sheet S onto the sheet S, a sheet discharge roller 8 for discharging the sheet S on which an image is recorded onto a sheet discharge tray 7, and the like are provided.

In such a laser beam printer,
The paper output reversal cover 10 is provided as an exterior member that covers a part of the paper. The paper output reversal cover 10 must not only improve the appearance but also have a function as a conveyance guide. It must also withstand the heat conducted from the sheet S that has passed through the fixing means 6 and has reached a high temperature. Then, in this type of electrophotographic apparatus, ozone, water vapor, etc. are also generated. In addition, there are not a few devices that use the exterior member as a structure, a shield component, or a fireproof enclosure.

On the other hand, the characteristics required for the exterior member as an external component include good appearance, scratch resistance, weather resistance, display of nameplate, color matching including fading between several covers, and the like. .

As a compromise point with respect to the above functions, a resin such as PC or PC / ABS alloy is used at a place where heat resistance is required or a place where a sheet passing surface is formed, and an ABS resin is used at other places. There were many things.

[0007]

However, conventionally, the exterior member has a function (heat resistance, paper passing property, ozone / water resistance, rigidity, flame retardancy) required as an internal part, and an exterior member as an external member. As a result of trying to satisfy the required functions (weather resistance, color matching, aesthetics, scratch resistance) at the same time with a single material, a material that does not satisfy any of the functions sufficiently (in other words Inadequate materials) had to be compromised.

Further, the conventional exterior member lacks a function as an appearance member rather, and if it is used for a long period of time, it is discolored, warped or scratched by heat or ultraviolet rays. For this reason, even if the device is used up and it is reused in parts, it cannot be used as it is.Even if the resin is remolded and used, if the resin is deteriorated by heat or ultraviolet rays, it will be reused. The function of the exterior member obtained by molding is often inferior.

Further, when a plurality of exterior members are used, when different materials are used due to the difference in required functions,
There is a problem in that it is difficult to match colors between the exterior members made of different materials, and especially when the fading degree of the exterior members after the device has been used for a long time is different, the colors are different between the exterior members.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an exterior member which can sufficiently satisfy both the appearance function and the function as an internal component and which can be reused. To provide.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a first exterior member which is an exterior part, and an exterior member which covers at least a part of a device such as an office machine. A second exterior member made of at least one material different from the first exterior member, the second exterior member being disposed inside the device with respect to the member, integrally formed with the first exterior member, The thickness of the first exterior member is smaller than the thickness of the second exterior member.

The present invention also provides the first exterior member and the second exterior member.
It is characterized in that the exterior member of (3) is easily divided.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the second exterior member is reusable.

[0014]

In the exterior member according to the present invention, the first exterior member can have an appearance function and the second exterior member can have a function as an internal component. Both functions of can be satisfied at the same time.

Further, according to the present invention, since the first exterior member and the second exterior member are easily divided, it is possible to reuse the second exterior member.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a rear view of an exterior member according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

In the exterior member 10 according to this embodiment, 1
1 is a first exterior member having a characteristic as an appearance surface, 12
Is a second exterior member having a function as an internal component, 13
Is a thin sheet with a thickness of 0.005 to 1 mm made of a material having a high melting point and high releasability such as PTFE and PFA.
The exterior member 10 is formed by a molding method such as two-color molding or press molding with a sheet 13 sandwiched between a first exterior member 11 and a second exterior member 12.

A plurality of (three in the illustrated example) elongated holes 13a are formed in the sheet 13, and the resin flows into these elongated holes 13a, whereby the first exterior member 11 and the first exterior member 11 are formed. The second exterior member 12 and the second exterior member 12 are directly contacted and bonded to each other so that they are joined and integrated. In this case, both exterior members 1
Since the sheet 13 having high peelability is sandwiched between 1 and 12, the adhesive force at that portion is very weak. Therefore, sheet 1
By devising the shape of the third long hole 13a, it becomes possible to control the adhesive strength between the first exterior member 11 and the second exterior member 12.

The exterior member 10 is provided with a cutout for facilitating the separation of the first exterior member 11 and the second exterior member 12 or an insertion port for a tool such as a screwdriver (neither is shown). In other words, the first exterior member 11 and the second exterior member 12 are separated after the device is used, and the second exterior member 1
It becomes possible to reuse 2 as it is.

By the way, the material of the first exterior member 11 may be a resin usually used as an exterior material such as PC, ABS, PS and PPO, but may be cloth, PVC, PPE,
The first exterior member 11 may have a special appearance by using PVCF, PUF, PPF, TPO, PP, or the like.

Since the first exterior member 11 only needs to have an external appearance, its thickness is 0.1 mm to 1.5 mm.
Therefore, there is no problem even if it is thinner than the second exterior member 12.
By doing so, it becomes possible to select a material having higher function and thus higher cost as the first exterior member, and as a result, it is possible to provide a higher-performance exterior within the same cost frame.

On the other hand, as the material of the second exterior member 12, if a material satisfying only the functions required as internal parts such as heat resistance, water resistance, ozone resistance, paper conveyance, flame retardancy as an enclosure, etc. is selected. Since it is good, it is possible to select a material that is more suitable for the required function at a lower cost.

Further, the material of the sheet 13 is not a sheet, but a material such as wax, PFA or PTF.
The coating of A may be used, or a resin having high releasability that is cured by ultraviolet rays may be used. The sheet 13 is made of a material that easily sublimes, and the sheet material 13 sublimes during molding to form a space between the first exterior member 11 and the second exterior member 12. The exterior member 11 and the second exterior member 12 may be easily separated.

Further, the first exterior member 11 is scratched,
By selecting a material that does not easily cause discoloration, it is possible to reuse the exterior member 10 as it is without dividing the exterior member 10 after use.

When a plurality of exterior members cover the device, the first exterior member can be made of the same material even if the second exterior member is made of a plurality of materials due to heat resistance and the like. Therefore, color matching between different exterior members is easy,
Also, the degree of discoloration due to long-term use is the same between exterior members. And, of course, it is also conceivable to re-mold the first exterior member of each exterior member to reuse it. <Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is a rear view of the exterior member according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

The exterior member 20 according to the present embodiment is constructed by joining and integrating a first exterior member 21 which is an external part of the apparatus and a second exterior member 22 which is located inside the apparatus.
Then, the first exterior member 21 and the second exterior member 22 are attached to a portion one step deeper on the inner side of the device than the exterior surface, and both are covered by the other covers 23 and 24 (FIG. 3).
Is ultrasonically welded in a region indicated by diagonal lines. still,
The welding area where the first exterior member 21 and the second exterior member 22 are ultrasonically welded is determined in consideration of the ease of separating the first exterior member 21 and the second exterior member 22.

Thus, also in this embodiment, the first exterior member 21 and the second exterior member 22 are the same as in the first embodiment.
It is possible to divide the second exterior member 22 and reuse the second exterior member 22 as it is, and it is possible to make the thickness of the first exterior member 21 smaller than that of the second exterior member 22. <Third Embodiment> Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 is a rear view of the exterior member according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG.

This embodiment is a modification of the second embodiment, and the exterior member 30 includes a first exterior member 31 and a second exterior member 32, which are dowels 31a provided on the first exterior member 31.
It is configured by heat welding using.

Thus, in this embodiment, the same effect as that of the second embodiment can be obtained. <Fourth Embodiment> Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Incidentally, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an exterior member according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

In the exterior member 40 according to this embodiment, the first exterior member 41, which is the external appearance, and the second exterior member 42 located inside the apparatus are joined integrally by a molding method such as two-color molding or press molding. The first exterior member 41 is made of an organic solvent or a material which is easily dissolved in an acid / alkali or the like, and the second exterior member 42 is made of a material resistant to an organic solvent or an acid / alkali, for example, PA, PAI,
It is made of resin such as PE, PET, PES, PI, POM, PPS, or metal.

When the exterior member 40 is dipped in an organic solvent or the like after the use of the apparatus, only the first exterior member 41 is melted and the second exterior member 41 is melted.
Since the outer packaging member 42 remains as it is, the second outer packaging member 42 can be reused. In this case, the thinner the thickness of the first exterior member 41, the shorter the melting time.

Incidentally, the exterior members 10, 4 shown in FIG. 1 or FIG.
0 is printed as the first exterior member 11 or 41
If a two-color molding or press molding is performed using a thin sheet such as ET film,
The appearance of the exterior members 10, 40 as an exterior is enhanced,
The degree of freedom in design can be increased, and the exterior members 10, 4
It is also possible for 0 to function as a rating nameplate and model name label.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the exterior member that covers at least a part of the device such as the office equipment is the first exterior member that serves as the exterior part, and the first exterior member. A second exterior member made of at least one material different from the first exterior member, the second exterior member being disposed inside the device with respect to the member, integrally formed with the first exterior member, The thickness of the first exterior member is made smaller than the thickness of the second exterior member so that the first exterior member and the second exterior member can be easily divided, and the second exterior member can be easily divided. Since the exterior member is configured to be reusable, the exterior member can sufficiently satisfy both the appearance function and the function as the internal component, and the effect that the exterior member can be reused is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a back view of an exterior member according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a back view of an exterior member according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a back view of an exterior member according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an exterior member according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a main configuration of a laser beam printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 20, 30, 40 Exterior member 11, 21, 31, 41 First exterior member 12, 22, 32, 42 Second exterior member 13 Sheet

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takamasa Sawada 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An exterior member for covering at least a part of a device such as an office machine, which is a first exterior member as an external appearance part, and is disposed inside the device with respect to the first exterior member and It is formed integrally with the first exterior member and is composed of a second exterior member that is different from the first exterior member and is made of at least one material, and the thickness of the first exterior member is the second exterior member. An exterior member which is thinner than the thickness of the exterior member. 2. The first exterior member and the second exterior member are configured to be easily divided.
The exterior member described. 3. The exterior member according to claim 1, wherein the second exterior member is configured to be reusable.