JPH08297388A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the convenience, by making the discrimination of an unit becoming the object of an error and a status easy. CONSTITUTION: A printer unit 102 and a scanner unit 101 are units separatedly accommodated in respective casings. On the scanner unit 101, an operation display part 103 for performing the display of the error and the status of the scanner unit 101 and the printer unit 102, while performing the operation input of a whole image forming device, is arranged. On the printer unit 102, a LED display part 102a for performing the display of the error and the status of the printer unit 102 is arranged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a scanner unit for optically reading a document image, a printer unit for forming an image on recording paper, and a control unit for controlling the scanner unit and the printer unit. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which a scanner unit and a printer unit are formed in separate housings.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional image forming apparatus, for example, a scanner unit for optically reading a document image and a printer unit for forming an image on a recording sheet are formed in separate casings, and these two casings are formed. There is provided a digital copying machine having an operation display unit mounted on either one of the above.

[0003]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, although the scanner unit and the printer unit are formed in separate casings, there are two operation display units for displaying errors and statuses. Since it is placed in only one of the cases, it is necessary to check the case (unit) that is the target of the error or status, and the case (unit) that is the target of the error or status and the operation display unit. There was a problem that it was inconvenient when the points were separated.

Further, when the scanner unit and the printer unit are formed in separate housings, PSUs (power source units) are arranged on both of them, which causes a problem of increasing the device cost and a plurality of external devices. There was also the problem that it was a hassle to secure a power supply.

Further, since connecting lines such as a signal power line, a video interface signal line and a serial interface signal line are required to connect the scanner unit and the printer unit, the connecting line becomes complicated,
There was a problem that it did not look good.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and in an image forming apparatus in which a scanner unit and a printer unit are formed in separate housings, it is easy to identify a unit that is an object of error or status. Therefore, the purpose is to improve convenience.

Further, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and in an image forming apparatus in which a scanner unit and a printer unit are formed in separate housings, increase in apparatus cost and secure a plurality of external power supplies. The purpose is to avoid the hassle of doing.

Further, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and in an image forming apparatus in which a scanner unit and a printer unit are formed in separate housings, it is easy to connect the scanner unit and the printer unit. And the purpose is to make it look good.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a scanner unit for optically reading a document image, a printer unit for forming an image on recording paper, In an image forming apparatus having a control unit that controls the scanner unit and the printer unit, the printer unit and the scanner unit are devices housed in separate housings, and the scanner unit includes the scanner. An operation display unit for displaying the error and status of the printer unit and the printer unit and for inputting the operation of the entire image forming apparatus is arranged. The printer unit displays the error and status of the printer unit. The display means for performing is arranged.

In the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, the control unit performs amplification processing, binarization processing, shading correction processing, etc. on the image data read by the scanner unit, and the scanner unit. A scanner controller for controlling the driving of the scanner, a compression / expansion processing unit for inputting image data from the scanner controller and performing compression / expansion processing, a smoothing process for the image data output by the printer unit, a dither process, and the like. A printer controller for controlling the drive of the printer unit, the scanner controller is arranged in the scanner unit, and the compression / expansion processing unit and the printer controller are arranged in the printer unit. There is something.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to a third aspect of the invention, in the printer unit and the scanner unit, which are the apparatuses housed in the separate casings, an AC current is input from an external power source and converted into a DC current. A PSU (power source unit) is mounted only on the printer unit, and the scanner unit is supplied with a direct current from the PSU of the printer unit.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to a fourth aspect, the PSU has a normal mode in which a current is supplied to the entire apparatus,
And a standby mode for supplying a current to only a part of a preset device. In the standby mode, a direct current is supplied only to a part of the control unit and the operation display means of the scanner unit. It is a thing.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the printer unit and the scanner unit, which are the devices respectively housed in the separate casings, are provided with a direct current power line, a video interface data line, and a serial interface signal. A connection cable having integrated wires, and a connector connector having connector pins corresponding to the DC current power line, the video interface data line, and the serial interface signal line, and attached to the end of the connection cable. Are connected using.

[0014]

According to the image forming apparatus (Claim 1) of the present invention, in the printer unit and the scanner unit, which are the devices respectively housed in separate casings, the operation display means arranged in the scanner unit is used. The error and status of the printer unit are displayed and the operation input of the entire image forming apparatus is performed. In addition, the display unit arranged in the printer unit displays the error and status of the printer unit. Therefore, the error and status can be displayed on the target unit.

An image forming apparatus of the present invention (claim 2)
The control unit is a scanner controller,
A scanner device having a decompression processing unit and a printer controller, a scanner controller disposed in the scanner unit, and a compression / decompression processing unit and a printer controller disposed in the printer unit, so that the scanner unit is independent. Can be configured as a device substantially equivalent to

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention (claim 3).
Includes a PSU (power source unit) that inputs an AC current from an external power source and converts it into a DC current only in the printer unit, and the scanner unit is supplied with the DC current from the PSU of the printer unit.

Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention (claim 4).
Has a normal mode in which the PSU supplies current to the entire device and a standby mode in which current is supplied to only a preset part of the device. In the standby mode, a part of the control unit and the scanner are provided. Power is saved by supplying DC current only to the operation and display means of the unit.

Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention (claim 5).
Is a single connection cable that integrates the DC current power line, the video interface signal line, and the serial interface signal line, as well as the DC current power line, the signal power line, the video interface signal line, and the serial interface signal line. The printer unit and the scanner unit are connected using a connection connector having a connector pin and attached to the end of the connection cable. That is, by attaching connection connectors to the printer unit and the scanner unit respectively, the printer unit and the scanner unit are connected via a single connection cable.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

1, 2 and 3 are external views of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment. The image forming apparatus of the present embodiment has a copy function, a facsimile function, an offline printer function, an online printer function, etc., and includes a scanner unit 101 for optically reading a document image and a printer unit 102 for forming an image on a recording sheet. , A control unit 100 (see FIG. 8) for controlling the scanner unit 101 and the printer unit 102, and the scanner unit 101 and the printer unit 102 are devices housed in separate casings as shown in the drawing.

Further, the scanner unit 101 displays an error and status of the scanner unit 101 and the printer unit 102, an operation display section 103 for inputting an operation of the entire image forming apparatus, and an original document one by one. An automatic document feeder (hereinafter, referred to as ADF) 104 for feeding to a predetermined image reading position is arranged.

The printer unit 102 has an LED display section 102a for displaying the error and status of the printer unit 102, and the printer unit 102.
Face-up output tray 1 located on the side of the case
02b and a face-down discharge tray 102c arranged on the upper surface of the housing of the printer unit 102.

Note that FIG. 1 shows a scanner unit 101 and a printer unit 102, which are made in separate casings.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a configuration in which the sheet feeding units 2 are arranged above and below the table 105. FIG.
A configuration example in which 01 is added and the scanner unit 101 is placed on the shelf 202 is shown.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
A paper discharge unit 301 having a face-down paper discharge tray 301a is added to the upper part of the printer unit 102, and the face-down paper discharge tray is provided in two stages of the face-down paper discharge trays 102c and 301a, and the recording paper is set to either one. It is also possible to separately eject the sheets.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic structure of the printer unit 102, which is a paper feed cassette 40 for feeding recording paper sheet by sheet.
1, 402, a manual feed tray 403 used when manually feeding recording paper, and a photosensitive drum 4 that is an image carrier.
04, a charging roller 405 that uniformly charges the photosensitive drum 404, a laser writing unit 406 that forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 404, and toner development of the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 404. A developing device 407, a transfer roller 408 for transferring the toner image formed on the photoconductor drum 404 to the recording paper fed, and a cleaning device 409 for removing the residual toner on the photoconductor drum after the transfer.
And a fixing device 410 for fixing the toner image on the recording paper,
A conveyance path 411 for guiding the recording paper to a double-sided paper feeding unit (not shown) when forming an image on both sides of the recording paper, and conveyance based on whether the recording paper is discharged or conveyed to the conveyance path 411. A switching claw 412 for switching the path and a switching claw for switching the transport path based on whether the recording paper discharge destination is the face-up discharge tray 102b or the face-down discharge tray 102c. 413, and a switching claw 414 for switching the transport path based on which of the face-down discharge trays 102c and 301a is used to discharge the sheet when the sheet discharge unit 301 is added. Although the double-sided sheet feeding unit is not shown in FIG. 4, when the double-sided sheet feeding unit is mounted, the double-sided sheet feeding unit is arranged at the position of the sheet feeding cassette 401, and the double-sided sheet feeding from the transport path 411 is performed. After conveying the recording paper to the unit and reversing the recording paper in the double-sided paper feeding unit, the developing device 407
Feed the recording paper again to the side transport path.

As shown in the drawing, when the recording paper is discharged to the face-up discharge tray 102b, it is discharged as it is by a plurality of conveying rollers, and the recording paper is discharged to the face-down discharge tray 102c. In the case of the recording sheet, the recording sheet is reversed and ejected by the conveyance path and the ejection roller 415 on the way.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic structure of the scanner unit 101. A document conveyed by the ADF 104 to a predetermined reading position is irradiated with light from a light source 501, and the reflected light is first reflected.
An image is formed on a CCD (charge coupled device) 506 via a mirror 502, a second mirror 503, a third mirror 504 and an fθ lens 505, and is converted into an analog signal by photoelectric conversion by the CCD 506 and read as image data.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic structure of the paper discharge unit 301. By switching the switching claw 414 shown in FIG. 4, the recording paper conveyed to the paper discharge unit 301 side is discharged to the face-down paper discharge tray 301a. To be paper.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic structure of the operation display unit 103. The operation display unit 103 includes a liquid crystal display unit 701 for displaying various errors and statuses, a setting mode, parameters, etc., a copy function, a facsimile function, an offline printer function of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment.
When using the online printer function or the like, a copy key 702 for specifying the copy mode (copy function), a FAX key 703 for specifying the facsimile mode (facsimile function), and a printer mode (offline printer function) are selected. Priin to specify
ter key 704 and ONLINE key 705 for specifying the online mode (online printer function)
And a Scanner key 706 for designating a scanner mode used as a scanner device.

Further, the copy operation is stopped (cancelled)
It has a STOP key 707 for operating, a scroll key 708 used for scrolling the display screen of the liquid crystal display unit 701 and selecting displayed parameters, a ten-key 709, an input key 710, a start key 711, and the like.

Next, referring to FIG. 8, the configuration and arrangement of the control unit 100 of this embodiment will be shown. Control unit 1
Reference numeral 00 denotes a scanner for performing amplification processing, binarization processing, shading correction processing, etc. on the image data read by the scanner unit 101 as shown, and for controlling the drive of the scanner engine (that is, the scanner unit 101). A controller 100a, a compression / expansion processing unit 100b for inputting image data from the scanner controller 100a and performing compression / expansion processing, and smoothing processing for image data output by the printer unit 102,
A printer controller 100c that performs dither processing and the like and also controls the drive of the printer engine (that is, the printer unit 102) is provided.

Further, in this embodiment, the printer controller 100c performs various controls for realizing a copy function, a facsimile function, an offline printer function, an online printer function, and the like. Therefore, although not shown, the printer controller 100c is equipped with an interface for connecting to a telephone line, an interface for connecting to a host device offline, an interface for connecting to a network (online), and the like. ing.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 1
00, a scanner controller 100a, a compression / expansion processing unit 100b, and a printer controller 1.
00c are distributed and arranged in the scanner unit 101 and the printer unit 102. Specifically, the scanner controller 100a is the scanner unit 101.
The compression / expansion processing unit 100b and the printer controller 100c are arranged inside the printer unit 1
It is located in 02. Therefore, when only the scanner unit 101 is viewed, it can be configured as a device substantially equivalent to an independent scanner device. In other words, it becomes easy to share the existing scanner device with the scanner unit of the present invention. Also, it is possible to use the existing scanner device. In addition, in FIG.
Reference numeral 01 denotes a portion mounted in the housing of the scanner unit 101, and 802 denotes a portion mounted in the housing of the printer unit 102.

Further, as shown in the figure, the operation display controller 103a of the operation display section 103 is connected to the scanner controller 100a and the printer controller 100c by a control serial signal line.

FIG. 9 shows the arrangement of PSUs (power source units) in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment. In the printer unit 102 and the scanner unit 101, which are the apparatuses housed in separate casings, PS that inputs AC current from an external power supply and converts it to DC current
A U (power source unit) 901 is mounted only on the printer unit 102 as shown in the figure, and a direct current is supplied to the scanner unit 101 from the PSU 901 of the printer unit 102.

The PSU 901 has a normal mode in which a current is supplied to the entire device and a standby mode in which a current is supplied to only a part of a preset device. In the standby mode, control is performed. The direct current is supplied only to a part of the unit 100 and the operation display unit 103 of the scanner unit 101. The switching from the normal mode to the standby mode is automatically switched by a timer provided in the control unit 100 when the image forming apparatus is not used for a predetermined time or longer. In addition, the return from the standby mode to the normal mode is performed when the user performs a key input on the operation display unit 103 or a signal for designating the use of a control signal (facsimile function, offline printer function, online printer function, etc.) from an external device. ) Is input, it is switched by the control unit 100.

10A and 10B show a connection cable 1001 and a connection connector 1002 for connecting the printer unit 102 and the scanner unit 101. The connection cable 1001 is a connection line from the PSU 901 of the printer unit 102. Direct current power line 1001a for supplying direct current to the scanner unit 101
And the scanner unit 101 to the printer unit 10
2 is provided with a video interface signal line 1001b for sending a video signal to the V.2 and a serial interface signal line 1001c for exchanging various control signals among the scanner unit 101, the printer unit 102 and the operation display unit 103. The DC power line 1001a, the video interface signal line 1001b, and the serial interface signal line 1001c are formed as a single cable. Also, at both ends of the connection cable 1001,
As shown, a connection connector 1002 having connector pins corresponding to the DC power line 1001a, the video interface signal line 1001b, and the serial interface signal line 1001c is arranged.

In this embodiment, the connection cable 1001 is used.
Since the printer unit 102 and the scanner unit 101 are connected using the connection connector 1002,
The connection is easy, and the appearance after connection is good and neat.

In the above configuration, display of errors and status, and switching control of face-up and face-down paper ejection will be described.

Display of Error and Status In the present embodiment, the error and status of the scanner unit 101 are displayed on the liquid crystal display section 701 of the operation display section 103 arranged on the scanner unit 101. Therefore, the user can know the error and the status from the display content of the liquid crystal display unit 701. At this time, since the target housing (unit) of the error and status is the scanner unit 101 and the target housing (unit) and the operation display unit 103 are the same,
Easy to understand error and status, and easy to use.

The error and status of the printer unit 102 are displayed on both the liquid crystal display unit 701 of the operation display unit 103 arranged on the scanner unit 101 and the LED display unit 102a arranged on the printer unit 102. To be done. Therefore, the user can know the error and the status from the display content of the liquid crystal display unit 701 and the error and the status from the LED display unit 102a. In particular, since the LED display unit 102a is arranged in the printer unit 102, which is a housing (unit) subject to error and status, the error and status can be easily grasped and the usability is good.

Switching Control for Face-Up Discharge and Face-Down Discharge Next, the switching control for face-up discharge and face-down discharge by the control unit 100 will be described.

The control unit 100 of this embodiment has any one of a facsimile function, an offline printer function, an online printer function, and a copy function without using the ADF 104 (that is, when a document image is directly placed on the scanner unit 101). When an image is formed on the recording paper, select the face-down paper discharge tray 102c and press A
When an image is formed on the recording paper by the copy function using the DF 104, either the face-up discharge tray 102b or the face-down discharge tray 102c is selected according to the type of the ADF 104.

Generally, a facsimile function, an offline printer function, an online printer function, and an ADF1
In the copy function that does not use 04, when the image data to be output to the recording paper has a plurality of pages, the image data is transferred by the printer unit 102 in order from the image data of the first page and is output to the recording paper, so that an image is formed. In order to eject the recording sheets arranged in page order, the recording sheet may be ejected with the image forming surface facing downward. Therefore, in this embodiment, in the case of the facsimile function, the offline printer function, the online printer function, and the copy function that does not use the ADF 104, the face-down discharge tray 102c is selected, and the face-down face with the image forming surface of the recording paper facing down is selected. Eject the paper.

On the other hand, when an image is formed on the recording sheet by the copy function using the ADF 104, depending on the type of the ADF 104, in other words, the ADF 104 conveys the original of the first page to the scanner unit 101 in ascending order,
Depending on whether the document of the last page is conveyed to the scanner unit 101 in the descending order, it is different whether the image forming surface of the recording paper is up or down in order to eject the recording paper on which images are formed in page order. In this embodiment, the ADF 10
The selection of the face-up discharge tray 102b or the face-down discharge tray 102c is switched according to the four types.

Here, referring to FIGS. 11 and 12,
The relationship between the types of the ADF 104 and face-up and face-down paper ejection will be described. As a type of the ADF 104, as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, a document image surface is placed upward, the document is inverted at the time of conveyance and is conveyed to a predetermined position of the scanner unit 101 (reverse conveyance). Type) and as shown in FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b),
There is a type in which a document image surface is placed face down and the document is conveyed to a predetermined position of the scanner unit 101 as it is without being inverted during conveyance (straight conveyance type).

Further, in each of the reverse conveyance type and the straight conveyance type, an upper conveyance type (FIGS. 11A and 12A) for conveying the placed originals in order from the top and a conveyance from the bottom in order. Lower transport type (Fig. 1
1 (b) and FIG. 12 (b)).

That is, the types of the ADF 104 can be classified into four types. Further, for each type, it is possible to know whether the pages of the image data transferred to the printer unit 102 are in ascending order or descending order, and which of the face-up paper ejection and the face-down paper ejection is performed depending on the ascending order or the descending order. When is selected, it is determined whether the sheets will be discharged without the need for sorting. Table 1 shows these relationships.

[0049]

[Table 1]

Therefore, when the ADF 104 is mounted on the scanner unit 101, the type of the ADF 104 is set in the control unit 100 via the operation display section 103, so that the control unit 100 can control the ADF 10 to operate.
Face-up discharge tray 102b according to the type of 4
Alternatively, since the face-down paper ejection tray 102c is selected, it is possible to surely eliminate the trouble of rearranging the output recording papers and improve the convenience and workability.

[0051]

As described above, the image forming apparatus of the present invention (Claim 1) is arranged in the scanner unit in the printer unit and the scanner unit, which are the apparatuses housed in separate casings. The operation display means displays the error and status of the scanner unit and the printer unit, and the operation input of the entire image forming apparatus is performed, and the display means arranged in the printer unit displays the error and status of the printer unit. Therefore, it is possible to easily identify the unit that is the target of the error or the status and improve the convenience.

Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention (claim 2).
The control unit is a scanner controller,
Since the scanner controller is arranged in the scanner unit, and the compression / expansion processing unit and the printer controller are arranged in the printer unit, the scanner unit is an independent scanner device. It can be configured as a substantially equivalent device. In other words, it becomes easy to share the existing scanner device with the scanner unit of the present invention. Also, it is possible to use the existing scanner device.

An image forming apparatus of the present invention (claim 3)
Has a PSU (power source unit) that inputs AC current from an external power source and converts it into DC current only in the printer unit, and the scanner unit is supplied with DC current from the PSU of the printer unit. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the PSU of the scanner unit, increase the apparatus cost, and avoid the trouble of securing a plurality of external power supplies.

Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention (claim 4).
Has a normal mode in which the PSU supplies current to the entire device and a standby mode in which current is supplied to only a preset part of the device. In the standby mode, a part of the control unit and the scanner are provided. Since DC current is supplied only to the operation display means of the unit, a power saving effect can be obtained.

Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention (claim 5).
Is a single connection cable that integrates the DC current power line, the video interface signal line, and the serial interface signal line, as well as the DC current power line, the signal power line, the video interface signal line, and the serial interface signal line. Since the printer unit and the scanner unit are connected by using the connection connector having the connector pin and attached to the end portion of the connection cable, the connection between the scanner unit and the printer unit can be performed easily and with good appearance. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an image forming apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an external view of the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printer unit of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a scanner unit of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a paper discharge unit of the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an operation display unit of the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration and an arrangement of a control unit of this embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of PSUs (power source units) in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection cable and a connection connector that connect the printer unit and the scanner unit.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the type of ADF and face-up and face-down paper ejection.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the type of ADF and face-up and face-down paper ejection.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 control unit 100a scanner controller 100b compression / expansion processing unit 100c printer controller 101 scanner unit 102 printer unit 102a LED display unit 102b face-up discharge tray 102c face-down discharge tray 103 operation display unit 104 ADF 201 paper feed unit 301 Paper ejection unit 301a Face-down paper ejection tray 1001 Connection cable 1002 Connector

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication H04N 1/00 H04N 1/00 D

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising a scanner unit for optically reading a document image, a printer unit for forming an image on a recording sheet, and a control unit for controlling the scanner unit and the printer unit.
The printer unit and the scanner unit are devices housed in separate housings. The scanner unit displays errors and status of the scanner unit and the printer unit, and
Operation display means for inputting operation of the entire image forming apparatus is arranged, and display means for displaying error and status of the printer unit is arranged in the printer unit. Forming equipment. 2. The scanner unit, which performs amplification processing, binarization processing, shading correction processing, and the like on image data read by the scanner unit, and a drive controller for the scanner unit, and a scanner controller. A compression / expansion processing unit that inputs image data from the scanner controller and performs compression / expansion processing, smoothing processing, dither processing, etc. of the image data output by the printer unit, and drive control of the printer unit. Equipped with a controller for the printer
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scanner controller is arranged in the scanner unit, and the compression / expansion processing unit and the printer controller are arranged in the printer unit. 3. In a printer unit and a scanner unit, which are devices housed in separate housings, a PSU (power source unit) for inputting an alternating current from an external power source and converting it into a direct current is The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is mounted only on a printer unit, and the scanner unit is supplied with a direct current from a PSU of the printer unit. 4. The PSU has a normal mode for supplying a current to the entire device and a standby mode for supplying a current only to a part of a preset device, and in the case of the standby mode, 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the direct current is supplied only to a part of the control unit and the operation display means of the scanner unit. 5. A printer unit and a scanner unit, which are devices housed in separate housings, respectively,
One connection cable integrating a DC current power line, a video interface signal line and a serial interface signal line, and a connector corresponding to the DC current power line, the signal power line, the video interface signal line and the serial interface signal line The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image forming apparatus has a pin and is connected using a connection connector attached to an end of the connection cable.