JPH09289571A - Lock mechanism of image reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To greatly reduce the cost and improve the operability and functionality by actualizing the mechanism which locks a carriage by using a minimum number of components. SOLUTION: The image reader, equipped with at least one carriage freely movably in a housing, is provided with a locking projection 11 outside one side part in the moving direction of the carriage and also provided with a hole 12 through which the locking projection 11 projects out in one side wall of the housing positioned in the moving direction of the carriage. A clip 10 is engaged with the locking projection 11 projecting out of the hole 12 when the carriage is locked at right angles to the axis of the locking projection 11 to lock the carriage to the side wall.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A reading device used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer or a facsimile machine,
The present invention relates to improvement of an image reading device as a single device, and more particularly to improvement of a method of fixing a carriage at the time of packaging when shipping these devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A reading device used as an input means of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer or a facsimile machine, or an image reading device as a stand-alone device has a carriage (running body) equipped with a light source, a mirror and the like. When packing this image reading device for shipment from a factory, etc., the carriage is moved by a variety of methods to prevent it from being damaged during transportation. Fixed. In particular, these devices weigh 15 to 30 kg.
It is about Kg, and when it is shipped overseas, the handling of cargo is often rough. Under such circumstances, the carriage portion of the reading device is often damaged during transportation, and parts are often deformed or come off. Therefore, it is common to lock the carriage during transportation. There are various locking methods, but in order to lock the carriage,
Since the mechanical locking means is added, the cost is unnecessarily increased.

[0003]

By the way, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-
From the outside of the exterior body with screws as in Japanese Patent No. 104558,
There is also a type that fixes the internal carriage, but with this technology, the screw is tightened from the same direction as the carriage movement direction, so the carriage escapes due to the pressing force from the screw when tightening the screw, and the workability deteriorates. was there. In addition, when the device is used after installation, the screw holes used for tightening the screws remain open in the exterior body, etc., so air is sucked and exhausted from the screw holes for the piston movement carriage, and dust, Dust easily enters the inside of the device, which also causes a stain on the mirror.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and the first aspect of the present invention realizes a mechanism for locking a carriage with a minimum number of parts, thereby achieving a significant cost reduction and improvement in operability and functionality. The purpose is to According to a second aspect of the present invention, by locking the carriage to the housing at the position opposite to the home position, the stopping positions of the two carriages are different from each other, and the part that interferes with the locking is minimized. 1
An object of the present invention is to enable individual carriages to be closely fixed to the side plate of the enclosure. The purpose of claim 3 is to provide a place for storing clips used only for locking the carriage during transportation and to prevent the clips from being lost. A fourth object of the present invention is to prevent dust and dust from entering from the outside by closing the hole of the exterior cover of the scanner unit. The fifth object of the present invention is to provide an automatic lock mechanism to further improve the operability.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is an image reading apparatus provided with at least one carriage movably in an enclosure, and one side outside of the moving direction of the carriage. In addition to providing a locking projection on the side wall, a hole is formed on one side wall of the housing located in the carriage movement direction so that the locking projection projects to the outside. The carriage is locked to the side wall by locking a clip in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the projection. The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that the lock position for locking the carriage is provided at a position beyond the maximum image area on the side opposite to the home position. The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that an accessory case for accommodating an accessory such as the clip is provided on an outer surface of the enclosure. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when the carriage is not in the lock position, the clip is fitted into a lock slit provided on the upper surface of the housing in the lock position to prevent the clip from being lost. To do. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in an image reading device provided with at least one carriage movably in the housing, an automatic lock mechanism is provided on one side wall of the housing located in the moving direction of the carriage. .

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an external appearance of a main part of a reader according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the reader of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are views. It is a figure explaining the characteristic of the image reading device of No. 1. This image reading apparatus has a structure in which a contact glass 2 is arranged in an opening on the upper surface of a casing 1, and inside thereof, a first carriage 3 and a second carriage 3 which are connected so as to interlock with a wire (not shown). 4 is supported so that it can move back and forth in the direction of the arrow. At the home position shown in FIG. 2, both carriages 3 and 4 stop in a state of being close to each other, while at the time of scanning, they move to the right at a predetermined speed. During normal scanning, the first carriage 3 moves only up to the maximum image area, but during transportation, the first carriage 3 is locked on the side wall a of the housing at the lock position shown in the figure. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 5 is an imaging lens,
6 is a CCD.

The locking mechanism of the present invention comprises a clip 10 and
Lock protrusion 11 protruding from the end face of the first carriage
And a side wall 1a for projecting the locking projection 11 to the outside
And a slit 13 formed on the upper surface of the housing for locking the clip 10 to the housing 1. The clip 10 is composed of a leaf spring, for example, one end 10a has a short length and is inserted into the slit 13, and the other end 10b is formed.
The groove 1 on the outer periphery of the protrusion 11 protruding from the hole 12
The fitting recess 10c is configured to be fitted in the la 1a. The clip 10 has a spring property and always acts so as to press the first carriage 3 against the inner wall of the housing. In the present embodiment, the clip 10 is fitted to the locking projection 11 from the direction (upward) that intersects the moving direction of the first carriage 3 (the axial direction of the locking projection) by 90 degrees. Unlike the conventional example using, the carriage does not escape when locking and the workability is improved.

Next, the carriage lock operation will be described with reference to FIG. 2. A control unit (not shown) drives a motor (stepping motor) (not shown) to drive the first carriage 3
To the lock position on the anti-home position side,
In this state, the clip 10 is fitted onto the protrusion 11 from above to lock the carriage 3 in the casing. The movement amount of the first carriage 3 can be accurately adjusted by counting the rotation angle (step number) of a stepping motor (not shown). If the lock is performed on the home position side, the second carriage 4 becomes an obstacle, and it is difficult to dispose the lock mechanism having the above-described configuration. Therefore, in the present invention, the lock is performed at the anti-home position position. That is, since the light source (lamp) 3A is mounted on the first carriage 3, it is highly necessary to lock the first carriage 3 in order to prevent damage to the light source. If locked, the second carriage 4 is connected by a wire, and as a result, the position is fixed.

Next, in this embodiment, when the image reading device is installed and used, since the carriage 12 is not locked by the lock mechanism, the hole 12 remains open. Since the dust is sucked and discharged from the hole by the movement to bring the mirror and the like into dirt, it is effective to close the hole 12 using the clip 10 as shown in FIG. 3 (a). That is, when locked, FIG.
As shown in (b), the locking projection 11 is locked using a clip, but when not locked, one end 10a of the clip is locked as shown in (a).
The other end 10 by inserting deeply into the slit 13.
The hole 12 is closed by b. In this figure, since the other end 10b is curved, it seems that the hole cannot be closed completely, but a flat surface that is not curved may be applied to the hole.

Incidentally, a packing or the like for completely sealing the hole 12 may be fixed in advance on the inner surface of the other end 10b. By using the clip in this way, it also serves as a method for storing the clip, and the clip can be prevented from being lost.

Next, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an image reading apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. This reading apparatus is provided with a recess 21 in the lateral direction of the operating portion 20 of the front plate of the apparatus, and the recess 21 is provided. The structure is characterized in that a rotary accessory case 23 is installed on the inner wall of the office via a hinge portion 22 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction, and the clip 10 is housed in the accessory case 23 to prevent loss.
When the device is used, the accessory case 23 may be rotated upward and brought into close contact with the inner wall of the recess. In addition, in the accessory case 23, props such as a brush can be stored in addition to the clip. The supporting method for the accessory case may be a pull-out method other than the rotary method.

Next, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of an example of an automatic lock mechanism as another embodiment of the present invention.

In the automatic lock mechanism of this embodiment, a step hole 30 is formed in advance in the side wall 1a of the housing which is opposite to the home position, and the lock lever 31 is supported in the step hole 30 so as to be vertically movable. deep. The step hole 30 is composed of an inner small-diameter hole 30a and an outer large-diameter hole 30b. A lock piece 31a of a lock lever 31 is loosely fitted in the small-diameter hole 30a so as to be vertically movable. A base portion 31b is loosely fitted in the hole 30b so as to be vertically movable. Further, the lock lever 31 itself is always urged upward by a spring 33 supported by a protrusion 32 protruding from the inner wall of the side wall. Further, a hook portion having an inclined surface 31a is formed at the tip of the lock piece 31a. Further, a lock piece 31a is provided on the side wall portion of the first carriage 3 opposite to the home position.
Form a lock hole 34 that can be engaged.

In the above structure, when the reading device is used, the first carriage 3 does not move to the illustrated lock position, so that the lock lever 31 is in the raised position indicated by the solid line by the bias of the spring 33. But the first
When the carriage moves to the lock position to lock the carriage, the upper edge of the lock hole 34 first comes into contact with the inclined surface 31a of the lock piece 31a, and the lock hole 34 rises above the lock hole 34a toward the lock position. The edge pushes down the inclined surface. Then, when the lock lever 31 is pushed down to the position shown by the dotted line, if the carriage is moved in the same direction until the upper edge of the lock hole gets over the hook portion, the force of the spring 33 raises the lock lever 31. Lock the carriage as shown by the solid line. That is, when the first carriage 3 moves to the lock position, the lock lever 30 is automatically
Will be locked in. To unlock
By pushing down the lock lever 30 downward, the first carriage 3 becomes free and can be moved to the home position side.

According to this embodiment, the carriage is moved to the lock position without using a clip or the like,
It becomes possible to lock automatically. Note that when a user breaks down the device, when the user mails the device to the maker for a repair request, the carriage is in the home position, so the user can lock the device. Although a situation in which the clip cannot be fitted occurs, in the present invention, a carriage lock position is provided at a position beyond the maximum image area on the side opposite to the home position,
Since the carriage is configured to be moved to the lock position by operating the operation panel of the device, the DIP switch, or the like, the lock operation can be sufficiently performed on the user side. In the above embodiment, a single reading device has been described as an example, but the locking mechanism is also applicable to a reading device having an image forming unit, that is, a reading device of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile machine. Can be applied. The present invention can also be applied to an image reading apparatus having only one carriage.

[0016]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the mechanism for locking the carriage can be realized with the minimum number of parts (only the clip), and the cost can be greatly reduced and the operability and the functionality can be improved. . According to the second aspect of the present invention, a lock position is provided outside the maximum image area on the side opposite to the home position, and the first carriage is locked at this lock position, so that the two carriages are simultaneously moved. Can be locked. According to the invention of claim 3,
This provides a place to store a clip for locking that is required only when the device is transported, and has the effect of not losing the clip. According to the invention of claim 4, the lock hole provided on the side plate of the reading device is closed by the clip, so that there is an effect of preventing dust and dust from entering from the outside. According to the invention of claim 5, it is possible to further improve the operability by providing the automatic lock mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the reading device shown in FIG.

3 (a) and 3 (b) are main part configuration diagrams of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of another example of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 case, 1a side wall, 2 contact glass, 3 first carriage, 4 second carriage, 5 imaging lens,
6 CCDs, 10 clips, 11 locking protrusions, 1
2 holes, 13 slits, 20 operating parts, 21 recesses,
22 hinge part, 23 rotating accessory case, 30 step hole, 3
0a small diameter hole, 30b large diameter hole, 31 lock lever, 31a inclined surface, 31b base portion, 32 protrusion, 33
Spring, 34 lock holes.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image reading apparatus having at least one carriage movably in a sub-scanning direction inside a casing, wherein a locking projection is provided on one outer side of a moving direction of the carriage, and a moving direction side of the carriage is provided. A hole through which the locking projection projects to the outside is provided on one side wall of the housing that is positioned, and a clip is engaged with the locking projection that projects from the hole when the carriage is locked, in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the locking projection. A carriage lock mechanism for an image reading apparatus, characterized in that the carriage is locked to the side wall by stopping. 2. A carriage lock mechanism for an image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a lock position for locking the carriage is provided at a position beyond the maximum image area on the side opposite to the home position. 3. The carriage lock mechanism for an image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an accessory case for accommodating an accessory such as the clip provided on an outer surface of the enclosure. 4. The clip is prevented from being lost when the carriage is not in the lock position by fitting the clip into a lock slit provided on the upper surface of the casing in the lock position. Item 1,
The carriage lock mechanism of the image reading device described in 2 or 3. 5. An image reading apparatus in which at least one carriage is movably provided in the housing, wherein an automatic lock mechanism is provided on one side wall of the housing located in the moving direction of the carriage. Carriage lock mechanism of the device.