JPH11242368A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device capable of inexpensively and easily preventing the backlash of a casing. SOLUTION: The movement of an upper part constituting member 12b in an up-and-down direction is regulated by engaging a lock part 36 with a hook part 40. The movement of the member 12b in a back-and-forth direction and a right-and-left direction is regulated by engaging a shipping part 38 with a receiving part 42. A metallic plate in the conventional device need not be attached at the time of transportation, and the backlash of the casing 12 is inexpensively and easily prevented.

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,
In particular, the present invention is applied to, for example, a copying machine, a printer, or a multifunction peripheral thereof, and is configured such that an upper component of a casing is opened upward with respect to a lower component to open a recording paper transport path. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus of this type, since a casing is divided into an upper component and a lower component, when an external force is applied during transportation, the upper component moves up and down with respect to the lower component. , And may move relatively in the front-back and left-right directions. If such a movement occurs, the casing may rattle at these joints, and the internal mechanism of the apparatus may be disrupted.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to prevent rattling of the casing during transportation, the upper component and the lower component are sandwiched from above and below by a substantially U-shaped metal plate, and both are firmly fixed to each other. Later I tried to remove it.

[0004]

In the prior art, it is necessary to separately prepare a metal plate in order to prevent rattling of the casing, and there has been a problem that the cost is high. There is also a problem that the work of mounting and removing the metal plate is troublesome. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily preventing rattling of a casing at low cost.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a photoreceptor, a charging means, an exposing means, and a photoreceptor inside a casing including an upper component and a lower component which are openably and closably connected to each other.
In the image forming apparatus containing the developing unit and the transfer unit, the upper constituent member includes a lock unit and a shipping unit,
The lower component is a first member for regulating the vertical position of the lock portion.
An image forming apparatus comprising: a regulating unit; and a second regulating unit that regulates the front-rear and left-right positions of the shipping unit.

[0006]

The vertical position of the lock portion is regulated by the first regulating portion, whereby the vertical movement of the upper component with respect to the lower component is regulated. In addition, the front and rear and left and right positions of the shipping portion are regulated by the second regulating portion, so that the movement of the upper component with respect to the lower component in the front and rear and left and right directions is regulated.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the movement of the upper component with respect to the lower component in the up-down, front-rear, and left-right directions can be reliably regulated without mounting a metal plate. Therefore, the cost and labor for mounting the metal plate can be reduced,
The rattling of the casing during transportation can be reduced and easily prevented.

The above objects, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image forming apparatus 10 according to this embodiment shown in FIG.
Is applied to a copying machine, a laser printer, or the like, and includes a box-shaped casing 12. As shown in FIG. 2, a photosensitive drum 14, a charging device 16, an exposure device 18, a developing device 20, and a transfer device 2 are provided inside the casing 12.
2, a cleaning device 24, a static elimination device 26, a fixing device 28, and the like are provided at predetermined positions. Further, the recording paper 30 is provided to the photosensitive drum 14, and the recording paper 30 is guided to the fixing device 28 and discharged to the outside. A recording paper transport path 32 for performing the recording is provided.

The casing 12 (FIG. 1) includes a lower component 12a and an upper component 12b that are openably and closably connected at a fulcrum (not shown). The upper component 12b is provided with a lock portion 36 and a shipping portion 38, The lower component 12a has a hook portion 40 engaged with the lock portion 36 and a receiving portion 42 engaged with the shipping portion 38.
Is provided.

The lock portion 36 includes a shaft 44 rotatably fixed to the upper component member 12b, as shown in FIGS.
The locking portion 46 to be locked is attached. A spring 48 for urging a force toward the hook portion 40 is attached to one (left side in FIG. 3) locking portion 46, and the other (right side in FIG. 3) locking portion is attached to the hook portion 40. An operation section 50 is formed on the operation section 46 for pressing with a finger or the like to rotate the locking section 46 against the bias of the spring 48.

As shown in FIG. 3, the shipping section 38 includes:
A main body 52 having a substantially cylindrical shape is provided.
Two flanges 54a and 54b are formed at a predetermined interval in the axial direction. Then, the main body 52 is
And is fixedly inserted into one end (left side in FIG. 3) of the shaft 44 constituting. 4 and 5, the hook portion 40 includes a locking portion 56 for locking the locking portion 46 of the hook portion 36, and an upper surface of the locking portion 56 has a slope inclined at a predetermined angle. 58 are formed.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the receiving portion 42 includes a main body 60 formed by projecting a plate material constituting an inner wall of the lower component member 12a inward. The main body 60 includes a shipping portion. Approximately U to receive the main body 52 of 38
A groove 62 is formed. When closing the lower component member 12a and the upper component member 12b in the casing 12, the upper component member 12b is rotated downward about a fulcrum (not shown). Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the lock portion 36 comes into contact with the inclined surface 58 from above the hook portion 40, and is rotated against the bias of the spring 48. And FIG.
As shown in FIG.
6 and the hook part 40 are engaged. Further, the shipping portion 38 is approached from above the receiving portion 42, and the main body 52 is received in the groove 64 between the two flanges 54 a and 54 b of the shipping portion 38. Therefore, in a state where the lower component member 12a and the upper component member 12b are completely closed, the vertical position of the lock portion 36 is regulated by the engagement of the lock portion 36 and the hook portion 40, and the upper component member 12b Is restricted in the vertical direction. Further, the engagement of the shipping portion 38 and the receiving portion 42 regulates the position of the shipping portion 38 in the front-rear and left-right directions, and restricts the movement of the upper component member 12b in the front-rear and left-right directions.

At the time of jam removal or maintenance, the closed casing 12 (the lower component 12a and the upper component 12b) is opened to open the recording paper transport path 32.
When releasing (FIG. 2), the operation unit 50 (FIG. 3) is pressed with a finger to rotate the lock unit 36, and the engagement state between the lock unit 36 and the hook unit 40 is released, and the upper component member is released. Lift 12b.

According to this embodiment, the lock member 36 and the hook portion 40 are engaged with each other so that the upper component member 12 is engaged.
b is regulated in the vertical direction, and the upper component 1
Since the movement of 2b in the front-back and left-right directions is regulated,
At the time of transportation, there is no need to mount a metal plate as in the conventional case, and it is possible to easily prevent rattling of the casing at low cost.

In the above-described embodiment, the lock portion 36 and the shipping portion 38 are formed integrally, but they may be formed separately at different locations on the upper component member 12b.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an internal structure of the embodiment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a lock unit and a shipping unit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a lock portion and a shipping portion are engaged with a hook portion and a receiving portion, respectively.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which a lock portion and a shipping portion are engaged with a hook portion and a receiving portion, respectively.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image forming apparatus 12 ... Casing 12a ... Lower component member 12b ... Upper component member 36 ... Lock part 38 ... Shipping part 40 ... Hook part 42 ... Reception part 44 ... Shaft 50 ... Operating part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus in which a photosensitive member, a charging unit, an exposing unit, a developing unit, and a transferring unit are accommodated in a casing including an upper constituent member and a lower constituent member connected to each other so as to be openable and closable. The component includes a lock portion and a shipping portion,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the lower constituent member includes a first restricting portion that restricts a vertical position of the lock portion and a second restricting portion that regulates a front-rear and left-right position of the shipping portion. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said lock portion and said shipping portion are formed integrally. 3. The shipping portion includes a cylindrical portion and two flange portions formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion at predetermined intervals in an axial direction, and the second restricting portion includes the two flange portions. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a groove that receives the cylindrical portion between the grooves. 4.