JPH11334173A - Extension unit for electronic part - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate extension work of electronic part from the rear surface of main lower case of an electronic apparatus. SOLUTION: A window hole 59 is made by cutting a part of the rear wall 1c of a main lower case 1a which can support the sheet feed unit 5 of a facsimile. A subcover 62 closing the window hole 59 is then removed and an RAM board 60 to be extended is inserted into the window hole 59 and mounted onto a control board 11 secured to the upper surface of the main lower case 1a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for adding electronic components such as an additional memory board in a main body case of a device such as a printer or a facsimile machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in electronic equipment of a personal computer, electronic parts such as a CPU board, a hard disk driver, a power supply board, and a memory board are mounted on a metal chassis frame, and all the electronic parts are mounted together with the chassis frame. Is covered with a main body case made of synthetic resin. For example, in order to add a memory board, the memory board is attached to a predetermined position with the chassis frame pulled out from the main body case.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-335062, a lower surface and a rear surface of a main body case of an electronic device are formed in an open box shape, and are controlled by a chassis frame located in the main body case. Electronic components such as a board are mounted in a multi-stage manner, and rear panels are detachably mounted on the rear surfaces (rear surfaces) of the left and right ends of the chassis frame so as to cover the rear surface of the main body case. There was a technique of removing the rear panel and attaching and detaching it from the back of the chassis frame.

[0004]

However, in the former configuration, when adding electronic components, the entire chassis frame is separated from the main body case, so that the entire chassis frame is exposed, and the worker has already been exposed. There has been a problem that it is easy to touch other mounted electronic components, which is likely to cause a failure such as an electrical short circuit accident.
In the latter configuration, only the rear surface (rear surface) of the chassis frame is exposed, and although the exposed portion is smaller than in the former case, since the electronic components are arranged in a multi-stage configuration, the vertical dimension of the storage space at the additional location is short. However, also in this case, there is a problem that the existing control board and other electronic components adjacent to the place where the electronic component is to be added are easily brought into contact with the electronic component, and the addition work is difficult, which is likely to cause a failure.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic component extension apparatus that can easily perform an extension operation.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, an electronic component extension apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises:
A window hole in which a part of the rear surface of the main body case is notched is configured to be openable and closable with a sub cover, and a control board is fixed to a portion near the window hole on an upper surface of a bottom cover for covering a lower surface of the main body case. In addition, a storage space for detachably adding electronic components such as an additional memory board is formed on the upper surface side of the control board.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic component extension apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the window hole is formed from a lower edge of the main body case by an appropriate dimension from the upper side of the main body case. The sub cover is formed over the rear upper surface of the case, and the sub cover is formed in a substantially L-shape in side view. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic component extension device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the bottom cover is made of a metal material, and a rear end of the bottom cover is formed of a metal material. At least a part of the upward piece is formed to extend to a lower portion of the window hole, and the upward piece is configured as a ground portion for the added electronic component.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic component expansion device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein a sheet is supplied to an upper rear portion of the main body case for image formation. And the storage space is formed below the paper supply means.

[0009]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of main components of a facsimile machine as an example of an electronic apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of the facsimile machine,
FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view of the facsimile apparatus, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an arrangement of a control board, an NCU board, a cooling fan, a speaker and the like in the main body case, and FIG. FIG. 6B is a partially cutaway perspective view with the sub-cover removed.

The main body case of the facsimile apparatus 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming unit including a scanner unit 2, a process unit 3, and a fixing unit 4, and a sheet feeding unit 5 for supplying a sheet P for forming an image.
And lower main case 1a made of synthetic resin
And an upper case 1b made of a synthetic resin pivotally attached to a side rear portion of the main lower case 1a so as to cover an upper side of the main lower case 1a and to be able to pivot up and down greatly in the front,
A document reading unit 6 and a document feed table 7 can be placed on the upper surface of the upper case 1b, and the upper side of the document reading unit 6 is detachably covered by an operation panel 8.

A drive system unit 9 including a process motor 3, a fixing unit 4, and a drive motor for transmitting power to the paper feed unit 5 and a gear train as the image forming means is provided on the left side of the main lower case 1a. In a storage recess (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4, FIG. 6 (a), FIG. 6 (b) and FIG. 8, one side of the rear surface of the main lower case 1a (the right side in the embodiment) A window hole 59 is formed from the lower edge of the back wall 1c of the case 1a to the rear surface and the upper surface above the lower connecting piece 1d as appropriate in the vertical dimension. This window 5
9 is configured to be removably openable by an inverted L-shaped sub cover 62 in side view.

Further, a control board 1 is provided above a bottom cover 10 made of a metal plate which covers the lower surface of the main lower case 1a.
1. NCU for enabling conversation and transmission / reception of facsimile data with another telephone device or facsimile device via low voltage power supply substrate 12, high voltage power supply substrate 13, and telephone line
(Network control unit) A board 14 and the like are arranged. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, a high-voltage power supply board 13 for the charger 28 and the like of the process unit 3 is arranged on the upper surface of the bottom cover 10 at the front right side thereof in plan view.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 7, and 8, the upper end wall 1e, the rear end wall 1c, and the rear end of the process unit 3 of the main lower case 1a on which the lower end of the paper feed unit 5 is mounted. Partition wall 1f facing the bottom cover 1
The space surrounded by 0 is divided into the control board 11, the low-voltage power supply board 12, the NCU board 14, an additional RAM (randomly readable and writable memory) board 60 and a LAN (local area network) board 61 as additional electronic components.
Storage space 78 that can store an optional board. The control board 11 is fixedly mounted on the upper surface of the bottom cover 10 with a screw or the like in a portion near the window hole 59 (a portion near the rear right end in the embodiment). A connector 76 for a cable 75 for connecting the control board 11 to an external device (not shown) such as a personal computer.
The support portion (base portion) is fastened to the upwardly-facing piece 10a rising from the rear end of the bottom cover 10 and the lower connecting piece 1c of the main lower case 1a together with a screw 77 (FIG. 6).
(A), FIG. 6 (b) and FIG. 8).

As shown in FIG. 7, the main lower case 1
In the storage space 78 on the left side of the window hole 59 of FIG. 4A, the left side of the bottom cover 10 near the rear end is electrically connected via a screw 79 to stand upright, and the upper end is screwed to the upper surface wall 1e.
The NCU board 14 is fixed to a support plate 14a which also serves as a partition plate for shielding the magnetic field, which is fixed at 0, and the low-voltage power supply board 12 is arranged near the NCU board 14. Since the partition plate 81 is erected inside the left end side of the window hole 59, the window hole 59
When an operator puts his hand in the storage space 78, the NCU substrate 14 and the low-voltage power supply substrate 12 are not carelessly contacted. The modular connector 82 provided on the NCU board 14 is exposed on the side surface of the main lower case 1a, and is connected to a telephone line modular jack (not shown).

In this configuration, when an optional board such as the additional RAM board 60 or the LAN board 61 is added, the sub-cover 6 closing the window hole 59 is required.
2 is removed (see FIG. 6B) and put into the storage space 78. In order to mount the large-sized LAN board 61, after removing the metal plate connector cover 84, which is screwed in advance on the upward piece 10a or the like and closes the lower edge of the window hole 59, the LAN The male connector 83a projecting from the lower surface of the board 61 is inserted into and fixed to the female connector 83b projecting from the upper surface of the control board 11, while the base of the connector 85 projecting from the rear surface of the LAN board 61 has the same structure as described above. The upwardly-facing piece 10a rising from the rear end of the bottom cover 10 and the lower connecting piece 1 of the main lower case 1a
c and screws (not shown) (see FIG. 2).
And FIG. 8). Thereby, the bottom cover 10 made of a metal plate is formed.
The ground portion of the LAN board 61 is electrically connected to ground (ground), and the LAN board 61 is firmly attached.

As shown in FIG. 4, the extension RAM board 60 having a small shape may be attached via a connector 86 protruding from the upper surface of the control board 11. next,
A configuration such as an image forming unit will be described. The leading end side of the sheets P set in a state of being stacked in the feeder unit case 5a of the sheet supply unit 5 is pressed toward the sheet supply roller 16 by the support plate 15 with the biasing spring 15a in the feeder unit case 5a. Then, the sheet is separated one by one by the paper feed roller 16 and the separation pad 17 which are rotated by the power transmitted from the drive system unit 9. The separated sheet P is fed to the upper side of the process unit 3 by a pair of upper and lower registration rollers 18 and 19, and the sheet P having an image formed on the surface thereof by the toner in the process unit 3 is fixed to the fixing unit 4.
After the image is fixed by the heating roller 21 and the pressing roller 22, the image is discharged from the paper discharge port 20 and discharged onto a paper discharge tray (not shown).

A scanner unit 2 is provided at a position below the process unit 3 which is arranged substantially at the center of the main lower case 1a having a box shape with an open top in a plan view.
It is fixed to the stay part integrally formed on the upper surface side of the bottom plate part by a screw or the like. As shown in FIG. 2, a scanner unit 2 as an exposure unit has a laser emitting unit, a polygon mirror 23,
A lens 24, a reflecting mirror 25 and the like are arranged, and the upper support plate 2a
The laser beam is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 26 in the process unit 3 by passing through a glass plate that covers a horizontally long scanner hole formed so as to extend along the axis of the photosensitive drum 26. It is configured.

The process unit 3 includes the photosensitive drum 26 and the transfer roller 2 which rotates while being in contact with the upper surface thereof.
7, a scorotron type charger 28 disposed below the photosensitive drum 26, a developing roller 29 and a supply roller 3 disposed upstream of the photosensitive drum 26 in the sheet feeding direction.
0, a developer (toner) supply unit disposed upstream thereof, that is, a detachable toner cartridge 31, a cleaning device 32 disposed downstream of the photosensitive drum 26, and the like. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 26 by scanning a laser beam from the scanner unit 2 on the charged layer formed by the charger 28. The developer (toner) in the toner cartridge 31 is agitated by a stirrer (not shown) and released, and then carried on the outer peripheral surface of the developing roller 29 via the supply roller 30. The thickness is regulated. The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 26 is visualized by the developer adhering from the developing roller 29, and the transfer roller 27 and the photosensitive drum 2
6 is transferred to a sheet P passing between the sheets 6. Then, the developer remaining on the photosensitive drum 26 is collected by the cleaning device 32.

The process unit 3 is made into a cartridge by being incorporated in a synthetic resin case.
The cartridge-formed process unit 3 is detachably mounted on the main lower case 1a. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the original reading unit 6 disposed on the upper case 1 b includes a horizontally long contact type image sensor (CIS) 34 disposed in a unit case 42 and a document feeder 7. A document separating / feeding roller 35 disposed in the vicinity,
A pair of transport rollers 36 and 37 disposed upstream and downstream of the transport with the contact type image sensor 34 interposed therebetween, respectively.
A drive motor unit for driving the rollers 35, 36, and 37 and a gear train accommodated in a frame.
(Not shown) sent one by one through the CIS 3 and the pressing plate 38 whose lower surface is arranged in a downwardly convex curved shape with white.
4 is configured to read an image of a document when passing through the upper surface of the document.

A cooling fan 4 for blowing air to the outside of the case is provided at the front right portion of the main lower case 1a.
A storage section 44 for storing the sheet P 3 and a ventilation duct 45 extending in a direction orthogonal to the sheet P passage direction are formed so as to communicate with each other. In this case, as shown in FIG.
The upper plate 45a is formed in a substantially V-shape with a downward cross section, and the upper plate 45a is located between the process unit 3 and the fixing unit 4 disposed on the upper surface of the main lower case 1a. The heat of the heating roller 21 is not transmitted to the process unit 3 side. In addition, the lower end of the upper surface plate portion 45a having a substantially V-shaped downward cross section is continuously connected by a partition plate 46 made of a synthetic resin plate or the like, and a portion surrounded by these members becomes the ventilation duct 43. ing.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 6 (a), 6 (b) and 7, the rear wall surface 1c of the main lower case 1a.
(Place facing the NCU substrate 14) and the top wall 1e
The sub cover 62 is provided with a plurality of air suction holes 50a and 50b, and similarly, a plurality of blow holes 52 are formed in the right side surface of the main lower case 1a in which the cooling fan 43 is disposed. On the other hand, a large number of air suction holes 53a and 53b are also formed in the rear leftward portion and the front leftward portion of the bottom cover 10.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 8,
Inside the main lower case 1a, a ventilation hole 54 is provided below the mounting portion of the paper feeding unit 5, and ventilation holes 55a and 55b are provided at locations facing the rear surface of the process unit 3, and at the location of the upper surface plate portion 45a. The ventilation hole 56 and the cooling fan 4
Ventilation holes 57 are respectively formed in a wall surface or the like that partitions the third storage section 44.

A handset 64 for conducting a conversation with another telephone device is provided in the main lower case 1.
The speaker 66 for placing a call is mounted on a receiving stand 65 projecting outward from the left side of the main body 1a, and is fixed to the rear side of the right side inside the main lower case 1a. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a control system of the facsimile machine 1 to which the present invention is applied. The facsimile apparatus 1 sets various processing operations, reads a document image by the document reading unit 6, converts the document image into transmission data, and transmits the transmission data in response to various commands input from the user through the operation panel 8. Coding,
Sending and receiving facsimile data, decoding received data, paper P in image forming means of the decoded facsimile data
And the CIS of the document reading unit 6
(Contact type image sensor) A copy (copying) processing function of reading a document by a document 34 and forming an image on a sheet P by an image forming means, and transmitting the transmitted data based on data transmission from an external device such as a personal computer (not shown). It also has a printer processing function for printing on paper P and a scanner processing function for transmitting image data read using the document reading unit 6 to the external device.

In order to perform these operations, the facsimile apparatus 1 includes an operation panel 8, an original reading unit 6, an image forming unit including a laser light scanner unit 2, a process unit 3, and a fixing unit 4, and a control board 11. A CPU 67 mounted thereon to execute various controls and calculations, a ROM 68 storing a control program, a RAM 69 partially used as a reception buffer memory 69a, an NCU board 14, and other facsimile machines via the NCU board 14. A modem 70 for transmitting and receiving facsimile data, a handset 64 for talking with another telephone device, a speaker 66 for calling, and power to each drive unit of the image forming means. Drive unit 9 provided with a stepping motor for performing
A low-voltage power supply board 12 for supplying low-voltage power to
The process unit 3 includes a high-voltage power supply board 13 for supplying high-voltage power to the charger 28, a cooling fan 43 for discharging cooling air out of the machine, and a bus line 71 for connecting these.

An additional RAM board 60 for increasing the amount of memory which can be added at the request of the user, and a LAN board for constructing a network for transmitting data to and from external devices such as a plurality of computers. 61
Can be connected as shown in FIG. In the above configuration,
When power is turned on, each of the substrates 11, 12, 13, 14
, And various controls can be executed, while the cooling fan 43 is rotationally driven. Then, the cooling air sucked from the air suction holes 50a and 50b in the rear end face and the like of the main lower case 1a is supplied to the NCU board 14 and the control board 1
1. The sheet passes through the surface of the low-voltage power supply board 12 and then passes between the lower surface of the scanner unit 2 and the bottom cover 10 to the front of the main lower case 1a. The lower ventilation hole 54 and the process unit 3
The cooling air that has passed between the upper surface of the process unit 3 and the upper case 1b through the ventilation holes 55a and 55b at the locations facing the rear surface of the upper surface plate 45a.
6 and is collected in the storage section 44 through the ventilation hole 57 and is discharged to the outside of the main body case by the cooling fan 43. Thus, the heat of the heating roller 21 of the fixing unit 4 does not adversely affect the process unit 3.

It goes without saying that the above-described configuration of the electronic component expansion apparatus can be applied not only to the facsimile apparatus 1 but also to electronic apparatuses such as a printer, a copying machine, a personal computer, and a word processor.

[0027]

As described above, the electronic component expansion device according to the first aspect of the present invention is configured such that a window hole obtained by cutting a part of a rear surface of a main body case can be opened and closed by a sub cover. On the upper surface of the bottom cover for covering the lower surface of the main body case, a control board is fixed to a portion close to the window hole, and an electronic component such as an additional memory board is detachably provided on the upper surface side of the control board. Is formed.

With this configuration, when the sub-cover is removed from the window, the entire rear surface of the main body case is not exposed, so that it is possible to prevent a worker from inadvertently coming into contact with the electrical components, and to prevent the window hole from being exposed. On the inner side, the upper side of the control board is a large storage space into which electronic components to be added can be inserted from above, so there is no need to remove the main body case and the bottom cover, or to remove the control board from the bottom cover, This has the effect of facilitating the work of adding electronic components.

[0029] The invention described in claim 2 is the same as that in claim 1.
Wherein the window hole is formed from the lower edge of the main body case by an appropriate dimension from the upper side to the rear upper surface of the main body case, and the sub cover is substantially L in side view.
It is formed in a character shape. Even if a window hole is formed, the lower edge of the rear surface of the main body case is continuously provided on the left and right sides, and the rigidity is higher than that of the main body case whose rear surface is open frontward. Moreover, since the window hole is formed from the rear surface of the main body case to the upper surface of the rear portion, the worker's hand can be moved from the upper side to the inner side of the storage space than when the window hole is formed only on the rear surface of the main body case. Is easy to reach, and the effect of adding electronic components can be further facilitated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic component expansion device according to the first or second aspect, the bottom cover is made of a metal material, and at least a part of a rear end of the bottom cover. The upwardly extending piece is formed so as to extend to the lower part of the window hole, and the upwardly facing piece is configured as a ground portion for the expanded electronic component. Therefore, the control board is electrically connected to the bottom cover and can be grounded, and additional electronic components can be easily grounded via the upwardly facing piece. Moreover, since the additional electronic component is fixed to the upward piece, it is possible to mount the electronic component more firmly than when only the connector is used. Further, if the upward piece is fastened to the lower part of the window hole on the rear surface of the main body case, the mounting strength can be further increased without increasing the number of necessary parts, and the effect of preventing the deformation of the main body case can be obtained.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic component extension device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein a sheet is supplied to an upper rear portion of the main body case for image formation. In the case where the storage space is formed below the paper supply unit, the storage space can be easily formed large, and the storage operation of a plurality of electronic components can be easily performed. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of main components of a facsimile machine.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of the facsimile machine.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view of the facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an arrangement of a bottom cover, a control board, and the like covering a lower surface of a main lower case.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main lower case.

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of a rear portion of the facsimile machine,
(B) is a perspective view of the rear part of the facsimile apparatus with the cover removed.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 6 (b).

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 6 (b).

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 P paper 1 Facsimile machine 1a Main lower case 1b Upper case 1c Rear wall 2 Scanner unit 3 Process unit 4 Fixing unit 5 Feed unit 6 Document reading unit 10 Bottom cover 10a Upward piece 11 Control board 12 Low voltage power supply board 14 NCU board 59 Window Hole 60 RAM board 61 LAN board 62 Sub cover

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sub-cover for opening and closing a window hole in which a part of a rear surface of a main body case is cut off, and a portion near the window hole on an upper surface of a bottom cover for covering a lower surface of the main body case. A control board is fixed to the control board, and a storage space for detachably adding an electronic component such as an additional memory board is formed on an upper surface side of the control board. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said window hole is formed from an upper portion of a lower edge of the main body case by an appropriate dimension to an upper surface of a rear portion of the main body case, and the sub-cover is formed in a substantially L-shape in side view. Item 2. An electronic component extension device according to item 1. 3. The bottom cover is made of a metal material, and at least a part of an upward piece of a rear end of the bottom cover is formed to extend to a lower portion of the window hole, and the upward piece is grounded to the expanded electronic component. The electronic component expansion device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic component expansion device is configured as a part. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sheet supply unit for forming an image at a position near an upper rear portion of the main body case, wherein the storage space is formed below the sheet supply unit. The electronic component extension device according to any one of the above.