JP2012093793A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device capable of preventing trouble caused by interference of multiple door members, or the like.SOLUTION: An image forming device body 10 comprises: a front door 51 which opens when operation such as maintenance for an internal component is performed; and a door 52 for toner cartridge replacement which opens a toner storage part 30 when replacement work of a toner cartridge 31 is performed. An upper edge part of the door 52 for toner cartridge replacement is made swing to a front side to open or close the toner storage part 30. An operating grip 53 for opening and closing the front door 51 is located below the door 52 for toner cartridge replacement. The door 52 for toner cartridge replacement in an opened state covers the operating grip 53 so that an operator cannot visibly recognize the operating grip 53, and the operation of opening the front door 51 is thereby restricted.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine.

For example, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, it is necessary to replenish consumables such as toner consumed with image formation. In addition, maintenance of components related to the electrophotographic process is required as needed. Replenishment and maintenance of these consumables are usually configured to be performed by opening an opening / closing member such as a door.
Patent Document 1 discloses a first door member that is supported so as to be openable and closable so as to cover a maintenance / inspection point, and a second door that covers the replacement part mounting portion and is supported so as to be opened and closed independently of the first door member. A guide part for inserting the replacement part into the replacement part mounting part on the second door member, and the replacement part is moved along the guide part to thereby replace the replacement part. A configuration that is smoothly inserted into the replacement part mounting portion is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-242777

  Here, in an apparatus provided with a plurality of opening / closing doors, the opening / closing doors may interfere with each other and cannot be opened, or the opening / closing operation may not be performed smoothly. In addition, when a plurality of opening / closing doors are provided for each use such as work, if the unnecessary opening / closing doors are opened, the opening / closing of necessary opening / closing doors and operations may be obstructed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing problems caused by interference of a plurality of door members .

In order to achieve this object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, and includes a first door member that can be opened and closed, and a lower portion of the first door member. The 2nd door member provided so that opening and closing is possible, and the 1st door member of the opened state supports the 1st door member so that it may be arranged in a predetermined position, without contacting the 2nd door member. The second door member before the first door member and the second door member come into contact with the support member and the first door member opened to the predetermined position supported by the support member. The first door member opened when viewed from the front side is disposed so as to overlap with at least a part of the second door member.

Here, the restricting member may restrict the opening of the first door member when the second door member is open.
The restricting member includes a restricting means movably provided between a restricting position for restricting the opening of the second door member and a release position for releasing the restriction, and in a state where the first door member is open. Interlocking means for interlocking the first door member and the restricting means with the restricting means as the restricting position may be provided.

According to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress problems caused by interference of a plurality of door members .
According to the image forming apparatus of the second aspect of the invention, when the second door member is open, the opening of the first door member can be restricted, and interference between the first door member and the second door member, etc. The malfunction by can be suppressed.
According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to regulate the opening of the second door member in conjunction with the operation of opening the first door member, interference between the first door member and the second door member, and the like. The malfunction by can be suppressed.

1 is a front view showing an overall appearance of an image forming apparatus to which the exemplary embodiment is applied. 1 is an overall perspective view of an image forming apparatus. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus main body. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus main body with a toner cartridge replacement door opened. FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a toner cartridge replacement door. It is a conceptual diagram of a regulation interlocking mechanism.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is an overall front view of an image forming apparatus 1 to which the exemplary embodiment is applied, FIG. 2 is an overall external perspective view, and FIG. 3 is a conceptual configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus main body 10.

The image forming apparatus 1 uses a plurality of image forming units 15A (15AY, 15AM, 15AC, 15AK) based on an electrophotographic method included in the image forming apparatus main body 10 serving as an image forming unit to generate a color image using toner as a color material. A color image forming apparatus is formed. A sheet feeding device 10A is provided on the left side in the drawing and a paper discharge device 10B is provided on the right side with the central image forming apparatus main body 10 interposed therebetween.
On the front surface (operation surface side) of the image forming apparatus main body 10, left and right front doors 51L and 51R as main body door members, and a toner cartridge replacement door 52 as a maintenance door member located at the upper center portion, respectively. It can be opened and closed. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the front doors 51L and 51R are opened left and right and an image forming unit 15 and a transfer belt unit 16 described later are pulled out to the operation surface side.
In the following description, the operation surface side of the image forming apparatus 1 is referred to as a front surface, and the back surface facing the front surface is referred to as a back surface. Further, the depth direction from the front surface to the back surface is referred to as front and rear, the horizontal direction orthogonal to the front and rear is referred to as left and right, and the direction orthogonal to the front and rear and left and right is referred to as up and down.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus main body 10 is configured to include the following mechanisms in a frame 11 assembled in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.
That is, on the left side in FIG. 3, from the top, the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1 and the electric substrate assembly 12 in which electric circuit boards constituting the image processing unit for processing image information are assembled, the toner storage unit 30, the scanning exposure. An apparatus 14, an image forming unit 15, a transfer belt unit 16, and a paper transport mechanism 17 are provided. Further, a fixing device 18 is disposed at the lower part on the right side of the drawing, and a power distribution board assembly 19 is disposed at the upper part. Further, a power supply device 20 is disposed between the fixing device 18 and the power distribution board assembly 19.

The scanning exposure device 14 is a so-called multi-beam scanning optical system that collectively scans a plurality of laser beams emitted from a laser diode. An electrostatic latent image is formed by scanning and exposing the photosensitive drum of each image forming unit 15A from above with a plurality of laser beams, which are arranged on the upper side of the image forming unit 15.
The image forming unit 15 includes four sets of image forming units 15A (15AY, 15AM, 15AC, 15AK) that form images of each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). ing.

  Although not shown in detail in each image forming unit 15A, the image forming unit 15A is exposed to light around the photosensitive drum as an image holding member along the rotation direction by exposure of the scanning exposure device 14 and the charging device that charges the photosensitive drum. And a developing device for converting the latent image formed on the body drum into a toner image. Further, a cleaner is provided for removing residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum after transfer of a toner image to an intermediate transfer belt 16A of a transfer belt unit 16 described later. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor on the surface of the photoreceptor drum is developed by a developing device to form a toner image.

The toner storage unit 30 corresponds to each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) on the mounting support unit 40 formed on the lower surface of the electric substrate assembly 12 positioned on the upper side. The toner cartridges 31 (31Y, 31M, 31C, 31K), which are color material storage members, are supported. As a result, when the toner stored in the toner cartridge 31 is consumed, the toner cartridge 31 can be replaced and replaced. That is, the replacement of the toner cartridge 31 in the present embodiment corresponds to maintenance of toner as a consumable item.
In this configuration, five toner cartridges 31 having the same shape are provided in parallel, and two toner cartridges 31 </ b> K (31 </ b> K <b> 1 and 31 </ b> K <b> 2 ”) that store black toner are provided at the left end in FIGS. . As a result, a large amount of black toner is consumed.
The mounting support portion 40 includes a plurality of support guides 41 provided on the lower surface of the electric board assembly 12 and extending in the front-rear direction.

The toner cartridge 31 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container having a length extending over substantially the entire front-rear direction of the frame 11. The toner cartridge 31 is supported on the left and right sides of a support guide 41 provided on the lower surface of the electric board assembly 12 and is guided to move. Thus, it is installed at a predetermined position. In the present embodiment, the toner cartridge 31 is horizontally inserted in the longitudinal direction from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body 10 and is mounted on the mounting support unit 40 in a horizontal state. Then, in a state where it is installed at a predetermined position, it is connected to a toner supply path (not shown) at the end on the back side, and the toner is supplied to the developing device of the corresponding color through the toner supply path.
The front side of the toner storage unit 30 is covered with a toner cartridge replacement door 52 that can be opened and closed, and the toner cartridge 31 can be replaced by opening the toner cartridge replacement door 52. The configuration of the toner cartridge replacement door 52 will be described in detail later.

The transfer belt unit 16 is a recording sheet on which an intermediate transfer belt 16A that is rotatively stretched, a primary transfer roll 16B corresponding to each image forming unit 15A of the image forming unit 15, and a toner image held by the intermediate transfer belt 16A are recorded. And a secondary transfer portion 16C for transferring to the secondary transfer portion.
The intermediate transfer belt 16A is stretched around a drive roll 16Aa, a backup roll 16Ab, and the like, and is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 3 by driving of the drive roll 16Aa. The upper circular path is substantially linear in the left-right direction, and the four image forming units 15A of the image forming unit 15 described above are arranged side by side facing the linear circular path. Primary transfer rolls 16B are disposed at positions facing the photosensitive drums of the image forming portions 15A with the intermediate transfer belt 16A interposed therebetween.

Each primary transfer roll 16B is applied with a primary transfer bias having a polarity opposite to the toner charging polarity, and electrostatically attracts and transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum of each image forming unit 15A to the intermediate transfer belt 16A.
The secondary transfer portion 16C includes a secondary transfer roll 16Ca located outside the lower circulation path of the intermediate transfer belt 16A, and a backup roll 16Cb provided inside the circulation path. Then, a secondary transfer bias is applied between the secondary transfer roll 16Ca and the backup roll 16Cb, and the toner image carried by the intermediate transfer belt 16A is transferred onto the recording paper transported and supplied by the paper transport mechanism 17 ( Secondary transfer).

  The above-described image forming unit 15 and transfer belt unit 16 are configured as independent units, and are provided via guide rails 15G and 16G as shown in FIG. Maintenance can be performed at.

  The sheet transport mechanism 17 is provided between the sheet feeding device 10A (see FIGS. 1 and 2) disposed on the left side of the image forming apparatus main body 10 in FIG. 3 and the secondary transfer unit 16C, and between the secondary transfer unit 16C and the fixing unit. Between the apparatus 18, it is comprised by several conveyance roll, a conveyance conveyor, etc. Then, the recording paper stored in the paper feeding device 10A is conveyed to the secondary transfer unit 16C in synchronization with the formation of the toner image by each image forming unit 15A of the image forming unit 15, and the toner image is transferred in the secondary transfer unit 16C. Is transferred to the fixing device 18.

The fixing device 18 includes a fixing roll 18A to be heated. The recording paper is pressed against the fixing roll 18A and heated and pressurized to fix the toner image on the recording paper.
The power supply device 20 transforms an input current and outputs a power supply current necessary for driving each mechanism.
The power distribution board assembly 19 distributes and supplies the current formed by the power supply device 20 to each mechanism.

The image forming apparatus 1 configured as described above forms an image as described below under the control of each mechanism by the control device configured by the electric board assembly 12.
That is, an image of each color formed by each image forming unit 15A of the image forming unit 15 by exposure of the scanning exposure device 14 based on an image signal sent from the electric substrate assembly 12 is an intermediate transfer belt driven around the transfer belt unit 16. The color toner images are formed on 16A in order according to the movement. Then, the recording sheet supplied from the sheet feeding device 10A is conveyed by the sheet conveying mechanism 17 in synchronization with the movement of the intermediate transfer belt 16A. Transfer at 16C. Thereafter, the recording sheet on which the color toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 18, the color toner image is fixed by the fixing device 18, and the paper discharge device 10 </ b> B performs processing such as curl correction and the like. It is discharged to the tray 21.

Next, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 and FIGS. 4 to 6, the front side cover (front doors 51L and 51R and toner cartridge replacement) of the image forming apparatus main body 10 which is a main part of the present invention is described. The configuration of the door 52) will be described.
4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus main body 10 with the toner cartridge replacement door 52 open, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the toner cartridge replacement door 52 portion. It is.
As described above, the left and right front doors 51L and 51R and the toner cartridge replacement door 52 positioned above the left and right front doors 51L are provided on the front side of the image forming apparatus main body 10 so as to be openable and closable.

The front doors 51L and 51R are divided to the left and right at the center in the left-right direction of the image forming apparatus main body 10 so as to cover the entire front surface of the image forming apparatus main body 10 excluding the area where the toner cartridge replacement door 52 is disposed. Yes. Then, it can be opened on both the left and right sides to open the inside as shown in FIG. 2, whereby maintenance such as periodic replacement for the image forming unit 15 and the transfer belt unit 16 and recording paper in the paper transport mechanism 17 can be performed. Work such as clogging can be performed. The front doors 51L and 51R are interlocked with the power source of the image forming apparatus main body 10 by a linkage mechanism (not shown), and have a fail-safe configuration in which the power source is turned off when opened.
The toner cartridge replacement door 52 is provided so as to cover the toner accommodating portion 30 so as to be openable and closable. By opening the toner cartridge replacement door 52, the toner cartridge 31 can be replaced without opening the front doors 51L and 51R. Be able to. The toner cartridge replacement door 52 is not linked to the power source, and the toner cartridge 31 can be replaced while the image forming apparatus main body 10 is in operation (image formation).

Hereinafter, the front doors 51L and 51R and the toner cartridge replacement door 52 will be described in detail.
The front doors 51L and 51R are swingably supported by support shafts 51LA and 51RA set near the ridge line between the front surface and both side surfaces of the image forming apparatus main body 10, respectively. As a result, the support shafts 51LA and 51RA are swung to the front and right and left so that they can be opened in a so-called double door. Normally, a closed state along the front surface of the image forming apparatus main body 10 is maintained by a magnet (not shown).
As described above, the support shaft 51LA, 51RA provided vertically in the vicinity of the ridgeline between the front surface and the side surface is configured to swing and open horizontally so that the support shaft is provided on the lower side and the upper portion is directed downward. Compared to the configuration that opens upward (vertical opening), the height of the tip that swings during the opening / closing operation does not vary, and good workability is obtained.

The left and right front doors 51L and 51R are cut out in a shape corresponding to the toner cartridge replacement door 52 at the corners of the matching center upper part. An operation handle 53 as an opening / closing operation unit for opening / closing the front doors 51L and 51R is provided at the horizontal edge of the cut-out portion. That is, the operation handle 53 is provided at the parting line portion of the front doors 51L and 51R adjacent to the lower side of the lower edge of the toner cartridge replacement door 52.
As shown in FIG. 4, the operation handle 53 opens obliquely forward and downward, and the user can easily open and close the front doors 51 </ b> L and 51 </ b> R by inserting the hand into the operation handle 53 from below. Can be done.

  The toner cartridge replacement door 52 is a horizontally long rectangular door corresponding to the toner container 30 located at the upper center of the image forming apparatus main body 10, and the left and right side edges and the lower edge thereof are surrounded by the front doors 51L and 51R. It is. Near the horizontal lower edge, the image forming apparatus main body 10 is swingably supported by a swing support shaft 52A provided in parallel with the lower edge. The toner container 30 can be opened and closed by swinging the upper edge portion toward the front surface about the swing support shaft 52A. As described above, the structure of swinging and opening around the swing support shaft 52A set horizontally on the lower side can reduce the amount of protrusion to the front side when opened. That is, particularly in the case of a color image forming apparatus, a plurality of toner cartridges 31 are often arranged side by side in a horizontal direction, and the toner cartridge replacement door 52 inevitably has a horizontally long form. When it is configured to open, a large working space is required by projecting greatly to the front side when opened, but this configuration does not have such a problem. With such a configuration, the swing support shaft 52A of the toner cartridge replacement door 52 and the support shafts 51LA and 51RA of the front doors 51L and 51R are substantially orthogonal to each other.

  Further, the upper edge portion of the toner cartridge replacement door 52 protrudes from the ridge formed by the front surface and the upper surface to the back side by a predetermined amount to form an operation portion 52H. The operation unit 52H is rotated by a predetermined amount to the upper surface side of the image forming apparatus main body 10 so that a parting line between the toner cartridge replacement door 52 and the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 10 is formed at the front and upper corners. It does not match. An operation gap 10S having a predetermined width is formed between the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 10 and the operation unit 52H. A hand is inserted through the operation gap 10S to grasp the operation unit 52H and to replace the toner cartridge door 52. Can be opened and closed.

The toner cartridge replacement door 52 is fixed with a predetermined coupling strength in a closed state by a fixing means (not shown) such as a magnet. In its closed state, it is vertical. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the opened side can be opened to a predetermined angle defined by straps 52 </ b> S provided near both left and right edges.
Here, the opening angle of the toner cartridge replacement door 52 is set so that the front end of the operation portion 52H formed on the upper edge is positioned below the horizontal plane in which the toner cartridge 31 is inserted into and removed from the toner storage portion 30. The angle is set to α with respect to the insertion / extraction plane. That is, an angle of (90 + α) ° is opened from the closed state. As a result, the operation portion 52H that protrudes upward in the open state, a reinforcing member (not shown) provided on the back surface, the operation portion of the sensor that detects the open state, and the toner cartridge 31 to be inserted and removed are provided. It is designed not to interfere.

According to the configuration of the front doors 51L and 51R and the toner cartridge replacement door 52 as described above, the operation handle of the front doors 51L and 51R located adjacent to the lower side of the opened toner cartridge replacement door 52 is provided. It is located so as to cover the upper side of 53. Thus, the operation handle 53 cannot be visually recognized by an operator who opens and closes the toner cartridge replacement door 52. As a result, the operation of opening the front doors 51L and 51R is restricted, and problems such as breakage due to interference and meshing due to the simultaneous opening of the toner cartridge replacement door 52 and the front doors 51L and 51R are suppressed. be able to. In particular, in this configuration, the toner cartridge replacement door 52 is opened 90 ° or more from the vertical closed state and the front end is below the horizontal, so that the front end portion interferes when the front doors 51L and 51R are forcibly opened. However, such interference can be prevented in advance.
Further, the opened toner cartridge replacement door 52 is set so that the front end of the operation portion 52H on the upper edge is positioned below the horizontal plane where the toner cartridge 31 is inserted into and removed from the toner storage portion 30. The operation unit 52H does not interfere with the insertion / removal of the toner cartridge 31, and the replacement of the toner cartridge 31 can be performed easily and smoothly.

Note that the configuration for restricting the front doors 51L and 51R and the toner cartridge replacement door 52 from opening simultaneously is not limited to the above configuration example. For example, there may be provided restricting means for restricting the opening of the front doors 51L and 51R in conjunction with the operation of opening the toner cartridge replacement door 52.
FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of an example of a regulation interlocking mechanism 60 that is such a regulation means.
The regulation interlocking mechanism 60 shown in FIG. 7 includes a release position that does not engage with the engaging portion 51F provided on the front door 51 shown in (a), and a restriction position that engages with the engaging portion 51F shown in (b). The engaging arm 61 is provided as a restricting member that can swing between the two.
The engagement arm 61 includes a hook 61A at one end and an operation portion 61B at the other end, and is supported by a swing shaft 62 so as to be swingable.
A tension spring 63 is connected to the operation portion 61B, and the engagement arm 61 is urged by the tension spring 63 to swing toward the restriction position where the hook 61A engages with the engagement portion 51F.

Further, an operation projection 52B as an interlocking unit is provided at a position corresponding to the engagement arm 61 of the toner cartridge replacement door 52. When the toner cartridge replacement door 52 shown in FIG. 7A is closed, the operation protrusion 52B presses the operation portion 61B of the engagement arm 61 and resists the urging force of the tension spring 63. Thus, the swing operation is performed to the release position side.
When the toner cartridge replacement door 52 is closed, the regulation interlock mechanism 60 configured as described above has the engagement arm 61 on the release position side and is not engaged with the engagement portion 51F as shown in FIG. The operation of opening the front door 51 is possible because of the combined state. On the other hand, when the toner cartridge replacement door 52 is open, the pressing operation of the engaging arm 61 to the operating portion 61B by the operating projection 52B is released, and the engaging arm 61 is engaged as shown in FIG. The restriction position is engaged with the joint portion 51F, and the operation of opening the front door 51 becomes impossible.

The restricting means for restricting the opening of the front doors 51L and 51R in conjunction with the operation of opening the toner cartridge replacement door 52 includes a sensor for detecting that the toner cartridge replacement door 52 is open, The engaging member may be engaged with the front doors 51L and 51R by driving a driving means such as a solenoid based on the detection information by the sensor, and the front doors 51L and 51R may not be opened.
In the above configuration example, the front door 51 is restricted from opening when the toner cartridge replacement door 52 is open, but the toner cartridge replacement door 52 is restricted from opening when the front door 51 is open. A similar interlocking mechanism may be provided. As a result, when the front door 51 is open, the toner cartridge replacement door 52 is restricted from being opened, and the front doors 51L, 51R and the toner cartridge replacement door 52 are opened at the same time. Etc. can be suppressed.

  In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a tandem type color image forming apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the present invention may be applied to a color image forming apparatus having a rotary developing device, an image forming apparatus for directly transferring an image from a photosensitive drum to a recording sheet without using an intermediate transfer belt, and an electrophotographic system. It may be used for an apparatus for forming an image by a method other than the above.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 10 ... Image forming apparatus main body, 31 (31Y, 31M, 31C, 31K) ... Toner cartridge (coloring material housing member), 51L, 51R ... Front door (main body door member), 52 ... Toner cartridge exchange Door 52B ... operation projection (interlocking means), 53 ... operation handle (opening / closing operation part), 60 ... regulation interlocking mechanism (regulation means, interlocking means), 61 ... engagement arm (regulation member)

Claims (3)

An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium,
A first door member provided to be openable and closable;
A second door member provided to be opened and closed at a lower portion of the first door member;
A support member that supports the first door member so that the first door member in an open state is disposed at a predetermined position without contacting the second door member;
In a state where the first door member is opened to the predetermined position supported by the support member, the movement of the second door member is restricted before the first door member and the second door member come into contact with each other. And a regulating member that
The image forming apparatus, wherein the first door member opened when viewed from the front side overlaps at least a part of the second door member.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restricting member restricts the opening of the first door member when the second door member is opened. The restricting member is a restricting means provided to be movable between a restricting position for restricting the opening of the second door member and a release position for releasing the restriction,
Interlocking means for interlocking the first door member and the restricting means with the restricting means as the restricting position when the first door member is open;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

Images