JP4887074B2 - Image forming apparatus provided with airflow induction mechanism - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a fax machine, and a printer, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus provided with a mechanism for guiding ozone and VOC (volatile organic compound) generated in the apparatus to a predetermined portion. It is.

JP 2006-71755 A JP 2001-222207 A

  In an electrostatic image forming apparatus, an image forming process is completed by fixing an unfixed image onto a recording medium by a heating / pressurizing action. At that time, heat generated in the fixing device may be transmitted to the developing unit and the transfer unit, and the temperature of these units may be increased. In particular, when a large amount of image is formed by a high-speed image forming apparatus, the possibility increases.

  In the developing unit, there are a toner container and a waste toner container for storing a developer for visualizing, in particular, resin toner. Since the toner is fixed to the recording medium by being melted by heat, it is easily affected by heat. When subjected to a thermal action at a stage in the toner container or the waste toner container, the toner melts relatively easily and solidifies in the container, causing trouble.

For this reason, as proposed in Patent Document 1 and the like, a fan is attached to a main body housing, outside air is taken into the housing by the fan, and cooling is performed by blowing air inside the housing.
Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus, ozone is generated by generating an air discharge using a high voltage in a developing unit, a transfer unit, or the like. Since ozone has a harmful effect on human health when it exceeds a certain concentration, there is a standard value for the concentration of ozone released from the device in the certification of Eco Mark and BAM. Yes. In an image forming apparatus having a configuration in which the inside of the housing is cooled and cooled, the air current carries the ozone generated inside the housing. Therefore, an ozone filter containing an ozone adsorbent such as activated carbon is installed in the duct. Installation is done.

  On the other hand, a recent image forming apparatus is referred to as a so-called front loading mode as disclosed in Patent Document 2 so that a user can easily perform operations such as replacement of a developing unit and an image forming unit and jam processing. As a result, the type that opens the front of the device is increasing. Such an image forming apparatus includes an open / close cover on the front surface of the main body housing in order to open the front surface of the apparatus. In such an image forming apparatus that opens the front of the apparatus, when the inside is cooled using a fan, ions may leak out from the gap between the front opening and closing covers due to the airflow generated by the fan. Since the user often stands in front of the device, it is necessary to prevent the ozone from leaking to the front of the device.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which ozone does not leak to the front of the apparatus.

According to the present invention, there is provided a device unit that functionally generates ozone, a fixing unit for fixing a formed image, a first air blowing means that generates an air flow in the device unit, and a fixing unit. In the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes: a second blowing unit that blows air; an opening / closing cover that opens the device unit, the fixing unit, and the second blowing unit to the front of the device; and a housing that has the opening / closing cover attached thereto. A second air blowing unit is provided in the housing on the front side of the apparatus, and an air flow generated by the first air blowing unit is sucked by the second air blowing unit, and the air flow receives heat generated by the fixing unit. flows toward the apparatus rear side, the apparatus rear side, the third blowing means are provided for discharging the air flow inside the casing to the rear of the device, a first duct portion provided in the rear of the fixing unit And a second duct part that joins the first duct part and is provided behind the device unit, and a filter that is attached to the first duct part in the region from the joining point to the downstream free end. This is solved by arranging the third air blowing means in the first duct portion .

A plurality exist before Symbol device units, their plurality of device units are arranged with a clearance from one another, by the clearance and the casing, the left-right direction and the longitudinal direction extending feel diversion channel of the device formed It is good that it is done. The first air blowing means is preferably disposed on the side surface of the housing. However, if the air blowing capacity of the second air blowing means is sufficient, the first air blowing means sends an air flow from the rear of the apparatus to the front of the apparatus. It is also possible to do so. It is advantageous if the second air blowing means is set in a space between the opening / closing cover and the fixing unit or the apparatus unit . Electric parts arranged instrumentation After incubation filtrate side, the first duct portion in the vicinity of the electrical unit is disposed is more effective.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the ozone generated in the developing unit and the transfer unit from leaking to the front of the apparatus, and the ozone decomposition is promoted by receiving a thermal action.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an appearance of an image forming apparatus 1 in which an airflow guiding mechanism according to the present example is used. Of course, the present invention includes not only a color printer but also a facsimile machine, a printing machine, and the like.

  The color printer 1 includes a scanner 20 (which may be equipped with a document scanning device) that reads a document placed on a contact glass at the top of the housing with the image forming unit 10 shown in FIG. A sheet feeding device 21 having a plurality of sheet feeding trays 21A and 21B is disposed in the lower part. The upper surface of the housing below the scanner 20 is provided with a paper discharge tray 1A that forms a so-called in-body paper discharge section (the paper discharge tray is on the paper discharge space), thereby eliminating the need for a side paper discharge space outside the apparatus. . An operation panel 20 </ b> A is provided on the front surface of the scanner 20.

  A front opening / closing cover 22 and a side opening / closing cover 23 that can be opened and closed are provided on the upper front surface of the upper sheet feeding cassette 21A and the wall surface in a direction perpendicular to the position, respectively, in the side surface region of the main body casing, and form an image forming unit described later. It can be opened for unit replacement or maintenance.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming unit 10. In FIG. 2, the scanner 20 positioned above and the sheet feeding tray 21 </ b> B positioned at the lowermost portion with a sheet discharge space therebetween is omitted. An image forming unit 2 capable of forming an image for each color separation is displayed on the image forming unit 10 (for convenience, initials Y, M, C, and B meaning yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are added to reference numeral 2 and displayed. ) Are juxtaposed, and the exposure unit 3 is disposed below the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2B.

  Each of the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2B has the same configuration and only the toner color is different. Therefore, the configuration of the unit that forms a yellow image will be described as follows. The image forming unit 2Y includes a rotatable photosensitive drum 4Y which is a latent image carrier, and an image forming process is executed around the photosensitive drum 4Y along the clockwise rotation direction in FIG. A charging device 5Y, an incident portion 6Y for writing light from the exposure unit 3, a developing device 7Y, a transfer device 8, and a cleaning device 9Y are respectively disposed. The image forming unit is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body in the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum that can be regarded as an opening / closing direction of a positioning unit described later. The developing device 7Y uses a two-component developer containing toner and a carrier. In addition to supplying toner for correcting the developer concentration, the developer is also supplied to discharge the old developer and replace the developer. A trickle development system that can handle the above is adopted.

  The transfer device 8 includes an endless transfer belt 8A that is an intermediate transfer body that can move while facing and contacting the photosensitive drum of each image forming unit, and faces the photosensitive drum 4Y with the transfer belt 8A interposed therebetween. A transfer roller 8Y capable of applying a transfer bias to the position is provided. The transfer device 8 in this example is superimposed with a primary transfer process in which the visible images carried on the photosensitive drums in each of the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2B are sequentially transferred onto the transfer belt 8A. A secondary transfer process is performed in which the image is collectively transferred onto a sheet as a recording medium fed out from the sheet feeding device 21. For this reason, a secondary transfer device 11 including a transfer roller to which a transfer bias can be applied is disposed at a position where the secondary transfer process can be performed.

  The sheet feeding device 21 is provided with a sheet feeding cassette 21A for storing sheets, and is provided with a registration roller 26 disposed in the feeding path. The registration roller 26 is provided from the manual sheet feeding tray 21C. The conveyance path of the introduced paper is provided at a position where it merges with the conveyance path from the paper feed cassette 21A.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a cleaning device for the transfer belt 8A, and reference numeral 13 denotes a static eliminating device for the transfer belt 8A.
In the image forming unit 10, the color images electrostatically formed in the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2B are sequentially superimposed and transferred to the transfer belt 8A of the transfer device 8 by the primary transfer process. Are transferred to a sheet in a secondary transfer process and then fixed in the fixing device 14. The paper on which the image has been fixed is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 1A that is provided inside the apparatus and forms the in-body paper discharge section, as also shown in FIG.

  Inside the color printer 1, the space above the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2B is shared with the toner replenishing portions 15Y, 15M, 15C, and 15B used in the trickle developing method described above and the respective toner replenishing portions. A carrier replenishment section (not shown) is disposed.

  In FIG. 2, the fixing device 14 basically includes a fixing belt 14D wound around a heating roller 14A, a fixing driving roller 14B, and a fixing driven roller 14C, and a pressure roller 14E that presses the fixing belt 14D. The fixing belt 14D is heated by an electromagnetic induction heating (induction heating; IH) apparatus 100 as an external heating source disposed in the vicinity of the surface.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the electromagnetic induction heating device 100. FIG. 3 (a) shows the appearance, and FIG. 3 (b) shows the interior by removing the exterior panel cover 100B in FIG. 3 (a). Each state is shown. In the figure, the electromagnetic induction heating device 100 has a space for arranging an electromagnetic induction heating coil 100A for generating magnetic force inside, and a part of the outer shell can surround the heating roller 14A (see FIG. 2). A heat source housing 101 having a shape is provided, and the magnetic force generating IH coil 100A is extended in a direction (longitudinal direction) parallel to the width direction of the sheet passing through the fixing device 14, that is, FIG. The heat source housing 101 supports a plurality of locations along the extending direction. The heat source housing 101 is an airflow passage space in which the space between the heat source housing 101 and the exterior panel cover 100B penetrates in the extending direction except for the support position of the coil 100A. As described above, outside air is introduced from one end in the extending direction, flows on the IH coil surface in the longitudinal direction, and can be discharged from the other end in the extending direction. One end of the heat source housing 101 in the extending direction is an outside air intake side, and as shown in FIG. 4, a sirocco that can introduce outside air (fresh air) into the space to make positive pressure in the space. A duct included in the fan 102 is connected, and an upright duct 103 with an exhaust fan for exhausting heat to the rear of the apparatus is connected to the other end in the extension direction. The sirocco fan 102 exists between the front opening / closing cover 22 and a front plate described later. Unlike an axial fan or the like, the sirocco fan 102 is an advantageous member that can ensure a relatively desired flow rate even if it is small. Since the outside air introduced into the heat source housing is brought into a positive pressure state by the sirocco fan, even if there are members arranged at high density in the heat source housing, the airflow is not obstructed. By being pushed in, the inside can be passed, and in particular, the flow rate is maintained at a predetermined speed. As a result, a uniform cooling effect can be expected in the extending direction of the heat source housing without deteriorating the heat dissipation efficiency due to airflow retention.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the image forming unit is rotated so that the front opening / closing cover 22 is tilted toward the front of the apparatus, thereby maintaining the inside of the image forming unit (for example, replacement of a toner bottle or an image forming unit, jamming, etc. Processing). Specifically, when the front opening / closing cover 22 is rotated, one end (the front side of the apparatus) of the toner bottle of the toner replenishing unit 15 disposed so that the longitudinal direction is directed from the front to the back of the apparatus is exposed. Similar to the toner bottle, the image forming unit 2 is disposed below the toner bottle so that the longitudinal direction is directed from the front to the back of the apparatus. (See FIG. 6 for explanation). When the positioning holding member 32 is rotated so as to be tilted to the front side of the apparatus in the same manner as the front opening / closing cover 22 (the depiction in FIG. 5 shows that both the front opening / closing cover 22 and the positioning holding member 32 are tilted), the image forming unit 2. The front side of is exposed. The toner bottle and the image forming unit can be replaced by pulling them out from the front side of the apparatus. As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present example, the drawer of the paper feed cassette, the maintenance of the image forming unit, the paper removal, and the operation by the operation panel can all be performed on the front side of the apparatus.

  In addition, two fans 25 for sucking fresh air outside the apparatus into the inside of the apparatus are attached to the side of the main body housing located on the opposite side of the apparatus side where the paper discharge port (upper right part of FIG. 2) exists. There is a side opening / closing cover 23 having a louver covering the side fan 25. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the side opening / closing cover is rotated so as to be tilted, and a filter may be attached to the fan.

  Next, the attachment / detachment of the image forming unit will be described with reference to FIG. 6 showing the attached state of the image forming unit. The opening 31 formed in the front plate 28 on the apparatus main body side is normally opened and closed for attaching and detaching and positioning the image forming units 2Y to 2B via the carrier support members 35 as shown in FIG. Covered by a free positioning unit 45. As shown in FIG. 6, when the positioning unit 45 is closed with respect to the opening 31 of the front side plate 28, the positioning unit 45 has two surfaces as holding portions formed in the opening mounting holes 37 for holding the carrier support members 35. It is mainly comprised from the single positioning holding member 32 provided, and the press means mentioned later which presses and positions each support body support member 35 hold | maintained on the two surfaces as a holding | maintenance part.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the positioning and holding member 32 is pivotally attached to the front side plate 28 through a pair of hinge pins 34 within a predetermined angle range in the vertical direction, that is, swingable and openable. Occupies the closed position. When the positioning / holding member 32 occupies the closed position, the positioning hole 32a formed in the positioning / holding member 32 is fitted into the positioning pin 28a protruding from the front side plate 28 and the other positioning / holding member 32 is formed. The positioning hole 32b is fitted into the positioning pin 28b protruding from the front plate 28, and the positioning holding member 32 is positioned with respect to the frame 43 of the image forming apparatus main body (closed position). As described above, the positioning holding member 32 is positioned at a predetermined mounting position with respect to the frame 43 of the image forming apparatus main body, and is attached so as to be freely opened and closed.

  A mounting hole 37 is formed in the positioning holding member 32 corresponding to each carrier support member 35. When the positioning holding member 32 is in a closed position, that is, a predetermined mounting position, each mounting hole 37 has a mounting hole 37. The front side portion of the body support member 35, in this example, each bearing 38 is fitted and held, and the front side portion of each carrier support member 35 is positioned with respect to the positioning holding member 32 as described later.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, a carrier gear 40 is fixed to an end portion on the back side of the support shaft 39 that supports the photosensitive drum 4 of the image forming unit 2. A shaft 41 a of a cup-shaped gear 41 that can be attached to and detached from the carrier gear 40 is rotatably supported on the rear plate 29, and the carrier gear 40 is engaged with the cup-shaped gear 41 in the state shown in FIG. As a result, the rear end of the support shaft 39 is positioned with respect to the rear plate 29 in the longitudinal direction of the support shaft 39. On the front side and the back side of the cartridge case 52, non-rotating pins (not shown) project, and these pins are fitted into holes (not shown) formed in the positioning holding member 32 and the rear plate 29. This prevents the image forming unit 2 from rotating around the support shaft 39. The shaft 41a is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown), and the rotation is transmitted to the support shaft 39 via the gears 41 and 40, whereby the photosensitive drum 4 is rotationally driven as described above. At this time, the portion on the front side of the support shaft 39 is held in the mounting hole 37 of the positioning holding member 32 via the bearing 38, so that the support shaft 39 can rotate without any trouble. The above description of positioning and rotation driving is common to all colors Y, M, C, and B.

  When the motor is stopped, the front opening / closing cover (not shown in FIG. 6) is opened and the positioning holding member 32 is rotated to the open position shown in FIG. In this state, when each image forming unit 2 is pulled in the front direction indicated by the arrow E (left front side in FIG. 6A), the image forming unit 2 is guided by a guide rail that constitutes an attaching / detaching means (not shown). Pulled forward. On the contrary, when each image forming unit 2 is pushed in the back direction indicated by the arrow G, the image forming unit is pushed in the back direction while being guided by the guide rail, and the carrier gear as shown in FIG. 40 engages with the cup-shaped gear 41 and the rear end of the support shaft 39 is positioned with respect to the frame 43. Next, the positioning holding member 32 is swung to the closed position and positioned with respect to the front plate 28. In this state, the portion on the near side of the support shaft 39 can be positioned with respect to the frame 43 as will be described later. Next, the image forming operation can be started by closing the front opening / closing cover. The above description of attaching / detaching the image forming unit to / from the image forming apparatus main body is common to all the colors Y, M, C, and B.

  Next, based on FIGS. 5, 7, 8, and 9, the flow of airflow in the image forming unit, which is the main part of the present invention, and the configuration of the duct will be described. First, units arranged at a position where an air current is generated will be described. A plurality of side fans are provided on the left side plate of the main body casing as described above. Inside the side plate, units related to image formation are arranged. That is, a plurality of toner bottles in the toner replenishing unit, a fixing unit including an electromagnetic induction heating device, a transfer belt unit, a plurality of image forming units, an exposure unit (writing unit), and the like. There is a gap (clearance) between each of these units, and the airflow passes through this gap. Depending on the arrangement position, it may be a unit that prevents the movement of airflow.

  Describes the movement of airflow. The side fan 25 shown in FIG. 5 blows and cools the image forming unit, the transfer belt, the toner bottle, and the exposure unit from the side. The airflow generated here is a flow from left to right in the apparatus as viewed from the front. In the flow path at this time, there are a plurality of members that become obstacles to the airflow. In particular, the fixing unit (IH coil unit) covered with the cover, the transfer roller of the image forming unit, and the like correspond to this, but the transfer belt, the image forming unit, and the side plate on the right side surface of the main body itself can also obstruct the airflow. (See FIG. 9). When the air current hits these obstacles, it is diverted to the front side and back side of the apparatus. Here, the airflow flowing toward the front side is referred to as an airflow A, and the airflow flowing toward the back side is referred to as an airflow B. These airflows include ozone and VOC generated in the image forming unit and the transfer device.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the airflow A toward the front side of the apparatus (lower side in FIG. 8) hits the front plate 28 / positioning holding member 32 and the front opening / closing cover 22. The front side plate 28 / positioning holding member 32 and the front opening / closing cover 22 do not completely seal the inside of the housing when closed, but have a certain gap (clearance). For example, when the front plate 28 is closed, the positioning plate 32 comes into contact with the positioning holding member 32 as can be understood from FIG. Further, the front opening / closing cover 22 also has a clearance between the opposing surfaces in the entire periphery of the cover 22 shown in FIG.

  The airflow A tends to go out of the front of the apparatus through these clearances, but the sirocco fan 102 sucks all of the airflow along with the gas between the front opening / closing cover 22 and the front side plate 28. The gas sucked by the sirocco fan 102 passes through the fixing device and travels to the duct 103. Further, the exhaust fan 104 provided in the middle of the upright duct 103 heads toward the duct outlet, passes through the ozone filter 105, and is discharged to the outside of the rear surface of the apparatus.

  Further, the airflow B that has hit the fixing unit toward the back side and the gas in the vicinity of the image forming unit and the transfer unit are sucked by the exhaust fan 104, travel to the branch duct 106, and further to the upright duct 103, and pass through the ozone filter 105. To the outside of the back of the device. The upright duct 103 and the branch duct 106 constitute an exhaust duct.

In this way, both the airflows A and B do not leak to the front of the apparatus, but go to the back of the apparatus and further pass through the ozone filter 105, thereby eliminating the danger that ozone generated in image formation will harm the human body. it can. The airflow A is sucked by the sirocco fan 102 and passes through a heated space in the fixing unit. Since ozone has the property of being decomposed by heat to become oxygen, this configuration further increases safety. Furthermore, the airflows A and B merge at the duct 103, and the heated airflow A further promotes the decomposition of ozone in the airflow B.

  The configuration of the duct is not limited to that depicted in FIG. The entrance of the branch duct 106 is desirably behind the image forming unit or the transfer unit. It is also conceivable that another fan is provided near the entrance of the duct 102 and the branch duct 106 (near the contact surface with the apparatus) and exhausted toward the ozone filter.

  FIG. 10 is a view showing the printer 1 with the back cover removed. In the in-body discharge type image forming apparatus, the electrical components are gathered on the back of the apparatus and arranged in the vertical direction to save space on the back side of the apparatus. In FIG. 10, the electrical components for the main components of the printer 1 are the electrical component 20 </ b> B for the reading system on the back of the scanner 20, and the paper conveyance system from the paper feed cassette to the paper discharge tray on the left side of the image forming unit 10. An electrical member 10B for toner replenishment system on the upper right side, an electrical member 10C for image forming system on the lower right side, and an electrical member 21D for paper feed system are disposed on the lower side. Further, on the back side of the printer 1, an electrical box 50 as a rotating structure covers a rotation shaft with respect to the apparatus main body so as to cover a range where the toner replenishment system and imaging system electrical members 10 B and 10 C are attached. It is attached so that it can be opened and closed. The electrical box 50 has a box shape in which the rear side of the apparatus is opened, and maintenance of electrical components can be performed from the opened part. A plurality of heat radiating holes for radiating internal heat to the outside of the box are formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the electrical box 50. The electrical box 50 is provided with a BICU, a controller, and the like, which are system control boards for controlling writing / motor / sensors. Further, the rotating shaft of the electrical box 50 is configured to be supported by a bracket of the apparatus main body formed on the flat plate surface.

  Therefore, when an air flow is discharged from the upright duct 103 with the ozone filter 105 to the outside of the back of the apparatus, an exhaust duct is passed near the electrical box 50 that generates a large amount of heat, or exhausted above the electrical box 50. Then, the decomposition of ozone is further accelerated by heat. In this example, as shown in FIG. 11, the exhaust duct is configured to pass through the electrical component in the housing and exhaust above the electrical component box 50.

  7 and the like, the upright duct 103 may protrude from the main body of the image forming apparatus. However, as shown in FIG. 11, the airflow passing through the duct 103 passes through the ozone filter 105, and then the exterior. It is discharged to the outside through a vent hole formed in the cover. Since ozone decomposes even if it physically hits an object, it is not only decomposed by heat, but also after it has been decomposed reliably by impact when it hits a filter and passes through a louvered vent. It will be released to the outside. Furthermore, the opening area of the duct outlet, that is, the area of the ozone filter, is preferably set to be larger than the area of the fan projected onto the plane perpendicular to the airflow. By increasing the opening area, the area of the ozone filter can be increased, the ozone decomposition ability is further improved, the airflow is easily discharged through the duct, and the situation where ozone leaks out from the front of the apparatus can be further avoided.

1 is a schematic perspective view of an image forming apparatus having an airflow guiding mechanism. It is sectional drawing which shows the detail of an image formation part. It is a perspective view of an electromagnetic induction heating apparatus, (a) shows an exterior panel cover, (b) shows a housing having a coil. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a basic structure of a fixing unit exhaust heat structure. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a state in which front and side opening / closing covers of the image forming apparatus are opened. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a state of an image forming unit mounted in the apparatus, in which FIG. 3A is a schematic perspective view, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating attachment of the fixing unit exhaust heat structure to the image forming apparatus. It is a schematic plan view which shows the mode of the airflow in a housing | casing. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the mode of the airflow in a housing | casing. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an electrical component on the back of the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is the schematic which shows a mode that a duct is arrange | positioned in the electrical equipment part vicinity.

Explanation of symbols

22 Front opening / closing cover 25 Fan 28 Front plate 102 Sirocco fan 103 Exhaust duct 104 Exhaust fan 105 Ozone filter 106 Branch duct

Claims (5)

An apparatus unit that functionally generates ozone, a fixing unit for fixing a formed image, a first air blowing means that generates an air flow in the apparatus unit, a second air blowing means that blows air inside the fixing unit, and In an image forming apparatus, comprising: an apparatus unit; an opening / closing cover that opens the fixing unit and the second air blowing unit to the front of the apparatus; and a housing attached with the opening / closing cover.
The second air blowing means is provided inside the housing on the front side of the apparatus, and the air flow generated by the first air blowing means is sucked by the second air blowing means, and the air flow receives heat generated by the fixing unit. While flowing toward the back of the device ,
On the rear side of the apparatus, there is provided a third blowing means for discharging the airflow inside the housing to the rear of the apparatus,
A first duct portion provided behind the fixing unit, a second duct portion joined to the first duct portion and provided behind the device unit, and from the junction point to the downstream free end And a filter attached to the first duct portion in the region, wherein the third blowing means is disposed in the first duct portion . There are a plurality of the device units, and the plurality of device units are arranged with a clearance from each other, and the clearance and the housing form an airflow passage extending in the left-right direction and the front-rear direction of the device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said first blowing means is arranged in the housing side. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that set in the space between said second blowing means is the fixing unit or the device unit and the cover. Electrical part is placed on the apparatus behind, the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first duct portion in the vicinity of the electrical unit is disposed.

Images