JP5595352B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

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

  An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine includes a document reading device, an image forming unit, an exposure unit (unit member), and the like inside a housing. The housing includes front and rear side plates and a bottom plate interposed therebetween, and the image forming unit and the like are disposed between the front and rear side plates. In a full-color copying machine or the like, an image forming unit and an exposure unit corresponding to each of four colors (Y, M, C, and B) are provided. Therefore, the casing has a reinforcing plate between front and rear side plates. In this way, the casing is reinforced.

  In the image forming apparatus, it is required to detach a unit member such as an image forming unit from the housing in units of the unit for maintenance. In such a case, in order to ensure workability of attachment / detachment, a dedicated rail is provided on the housing, and the unit member is guided along this rail (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-72422 A

  The rail as described above is indispensable for allowing the unit member to be easily taken in and out of a predetermined position in the housing while preventing interference between the unit member and other members. However, when a dedicated rail is provided for each unit, the cost increases accordingly.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to be able to guide a unit member with a reasonable configuration when the unit member is taken in and out of the housing.

In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a heat source, a unit member for performing image forming processing on a sheet, and the unit member can be taken in and out. And a blowing means for sending cooling air to the unit member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the unit member is put in and out , the case comprising a pair of side plates and these A plate member interposed between the side plates, the unit member being disposed on the plate member, the plate member protruding upward from the upper surface thereof and extending in the direction of taking in and out of the unit member comprises a bulging portion, said unit member, front Ki膨 out section provided with a guided portion which can be guided along, the swollen portion, the blower flows along the plate member From the means There are those formed to face to the heat source.

  According to this configuration, the unit member can be guided along the reinforcing bulge formed on the plate member constituting the housing. For this reason, a dedicated guide member for guiding the unit member is not necessary, and the rational configuration is obtained by using the bulging portion as the guide member.

In addition, the air flowing along the plate member can be efficiently directed to the heat source of the unit member by the bulging portion. Therefore, the unit member can be effectively cooled with a rational configuration using the bulging portion.

  Specifically, the unit member has a shape in which a gap is formed between a lower surface of the unit member and the plate member, and the bulging portion is a region in the gap and is positioned below the heat source. And it forms so that the flow of the wind from the said ventilation means which flows along the said plate member may be changed upward.

  In this configuration, the wind from the blower that flows along the plate member hits the bulging portion, and its direction is changed upward to be blown to the position of the heat source. Accordingly, it is possible to effectively blow wind to the position of the heat source in the unit member.

  More specifically, the unit member includes a light source that emits laser light and a polygon mirror that rotates by driving a motor, and the laser light from the light source is scanned on the photosensitive drum as the polygon mirror rotates. By doing so, the exposure unit forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum, and the bulging portion is formed as a heat source so that the wind is directed to the position of the motor.

  According to this configuration, the exposure unit can be taken into and out of the housing while being guided along the bulging portion. And it becomes possible to cool the said exposure unit by blowing efficiently the wind from a ventilation means on the motor of the exposure unit used as a heat source.

  In the above image forming apparatus, the plate member includes a pair of bulging portions extending in parallel with each other as the bulging portion in the loading / unloading direction, and the unit member serves as the guided portion with respect to the loading / unloading direction. A pair of side wall portions extending in parallel, the side wall portions being in contact with the bulging portions from the outside of the pair of bulging portions, respectively, or from the inside of the pair of bulging portions, respectively. It is preferable to guide along the bulging portion in a contact state.

  According to this configuration, since the displacement of the unit member and the plate member in the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the unit member is put in and out is restricted, the unit member can be guided more stably.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the unit member can be guided along the reinforcing bulge formed on the plate member constituting the housing. Therefore, a dedicated guide member for guiding the unit member is not necessary, and a rational configuration that also serves as the bulge as the guide member is achieved.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal structure of the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a left view which shows the main body frame which is a housing | casing. It is the perspective view from the apparatus left direction which showed the exposure unit accommodated in the main body frame with the reinforcement board (except for a reinforcement board among main body frames is abbreviate | omitted). FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the left side of the apparatus showing a state in which the exposure unit is pulled out from the main body frame (except for the reinforcing plate in the main body frame). It is a perspective view which shows the state which looked at the exposure unit from the apparatus right direction. It is a perspective view from the apparatus left direction which shows the main body frame of the state which removed the exposure unit. (A) is a main part left side view which shows the exposure unit with which the main body frame was mounted | worn, (b) is the elements on larger scale of (a). (A), (b) is sectional drawing of the reinforcement board which shows the modification of the shape of a bulging part.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an image forming apparatus 1 according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal structure of the image forming apparatus 1. Here, the image forming apparatus 1 exemplifies a full-color copying machine. In the drawing, in order to clarify the directional relationship, the direction of the image forming apparatus 1 is shown with reference to the standing position of the operator during use. Therefore, in the following description, the direction is based on this direction. The image forming apparatus 1 will be described.

  The image forming apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing structure and having an in-cylinder space (in-cylinder discharge unit 3). The apparatus main body 2 performs an image forming process on the sheet. The apparatus main body 2 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped lower casing 2A, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped upper casing 2B disposed above the lower casing 2A, and a connection that couples the lower casing 2A and the upper casing 2B. And a housing 2C. The lower housing 2A accommodates various devices for image formation, and the upper housing 2B accommodates various devices for optically reading a document image. An in-cylinder space surrounded by the lower casing 2A, the upper casing 2B, and the connecting casing 2C is an in-cylinder sheet discharge unit 3 that can store a sheet after image formation. The connecting casing 2C is disposed on the right side surface of the apparatus main body 2. The connecting casing 2C is provided with a post discharge port 19a for discharging the sheet to the in-body discharging unit 3. That is, the sheet after image formation is discharged from the discharge port 19a to the in-body discharge unit 3 and stacked on the upper portion of the lower housing 2A.

  The in-cylinder space used as the in-cylinder discharge unit 3 is open to the outside on the front surface and the left side surface of the apparatus main body 2. The user can insert his / her hand through these open portions and take out the sheet after image formation from the in-body sheet discharge unit 3.

  The lower casing 2A is equipped with a paper feed cassette 4 that accommodates sheets to be subjected to image forming processing. The paper feed cassette 4 can be pulled out from the front surface of the lower housing 2A (device main body 2). This paper feed cassette 4 is a cassette provided for automatic paper feed.

  A multi-tray unit 5 is mounted on the right side surface of the apparatus main body 2 for allowing the user to manually feed paper. The multi-tray unit 5 includes a paper feed tray 5a on which a manual sheet is placed and a paper feed unit 5b that carries the manual sheet into a postscript image forming unit 14 in the lower housing 2A. The paper feed tray 5a is attached to the lower housing 2A so as to be openable and closable, and is closed when not in use. At the time of use, the sheet feeding tray 5a is opened and a sheet is placed thereon.

  An operation panel unit 6 is provided on the front surface of the upper housing 2B. The operation panel unit 6 includes a numeric keypad, a start key, etc. in addition to the LCD touch panel 6a, and receives input of various operation instructions from the user. The user can input the number of sheets to be printed and the like and input the print density and the like through the operation panel unit 6.

  An ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) device 7 for automatically supplying a document on which an image is read to a predetermined document reading position (first contact glass 40A) is attached on the upper housing 2B (not shown in FIG. 2). . The ADF device 7 is rotatably attached to the upper housing 2B at the rear edge thereof, a document tray 7a on which a document is placed, a transport unit 7b that transports the document via a document reading position, And a document discharge tray 7c from which the document after reading is discharged.

  Next, the internal structure of the apparatus main body 2 will be described. In the lower housing 2A, toner containers 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10Bk, the intermediate transfer unit 12, the image forming unit 14, the exposure unit 16, and the above-described paper feed cassette 4 are accommodated in order from the top.

  The image forming unit 14 forms four toner image forming units 20Y and 20M that form yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk) toner images in order to form a full-color toner image. , 20C, 20Bk. Each of the image forming units 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20Bk includes a photosensitive drum 21, and a charger 22, a developing device 23, a primary transfer roller 24, and a cleaning device 25 that are disposed around the photosensitive drum 21. .

  The photosensitive drum 21 rotates about its axis, and an electrostatic latent image and a toner image are formed on the peripheral surface thereof. As the photosensitive drum 21, a photosensitive drum using an amorphous silicon (a-Si) material can be used. The charger 22 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 21. The peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 21 after charging is exposed by an exposure unit 16 described in detail later, and an electrostatic latent image is formed.

  The developing device 23 supplies toner to the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 21 in order to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 21. The developing device 23 is for a two-component developer, for example, and includes a stirring roller, a magnetic roller, a developing roller, and the like.

  The primary transfer roller 24 forms a nip portion with the photosensitive drum 21 across the intermediate transfer belt 26 provided in the intermediate transfer unit 12, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 21 is primary transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 26. To do. The cleaning device 25 cleans the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 21 after the toner image is transferred.

  Each of the yellow toner container 10Y, the magenta toner container 10M, the cyan toner container 10C, and the black toner container 10Bk stores toner of each color, and forms an image corresponding to each of Y, M, C, and Bk colors. The toner of each color is supplied to the developing devices 23 of the units 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20Bk through a supply path (not shown).

  The exposure unit 16 forms an electrostatic latent image based on the image data of the document image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 11 of each of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10Bk. The configuration of the exposure unit 16 will be described later.

  The intermediate transfer unit 12 includes an intermediate transfer belt 26, a driving roller 27a, and a driven roller 27b. On the intermediate transfer belt 26, toner images are transferred from the respective photosensitive drums 21 of the image forming units 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20Bk (primary transfer). The toner images transferred and overcoated from the respective photosensitive drums 21 are transferred (secondary transfer) to the sheet supplied from the paper feed cassette 4 or the paper feed tray 5a in the secondary transfer unit 30.

  The paper feed cassette 4 stores a sheet bundle in which a plurality of sheets are stacked. A pickup roller 4 a is arranged on the upper right side of the paper feed cassette 4. By driving the pickup roller 4 a, the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle in the sheet feeding cassette 4 is fed out one by one and carried into the carry-in conveyance path 32. On the other hand, the sheet placed on the paper feed tray 5a is carried into the carry-in conveyance path 32 by driving the paper feed roller 5c of the paper feed unit 5b.

  On the downstream side of the carry-in conveyance path 32, a sheet conveyance path 34 extending to the discharge port 19 a via the secondary transfer unit 30, the fixing unit 18 and the paper discharge unit 19 is provided. A registration roller pair 33 is disposed on the upstream side of the secondary transfer unit 30 in the sheet conveyance path 34. After the sheet is temporarily stopped by the registration roller pair 33 and skew correction is performed, the sheet is sent to the secondary transfer unit 30 at a predetermined timing for image transfer.

  A fixing unit 18 and a paper discharge unit 19 are housed inside the connection housing 2C. The fixing unit 18 includes a fixing roller and a pressure roller, and performs a fixing process by heating and pressing a sheet on which the toner image is secondarily transferred in the secondary transfer unit 30. The sheet with the color image that has been subjected to the fixing process is discharged from the discharge port 19 a toward the in-body discharge unit 3 by a discharge unit 19 disposed downstream of the fixing unit 18.

  The first contact glass 40A and the second contact glass 40B are fitted on the upper surface of the upper housing 2B. The first contact glass 40 </ b> A is provided for reading a document sheet automatically fed from the ADF device 7. Second contact glass 40B is provided for reading a manually placed document sheet.

  A scanning mechanism 42 and an image sensor 44 for optically reading document information are accommodated in the upper housing 2B. The scanning mechanism 42 includes a light source, a movable carriage, a reflection mirror, and the like, and guides reflected light from the document to the image sensor 44. The image sensor 44 photoelectrically converts the reflected light into an analog electrical signal. The analog electric signal is converted into a digital electric signal by an A / D conversion circuit (not shown) and then input to the exposure unit 16.

  Next, the configuration of the exposure unit 16 and its support structure in the apparatus main body 2 will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a side view of a main body frame 50 (corresponding to the casing of the present invention) that is located inside the exterior member that forms the outer surface of the apparatus main body 2 and that forms the casing structure, as viewed from the left. is there.

  The main body frame 50 includes a front side plate 51 and a rear side plate 52 arranged at a predetermined interval, an upper frame (not shown) arranged on the front and rear side plates 51 and 52, and the front and rear side plates 51 and 52. It consists of a bottom plate 53, a top plate 54, a reinforcing plate 55, and a right side plate (not shown) and a left side plate 56, which are installed horizontally. The reinforcing plate 55 is a member for reinforcing the main body frame 50. The peripheral surface of the main body frame 50 is covered with an exterior member.

  In the space between the front and rear side plates 51 and 52, the above-described toner containers 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10Bk, the intermediate transfer unit 12, the image forming unit 14, the exposure unit 16, and the paper feed cassette 4 are accommodated. The upper frame (not shown) is a frame corresponding to the upper housing 2B. The scanning mechanism 42 and the image sensor 44 are accommodated, and the first contact glass 40A and the second contact glass 40B are provided on the upper surface thereof. Is supported.

  The left side plate 56 is formed with an opening 56a through which the exposure unit 16 is put in and out of the main body frame 50 (the apparatus main body 2). The opening 56a has a rectangular shape elongated in the front-rear direction, and the exposure unit 16 is inserted into and removed from the apparatus main body 2 through the opening 56a during maintenance or the like. In the apparatus main body 2, the exposure unit 16 is supported by the main body frame 50 while being inserted between the reinforcing plate 55 and the image forming units 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20Bk. In this embodiment, the exposure unit 16 corresponds to a unit member of the present invention, and the reinforcing plate 55 corresponds to a plate member of the present invention.

  4 shows the exposure unit 16 arranged in the main body frame 50 (apparatus main body 2), and FIG. 5 shows the exposure unit 16 drawn out from the apparatus main body 2. As shown in FIG. In the figure, members other than the reinforcing plate 55 in the main body frame 50 are omitted.

  As shown in the figure, the exposure unit 16 includes four exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk that individually correspond to the colors Y, M, C, and Bk, and a frame 72 that supports the exposure apparatuses.

  Each of the exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk is roughly composed of a light source that emits a laser beam, a polygon mirror that emits the scanning light when the laser light is incident thereon, and the scanning light on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 21. Including an optical component including a lens to form an image, a plurality of mirrors that reflect the scanning light toward the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 21, an adjustment mechanism that adjusts the angle of the mirror, and a casing that accommodates these, It has a substantially cubic shape elongated in the direction.

  These exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk are arranged in the apparatus main body 2 while being held by the frame body 72 in an arrangement corresponding to the image forming units 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20Bk. As a result, each of the exposure devices 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk scans the photosensitive drums 21 of the corresponding image forming units 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20Bk while emitting laser beams as the polygon mirror rotates. Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on each photosensitive drum 21.

  The frame 72 has a square frame shape. Specifically, a pair of front and rear first support portions 74 and 74 that have a U-shaped cross section that opens outward and extends parallel to each other in the left-right direction, and a pair of left and right first support portions that extend parallel to each other in the front-rear direction therebetween. 2 support portions 76, 76. The exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk are arranged inside the frame body 72 in a state of being arranged in the left-right direction, and both end portions in the longitudinal direction are supported by the first support portions 74 and 74, respectively. In this state, the frame 72 is integrally held.

  The exposure unit 16 is inserted into and removed from the apparatus main body 2 along a direction (left-right direction) parallel to the alignment direction of the exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk, as indicated by white arrows in FIG. The loading / unloading is performed by moving the exposure unit 16 in the left-right direction while the exposure unit 16 is supported by the reinforcing plate 55.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 7, the reinforcing plate 55 is formed with a pair of bulging portions 60 that are arranged at a predetermined interval in the front-rear direction and extend in parallel in the left-right direction. These bulging portions 60 are formed by drawing the reinforcing plate 55 in order to increase the rigidity of the reinforcing plate 55, and have a circular arc shape in cross section (see FIG. 8). These bulging portions 60 are formed at intervals corresponding to the first support portions 74, 74 of the frame body 72, and also have a function as a guide member of the exposure unit 16. That is, each of the first support portions 74 and 74 of the frame body 72 has a protruding portion 74a (corresponding to the guided portion of the present invention) that protrudes downward from the other portions of the exposure unit 16 and extends in the longitudinal direction. . When the exposure unit 16 is put in and out, the exposure unit 16 is reinforced so that the bulging portions 60 come into contact with the protruding portions 74a of the first support portions 74 and 74, respectively, as shown in FIG. By placing on the plate 55, it is possible to guide the exposure unit 16 in the left-right direction with the exposure unit 16 positioned in the front-rear direction.

  The exposure unit 16 inserted into the apparatus main body 2 is supported by the main body frame 50 with its left and right ends positioned. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, it is supported by a right stay 81 and a left stay 82 that are respectively suspended between the front side plates 51 and 52.

  Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the left and right ends of the frame body 72 are provided with vertical plate-like first positioning protrusions 75 at the front and rear ends, respectively, and a horizontal plate-like second in the middle thereof. A positioning projection 77 is provided. The first positioning convex portion 75 is integrally formed with the first support portion 74, and the second positioning convex portion 77 is integrally formed with the second support portion 76.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, a right stay 81 is disposed above the rear end of the reinforcing plate 55. The right stay 81 is formed with a first positioning hole 84 into which the first positioning convex portion 75 of the exposure unit 16 is inserted and a second positioning hole 85 into which the second positioning convex portion 77 is inserted. The first positioning hole 84 has a shape that allows the first positioning convex portion 75 to be positioned in the vertical direction by guiding the first positioning convex portion 75, and the second positioning hole 85 has the second positioning convex portion 77. The second positioning projection 77 has a shape that can be positioned in the front-rear direction. The left stay 82 has the same basic structure as the right stay 81 described above. However, the left stay 82 further includes a biasing spring (not shown) for pressing the exposure unit 16 leftward. The left stay 82 is removed when the exposure unit 16 is attached and detached. After the exposure unit 16 is inserted into the apparatus main body 2, a screw is attached to a mounting portion 86 (see FIG. 7) formed on the main body frame 50. Fixed.

  Here, an attaching / detaching operation of the exposure unit 16 with respect to the apparatus main body 2 (main body frame 50) will be described. First, when the exposure unit 16 is attached to the apparatus main body 2, the exposure unit 16 is attached from the left side of the apparatus main body 2 through the opening 56a with the left stay 82 removed (the state shown in FIG. 7). Insert inside. At this time, the exposure unit 16 can be smoothly inserted into the apparatus main body 2 by moving the exposure unit 16 along the bulging portion 60 of the reinforcing plate 55 as described above. When the exposure unit 16 reaches almost the far end, the exposure unit 16 is further pushed in, and thereby the first positioning convex portion 75 and the second positioning convex portion 77 at the right end of the exposure unit 16 are moved to the first positioning hole 84 of the right stay 81. And it inserts in the 2nd positioning hole 85, respectively.

  Next, the left stay 82 is prepared, and the first positioning convex portion 75 and the second positioning convex portion 77 at the left end of the exposure unit 16 are inserted into the first positioning hole 84 and the second positioning hole 85. The stay 82 is fixed to the mounting portion 86 with screws. Thereby, the mounting operation of the exposure unit 16 to the apparatus main body 2 is completed. With the exposure unit 16 mounted in this manner, the exposure unit 16 is positioned in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction with respect to both the stays 81 and 82. Further, as a result of the exposure unit 16 being pressed to the right by the biasing spring of the left stay 82, the exposure unit 16 is positioned in the left-right direction with respect to the right stay 81. The removal of the exposure unit 16 from the apparatus main body 2 can be performed according to the reverse procedure to the above.

  Returning to FIG. 4, a blowing unit 62 (corresponding to the blowing means of the present invention) is fixed on the reinforcing plate 55 (not shown in FIG. 5). The blower unit 62 sends air to cool the image forming units 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20Bk and the exposure unit 16, and extends along the bulging portion 60 to the front end of the reinforcing plate 55. It is fixed.

  The blower unit 62 includes a plurality of fans arranged in the left-right direction. Specifically, it includes a central propeller fan 64 that sends the wind backward (in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the exposure unit 16 is taken in and out), and a sirocco fan 65 that is arranged on both sides and sends the wind upward. That is, the propeller fan 64 cools the exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk by sending air toward the rear side while taking in air from the front side, and the sirocco fan 65 winds upward while taking in air from the front side. , The image forming units 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20Bk positioned above the exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk are cooled.

  Of the frame body 72 of the exposure unit 16, the first support portion 74 has a large number of ventilation holes 74b formed in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. Thereby, the wind from the propeller fan 64 is sent to the gap between the exposure unit 16 and the reinforcing plate 55 through the ventilation hole 74b. Here, as shown in FIG. 8B, the bulging portion 60 changes the flow direction upward when the wind from the propeller fan 64 flowing along the reinforcing plate 55 hits the bulging portion 60. It is formed as follows. That is, the bulging portion 60 functions as a baffle plate that changes the direction of the airflow. Thereby, the wind from the propeller fan 64 flowing along the reinforcing plate 55 is effectively blown to the lower surfaces of the exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk, and the exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk are effectively cooled. The In particular, in this image forming apparatus 1, the bulging portion 60 (the bulging portion 60 located on the front side of the pair of bulging portions 60) includes the polygon mirror among the exposure devices 70 Y, 70 M, 70 C, and 70 Bk. It is formed to be positioned below a motor (not shown) for driving. Accordingly, the wind from the propeller fan 64 is effectively blown to the position of the motor that is the heat source among the exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk by changing the direction of the air by the bulging portion 60. Each exposure apparatus 70Y, 70M, 70C, 70Bk is effectively cooled.

  In the image forming apparatus 1 as described above, the bulging portion 60 is formed on the reinforcing plate 55 to ensure its strength, while the bulging portion 60 functions as a guide member when the exposure unit is attached / detached. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a dedicated guide member for guiding the exposure unit 16, and a rational configuration in which the bulging portion 60 is also used as the guide member of the exposure unit 16 is achieved.

  In addition, in the image forming apparatus 1, the wind flowing along the reinforcing plate 55 is blown to the bulging portion 60 to change the direction upward, thereby blowing the wind on the lower surface of the exposure unit 16. That is, the bulging part 60 functions as a baffle plate for changing the direction of the wind (airflow) from the blower unit 62. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a dedicated baffle plate for changing the direction of the wind from the propeller fan 64, and a rational configuration in which the bulging portion 60 is also used as a baffle plate is achieved. In particular, in the image forming apparatus 1, as described above, the wind from the propeller fan 64 is blown to the heat source of each of the exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk, that is, the position of the motor for driving the polygon mirror. A bulging portion 60 is formed as described above. Therefore, there is an advantage that the exposure apparatuses 70Y, 70M, 70C, and 70Bk can be effectively cooled with a reasonable configuration.

  The image forming apparatus 1 described above is an example of a preferred embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and the specific configuration can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the embodiment, the shape of the bulging portion 60 of the reinforcing plate 55 is an arc cross section, but as shown in FIG. 10 (a), the shape is a trapezoidal cross section or as shown in FIG. Alternatively, it may have a triangular cross section. Further, it may have a rectangular cross section (not shown). In short, any shape that can improve the rigidity of the reinforcing plate 55 and can smoothly guide the exposure unit 16 may be used. In that case, it is more desirable if the shape can blow the wind from the blower unit 62 more smoothly on the lower surface of the exposure unit 16.

  In the embodiment, as an example of the unit member of the present invention, the configuration in which the exposure unit 16 is guided along the bulging portion 60 of the reinforcing plate 55 has been described. However, as a configuration in which unit members other than the exposure unit 16 are guided. Is also applicable. In short, the present invention can be applied as a configuration for guiding a unit member as long as the image forming apparatus includes a unit member that is inserted and removed along a plate member such as a reinforcing plate and a bottom plate. it can.

  In the embodiment, the exposure unit 16 is configured such that each first support portion 74 is guided from the outside of the bulging portion 60 in contact with the bulging portion 60. The first support portion 74 may be guided while being in contact with the bulging portion 60 from the inside of the bulging portion 60. Further, the number and positions of the bulging portions 60 are not limited to those in the embodiment, and can be appropriately selected. However, in order to improve the cooling performance of the unit member, the position of the bulging portion 60 is preferably formed at a position where air can be effectively blown to the heat source of the unit member as in the embodiment. .

  In the embodiment, a so-called full-color multifunction peripheral is described as the image forming apparatus 1. However, the image forming apparatus is a printer, a facsimile machine, an image forming apparatus that forms a monochrome image, or a multifunction peripheral having these functions. There may be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Apparatus main body 12 Intermediate transfer unit 14 Image forming part 16 Exposure unit 18 Fixing unit 19 Paper discharge unit 50 Main body frame 51 Front side plate 52 Rear side plate 53 Bottom plate 54 Top plate 55 Reinforcement plate 60 Bulging unit 62 Blower unit

Claims (4)

A unit member having a heat source for performing image forming processing on the sheet;
A housing accommodated so that the unit member can be taken in and out;
A blowing means for sending cooling air to the unit member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of taking in and out of the unit member ,
The housing includes a pair of side plates and a plate member interposed between the side plates, and the unit member is disposed on the plate member,
The plate member includes a bulging portion for reinforcement that protrudes upward from the upper surface thereof and extends in the direction of taking in and out of the unit member,
It said unit member is provided with a guided portion which can be guided along the front Ki膨 out portion,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bulging portion is formed so that air from the blowing unit flowing along the plate member is directed to the heat source . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 .
The unit member has a shape in which a gap is formed between a lower surface thereof and the plate member,
The bulging portion is a region in the gap and is located below the heat source, and is formed so as to change the flow of wind from the blowing means flowing along the plate member upward. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The unit member includes a light source that emits laser light and a polygon mirror that is rotated by driving a motor, and scans the photosensitive drum by scanning the laser light from the light source with rotation of the polygon mirror. An exposure unit for forming an electrostatic latent image on a body drum;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bulging portion is formed so that wind is directed toward the motor as the heat source. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The plate member includes a pair of bulging portions extending parallel to each other in the direction of taking in and out as the bulging portions,
The unit member includes a pair of side wall portions extending in parallel with each other as the guided portion, and the side wall portions are in contact with the bulging portions from the outside of the pair of bulging portions, or An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus is guided along the bulging portion while being in contact with the bulging portion from the inside of the pair of bulging portions.

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