JP6202375B2 - Cooling device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling device and an image forming apparatus including the cooling device.

In an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a fax machine, a copier, or a multifunction machine of these, an image forming operation forms a component member or an image forming process unit such as a fixing device or a developing device provided in the apparatus. The temperature of the recording medium such as paper to be printed rises.
In order to prevent problems caused by the temperature of any constituent member or recording medium rising above the allowable temperature in such a manner, the constituent member or recording medium whose temperature rises is targeted for cooling. Conventionally, an image forming apparatus including a cooling device is known.
As a configuration of such a cooling device, an air cooling method in which cooling air is applied to a cooling target and cooling, and heat absorbed by a heat receiving unit in contact with the cooling target is conveyed by a cooling liquid, and is dissipated from the heat radiating unit. A liquid cooling type cooling device for cooling is known. In general, the latter can provide a higher cooling effect than the former.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes a liquid cooling type cooling apparatus having the following configuration.
The cooling device described in Patent Document 1 is a light source of a writing head that forms an image by irradiating a laser beam on a printing plate to which ink of a printing press is attached, and cools a laser light source that becomes a high temperature as a cooling target. It is a cooling device. This cooling device includes a heat receiving member that transmits heat of the laser light source to the coolant in the circulation path, a radiator, a cooling fan, and a liquid feed pump.

  In a conventional liquid cooling type cooling device, when the image forming apparatus is speeded up, a liquid feed pump such as a centrifugal pump that circulates the cooling liquid may be driven (rotated) at a high speed to generate heat exceeding an allowable temperature. It was. When the state of generating heat exceeding the permissible temperature is repeated for a long period of time, the wear of the contact portion between the rotating shaft of the impeller of the centrifugal pump and the regulating member (bearing) of the rotating shaft is promoted, and the liquid of the liquid feed pump is increased. In some cases, the feeding capacity was reduced.

For example, in the cooling device described in Patent Document 1, the blowing or sucking direction of the cooling fan (hereinafter referred to as the blowing direction) and the type of the liquid feed pump are unknown, but the radiator and the liquid feed are arranged side by side in the cooling fan blowing direction. And a pump. For this reason, it is considered that a part of the wind generated by the cooling fan can be applied to the liquid feed pump to suppress the temperature rise of the liquid feed pump.
However, for the following reason, the liquid feed pump cannot be sufficiently cooled, and the temperature of the liquid feed pump may exceed the allowable temperature, and the liquid feed capacity of the liquid feed pump may be reduced.

The casing of the cooling device described in Patent Document 1 includes a support plate that supports each component of the cooling device.
A first side plate (wall) perpendicular to the support plate is provided on one side of the support plate parallel to the blowing direction. In addition, a second side plate perpendicular to the support plate is provided on the side closer to the liquid feed pump than the cooling fan of the support plate perpendicular to the blowing direction, and on the side farther from the liquid feed pump than the cooling fan. A third side plate perpendicular to the support plate is provided except for a predetermined range from the first side plate. And although the edge part on the side away from the support plate of each side plate is comprised so that it may be on the same surface perpendicular | vertical to each side plate, the 4th side plate which covers the said edge part of each side plate is provided. It is unclear whether this is done.
In addition, no member is provided for partitioning the space in the blowing direction between the cooling fan and the second side plate and the other space in the casing, and the space between the cooling fan and the second side plate is within the casing. All other spaces communicate with each other in the casing.

Since the space communicates as described above, even if the fourth side plate is provided, the wind generated by the cooling fan is diffused and blown to the liquid feed pump, or the cooling fan and the second side plate The air is sucked into the cooling fan from a space larger than the space between. That is, the liquid feed pump is larger than the area of the wind passage perpendicular to the direction of the wind flowing at the blowing or suction position of the cooling fan (hereinafter referred to as the blowing position) (hereinafter simply referred to as the cross-sectional area of the wind passage). The cross-sectional area of the air flow path at the position passing through the air increases. In addition, a flow path (hereinafter referred to as a circulation flow path) of wind in which a part of the wind blown from the cooling fan is again sucked into the cooling fan in the space around the cooling fan is formed.
For these reasons, the flow rate when the wind generated by the cooling fan hits the liquid feed pump decreases. In addition, the wind flowing through the circulation flow path includes wind that rises in temperature by passing through a radiator provided side by side with the liquid feed pump in the air blowing direction of the cooling fan. Every time it passes through the fan, the temperature of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump rises.

As mentioned above, if the flow velocity of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump decreases or the temperature of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump increases, the liquid feed pump cannot be cooled sufficiently, and the temperature of the liquid feed pump exceeds the allowable temperature. This increases the risk that the liquid feeding capacity of the liquid feeding pump will decrease.
In addition, when the fourth side plate is not provided, a decrease in the flow velocity when hitting the liquid feed pump of the wind generated by the cooling fan and an increase in the temperature of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump are promoted, and the temperature of the liquid feed pump is allowed. There is a further possibility that the liquid feeding capacity of the liquid feeding pump will decrease due to the temperature exceeding the temperature.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a liquid cooling type cooling device provided with a blowing means, which can suppress an increase in temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump. That is.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 includes a heat receiving member that absorbs heat to be cooled, a heat radiating means that dissipates heat absorbed by the heat receiving member, a liquid feed pump that conveys a coolant, and A liquid-cooling type cooling device provided with air blowing means for applying heat to the heat radiating means to enhance the heat radiating effect, and having a liquid reservoir tank for storing the cooling liquid, the heat radiating means, the liquid feed pump, and the liquid reservoir tank And a duct having a ventilation opening to which the blowing means is connected and a passage opening through which air passing through the ventilation opening passes, the liquid feed pump and the liquid storage tank are The air passage is disposed on a flow path of wind passing between the air blowing opening and the passage opening.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device of a liquid cooling system provided with a blowing means, and capable of suppressing an increase in temperature exceeding an allowable temperature of a liquid feed pump.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a cooling device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. Explanatory drawing about the cooling member which the cooling device of FIG. 2 has. The schematic explanatory drawing of the conventional cooling device. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a cooling device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective explanatory view from the rear side of the printer according to the first embodiment. The perspective explanatory view which removed the external duct from the thermal radiation part of the cooling device concerning Example 1. FIG. The perspective explanatory view which removed the fan unit from the thermal radiation part of the cooling device of FIG. The perspective explanatory view which removed the radiator from the thermal radiation part of the cooling device of FIG. Explanatory drawing of the flow of the air in the internal duct of the cooling device which concerns on Example 1. FIG. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Outline explanatory drawing at the time of reverse | inverting the ventilation direction in the thermal radiation part of the cooling device which concerns on Example 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a cooling device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory perspective view from the rear side of the printer according to the second embodiment. The perspective explanatory view which removed the external duct from the thermal radiation part of the cooling device concerning Example 2. FIG. The perspective explanatory view which removed the fan unit from the thermal radiation part of the cooling device of FIG. FIG. 16 is an explanatory perspective view of an in-machine duct with an internal duct removed from a heat radiating portion of the cooling device of FIG. 15. Explanatory drawing of the flow of the air in the internal duct of the cooling device which concerns on Example 2, and an in-machine duct. The outline explanatory view at the time of reversing the ventilation direction in the heat sink of the cooling device concerning Example 2. FIG.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a cooling device provided in an image forming apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings with a plurality of examples.
First, an outline of a printer 300 that is an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment common to the respective examples will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer 300 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 300 according to the present embodiment includes an intermediate transfer by a plurality of rollers (a first stretching roller 22, a second stretching roller 23, a third stretching roller 24, etc.) in the apparatus main body 200. An intermediate transfer belt 21 as a body is stretched. The intermediate transfer belt 21 is configured to rotate in the direction of arrow a in the figure when one of the plurality of rollers is rotationally driven. In addition, the printer 300 has image forming process means disposed around the intermediate transfer belt 21. Here, the subscripts Y, C, M, and Bk added after the symbols indicate that the specifications are for yellow, cyan, magenta, and black.

  When the direction of rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 21 is indicated by an arrow a in the figure, an image is formed for each color between the first stretching roller 22 and the second stretching roller 23 above the intermediate transfer belt 21. As the process means, four image stations 10 (Y, C, M, Bk) are arranged. The Y image station 10Y, the C image station 10C, the M image station 10M, and the Bk image station 10Bk are arranged in this order from the upstream side in the surface movement direction of the intermediate transfer belt 21.

The four image stations 10 (Y, C, M, Bk) have substantially the same configuration except that the colors of the toners used are different. In each image station 10, a charging device 5, an optical writing device 2, a developing device 3, and a photoconductor cleaning device 4 are arranged around a drum-shaped photoconductor 1. Further, a primary transfer roller 11 serving as a toner image transfer unit to the intermediate transfer belt 21 is provided at a position facing the photoreceptor 1 with the intermediate transfer belt 21 interposed therebetween. Such four image stations 10 (Y, C, M, Bk) are arranged along the surface movement direction of the intermediate transfer belt 21 so as to have a predetermined pitch interval.
In this printer 300, the optical writing device 2 is an optical system using an LED as a light source. However, the optical writing device 2 can also be configured by a laser optical system using a semiconductor laser as a light source, and each photoconductor 1 is exposed according to image information. I do.

Below the intermediate transfer belt 21, a paper feed cassette 31, a paper feed roller 41, and a pair of registration rollers 42 for paper P, which is a sheet-like recording medium, are arranged. Further, the secondary transfer as a toner image transfer unit from the intermediate transfer belt 21 to the paper P so as to face the third stretching roller 24 that stretches the intermediate transfer belt 21 via the intermediate transfer belt 21. A roller 25 is arranged. Further, a belt that cleans the front surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 so that the cleaning facing roller 26 that contacts the back surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 contacts the front surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 at a position where it contacts the intermediate transfer belt 21. A cleaning device 27 is provided.
In FIG. 1, on the right side of the registration roller pair 42, a manual paper feed path 35, a manual paper feed roller 43, and a manual tray 34 for manual paper feeding are arranged.

  Further, a paper transport path 32 extending from the paper feed cassette 31 to the paper discharge tray 33 extends, and the secondary transfer roller 25 in the paper transport path 32 is heated on the downstream side (hereinafter simply referred to as the downstream side) in the paper transport direction. A fixing device 15 having a roller and a pressure roller is disposed. A heater (not shown) as a heating member is provided in the pressure roller of the fixing device 15 and functions as a heat source when the paper P is heat-fixed. A cooling device 100 that cools the paper P is disposed downstream of the fixing device 15 in the paper conveyance path 32. Outside the apparatus main body 200 further downstream of the cooling device 100, a paper discharge tray 33, which is a discharge portion for the paper P after heat fixing, is disposed. Further, when forming an image on the back side of the paper P during the double-sided image formation, the reverse side for forming the double-sided image that reverses the front and back of the paper P that has once passed through the cooling device 100 and transports the paper P to the registration roller pair 42 again. A conveyance path 36 is also provided.

  The image forming process of the printer 300 will be described with respect to one image station 10. In accordance with a general electrostatic recording method, an optical writing device is formed on the photosensitive member 1 uniformly charged by the charging device 5 in the dark. 2 to form an electrostatic latent image. The electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image by the developing device 3. The toner image is transferred from the photoreceptor 1 to the intermediate transfer belt 21 by the primary transfer roller 11. The surface of the photoreceptor 1 after the transfer is cleaned by the photoreceptor cleaning device 4. Such an image forming process is performed in each of the four image stations 10 (Y, C, M, Bk).

  Each of the developing devices 3 (Y, C, M, Bk) in the four image stations 10 (Y, C, M, Bk) has a visible image forming function using different four color toners. For this reason, if each image station 10 (Y, C, M, Bk) shares yellow, cyan, magenta, and black, a full-color toner image can be formed. Each image station 10 includes a primary transfer roller 11 provided to face each photoconductor 1 with the intermediate transfer belt 21 interposed therebetween. A transfer bias is applied to the primary transfer roller 11. The next transfer portion is configured.

  With the above configuration, the same image forming area of the intermediate transfer belt 21 sequentially passes through the four image stations 10 (Y, C, M, Bk). During the sequential passage, the toner images are transferred one by one on the intermediate transfer belt 21 by the transfer bias applied to the primary transfer roller 11. As a result, when the same image forming area described above passes through the primary transfer portion of each image station 10 (Y, C, M, Bk) once, a full-color toner image is transferred onto the same image area by overlapping transfer. Can be obtained.

The full-color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 21 in this way is transferred to the paper P conveyed from the paper feed cassette 31 or the manual feed tray 34, and the intermediate transfer belt 21 after transfer is transferred by the belt cleaning device 27. To be cleaned.
Here, the transfer of the full-color toner image from the intermediate transfer belt 21 to the paper P is performed as follows. At the time of transfer, a transfer bias is applied to the secondary transfer roller 25 to form a transfer electric field between the secondary transfer roller 25 and the third stretching roller 24 via the intermediate transfer belt 21, and the secondary transfer roller 25. The sheet P is passed through the nip portion between the intermediate transfer belt 21 and the intermediate transfer belt 21. The paper P conveyed from the paper feed cassette 31 or the manual feed tray 34 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 21 conveyed to the transfer nip portion by a registration roller pair 42 disposed upstream of the transfer nip portion in the paper conveyance direction. The toner image is conveyed to the transfer nip portion in accordance with the timing of the toner image.

After the transfer of the full-color toner image from the intermediate transfer belt 21 to the paper P, the full-color toner image carried on the paper P is fixed on the paper P by heating and pressing the fixing device 15 (hereinafter referred to as heat fixing). And a full-color final image is formed on the paper P. Thereafter, the paper P is cooled by a cooling device 100 having a belt conveying device that sandwiches and conveys the paper P and a cooling member 141 that is a heat receiving member provided on the inner peripheral surface of the conveying belt of the belt conveying device. Stacked on the paper tray 33. For this reason, when the paper P is stacked on the paper discharge tray 33, the toner on the paper P can be surely cured and the blocking phenomenon can be avoided.
Note that the printer 300 of this embodiment also functions as a multifunction machine having a copy function and a fax function by connecting an optional scanner unit (not shown) and a fax unit (not shown). Further, in addition to the paper feed cassette 31 provided in the apparatus main body 200, a paper feed table (not shown), which is a paper feed unit having a plurality of optional paper feed cassettes, is connected to the lower side of the apparatus main body 200 and the manual feed tray 34 side. can do.

Further, in the present embodiment, in order to prevent the blocking phenomenon that the overlapping sheets P stick to each other, which occurs when the sheet P after heat fixing is stacked on the sheet discharge tray with the temperature being high, the sheet after heat fixing is used. An example applied to the cooling device 100 that cools P will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration.
For example, a cooling device that cools the heat generating part of the developing device in order to prevent the developer from agglomerating due to the frictional heat of the developer and the sticking of the stirring screw due to the frictional heat of the developer in the developing device. Applicable. In order to prevent the temperature in the image forming apparatus from exceeding the allowable temperature due to the frictional heat of the developer, the heat generated by the motor used in each process unit, and the heat generated by the heater of the fixing device. The present invention can also be applied to a cooling device or the like in which an arbitrary heat generating portion is a cooling target.

Next, a plurality of examples in which the present invention is applied to the cooling device 100 that cools the paper P after being heated and fixed by the fixing device 15 with respect to the cooling device provided in the printer 300 according to the present embodiment, which is a feature of the present invention. I will give you a description.
Here, in the following description, the side to which the toner is adhered in the softened state of the paper P heat-fixed by the fixing device 15 is referred to as the front side of the paper P unless it is particularly necessary to explain using individual terms. In the following description, the opposite side is called the back side of the paper P. Further, when describing the relative directions of the constituent members included in the printer 300 and the cooling device 100, in FIG. 1, the upstream side of the substantially horizontal paper transport path 32 in the paper transport direction is the right side, and the paper transport direction. The description will be made by referring to the downstream side as the left side. Further, the description will be made by referring to the paper surface, front side of FIG. 1 as the front side, and the back side of the paper as the rear side.
Moreover, about the cooling device 100 of each Example demonstrated below and the conventional cooling device demonstrated in Example 1, unless it needs to distinguish in particular, about the same structural member or the structural member with the same function Are described with the same reference numerals.

Example 1
Example 1 of the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment will be described.
First, the outline of the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the cooling device 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the cooling member 141 included in the cooling device 100 of FIG. 4A and 4B are schematic explanatory diagrams of the conventional cooling device 100. FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which the liquid feed pump 182 is not cooled, and FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating cooling of the liquid feed pump 182. It is explanatory drawing of the structure currently performed. FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the cooling device 100 according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 5A is a plan explanatory diagram and FIG. 5B is a side explanatory diagram.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling device 100 according to the present embodiment serves as a sandwiching unit that sandwiches and conveys the paper P after being heat-fixed by the fixing device 15 from the front side of the paper P attached in a softened state. A front-side clamping unit 160 for clamping and a back-side clamping unit 170 for clamping from the back side are provided. In addition, the heat absorbed from the paper P via the front driven roller 162 provided in the front side holding unit 160 by the metal (aluminum) cooling member 141 of the heat receiving unit 140 provided in the front side holding unit 160 into the atmosphere. A liquid cooling type heat radiation unit 180 for radiating heat is also provided.

  The front-side clamping unit 160 mainly includes four front-side driven rollers 162 arranged in a trapezoidal shape above the paper conveyance path 32 shown in FIG. 1, and a front-side conveyance belt 161 spanned between these front-side driven rollers 162, And a cooling member 141 and the like. On the other hand, the back-side clamping unit 170 is mainly spanned between three back-side driven rollers 172 and drive rollers 173 arranged in a trapezoidal shape below the sheet conveyance path 32, and these back-side driven rollers 172 and drive rollers 173. A back side conveyor belt 171 and the like are provided. The drive roller 173 includes a drive motor 174 (see FIG. 16) as a drive source that is dedicated or shared with other drive systems as a conveyance drive unit that is controlled and driven by a control unit (not shown) of the apparatus main body 200. Is connected.

The heat dissipating unit 180 mainly includes a radiator 181 as a heat dissipating unit, a liquid feed pump 182 that conveys the cooling liquid, a liquid storage tank 183 that stores the cooling liquid, a rubber tube 184, and the like. The rubber tube 184 functions as an external flow path for flowing the coolant by connecting the outlet of the upstream component in the conveyance direction of the coolant and the inlet of the downstream component, and each component of the heat radiating unit 180. It is a pipe line that connects the member and the cooling member 141 of the heat receiving unit 140 to form a coolant circulation path. Then, the cooling liquid circulating in the above-described cooling liquid circulation path absorbs the heat of the sheet P absorbed from the cooling surface 142 of the cooling member 141 via the front-side conveyance belt 161, and the internal flow path (liquid cooling) through which the cooling liquid flows. It plays the role of heat transfer means for transferring to the radiator 181 having 菅). Here, in this embodiment, a propylene glycol solution known as an antifreeze is used as the coolant.
Further, the heat dissipating unit 180 of the present embodiment also has a fan unit 185 that is a blowing unit that blows outside air to the radiator 181 and enhances the heat dissipating effect of the radiator 181, that is, the cooling effect of the paper P.

The fan unit 185 includes eight blower fans 186 and a fan duct 194, and wind generated by rotationally driving each blower fan 186 is provided to face the fan duct opening 194 a formed in the fan duct 194. Hit the radiator 181. By applying the wind in this way, the heat dissipation effect by the radiator 181 is enhanced, and the cooling effect by the cooling device 100 is enhanced.
In addition to the fan duct opening 194a described above, the fan duct 194 has eight fan mounting openings 194b to which the blower fan 186 is attached. The gap between the opening of the blower fan 186 except for the air passage and the fan duct opening 194a is eliminated as much as possible. By eliminating the gaps in this way, the fan 186 is connected to a blower opening 193 that is a blower opening of an internal duct 191 that is a duct that houses a radiator 181, a liquid feed pump 182, and the like which will be described in detail later. The effect of blowing air into the duct 191 is enhanced.

  The cooling member 141 provided in the heat receiving unit 140 is provided so as to cover the sheet width direction of the front-side conveyance belt 161 as shown in FIG. 3, and is a straight line portion substantially parallel to the sheet width direction of the liquid flow path unit 143. 2 are provided on the right side in the figure and one place on the left side in the figure. An inlet and an outlet of the liquid channel portion 143 are formed at the upstream and downstream sides of the liquid channel portion 143 in the sheet conveying direction, and at the left end portion in the drawing, and the rubber tube 184 from the heat radiating portion 180 is formed. Are connected to each other. Note that the folded portion of the liquid flow path section 143 described above has a maximum sheet width: in order to obtain a good cooling effect even when the maximum sheet width: W paper P is conveyed to the printer 300 of the present embodiment. It is provided outside the area where the W paper P is conveyed. In particular, the two folded portions on the right side in the drawing where the inlet and the outlet are not provided are provided on the outer side of the right end portion in the drawing of the front side conveyor belt 161.

  In the cooling device 100 configured as described above, the back-side driven roller 172 is rotationally driven counterclockwise in FIG. 2 to move the back-side conveyance belt 171 endlessly counterclockwise. Then, by the endless movement of the back side transport belt 171, the front side transport belt 161 that is in contact directly or via the paper P is endlessly moved clockwise. The sheet P is sandwiched and conveyed along the sheet conveyance path 32 by sandwiching the sheet P between the front-side conveyance belt 161 and the back-side conveyance belt 171 (hereinafter referred to as each conveyance belt) that move endlessly in this manner. Can do.

Then, the liquid feed pump 182 is driven to circulate the cooling liquid between the liquid flow path portion 143 of the cooling member 141 and the radiator 181 shown in FIG. 3, and indirectly contact the paper P via the front side conveying belt 161. The cooling surface 142 of the cooling member 141 to be cooled can absorb the heat from the paper P and cool it. More specifically, as described above, the cooling member 141 is provided with the liquid flow path portion 143 that is an internal flow path through which the cooling liquid passes, and is conveyed on the front side in contact with the cooling surface 142 of the cooling member 141. The coolant transports the heat (heat amount) absorbed from the paper P via the belt 161 to the outside. In this way, the cooling member 141 is kept at a low temperature.
Here, the cooling liquid is stored in the liquid storage tank 183, and after being sent by the liquid feed pump 182, the cooling liquid is radiated to the outside air when passing through the internal flow path of the radiator 181. As a result, the temperature decreases.

  The cooling liquid having a low temperature as described above absorbs heat from the cooling member 141 by heat transfer when passing through the liquid flow path portion 143 of the cooling member 141, and the high temperature cooling liquid is stored in the liquid storage tank 183. Return to. The coolant circulates between the liquid flow path portion 143 of the cooling member 141 and the internal flow path of the radiator 181 while driving the liquid feed pump 182, and heat radiation when passing through the radiator 181. The heat absorption at the time of passing through the liquid flow path part 143 of the cooling member 141 is repeated. Here, in the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment as described above, when the path through which the coolant circulates is based on, for example, the liquid feed pump 182, the liquid feed pump 182, the radiator 181, and the cooling member as described above. 141 and the liquid storage tank 183 are circulated in this order.

By circulating the coolant in this manner, the length of the path through which the coolant that has been radiated and is cooled when passing through the radiator 181 is sent to the cooling member 141 of the heat receiving unit 140 can be shortened. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cooling performance of the cooling device 100 from being deteriorated due to the rise in temperature of the coolant that receives heat from the surface of the rubber tube 184.
By cooling the sheet P as described above, the temperature of the toner heated and fixed by the fixing device 15 and softened can be lowered, and the toner on the sheet P can be surely cured, and the discharge tray shown in FIG. Even if the sheet is discharged and loaded on the 33, the so-called blocking phenomenon can be suppressed.

Next, before describing in detail the characteristic configuration of the heat radiating unit 180 provided in the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment, an example of a general configuration of the heat radiating unit provided in the conventional liquid cooling type cooling device will be described. To do.
As shown in FIG. 4A, in the conventional cooling device 100, the heat receiving part 140 having the cooling member 141, the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, the liquid storage tank 183, the blower fan 186, and the heat dissipation that accommodates them. The heat dissipating part 180 having the part casing 190 is separated. Then, the cooling member 141 of the heat receiving unit 140 is connected to the radiator 181 and the liquid reservoir tank 183 of the heat radiating unit 180 by the rubber tube 184, and also in the heat radiating unit 180, the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, and the liquid feed pump 182. And a liquid storage tank 183 are connected to each other. As described above, the cooling fluid circulation path is configured by connecting the constituent members, and the cooling member 141 of the heat receiving unit 140 is brought into contact with the cooling target disposed at a position distant from the heat radiating unit 180 to be cooled. This heat is transmitted to the radiator 181 of the heat radiating unit 180.

  The heat radiating section casing 190 accommodates a blower fan 186 and a radiator 181, and an internal duct 191 that forms a flow path for efficiently blowing the air generated by the blower fan 186 to the radiator 181 as indicated by arrows in the figure. Is provided. In addition, by providing the internal duct 191 as described above, a portion of the heat radiating section casing 190 that houses the liquid feed pump 182 and the liquid reservoir tank 183 and a portion that houses the blower fan 186 and the radiator 181 are partitioned. .

  However, in the above configuration, when the image forming apparatus is speeded up, the liquid feed pump 182 such as a centrifugal pump that circulates the cooling liquid may be driven (rotated) at a high speed to generate heat exceeding the allowable temperature. It was. If the state of generating heat exceeding the permissible temperature is repeated for a long period of time, the wear of the contact portion between the rotary shaft of the impeller of the centrifugal pump and the regulating member (bearing) of the rotary shaft is promoted, and the liquid feed pump 182 In some cases, the liquid feeding ability was lowered. If the liquid feed pump 182 continues to be used while the liquid feed capability is reduced, the liquid feed pump 182 is broken or the life of the liquid feed pump 182 is shortened.

  In order to prevent these, generally, as shown in FIG. 4B, a pump cooling fan 187 and an opening are provided in a portion of the heat radiating section casing 190 that houses the liquid feed pump 182 and the liquid reservoir tank 183. A part was added and air was applied to the liquid feed pump 182 for cooling. For example, a pump cooling intake opening 188a and a pump cooling exhaust opening 188b are provided in the heat radiating section casing 190, a pump cooling fan 187 is attached to the pump cooling intake opening 188a, and the wind blown to the liquid feed pump 182 is pump cooled. Generated by fan 187. When the pump cooling fan 187 and the like are added in this way, as can be seen by comparing FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the size of the heat radiating portion casing 190 increases, the cost increases, There was a problem that power consumption increased. When the size of the heat radiating section casing 190 is increased, not only the size of the cooling device 100 is increased, but also the size of the image forming apparatus including the cooling device 100 may be increased.

  Further, even in the configuration of the cooling device described in Patent Document 1, a part of the wind generated by the blower fan (cooling fan) can be applied to the liquid feed pump to suppress the temperature rise of the liquid feed pump. As described above, the liquid feed pump may not be sufficiently cooled. And there existed a possibility that the temperature of a liquid feed pump might exceed allowable temperature and the liquid feed capability of a liquid feed pump might fall.

Therefore, in the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment, the heat radiating unit 180 is configured as follows.
As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, similarly to the conventional cooling device described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, the heat receiving portion 140 and the heat radiating portion 180 of the cooling device 100 are separated. ing.
However, the following configuration is different from the conventional cooling device described with reference to FIGS.

An interior that is a duct having a fan duct 194 having a heat radiating section casing 190 in a fan unit 185 as a blowing means and a blowing opening 193 that is a blowing opening connected to the fan duct opening 194a of the fan duct 194 It consists of a duct 191.
The fan duct 194 has a fan mounting opening 194b to which a plurality of blowing fans 186 are connected in addition to the fan duct opening 194a, and the wind generated by the plurality of blowing fans 186 passes through the fan duct opening 194a. Become.
The internal duct 191 is provided with a passage opening 192 that is a passage opening through which air passing through the blower opening 193 connected to the fan duct opening 194a passes, and the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, and the liquid A reservoir tank 183 is accommodated.

And in the heat radiating part 180 of the present embodiment, each blower fan 186 is attached so as to intake air from the passage opening 192 of the internal duct 191 and exhaust air from the fan attachment opening 194b of the fan duct 194, and FIG. The flow path of the wind as shown in (b) was formed. That is, a flow path for allowing the wind generated by the plurality of blower fans 186 to pass from the passage opening 192 of the internal duct 191 to the blower opening 193 was formed.
Further, a radiator 181 is attached to the ventilation opening 193 of the internal duct 191 from the passage opening 192 side, and the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, and the like are formed on the air flow path formed between the ventilation opening 193 and the passage opening 192. And a liquid storage tank 183 was disposed. That is, the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, and the liquid storage tank 183 are disposed on the wind flow path between the air blowing opening 193 and the passage opening 192 of the internal duct 191.

As described above, in the heat dissipating unit 180 of the present embodiment, the radiator 181 and the liquid feed pump 182 are accommodated, the air blowing opening 193 to which the fan unit 185 is connected, and the passage opening through which the air passing through the air blowing opening 193 passes. An internal duct 191 having a portion 192 was provided. The liquid feed pump 182 was disposed on the air flow path passing between the air blowing opening 193 and the passage opening 192.
In this way, by configuring the heat radiating portion 180, the portion excluding the air blowing opening 193 and the passage opening 192 can partition the space of the internal duct 191 and the space outside the internal duct 191 with the wall of the internal duct 191. it can. By partitioning in this way, the flow of wind generated in the internal duct 191 by the fan unit 185 can be regulated.

And by restrict | limiting as mentioned above, compared with the cooling device of patent document 1, it passes the liquid feed pump 182 rather than the ventilation position (blowing position of a ventilation means) of the fan unit 185 which is a ventilation means. It can suppress that the cross-sectional area of the flow path of the wind in a position becomes large. Further, it is possible to suppress the formation of a circulation flow path (wind flow path) in which a part of the wind blown from the fan unit 185 is again sucked into the fan unit 185 in the space around the fan unit 185. .
Therefore, unlike the cooling device described in Patent Document 1, the flow rate of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump 182 is suppressed and the temperature of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump 182 is suppressed from increasing. Can be sufficiently cooled.
Therefore, it is possible to provide a cooling device 100 that is a liquid-cooling type cooling device provided with air blowing means such as the fan unit 185 and can suppress an increase in temperature that exceeds the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182.
Further, as described above, an increase in temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182 can be suppressed, and it is not necessary to provide new cooling means for cooling the liquid feed pump 182, and the cooling device can be downsized. It is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost and the power consumption.

In addition, the radiator 181 of the present embodiment has a plurality of ventilation portions (not shown) partitioned by a plurality of liquid cooling rods and cooling fins (not shown) through which the cooling liquid passing through the wind passes, as in the known radiator. Have. And by attaching to the ventilation opening part 193 as mentioned above, all the winds which pass between the ventilation opening part 193 and the passage opening part 192 pass through a some ventilation part.
Thus, by providing the radiator 181 in the internal duct 191, the heat dissipation effect by the radiator 181 can be improved and the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 can be enhanced. Then, the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 is enhanced, the amount of liquid fed by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, and the amount of heat generated by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, thereby increasing the temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182. Can be further suppressed.
Further, the rubber tube 184 connecting the liquid feed pump 182 and the radiator 181 can be shortened, and the cost of the cooling device 100 can be reduced.

In addition, the liquid storage tank 183 is provided, and the liquid storage tank 183 is accommodated in the internal duct 191, and the liquid storage tank 183 is disposed on a wind passage that passes between the air blowing opening 193 and the passage opening 192. .
By disposing the liquid reservoir tank 183 in this way, the cooling liquid stored in the liquid reservoir tank 183 can be cooled to enhance the cooling effect of the cooling device 100. Then, the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 is enhanced, the amount of liquid fed by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, and the amount of heat generated by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, thereby increasing the temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182. Can be further suppressed.

  The internal duct 191 also serves as at least a part of the heat radiating portion casing 190 of the heat radiating portion 180. Thus, the internal duct 191 also serves as at least a part of the heat radiating section casing 190, so that the number of parts of the cooling device 100 can be reduced, and the cooling device 100 and the printer 300 including the cooling device 100 can be reduced in size. And cost reduction. Therefore, the cooling device 100 and the printer 300 including the cooling device 100 can be reduced in size and cost.

Next, the structure of the heat radiating part 180 provided in the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory perspective view from the rear side of the printer 300 according to the present embodiment. 7 is a perspective explanatory view in which the external duct 195 is removed from the heat radiating portion 180 of the cooling device 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view in which the fan unit 185 is removed from the heat radiating portion 180 of the cooling device 100 in FIG. FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory perspective view in which the radiator 181 is removed from the heat radiating unit 180 of the cooling device 100 of FIG.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the flow of air in the internal duct 191 of the cooling device 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram of the liquid feed pump 182 as viewed from the left side. 10B is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the liquid reservoir tank 183 viewed from the left side, and FIG. 10C is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the liquid feed pump 182 and the liquid reservoir tank 183 viewed from the front side. FIG. 11 is a schematic explanatory diagram when the air blowing direction in the heat radiating unit 180 of the cooling device 100 according to the first embodiment is reversed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the fan unit 185 which is a blowing unit of the present embodiment has eight blowing fans 186. This is because the cooling target of the cooling device 100 of this embodiment is the paper P after heat fixing, and the paper P used in the printer 300 corresponds to a wide variety of paper types from thin paper to thick paper. This is because the maximum amount of heat to be generated is larger than when the developing device 3 and the like are cooled. Then, as described above, in order to secure the intake air amount corresponding to the exhaust air amount by the eight blower fans 186 provided in the fan unit 185, the first passage opening 192a and the second passage opening 192b are provided in the internal duct 191. There are two passage openings.

First, the arrangement of the heat radiating unit 180 and the relationship between the heat radiating unit 180 and the external duct 195 provided in the heat radiating unit 180, the exterior panel provided in the apparatus main body 200, and the like will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, a heat radiating portion 180 is provided in the vicinity of the portion of the exterior panel provided in the apparatus main body 200 of the printer 300 that is in contact with the rear and left side surfaces. By providing the heat dissipating part 180 in this manner, outside air outside the apparatus main body 200 is sucked from the first passing opening 192a and the second passing opening 192b, which are two passing openings, and the fan mounting opening 194b of the fan unit 185 is provided. It is easy to exhaust from the main body 200 to the outside.

  Specifically, a portion of the fan unit 185 protrudes from the rear of the apparatus main body 200, the first passage opening 192a of the internal duct 191 is disposed above the fan unit 185, and the internal duct 191 is disposed on the rear left side of the apparatus main body 200. The second passage opening 192b is disposed. An external duct 195 is connected to the rear of the first passage opening 192a and the fan unit 185. The outside air is guided from the rear of the apparatus main body 200 to the first passage opening 192a, and the air blown from the fan unit 185 is blown. Lead backward and downward. The exterior panel on the left rear side of the apparatus main body 200 facing the second passage opening 192b is provided with an opening, and the outside air is guided to the second passage opening 192b from the left side of the apparatus main body 200.

  The external duct 195 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the upper and left and right side walls are not provided with openings through which wind passes, and the rear side walls are provided with a first external opening 196a at the upper part, and the lower part. Is formed with a second external opening 197a. Then, the external duct partition member 195a allows the first external duct portion 196 to pass the air sucked from the first passage opening 192a, and the second external duct which is the external duct which allows the wind blown from the fan unit 185 as the air blowing means to pass therethrough. It is partitioned into a duct portion 197.

  On the side of the internal duct 191 of the first external duct portion 196, the three side walls of the external duct 195 and the external duct partition member 195a are connected by four walls to the side wall of the internal duct 191 around the first passage opening 192a. A first external communication opening 196b is formed. On the other hand, the first external opening 196a is formed with a plurality of long holes for allowing air to pass therethrough and preventing entry of foreign substances and the like. By configuring the first external duct portion 196 in this manner, air that is sucked into the internal duct 191 from the space behind the external duct 195 protruding rearward of the apparatus main body 200 through the first passage opening 192a. A (outside air) flow path can be formed.

  On the side of the internal duct 191 of the second external duct portion 197, two side walls of the external duct 195 and an external duct partition member 195a are connected to the side wall of the internal duct 191 around the fan unit 185 with three walls. An external communication opening 197b is formed. The second external communication opening 197 b communicates with a second external opening 197 a that is an opening at the lower part of the second external duct 197. The second external opening 197a of the present embodiment is provided with a wire mesh for passing air and suppressing entry of foreign matter and the like. By configuring the second external duct portion 197 in this manner, the flow of wind (outside air) exhausted from the internal duct 191 by the fan unit 185 to the space below the external duct 195 protruding rearward of the apparatus main body 200. A path can be formed.

  In addition, a plurality of slits (which allow air to pass through the opening provided in the outer panel on the left side of the apparatus main body 200 so as to face the second passage opening 192b of the internal duct 191 and to prevent entry of foreign substances and the like) A slit panel 199 provided (not shown) is attached. By configuring the periphery of the second passage opening 192b of the internal duct 191 in this way, wind (outside air) sucked into the internal duct 191 from the space on the left side of the apparatus main body 200 via the second passage opening 192b. The flow path can be formed. The slit panel 199 provided opposite to the second passage opening 192b is connected to the side wall of the internal duct 191 provided with the second passage opening 192b, and wind flows from the space in the other apparatus main body 200. It is desirable to provide a partition member that does not.

Next, the configuration of the fan duct 194 and the internal duct 191 of the heat radiating unit 180 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 7 shows only main components related to the cooling device 100 provided in the printer 300. That is, the fixing device 15 that heats the sheet P to be cooled that is cooled by the cooling device 100, the front side clamping unit 160 in which the heat receiving unit 140 that absorbs heat from the heated paper P is disposed, and the front side clamping unit 160 They are the back side clamping part 170 and the heat radiating part 180 which are arrange | positioned.
In addition, the heat radiating section 180 includes a fan duct 194 that forms a heat radiating section casing 190, and an internal duct 191 that forms the heat radiating section 180 with the fan duct 194 and the eight fan fans 186. Is provided.

The internal duct 191 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a fan unit 185 is connected to the rear side wall, and a first passage opening 192a is formed above the fan unit 185. A two-pass opening 192b is formed. The first passage opening 192a is composed of five openings divided by four reinforcing members, and the second passage opening 192b is composed of four openings divided by three reinforcing members.
In the fan unit 185, the blower fans 186 are respectively attached to the eight fan attachment openings 194 b on the rear side wall of the fan duct 194. A fan duct opening 194a (see FIG. 5 and the like) is provided on the side facing the fan mounting opening 194b and is connected to the air blowing opening 193 of the internal duct 191.

A radiator 181 is attached to the blower opening 193 to which the fan duct opening 194a is connected from the inside of the internal duct 191 as shown in FIG. The radiator 181 is formed with a plurality of ventilation portions (not shown) as described above, and the radiator 181 is attached to the ventilation opening 193 from the inside of the internal duct 191 so as to pass through the ventilation opening 193. Almost all of the wind will pass through multiple ventilation sections.
Further, as shown in FIG. 9, a liquid feed pump 182 and a liquid reservoir tank 183 are arranged on the further front side (inner side) of the radiator 181 of the internal duct 191. Further, the liquid feed pump 182 is disposed in the vicinity of the side wall away from the second passage opening 192b.

Here, as shown in FIG. 9, the internal duct 191 has a side wall in which the air blowing opening 193 and the first passage opening 192a are formed and a side wall in which the second passage opening 192b is formed perpendicular to each other. It has been. Further, the four side walls except these side walls are not formed with openings through which the wind generated by the fan unit 185 passes. In other words, the internal duct 191 has two side walls perpendicular to each other in which at least one of the air blowing opening 193, the first passage opening 192a, and the second passage opening 192b is formed, and the other side wall has a fan unit. The wind generated by 185 does not pass.
Therefore, the first passage opening 192a and the second passage opening 192b are provided in the space around the fan unit 185 to suppress the formation of the circulation flow path, and the wind passing through the internal duct 191 is prevented. The resistance can be reduced, and the heat dissipation effect by the radiator 181 can be enhanced. Then, the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 is enhanced, the amount of liquid fed by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, and the amount of heat generated by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, thereby increasing the temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182. Can be further suppressed.

Further, the internal duct 191 is a portion of the blower opening 193, the first passage opening 192a, and the second passage opening 192b that extends downward from the opening lower side position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. have. The extended portion forms a tray portion 189 that receives the coolant leaked from components such as the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, and the liquid reservoir tank 183 accommodated in the internal duct 191.
By forming the tray part 189 in this way, even if the coolant leaks from the components housed in the internal duct 191, the leaked coolant can be received by the dish part 189. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of problems caused by wetting other components such as the reverse sheet conveyance path 36 of the printer 300 provided with the cooling device 100 and the sheet P.
The capacity of the tray part 189 is preferably the maximum amount of coolant that can leak into the internal duct 191.

Then, as described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9, by configuring the internal duct 191 and the arrangement of each component housed in the internal duct 191, the following fan unit is provided inside the internal duct 191. The flow path of the wind generated by 185 can be formed.
In the cross section when the periphery of the liquid feed pump 182 is viewed from the left side, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10C, the flow path of the air sucked from the first passage opening 192a and the second passage opening 192b is shown. In addition, it is formed below the lower limit of the ventilation portion of the radiator 181. Then, wind hits the liquid feed pump 182 disposed on the flow path to cool the liquid feed pump 182.
Further, in the cross section when the periphery of the liquid reservoir tank 183 is viewed from the left side, as shown in FIGS. 10B and 10C, the flow of wind sucked from the first passage opening 192a and the second passage opening 192b. A path is formed below the lower limit of the ventilation portion of the radiator 181. Then, the liquid feed pump 182 can be cooled by hitting the liquid feed pump 182.

Here, the liquid feed pump 182 and the liquid reservoir tank 183 are disposed in the tray part 189, and in particular, the liquid feed pump 182 is disposed so that substantially the entire part can be accommodated in the tray part 189. However, the wind generated by the fan unit 185 does not pass through the other side walls except for the two side walls perpendicular to each other where the ventilation opening 193, the first passage opening 192a, and the second passage opening 192b are formed. Absent. And the liquid feed pump 182 is arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the side wall away from the 2nd passage opening part 192b. For these reasons, in particular, in the liquid feed pump 182, the wind generated by the fan unit 185 whose flow direction is regulated by each side wall of the internal duct 191 wraps around without blowing down (winds) the wind. The flow path is formed.
Therefore, unlike the cooling device described in Patent Document 1, the flow rate of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump 182 is suppressed and the temperature of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump 182 is suppressed from increasing. Can be sufficiently cooled.

  Further, as described above, the radiator 181 is connected to the air blowing opening 193 from the inside of the internal duct 191. For this reason, almost all of the wind passing between the air blowing opening 193 and the first passage opening 192a and the second passage opening 192b passes through the plurality of ventilation portions provided in the radiator 181. Therefore, the heat dissipation effect by the radiator 181 can be improved and the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 can be enhanced. Then, the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 is enhanced, the amount of liquid fed by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, and the amount of heat generated by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, thereby increasing the temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182. Can be further suppressed.

  Further, only a part of the liquid reservoir tank 183 protrudes upward from the tray portion 189. However, the wind generated by the fan unit 185 does not pass through the other side walls except for the two side walls perpendicular to each other where the ventilation opening 193, the first passage opening 192a, and the second passage opening 192b are formed. Absent. And the liquid reservoir tank 183 is arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the side wall in which the 2nd passage opening part 192b was provided. For these reasons, as shown in FIGS. 10B and 10C, in the liquid storage tank 183, the wind generated in the fan unit 185 whose flow direction is regulated by each side wall of the internal duct 191 is changed to the wind speed. A flow path of wind that wraps around without being dropped is formed.

  Therefore, the cooling liquid stored in the liquid storage tank 183 can be cooled to enhance the cooling effect of the cooling device 100. Then, the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 is enhanced, the amount of liquid fed by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, and the amount of heat generated by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, thereby increasing the temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182. Can be further suppressed.

Further, as described with reference to FIG. 6, the fan unit 185 has a first external duct 195 for guiding the wind in a direction different from the direction of the wind passing through the first passage opening 192a and the second passage opening 192b. 1 An external duct portion 196 is connected via an internal duct 191.
By connecting the first external duct part 196 in this way, the following effects can be obtained. It is possible to reduce a part of the wind that has passed through the radiator 181 and becomes hot without being circulated outside the internal duct 191 without being mixed with the outside air, and to suppress the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 from being lowered. . And it suppresses that the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 falls, reduces the liquid feed amount by the liquid feed pump 182, and reduces the calorific value itself of the liquid feed pump 182, thereby reducing the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182. It is possible to further suppress the temperature rise beyond the above.

Further, as described with reference to FIG. 6, the first external duct portion 196 of the present embodiment is configured so that the wind blows out substantially vertically downward.
By configuring in this way, it is possible to prevent the wind blown from the cooling device 100 from hitting the user who is performing office work or the like near the printer 300 provided with the cooling device 100 from being uncomfortable. . In addition, it can be suppressed that the driving sound of the fan unit 185 is heard loudly and the user is uncomfortable.

In the present embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 5 and the like, the fan unit 185 has the air opening 193 so that the flow path of the air flowing in the internal duct 191 passes from the liquid feed pump 182 to the radiator 181. The configuration for drawing the wind from the air has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. As shown in FIG. 11, the fan unit 185 may blow the wind toward the ventilation opening 193 so that the flow path of the wind flowing in the internal duct 191 passes from the radiator 181 to the liquid feed pump 182.
Here, as in the above-described embodiment, the liquid flow pump 182 is preferentially cooled by configuring the flow path of the wind flowing in the internal duct 191 to pass from the liquid feed pump 182 to the radiator 181. It becomes possible. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11, the radiator 181 can be preferentially cooled by configuring the flow path of the wind flowing in the internal duct 191 to pass from the radiator 181 to the liquid feed pump 182.

(Example 2)
Next, Example 2 of the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, the outline of the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 12 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the cooling device 100 according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 12A is a plan explanatory diagram and FIG. 12B is a side explanatory diagram.
In the present embodiment and the above-described first embodiment, other cooling objects are cooled by using the arrangement of the components housed in the internal duct 191 of the heat radiating unit 180 and the wind generated by the fan unit 185. It differs only in the point concerning to do. Therefore, in the following description, the same configuration as that of the first embodiment and the operation and effect thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

In the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment, the heat radiating unit 180 is configured as follows.
As in the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the heat radiating section casing 190 includes a fan duct 194 provided in the fan unit 185 and an internal duct 191.
The fan duct 194 has a fan mounting opening 194b to which a plurality of blowing fans 186 are connected in addition to the fan duct opening 194a, and the wind generated by the plurality of blowing fans 186 passes through the fan duct opening 194a. Become.
The internal duct 191 is provided with a passage opening 192 that is a passage opening through which air passing through the blower opening 193 connected to the fan duct opening 194a passes, and the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, and the liquid A reservoir tank 183 is accommodated.

And in the heat radiating part 180 of the present embodiment, each blower fan 186 is attached so as to take in air from the passage opening 192 of the internal duct 191 and exhaust from the fan attachment opening 194b of the fan duct 194, and FIG. The flow path of the wind as shown in (b) was formed. That is, a flow path for allowing the wind generated by the plurality of blower fans 186 to pass from the passage opening 192 of the internal duct 191 to the blower opening 193 was formed.
Further, a radiator 181 is attached to the passage opening 192 of the internal duct 191 from the air blowing opening 193 side, and the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, and the like are formed on the air flow path formed between the air blowing opening 193 and the passage opening 192. And a liquid storage tank 183 was disposed. That is, the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, and the liquid storage tank 183 are disposed on the wind flow path between the air blowing opening 193 and the passage opening 192 of the internal duct 191.

As described above, in the heat dissipating unit 180 of the present embodiment, the radiator 181 and the liquid feed pump 182 are accommodated, the air blowing opening 193 to which the fan unit 185 is connected, and the passage opening through which the air passing through the air blowing opening 193 passes. An internal duct 191 having a portion 192 was provided. The liquid feed pump 182 was disposed on the air flow path passing between the air blowing opening 193 and the passage opening 192.
In this way, by configuring the heat radiating portion 180, the portion excluding the air blowing opening 193 and the passage opening 192 can partition the space of the internal duct 191 and the space outside the internal duct 191 with the wall of the internal duct 191. it can. By partitioning in this way, the flow of wind generated in the internal duct 191 by the fan unit 185 can be regulated.

And by restrict | limiting as mentioned above, compared with the cooling device of patent document 1, it passes the liquid feed pump 182 rather than the ventilation position (blowing position of a ventilation means) of the fan unit 185 which is a ventilation means. It can suppress that the cross-sectional area of the flow path of the wind in a position becomes large. Further, it is possible to suppress the formation of a circulation flow path (wind flow path) in which a part of the wind blown from the fan unit 185 is again sucked into the fan unit 185 in the space around the fan unit 185. .
Therefore, unlike the cooling device described in Patent Document 1, the flow rate of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump 182 is suppressed and the temperature of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump 182 is suppressed from increasing. Can be sufficiently cooled.
Therefore, it is possible to provide a cooling device 100 that is a liquid-cooling type cooling device provided with air blowing means such as the fan unit 185 and can suppress an increase in temperature that exceeds the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182.
Further, as described above, an increase in temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182 can be suppressed, and it is not necessary to provide new cooling means for cooling the liquid feed pump 182, and the cooling device can be downsized. It is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost and the power consumption.

In addition, the radiator 181 of the present embodiment has a plurality of ventilation portions (not shown) partitioned by a plurality of liquid cooling rods and cooling fins (not shown) through which the cooling liquid passing through the wind passes, as in the known radiator. Have. And by attaching to the passage opening part 192 as mentioned above, almost all of the wind which passes between between the ventilation opening part 193 and the passage opening part 192 passes through a some ventilation part.
Thus, by providing the radiator 181 in the internal duct 191, the heat dissipation effect by the radiator 181 can be improved and the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 can be enhanced. Then, the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 is enhanced, the amount of liquid fed by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, and the amount of heat generated by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, thereby increasing the temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182. Can be further suppressed.
Further, the rubber tube 184 connecting the liquid feed pump 182 and the radiator 181 can be shortened, and the cost of the cooling device 100 can be reduced.

In addition, the liquid storage tank 183 is provided, and the liquid storage tank 183 is accommodated in the internal duct 191, and the liquid storage tank 183 is disposed on a wind passage that passes between the air blowing opening 193 and the passage opening 192. .
By disposing the liquid reservoir tank 183 in this way, the cooling liquid stored in the liquid reservoir tank 183 can be cooled to enhance the cooling effect of the cooling device 100. Then, the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 is enhanced, the amount of liquid fed by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, and the amount of heat generated by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, thereby increasing the temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182. Can be further suppressed.

  The internal duct 191 also serves as at least a part of the heat radiating portion casing 190 of the heat radiating portion 180. Thus, the internal duct 191 also serves as at least a part of the heat radiating section casing 190, so that the number of parts of the cooling device 100 can be reduced, and the cooling device 100 and the printer 300 including the cooling device 100 can be reduced in size. And cost reduction. Therefore, the cooling device 100 and the printer 300 including the cooling device 100 can be reduced in size and cost.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, a drive motor 174, a motor drive board 175, and the like are provided on the flow path of the wind that passes through the passage opening 192 provided with the radiator 181.
By providing the drive motor 174, the motor drive board 175, and the like that are other cooling targets that generate heat in this way, it is possible to cool with the wind generated by the fan unit 185 of the same cooling device 100. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a blowing means for cooling different objects to be cooled.
Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size, cost, and energy of the printer 300 including this cooling device.

Next, the structure of the heat radiating part 180 provided in the cooling device 100 of the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 13 is a perspective explanatory view from the rear side of the printer 300 according to the present embodiment. 14 is a perspective explanatory view in which the external duct 195 is removed from the heat radiating part 180 of the cooling device 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 15 is a perspective view in which the fan unit 185 is removed from the heat radiating part 180 of the cooling device 100 in FIG. FIG. FIG. 16 is an explanatory perspective view of the in-machine duct 198 in which the internal duct 191 is removed from the heat radiation unit 180 of the cooling device 100 of FIG.

  FIG. 17 is an explanatory view of the air flow in the internal duct 191 and the in-machine duct 198 of the cooling device 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 17A is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the liquid feed pump 182 as viewed from the left side. is there. FIG. 17B is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the liquid reservoir tank 183 viewed from the left side, and FIG. 17C is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the radiator 181 viewed from the front side from the interior duct 198. FIG. 18 is a schematic explanatory diagram when the air blowing direction in the heat radiating unit 180 of the cooling device 100 according to the present embodiment is reversed.

Similarly to the first embodiment, the fan unit 185 of the present embodiment also has eight blower fans 186.
However, it is different from the internal duct of the first embodiment provided with two passage openings, or the internal duct 191 of the present embodiment has a wide opening area for attaching the radiator 181 at a position facing the blower opening 193. A passage opening 192c is provided (see FIG. 17).
And it has the in-machine communication opening part 198c connected to this 3rd passage opening part 192c, and two in-machine opening parts, the 1st in-machine opening part 198a and the 2nd in-machine opening part 198b which inhale the external air outside the apparatus main body 200. An in-machine duct 198 is provided on the front side of the internal duct 191.

First, with reference to FIG. 13, the arrangement of the heat radiating unit 180 and the relationship between the heat radiating unit 180 and the external duct 195 provided in the heat radiating unit 180, the internal duct 191, the in-machine duct 198 provided in the apparatus main body 200, and the exterior panel will be described. To do.
As shown in FIG. 13, a heat radiating portion 180 is provided in the vicinity of the portion of the exterior panel provided in the apparatus main body 200 of the printer 300 that is in contact with the rear and left side surfaces. By providing the heat dissipating section 180 in this manner, the outside air outside the apparatus main body 200 is sucked from the first in-machine opening 198a and the second in-machine opening 198b which are the two in-machine openings, and the fan mounting opening 194b of the fan unit 185 is provided. It is easy to exhaust from the main body 200 to the outside.

  Specifically, a portion of the fan unit 185 protrudes from the rear of the apparatus main body 200, and the first in-machine opening 198a of the in-machine duct 198 is disposed above the fan unit 185. Further, the second in-machine opening 198 b of the in-machine duct 198 provided on the front side of the internal duct 191 is disposed to face the left side surface of the apparatus main body 200. An external duct 195 is connected to the rear of the first in-machine opening 198a and the fan unit 185, and the outside air is guided from the rear of the apparatus main body 200 to the first in-machine opening 198a, and the air blown from the fan unit 185 is blown out. Lead backward and downward. In addition, an opening is provided in the left exterior panel of the apparatus main body 200 facing the second in-machine opening 198b, and outside air is guided to the second in-machine opening 198b from the left side of the apparatus main body 200.

  The external duct 195 is configured in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The upper and left and right side walls are not provided with openings through which wind passes, and the rear side walls are provided with a first external opening 196a at the top. A second external opening 197a is formed in the lower part. Then, the external duct partition member 195a allows the first external duct portion 196 to pass the air sucked from the first in-machine opening 198a, and the second external duct which is the external duct which allows the wind blown from the fan unit 185 as the air blowing means to pass therethrough. It is partitioned into a duct portion 197.

  On the side of the internal duct 191 of the first external duct portion 196, three side walls of the external duct 195 and an external duct partition member 195a are connected to the side walls of the internal duct 198 and the internal duct 191 around the first internal opening 198a. A first external communication opening 196b is formed. On the other hand, the first external opening 196a is formed with a plurality of long holes for allowing air to pass therethrough and preventing entry of foreign substances and the like. By configuring the first external duct portion 196 in this way, the space inside the internal duct 191 passes through the first internal opening 198a of the internal duct 198 from the space behind the external duct 195 protruding rearward of the apparatus main body 200. It is possible to form a flow path for wind (outside air) to be sucked into the air.

  On the side of the internal duct 191 of the second external duct portion 197, two side walls of the external duct 195 and an external duct partition member 195a are connected to the side wall of the internal duct 191 around the fan unit 185 with three walls. An external communication opening 197b is formed. The second external communication opening 197 b communicates with a second external opening 197 a that is an opening at the lower part of the second external duct 197. The second external opening 197a of the present embodiment is provided with a wire mesh for passing air and suppressing entry of foreign matter and the like. By configuring the second external duct portion 197 in this manner, the flow of wind (outside air) exhausted from the internal duct 191 by the fan unit 185 to the space below the external duct 195 protruding rearward of the apparatus main body 200. A path can be formed.

  In addition, a plurality of slits (for allowing air to pass through and suppressing intrusion of foreign matter and the like through the opening provided in the exterior panel on the left side of the apparatus body 200 facing the second in-machine opening 198b of the in-machine duct 198) A slit panel 199 provided (not shown) is attached. By configuring the periphery of the second in-machine opening 198b of the in-machine duct 198 in this way, air is sucked into the internal duct 191 from the left space of the apparatus main body 200 through the second in-machine opening 198b of the in-machine duct 198. A flow path of wind (outside air) can be formed. The slit panel 199 provided opposite to the second in-machine opening 198b is connected to the side wall of the in-machine duct 198 provided with the second in-machine opening 198b, and wind flows from the space in the other apparatus main body 200. It is desirable to provide a partition member that does not.

Next, the configuration of the fan duct 194, the internal duct 191 and the in-machine duct 198 of the heat radiating unit 180 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 14 shows only main components related to the cooling device 100 provided in the printer 300. That is, the fixing device 15 that heats the sheet P to be cooled that is cooled by the cooling device 100, the front-side clamping unit 160 in which the heat receiving unit 140 that absorbs heat from the paper P is disposed, and the front-side clamping unit 160 are disposed to face each other. The back side clamping unit 170, the heat radiating unit 180, and the in-machine duct 198.
In addition, the heat radiating section 180 includes a fan duct 194 that forms a heat radiating section casing 190, and an internal duct 191 that forms the heat radiating section 180 with the fan duct 194 and the eight fan fans 186. Is provided.
In front of the internal duct 191, an in-machine duct 198 that allows the air sucked into the internal duct 191 to pass therethrough is provided.

The internal duct 191 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a fan unit 185 is connected to the rear side wall.
In the fan unit 185, the blower fans 186 are respectively attached to the eight fan attachment openings 194 b on the rear side wall of the fan duct 194. Further, a fan duct opening 194a (see FIG. 12 and the like) is provided on the side facing the fan mounting opening 194b, and is connected to the air blowing opening 193 of the internal duct 191.

  The internal duct 191 includes a blower opening 193 to which the fan duct opening 194a is connected, and a third passage opening 192c provided to face the blower opening 193 and through which the wind passing through the blower opening 193 passes. ing. Further, as shown in FIG. 15, a radiator 181, a liquid feed pump 182, and a liquid storage tank 183 are accommodated between the side wall provided with the ventilation opening 193 and the side wall provided with the passage opening 192 c. . The radiator 181 is formed with a plurality of ventilation portions as described above. By attaching the radiator 181 to the passage opening 192c from the inside of the internal duct 191, almost the air passing through the ventilation opening 193 is almost completely removed. Everything goes through multiple ventilation sections. The liquid feed pump 182 is disposed in the vicinity of the side wall of the internal duct 191 on the side away from the side wall provided with the second in-machine opening 198b of the in-machine duct 198.

Here, as shown in FIG. 15, the internal duct 191 has four side walls except for the side wall in which the ventilation opening 193 is formed and the side wall in which the third passage opening 192 c is formed, generated by the fan unit 185. There is no opening for the wind to pass through.
Moreover, the internal duct 191 has the part extended below the opening lower side position of the ventilation opening part 193 and the 3rd passage opening part 192c similarly to Example 1. FIG. The extended portion forms a tray portion 189 that receives the coolant leaked from components such as the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, and the liquid reservoir tank 183 accommodated in the internal duct 191.
By forming the tray part 189 in this way, even if the coolant leaks from the components housed in the internal duct 191, the leaked coolant can be received by the dish part 189. Therefore, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of problems caused by wetting other components such as the reverse sheet conveyance path 36 of the printer 300 including the cooling device 100 and the sheet P.

An in-machine duct 198 is provided in front of the internal duct 191, and an in-machine communication opening 198 c formed on the internal duct 191 side of the in-machine duct 198 is connected to the passing opening 192 c of the internal duct 191.
As shown in FIG. 16, the in-machine duct 198 includes a first in-machine opening 198 a and a first in-machine opening 198 a that sucks in air that passes through the passage opening 192 c of the internal duct 191 through the in-machine communication opening 198 c. Two in-machine openings 198b are provided. The in-machine duct 198 is shaped so that the cross-section of the internal space when cut in the front-rear direction is an L-shaped upside down, so that it rests on the substantially rectangular parallelepiped portion and the upper part of the internal duct 191. And a portion provided to protrude to the side.

The side wall on the rear side of the portion provided so as to rest on the upper part of the internal duct 191 is provided so as to be substantially the same surface as the side wall provided with the air blowing opening 193 of the internal duct 191, and A first in-machine opening 198a is formed.
Further, a second in-machine opening 198b is formed on the side wall facing the left side surface of the apparatus main body 200.
The first in-machine opening 198a includes five openings divided by four reinforcing members, and the second in-machine opening 198b includes four openings divided by three reinforcing members.

  On the side wall on the front side of the in-machine duct 198, that is, the side wall of the in-machine duct 198 facing the in-machine communication opening 198c, another cooling target that generates heat and is provided in the apparatus main body 200 is attached. Specifically, a drive motor 174 that rotationally drives the drive roller 173 of the back-side clamping unit 170, a plurality of transport path drive motors 176 that drive the transport rollers of the reverse sheet transport path 36, and a motor drive that controls these motors A substrate 175 is provided.

Then, as described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 16, the internal duct 191, the in-machine duct 198, and the arrangement of each component housed in each duct are configured, so that the inside of each duct is as follows. The flow path of the wind generated by the fan unit 185 can be formed.
In the cross section of the in-machine duct 198 when the periphery of the liquid feed pump 182 and the drive motor 174 is viewed from the rear side, a wind flow path as shown in FIGS. 17A and 17C is formed. That is, the flow path of the air sucked from the first in-machine opening 198a and the second in-machine opening 198b is formed below the lower limit of the ventilation part of the radiator 181 and the in-machine communication opening 198c and the third passage opening are formed. Wind flows into the internal duct 191 through the portion 192c.
Then, the wind hits the drive motor 174 and the motor drive board 175 in the in-machine duct 198 disposed on the flow path of the air sucked from the first in-machine opening 198a and the second in-machine opening 198b, and the drive motor 174 and the motor The drive substrate 175 is cooled.

Thereafter, the wind that has cooled the drive motor 174 and the motor drive board 175 and the wind that has not hit the drive motor 174 and the motor drive board 175 pass through the plurality of ventilation portions of the radiator 181, so that the heat dissipation effect from the radiator 181 is achieved. To increase.
The flow path of the wind that has flowed into the internal duct 191 flows into the internal duct 191 surrounded by the side wall except for the third passage opening 192c (the radiator 181) and the air blowing opening 193, so that the radiator 181 It is formed below the lower limit of the ventilation part. Then, wind hits the liquid feed pump 182 disposed on the flow path to cool the liquid feed pump 182.

Further, in the cross section of the periphery of the liquid reservoir tank 183 and the plurality of transport path drive motors 176 as viewed from the left side, a wind passage as shown in FIGS. 17B and 17C is formed. That is, the flow path of the air sucked from the first in-machine opening 198a and the second in-machine opening 198b is formed below the lower limit of the ventilation part of the radiator 181 and the in-machine communication opening 198c and the third passage opening are formed. Wind flows into the internal duct 191 through the portion 192c.
Then, the wind hits the plurality of transport path drive motors 176 in the in-machine duct 198 disposed on the flow path of the air sucked from the first in-machine opening 198a and the second in-machine opening 198b, and the plurality of transport path drive motors 176 is cooled.

Thereafter, the wind that has cooled the plurality of transport path driving motors 176 and the wind that has not hit the plurality of transport path driving motors 176 increases the heat radiation effect from the radiator 181 when passing through the plurality of ventilation portions of the radiator 181. .
The flow path of the wind that has flowed into the internal duct 191 flows into the internal duct 191 surrounded by the side wall except for the third passage opening 192c (the radiator 181) and the air blowing opening 193, so that the radiator 181 It is formed below the lower limit of the ventilation part. Then, wind hits the liquid storage tank 183 disposed on the flow path to cool the liquid storage tank 183.

Here, also in the present embodiment, the liquid feed pump 182 and the liquid reservoir tank 183 are arranged in the tray part 189, and in particular, the liquid feed pump 182 is almost entirely accommodated in the tray part 189, as in the first embodiment. Is arranged. However, the flow velocity of the wind flowing into the portion of the internal duct 191 where the liquid feed pump 182 is disposed through the third passage opening 192c (the radiator 181) is the first in-machine opening 198a and the second in-machine duct 198. Since the wind from the in-machine opening 198b merges, it is faster. And the liquid feed pump 182 is arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the side wall of the internal duct 191 in the side away from the side wall in which the 2nd in-machine opening part 198b of the in-machine duct 198 was provided. For these reasons, in particular, in the liquid feed pump 182, the wind generated by the fan unit 185 whose flow direction is regulated by each side wall of the internal duct 191 wraps around without blowing down (winds) the wind. The flow path is formed.
Therefore, unlike the cooling device described in Patent Document 1, the flow rate of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump 182 is suppressed and the temperature of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump 182 is suppressed from increasing. Can be sufficiently cooled.

  Further, as described above, the radiator 181 is connected to the third passage opening 192 c of the internal duct 191 from the inside of the internal duct 191. For this reason, almost all of the wind passing between the air blowing opening 193 and the third passage opening 192c passes through the plurality of ventilation portions provided in the radiator 181. Therefore, the heat dissipation effect by the radiator 181 can be improved and the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 can be enhanced. Then, the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 is enhanced, the amount of liquid fed by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, and the amount of heat generated by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, thereby increasing the temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182. Can be further suppressed.

  Further, only a part of the liquid reservoir tank 183 protrudes upward from the tray portion 189. However, the flow velocity of the wind flowing into the portion of the internal duct 191 in which the liquid storage tank 183 is disposed via the third passage opening 192c (the radiator 181) is the first in-machine opening 198a and the second in-machine duct 198. Since the wind from the in-machine opening 198b merges, it is faster. In the internal duct 191, the wind generated by the fan unit 185 does not pass through the other side walls except for the side wall where the blower opening 193 and the third passage opening 192 c are formed. For these reasons, as shown in FIGS. 17B and 17C, in the liquid reservoir tank 183, the wind generated in the fan unit 185 whose flow direction is regulated by the side walls of the internal duct 191 is changed to the wind speed. A flow path of wind that wraps around without being dropped is formed.

  Therefore, the cooling liquid stored in the liquid storage tank 183 can be cooled to enhance the cooling effect of the cooling device 100. Then, the cooling effect of the cooling device 100 is enhanced, the amount of liquid fed by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, and the amount of heat generated by the liquid feed pump 182 is reduced, thereby increasing the temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump 182. Can be further suppressed.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 12 and the like, the fan unit 185 has the air opening 193 so that the flow path of the air flowing through the internal duct 191 passes from the radiator 181 to the liquid feed pump 182. The configuration for drawing the wind from the air has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. As shown in FIG. 18, the fan unit 185 may blow the wind toward the ventilation opening 193 so that the flow path of the wind flowing in the internal duct 191 passes from the liquid feed pump 182 to the radiator 181.
Here, as in the above-described embodiment, the flow path of the air flowing in the internal duct 191 is configured to pass from the radiator 181 to the liquid feed pump 182 so that the radiator 181 can be preferentially cooled. It becomes possible. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11, the liquid flow pump 182 can be preferentially cooled by configuring the flow path of the wind flowing in the internal duct 191 to pass from the liquid feed pump 182 to the radiator 181. .

In the present embodiment, as described with reference to FIGS. 13 to 17, the configuration in which the internal duct 191 and the in-machine duct 198 are separately provided has been described. However, the present invention is limited to such a configuration. is not. For example, the internal space formed by the internal duct 191 and the in-machine duct 198 can be applied to a configuration in which a rib portion, a partition member, and the like are provided in one internal duct.
Further, the configuration in which other cooling objects such as the plurality of conveyance path driving motors 176, the driving motor 174, and the motor driving substrate 175 are provided on the side wall of the in-machine duct 198 has been described, but the present invention is limited to such a configuration. It is not something. For example, the present invention can be applied to a configuration in which the inner side plate of the apparatus main body 200 is used as a side wall of an internal duct or an in-machine duct as described above.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the present invention is applied to the cooling device 100 that cools the paper P after the heat fixing of the printer 300 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. Absent. For example, the present invention can be applied to a cooling device that cools the developing device 3, the optical writing device 2, and the like.

What has been described above is merely an example, and the present invention has a specific effect for each of the following modes.
(Aspect A)
A heat receiving member such as a cooling member 141 that absorbs heat to be cooled, such as the sheet P after heat fixing, a heat radiating means such as a radiator 181 that radiates heat absorbed by the heat receiving member, a liquid feed pump 182 that conveys a cooling liquid, and the like And a cooling device such as a liquid cooling type cooling device 100 provided with an air blowing means such as a fan unit 185 that applies a wind to the heat radiating means to enhance the heat radiating effect. And a ventilation opening such as a ventilation opening 193 to which the blowing means is connected, and a passage opening such as a first passage opening 192a and a second passage opening 192b through which the wind passing through the ventilation opening passes. A duct such as an internal duct 191 having a flow path is provided, and the liquid feed pump is disposed on a flow path of wind passing between the air blowing opening and the passage opening. The one in which the features.

According to this, as explained in Example 1 (or 2) described above, the part excluding the air blowing opening and the passage opening is partitioned between the space inside the duct and the space outside the duct by the wall of the duct, The flow of wind generated in the duct can be regulated by the blowing means. By regulating in this way, compared to the cooling device described in Patent Document 1, the flow path of the wind at a position that passes through the liquid feed pump rather than the blowing position of the blowing means (the blowing or sucking position of the blowing means). It is possible to suppress an increase in the cross-sectional area (the area of the wind passage perpendicular to the direction of the flowing wind). Further, it is possible to suppress the formation of a circulation flow path (wind flow path) in which a part of the wind blown from the blower means is again sucked into the blower means in the space around the blower means.
Therefore, unlike the cooling device described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to prevent the flow rate of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump from decreasing or the temperature of the wind hitting the liquid feed pump from rising. It becomes possible to cool.
Therefore, it is possible to provide a liquid cooling type cooling device provided with a blowing means, which can suppress an increase in temperature exceeding the allowable temperature of the liquid feed pump.

(Aspect B)
In (Aspect A), the heat radiating means such as the radiator 181 has a plurality of ventilation portions through which the wind passes, and the ventilation opening portion such as the ventilation opening portion 193, the first passage opening portion 192a, and the second passage opening portion 192b. It is characterized by being provided in the duct such as the internal duct 191 so that almost all of the wind passing between the passage openings and the like passes through the plurality of ventilation portions.
According to this, as explained in the first embodiment (or 2) described above, it is possible to improve the cooling effect of the cooling device such as the cooling device 100 by improving the heat dissipation effect by the heat dissipation means. And the temperature exceeding the permissible temperature of the liquid feed pump is reduced by increasing the cooling effect of the cooling device, reducing the liquid feed amount by the liquid feed pump such as the liquid feed pump 182 and reducing the heat generation amount of the liquid feed pump itself. Can be further suppressed.
Further, the pipe line such as the rubber tube 184 connecting the liquid feed pump and the heat radiating means can be shortened, and the cost of the cooling device can be reduced.

(Aspect C)
In (Aspect A) or (Aspect B), the liquid storage tank has a liquid storage tank such as a liquid storage tank 183 that stores the cooling liquid, and the liquid storage tank is accommodated in the duct such as the internal duct 191. Is disposed on the flow path such as a wind flow path that passes between the air blowing opening 193 and the first passage opening 192a and the second passage opening 192b.
According to this, as described in the first embodiment (or 2), the cooling liquid stored in the liquid storage tank can be cooled to enhance the cooling effect of the cooling device such as the cooling device 100. And the temperature exceeding the permissible temperature of the liquid feed pump is reduced by increasing the cooling effect of the cooling device, reducing the liquid feed amount by the liquid feed pump such as the liquid feed pump 182 and reducing the heat generation amount of the liquid feed pump itself. Can be further suppressed.

(Aspect D)
In any one of (Aspect A) to (Aspect C), the duct such as the internal duct 191 includes the heat radiating means such as the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump such as the liquid feed pump 182, and the air blower such as the fan unit 185. It is also characterized in that it also serves as at least a part of a casing such as a heat dissipating part casing 190 of a heat dissipating part such as a heat dissipating part 180 having means.
According to this, as described in the first embodiment (or 2), the number of parts of the cooling device such as the cooling device 100 can be reduced by using at least a part of the casing of the heat radiating portion with the duct. it can. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the cooling device and an image forming apparatus such as the printer 300 including the cooling device.

(Aspect E)
In any one of (Aspect A) to (Aspect D), different cooling objects such as the drive motor 174 and the motor drive board 175 are arranged on the flow path of the wind passing through the passage opening such as the third passage opening 192c. It is characterized by this.
According to this, as described in the second embodiment, for example, different cooling targets such as a substrate and a drive motor of any device are blown by the fan unit 185 of the cooling device such as the same cooling device 100. It can be cooled by wind generated by the means. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a blowing means for cooling different objects to be cooled.
Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size, cost, and energy of an apparatus such as the printer 300 provided with this cooling apparatus.

(Aspect F)
In any of (Aspect A) to (Aspect E), the duct such as the internal duct 191 includes the air blowing opening such as the air blowing opening 193 and the first passage opening 192a and the second passage opening 192b. It has a wall such as two side walls provided perpendicular to each other in which at least one of the passage openings is formed, and the wind generated by the air blowing means does not pass through the other wall. .
According to this, as described in the first embodiment (or 2), the following effects can be obtained. In the space around the air blowing means such as the fan unit 185, while suppressing the formation of the circulation flow path, a plurality of passage openings are provided to reduce the resistance of the wind passing through the duct, The heat radiation effect by the heat radiation means can be enhanced. Further, the cooling effect of the cooling device such as the cooling device 100 is enhanced, the amount of liquid fed by the liquid feeding pump such as the liquid feeding pump 182 is reduced, and the heat generation amount of the liquid feeding pump itself is reduced, thereby allowing the liquid feeding pump to be allowed. The rise in temperature beyond the temperature can be further suppressed.

(Aspect G)
In any one of (Aspect A) to (Aspect F), the air blowing means such as the fan unit 185 includes a direction of wind passing through the passage openings such as the first passage opening 192a and the second passage opening 192b. External ducts such as the first external duct portion 196 of the external duct 195 that guides wind in different directions or from different directions are connected directly or via other members such as the internal duct 191 It is.
According to this, as described in the first embodiment (or 2), the following effects can be obtained. It is possible to reduce a part of the wind that has passed through the heat radiating means such as the radiator 181 and circulated outside the duct such as the internal duct 191 without being mixed with the outside air. It can suppress that the cooling effect of an apparatus falls. Then, the cooling effect of the liquid feeding pump is suppressed by suppressing the cooling effect of the cooling device from decreasing, and by reducing the liquid feeding amount by the liquid feeding pump such as the liquid feeding pump 182 to reduce the heat generation amount of the liquid feeding pump itself. The rise in temperature beyond the temperature can be further suppressed.

(Aspect H)
(Aspect G) is characterized in that wind is blown out substantially vertically downward from the external duct such as the first external duct portion 196 of the external duct 195.
According to this, as described in the first embodiment (or 2), the following effects can be obtained. It can be suppressed that a wind blown from a cooling device such as the cooling device 100 hits the user who performs office work or the like near a device such as the printer 300 provided with the cooling device. In addition, it can be suppressed that the driving sound of the air blowing means such as the fan unit 185 is heard loudly and the user is uncomfortable.

(Aspect I)
In any one of (Aspect A) to (Aspect H), the duct such as the internal duct 191 includes the air blowing opening such as the air blowing opening 193, and the first passage opening 192a and the second passage opening 192b. It has a portion that extends downward from the position of the lower side of the opening of the passage opening, and receives coolant leaked from components such as the radiator 181, the liquid feed pump 182, and the liquid storage tank 183 accommodated in the duct. A tray portion such as the tray portion 189 is formed.
According to this, as described in the first embodiment (or 2) described above, even if the coolant leaks from the component member accommodated in the duct, the leaked coolant can be received by the tray portion. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of problems caused by wetting other constituent members such as the reverse sheet conveyance path 36 of the apparatus such as the printer 300 including the cooling apparatus such as the cooling apparatus 100 and the recording medium such as the sheet P. .

(Aspect J)
In an image forming apparatus such as a printer 300 provided with a cooling device that cools a cooling target such as a sheet P that has become hot due to an image forming operation, any one of (Aspect A) to (Aspect I) is used as the cooling device. A cooling device such as the cooling device 100 is provided.
According to this, as described in the above-described embodiment, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that has the same effect as the cooling device of any one of (Aspect A) to (Aspect I) described above.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photoconductor 2 Optical writing device 3 Developing device 4 Photoconductor cleaning device 5 Charging device 10 Image station 11 Primary transfer roller 15 Fixing device 21 Intermediate transfer belt 22 First tension roller 23 Second tension roller 24 Third tension roller Roller 25 Secondary transfer roller 26 Cleaning counter roller 27 Belt cleaning device 31 Paper feed cassette 32 Paper feed path 33 Paper discharge tray 34 Manual feed tray 35 Paper feed path 36 Reverse paper feed path 41 Paper feed roller (paper feed cassette)
42 Registration roller pair 43 Paper feed roller (manual feed tray)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Cooling device 140 Heat receiving part 141 Cooling member 142 Cooling surface 143 Liquid channel part 160 Front side clamping part 161 Front side conveyance belt 162 Front side driven roller 170 Back side clamping part 171 Back side conveyance belt 172 Back side driven roller 173 Drive roller 174 Drive motor (back side clamping Part)
175 Motor drive board 176 Conveyance path drive motor 180 Radiator 181 Radiator 182 Liquid feed pump 183 Liquid reservoir tank 184 Rubber tube 185 Fan unit 186 Blower fan 187 Pump cooling fan 188a Pump cooling intake opening 188b Pump cooling exhaust opening 189 Receptacle part 190 Heat dissipation Part casing 191 Internal duct 192 Passing opening 192a First passing opening 192b Second passing opening 192c Third passing opening 193 Fan opening 194 Fan duct 194a Fan duct opening 194b Fan mounting opening 195 External duct 195a External duct partition member 196 First external duct part 196a First external opening part 196b First external communication opening part 197 Second external duct part 197a Second external opening part 197b Second external communication opening part 198 In-machine duct 198a first flight opening 198b second inboard opening 198c flight communicating opening 199 slit panel 200 apparatus main body 300 printer P Paper

JP 2007-076370 A

Claims (10)

A heat receiving member that absorbs heat to be cooled, a heat dissipating means that dissipates heat absorbed by the heat receiving member, a liquid feed pump that conveys the cooling liquid, and a blowing means that applies air to the heat dissipating means to enhance the heat dissipating effect. In the liquid cooling system cooling device,
A liquid storage tank for storing the cooling liquid;
There is provided a duct that houses the heat radiating means, the liquid feed pump, and the liquid reservoir tank, and has a ventilation opening to which the blowing means is connected and a passage opening through which the wind passing through the ventilation opening passes. And
The cooling device, wherein the liquid feed pump and the liquid reservoir tank are arranged on a flow path of wind passing between the air blowing opening and the passage opening . A heat receiving member that absorbs heat to be cooled, a heat dissipating means that dissipates heat absorbed by the heat receiving member, a liquid feed pump that conveys the cooling liquid, and a blowing means that applies air to the heat dissipating means to enhance the heat dissipating effect. In the liquid cooling system cooling device,
A duct having a ventilation opening that accommodates the heat dissipation means and the liquid feed pump and to which the blowing means is connected, and a passage opening through which the wind passing through the ventilation opening passes, is provided.
The liquid feed pump is disposed on a flow path of wind passing between the air blowing opening and the passage opening,
The duct has two walls perpendicular to each other in which at least one of the ventilation opening and the passage opening is formed, and the wind generated by the blowing means does not pass through the other wall. Cooling system. The cooling device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The duct has a portion that extends downward from an opening lower side position of the air blowing opening and the passage opening, and a receiving tray that receives a coolant leaked from a component housed in the duct is formed. A cooling device characterized by that. A heat receiving member that absorbs heat to be cooled, a heat dissipating means that dissipates heat absorbed by the heat receiving member, a liquid feed pump that conveys the cooling liquid, and a blowing means that applies air to the heat dissipating means to enhance the heat dissipating effect. In the liquid cooling system cooling device,
A duct having a ventilation opening that accommodates the heat dissipation means and the liquid feed pump and to which the blowing means is connected, and a passage opening through which the wind passing through the ventilation opening passes, is provided.
The liquid feed pump is disposed on a flow path of wind passing between the air blowing opening and the passage opening,
The duct has a portion that extends downward from an opening lower side position of the air blowing opening and the passage opening, and a receiving tray that receives a coolant leaked from a component housed in the duct is formed. A cooling device characterized by that. In the cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The heat dissipating means has a plurality of ventilation portions through which wind passes, and is provided in the duct so that almost all of the wind passing between the ventilation opening and the passage opening passes through the plurality of ventilation portions. Cooling device characterized by being made . In the cooling device according to any one of 請 Motomeko 1 to 5,
The said duct serves as at least one part of the casing of the thermal radiation part which has the said thermal radiation means, the said liquid feed pump, and the said ventilation means, The cooling device characterized by the above-mentioned. The cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
A cooling device, wherein different objects to be cooled are arranged on a flow path of wind passing through the passage opening. The cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 ,
A cooling device characterized in that an external duct for guiding wind from a direction different from or different from the direction of the wind passing through the passage opening is connected to the air blowing means directly or via another member. . The cooling device according to claim 8 , wherein
A cooling device characterized in that wind is blown out substantially vertically downward from the external duct. In an image forming apparatus provided with a cooling device for cooling an object to be cooled that has become a high temperature due to an image forming operation,
Wherein as a cooling device, an image forming apparatus comprising the cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

Images