JP6635746B2 - Electric cable connecting device, image forming apparatus, and electric cable connecting method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention includes a first device and a second device, wherein a cable-side connector provided at a tip of an electric cable extended from the second device is connected to a board-side connector provided on a circuit board of the first device. The present invention relates to an electric cable connection device, an image forming apparatus, and an electric cable connection method having a configuration to be connected.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus has an automatic document feeder mounted on an image forming apparatus main body including an image forming section, a scanner section, and a paper transport section, and a leading end of an electric cable derived from the automatic document feeder. The connector is formed integrally by connecting a cable-side connector provided in the unit to a board-side connector provided on a circuit board mounted on the image forming apparatus main body.

  In the image forming apparatus having such a configuration, when the automatic document feeder is detached from the image forming apparatus main body, conventionally, after removing the back plate of the image forming apparatus main body, the cable side connector of the electric cable is disconnected from the board side connector. I was working. Also, when attaching the automatic document feeder to the image forming apparatus main body, remove the back plate of the image forming apparatus main body, connect the cable side connector of the electric cable of the document reading apparatus to the board side connector, and then, The operation of attaching the face plate to the back of the image forming apparatus main body has been performed.

  This kind of work does not pose any problem during factory production, but, for example, when replacing the automatic document feeder at the installation site after shipment, a space is required for removing the back plate. In places where there is no such space, the operation was very complicated. Therefore, there has been a demand for a structure that can easily attach and detach the automatic document feeder.

  In addition, since the connection device of the electric cable needs to have a connection structure that can sufficiently withstand an assumed external force, it has been required to cope with the strength.

  As an example of an electric cable connection device, an electric cable connection device described in Patent Document 1 is disclosed.

  In the electric cable connection device described in Patent Literature 1, an opening is provided in a portion of the housing of the main body of the image forming apparatus facing the connector on the substrate side, and the opening can be closed by a lid.

  The lid had a hook on one side in the left-right direction, and had a cable insertion portion and two screw stoppers on the other side. When the lid is attached to the opening of the image forming apparatus main body, the hook of the lid is locked from the side to the edge of the opening, and the lid is placed on the opening side with the locking portion as a fulcrum. The cover was pressed in and then screwed in two places to secure the lid to the opening.

JP 2013-105938 A

  In the configuration of Patent Literature 1, when closing the lid, it is difficult to reliably see the inside of the opening until just before the lid is closed. The term “wire biting” as used herein refers to a state in which the cable is sandwiched between a rib or the like provided on the back surface of the lid and an edge of a structure or an opening in the image forming apparatus main body. . If the lid is attached to the opening while such wire biting is occurring, excessive pressure acts on the cable, which may lead to disconnection of the cable.

  Further, in the configuration of Patent Literature 1, it is necessary to perform screw fixing at two places while holding down the lid, and there is a problem that the work is difficult to perform.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has as its object to provide an electric cable connection device that does not easily cause cable biting and that facilitates cable connection work.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention includes a first device and a second device, and a cable-side connector provided at a tip of an electric cable derived from the second device is provided with a first device and a second device. An electric cable connection device configured to be connected to a board-side connector provided on a circuit board, comprising: an opening provided at a position of the housing of the first device facing the board-side connector; And a lid for closing the opening, while the lid has a first engagement portion and a second engagement portion formed on sides facing each other, respectively. At the edge of the opening, a first engaged portion and a second engaged portion with which the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion of the lid respectively engage are formed, The first engagement portion is locked to the first engaged portion, and the lid is The lid is slid in a direction from the first engagement portion toward the second engagement portion from a state in which the opening portion is closed, so that the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are slid. Each of the portions is configured to be in a state of being locked by the first engaged portion and the second engaged portion.

  According to the above configuration, in a state where the first engagement portion is first locked to the first engaged portion, the lid can be closed so as to rotate around the locked portion as a fulcrum. Therefore, the operator can see the inside of the opening until immediately before the opening is completely closed by the lid. Therefore, if a cable bite occurs inside the opening during the above-described operation, the operator can easily find it and eliminate the cable bite. After the lid is closed by the rotation, the lid is slid so that the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are respectively the first engaged portion and the second engaged portion. Therefore, the opening can be reliably closed by the lid.

  In the above-mentioned electric cable connection device, the lid may have the first engagement portion on a lower side and the second engagement portion on an upper side.

  According to the above configuration, since the fulcrum at the time of rotating the lid is the lower part, the operator can see the inside of the opening from above until immediately before the opening is completely closed by the lid, and Visibility is improved.

  In the electric cable connection device, the lid may include a lead-out unit that leads the electric cable, and a fixing unit that fixes the lid to the first device by a single fastening member near the lead-out unit. May be provided.

  According to the above configuration, since the fixing portion only has to have a function of preventing the sliding movement of the lid in which both the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are locked, a single unit is provided. The fixing operation can be simplified by using only the fastening members. In addition, by disposing the fixing portion in the vicinity of the lead-out portion, when an external force such as tension acts on the cable, it also reinforces the vicinity of the lead-out portion where a large force is likely to be applied.

  In the electric cable connection device, the lid may include the lead-out portion on one side different from the side on which the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are provided, and the fixing portion may be provided near the one side. May be provided.

  The electric cable connection device, the electric cable connection method, and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention allow a worker to see the inside of the opening until immediately before the opening is completely closed by the lid. For this reason, when the wire biting of the cable occurs inside the opening during the above operation, the operator can easily find the biting and can eliminate the wire biting of the cable.

  After the lid is closed by the rotation, the lid is slid so that the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are respectively the first engaged portion and the second engaged portion. Therefore, there is an effect that the opening can be reliably closed by the lid.

1, showing an embodiment of the present invention, is a rear view illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus. It is a perspective view of a lid used in an electric cable connection device, (a) is a perspective view showing a front surface, and (b) is a perspective view showing a back surface. It is a rear view of the lid to which the tip part of the electric cable was attached. It is a front view of the lid to which the tip part of the electric cable was attached. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the attachment part which attaches an electric cable to a cover. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an internal state of an opening with a lid removed in the image forming apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which attached the cover to the opening part. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which attached the cover to the opening part. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a cable fixing method according to the second embodiment.

[Embodiment 1]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a rear view illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

  The image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment forms multi-color and single-color images on a predetermined sheet (recording paper) in accordance with image data transmitted from the outside. And an automatic document feeder 3. That is, in the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus main body 2 corresponds to a first device described in claims, and the automatic document feeder 3 corresponds to a second device described in claims.

  The automatic document feeder 3 automatically conveys a document onto a document table on an upper portion of the apparatus main body 2. Further, the automatic document feeder 3 is configured to be rotatable upward with the apparatus rear side as a fulcrum at the upper part of the apparatus main body 2, and to place a document by opening the document mounting table, and to place the document in front of the apparatus. The side is open.

  The apparatus main body 2 reads an image of a document placed on a document placing table or a document sent by the automatic document feeder 3 by a scanner unit, and prints the read image data by an image forming unit. The image forming unit forms an image using a known electrophotographic method, and prints a color image or a monochrome image based on the image data on a recording sheet and outputs the image.

  In the image forming apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration, in the present embodiment, an opening 30 for attaching the lid 40 is provided in an upper portion of the apparatus main body 2 on the side of the housing rear surface 2 a, and is led out from the rear side of the automatic document feeder 3. The cable-side connector provided at the end of the electric cable 50 is detachably connected to the board-side connector of the circuit board disposed in the apparatus main body 2 through the opening 30.

  Hereinafter, the connection device for the electric cable 50 will be specifically described. 2 is a perspective view of the lid 40 to which the distal end of the electric cable 50 is attached, FIG. 3 is a rear view of the lid 40 to which the distal end of the electric cable 50 is attached, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a front view of the lid 40 thus obtained.

  In the electric cable connection device of the present embodiment, the distal end portion of the electric cable 50 led out from the back side of the automatic document feeder 3 to the outside is attached to the back surface of the lid 40 by the attachment portion 41 (see FIG. 3). . That is, the distal end portion of the electric cable 50 and the lid 40 are formed integrally. At the end of the electric cable 50, cable-side connectors 51a and 51b and a ground terminal 51c are provided.

  The lid body 40 is formed in a horizontally long rectangular shape, and a lower hook (a first hooked part) that is engaged with a locking groove (first engaged part) 31 of an opening 30 described later is formed on the lower edge. 1 engagement portion) 42 is provided. In addition, an upper hook (second engaging portion) 43 which is engaged with a locking groove (second engaged portion) 32 of the opening 30 described later is provided in a peripheral portion of the upper side of the lid 40. ing. In addition, one of the right and left short sides of the lid 40, that is, one side different from the side where the lower hook 42 and the upper hook 43 are provided, has a lid-side lead-out formed in a concave shape for leading the electric cable 50 to the outside. A section (leading section) 44 is provided. A screw insertion boss 45 having a screw insertion hole 45a at one location is provided upright on the back surface of the lid 40. It is preferable that the screw insertion boss 45 is disposed near the lid-side lead-out portion 44 and on the upper side of the lid-side lead-out portion 44.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the attachment portion 41 binds the electric cable 50 with a predetermined tightening force by a resin band 41a such as a binding band, and a screw member is inserted into a screw insertion hole 41b provided at one end of the resin band 41a. The electric cable 50 is attached to the rear surface of the lid 40 by inserting the electric cable 50 into the screw receiving portion 46 provided on the rear surface of the lid 40.

  Positioning ribs 48, 48 as positioning portions for sandwiching the electric cable 50 from both sides and determining a wiring position are arranged between the lid side lead-out portion 44 and the mounting portion 41 (resin band 41a). .

  In FIG. 2, two lower hooks 42 are arranged on the lower side of the lid 40 at an interval, and one upper hook 43 is provided in almost the entire area of the upper side. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the numbers and formation regions of the lower hooks 42 and the upper hooks 43 are not particularly limited. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which two upper hooks are arranged at intervals on the upper side, and one lower hook is provided in almost the entire area of the lower side.

  When two hooks are provided on the same side (lower side or upper side) of the lid 40, one of the hooks faces the lid side lead-out portion 44 (in the direction along the side where the hooks are provided, (The lid side lead-out portion 44 and the hook are provided at the same position.) Thus, even when an external force such as pulling is applied to the electric cable 50 led out from the lid-side lead-out portion 44, the lid 40 is firmly held by the hooks opposed to the lid-side lead-out portion 44. Will be retained.

  Further, on the surface of the lid 40, an uneven portion 47 is provided above the lower hook 42 in order to easily push and slide the lid 40 by hand. The uneven portion 47 is provided at the same position as the lower hook 42 in a direction orthogonal to the sliding direction of the lid 40.

  On the other hand, the opening 30 is formed in a horizontally long rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 6, and the lower hook 42 is engaged with a portion corresponding to the lower hook 42 of the lid 40 at the lower edge. Locking groove 31 is provided. A locking groove 32 for locking the upper hook 43 of the lid 40 is provided at the upper edge of the opening 30.

  A circuit board 60 is disposed inside the apparatus main body 2 so as to face the opening 30, and board-side connectors 61 a and 61 b of the circuit board 60 are provided so as to be exposed in the opening 30. .

  Further, in an internal region of the opening 30, a screw hole 66 formed in a metal frame 65 disposed inside the apparatus main body 2 is opposed to the metal frame 65. That is, the screw holes 66 formed in the metal frame 65 are arranged so as to face the screw insertion holes 45 a of the screw insertion bosses 45 when the lid 40 is attached to the opening 30.

  Reference numeral 38 in FIG. 6 denotes a ground screw for connecting a ground terminal 51c provided at the end of the electric cable 50. A substantially central portion of the left side edge of the opening 30 is formed in a concave shape (a semi-mortar) for leading out the electric cable 50 from the inside of the opening 30 (or introducing the electric cable 50 from the outside into the opening 30). The opening side lead-out part 39 formed in the shape) is formed.

  Next, a cable connection procedure in the cable connection device using the lid 40 and the opening 30 having the above configuration will be described.

  First, the cover 40 is attached to the distal end of the electric cable 50 led out from the automatic document feeder 3 by the attaching portion 41. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the electric cable 50 is attached and fixed to the back surface of the lid 40 using the resin band 41a and the screw member 70. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the electric cable 50 located between the lid side lead-out portion 44 and the resin band 41a is positioned so as to be sandwiched between the positioning ribs 48,48. That is, the electric cable 50 led out from the lid 40 is wired so as to pass through the lid side lead-out portion 44.

  Next, in this state, the cable-side connectors 51a and 51b provided at the end of the electric cable 50 are connected to the board-side connectors 61a and 61b. Further, the ground terminal 51 c provided at the end of the electric cable 50 is connected to the metal frame 65 using the ground screw 38.

  Next, in this state, the lower hook 42 of the lid 40 is locked into the locking groove 31 of the opening 30 from above, and the lid 40 is pushed into the opening 30 with the locking portion as a fulcrum. Then, the lid 40 is attached to the opening 30. In this operation stage, the upper hook 43 of the lid 40 does not contact the upper edge 30b of the opening 30. In addition, the electric cable 50 is formed in a substantially arc shape (or a horizontally long elliptical shape) by a substantially semi-circular lid-side lead-out portion 44 and a substantially semi-circular opening-side lead portion 39 opposed thereto. It is led out along the part and is curved naturally.

  Further, since the lid 40 is pushed into the opening 30 side so as to pivot on the upper side with the lower locking portion as a fulcrum, the operator can open the opening 30 just before the opening 30 is completely closed by the lid 40. The inside of the part 30 can be seen from above. For this reason, if the cable bites inside the opening 30 during the above operation, the operator can easily find it and eliminate the cable biting.

  Next, in this state, the lid 40 is slid upward. Thereby, the upper hook 43 of the lid 40 is locked by the locking groove 32 on the upper side of the opening 30. The lower hook 42 has a sufficient length in the vertical direction so that the locking of the lower hook 42 of the lid 40 by the locking groove 31 is not released even when the lid 40 is slid upward. I have.

  FIGS. 7 and 8 are sectional views showing a state where the lid 40 is slid upward and the lower hook 42 and the upper hook 43 of the lid 40 are locked. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line BB. However, illustration of the electric cable 50 is omitted.

  In this state, as shown in FIG. 7, the tip of the screw insertion boss 45 of the cover 40 faces the screw hole 66 formed in the metal frame 65. Therefore, in this state, a screw member (fastening member) is inserted into the screw insertion hole 45a of the screw insertion boss 45 from the surface side of the lid 40, and is screwed into the screw hole 66 of the metal frame 65 and fixed. The lid 40 is fixed to the opening 30. That is, here, the screw insertion hole 45a and the screw hole 66 become the fixing portion described in the claims. Thus, after the lid 40 is fixed to the opening 30 by the screw member, the sliding movement of the lid 40 is regulated, so that the locked state of the lower hook 42 and the upper hook 43 does not come off.

  When disconnecting the connection of the electric cable 50, the lid 40 may be removed from the opening 30 in the reverse procedure.

  According to the electric cable connection device of the present embodiment, for example, when removing the automatic document feeder 3 from the apparatus main body 2, the back plate 2 b (see FIG. 1) provided on the housing rear surface 2 a of the apparatus main body 2 is removed. By removing only the lid 40 from the opening 30, the cable-side connectors 51a and 51b of the electric cable 50 attached to the lid 40 can be easily removed from the board-side connectors 61a and 61b.

Further, since the electric cable 50 is attached to the lid 40 by the resin band 41a as the attachment portion 41, even if any external force is applied to the electric cable 50 exposed to the outside, the external force is first applied to the lid 40. Of the cable side connectors 51a, 51b and the board side connectors 61a, 61b. Never. Therefore, there is no fear that the circuit board 60 and the board-side connectors 61a and 61b are damaged. 3 is mounted on the apparatus main body 2, and thereafter, the cable-side connectors 51a and 51b with the lid 40 are connected to the board-side connectors 61a and 61b, and the lid 40 is simply attached and fixed to the opening 30. The installation work is also easy.

  In the above connection procedure, the electric cable 50 can be fixed only by attaching the lid 40 to the opening 30. That is, after connecting the cable-side connectors 51a and 51b to the board-side connectors 61a and 61b, the step of attaching the electric cable 50 to the apparatus main body 2 can be omitted, so that the connection step can be simplified accordingly.

  In the present embodiment, a lower hook 42 and an upper hook 43 and a screw insertion boss 45 are combined as a mounting portion for mounting and fixing the lid 40 to the opening 30. After the lower hook 42 and the upper hook 43 are locked, the screw fixing only regulates the sliding movement of the lid 40, so that only one screw insertion boss 45 is required, and the lid 40 is inserted into the opening 30. Installation work is simplified.

[Embodiment 2]
In the first embodiment, the electric cable 50 is fixed to the lid 40 by the resin band 41a, and the lid 40 is fixed to the opening 30 so that the electric cable 50 is also fixed. On the other hand, the second embodiment shows a method for fixing the electric cable 50 by a different method. A method of fixing the electric cable 50 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 9A, two resin bands 41a are attached close to the end of the electric cable 50. As the resin bands 41a, for example, a binding band or the like is attached with a specified tightening force. As shown in FIG. 9B, a rib 44 a is formed on the lid-side lead-out portion 44 of the lid 40.

  When attaching the electric cable 50 and the lid 40 to the image forming apparatus main body 2, as shown in FIG. 9C, the rib 44a is arranged between the two resin bands 41a. Accordingly, the resin bands 41a, 41a fixed to the electric cable 50 abut on the ribs 44a, thereby restricting the movement of the electric cable 50 both outside and inside the apparatus.

[Embodiment 3]
In the first and second embodiments, the opening 30 and the cover 40 are provided in the apparatus main body 2 in order to connect the electric cable 50 led out from the back side of the automatic document feeder 3 to the apparatus main body 2. However, the automatic document feeder 3 may be provided with the opening 30 and the lid 40. That is, in order to connect the electric cable 50 to the automatic document feeder 3, the electric cable connection device of the present invention may be applied. In this case, the automatic document feeder 3 corresponds to a first device described in the claims, and the image forming apparatus main body 2 corresponds to a second device described in the claims.

  Further, in the first to third embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to the image forming apparatus is described. However, the present invention is not limited to the image forming apparatus, and the first device and the second device are derived to the outside. The present invention can be applied to all devices configured to be electrically connected by the output cable.

  That is, the embodiment disclosed this time is an exemplification in all respects, and is not a basis for restrictive interpretation. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is not interpreted only by the above-described embodiments, but is defined based on the description of the claims. Further, all changes within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims are included.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Image forming apparatus main body (1st apparatus)
3 Automatic document feeder (second device)
30 opening 31 locking groove (first engaged portion)
32 Locking groove (second engaged portion)
40 lid 41 mounting part 42 lower hook (first engaging part)
43 Upper hook (second engaging part)
44 Lid side lead-out part (lead-out part)
45 Screw insertion boss 45a Screw insertion hole (fixed part)
50 electric cable 51a, 51b cable side connector 51c ground terminal 60 circuit board 61a, 61b board side connector 66 screw hole (fixed part)

Claims (6)

A first connector includes a first device and a second device, and a cable-side connector provided at a distal end of an electric cable led from the second device is connected to a board-side connector provided on a circuit board of the first device. An electrical cable connection device having the configuration,
An opening provided at a location of the housing of the first device facing the board-side connector;
A lid closing the opening while leading the electric cable to the outside,
The lid is provided on a first side different from the side on which the first and second engagement portions are provided, and a first engagement portion and a second engagement portion respectively formed on sides facing each other. And a lead-out part for leading out the electric cable ,
At the edge of the opening, a first engaged portion and a second engaged portion with which the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion of the lid respectively engage are formed,
The lid is moved from the first engagement portion to the second engagement portion from the state where the first engagement portion is locked to the first engaged portion and the lid closes the opening. By sliding in the direction toward the engaging portion, the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are locked by the first engaged portion and the second engaged portion, respectively. An electrical cable connection device, characterized in that: The electrical cable connection device according to claim 1,
The electric cable connection device, wherein the lid has the first engagement portion on a lower side and the second engagement portion on an upper side. The electric cable connection device according to claim 1 or 2,
The lid, the front Symbol deriving unit electrical cable connecting apparatus, wherein a fixing unit for fixing the lid to the first device is provided by a single fastening member in the vicinity of. The electrical cable connection device according to claim 3,
The electric cable connection device, wherein the lid has the fixing portion provided near the one side where the lead-out portion is provided . An image forming apparatus including an image forming apparatus main body and an automatic document feeder,
5. An image forming apparatus, wherein the electric cable connecting device according to claim 1 is used for connection between the image forming apparatus main body and the automatic document feeder. In an electric cable connection device including a first device and a second device, a cable-side connector provided at a tip of an electric cable derived from the second device is connected to a board side provided on a circuit board of the first device. An electrical cable connection method for connecting to a connector,
The electrical cable connection device,
An opening provided at a location of the housing of the first device facing the board-side connector;
A lid that closes the opening while leading the electric cable to the outside,
The lid is provided on a first side different from the side on which the first and second engagement portions are provided, and a first engagement portion and a second engagement portion respectively formed on sides facing each other. And a lead-out part for leading out the electric cable ,
At the edge of the opening, a first engaged portion and a second engaged portion with which the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion of the lid respectively engage are formed,
The lid is moved from the first engagement portion to the second engagement portion from the state where the first engagement portion is locked to the first engaged portion and the lid closes the opening. Sliding in the direction toward the engaging portion locks the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion respectively with the first engaged portion and the second engaged portion. And electrical cable connection method.

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