JP7571107B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile, a copying machine , or a multifunction printer (MFP).

In recent years, operation units equipped with touch panels have been increasingly adopted as input devices for image forming devices, and this trend is spreading not only to image forming devices that output A3-sized paper, but also to small image forming devices that output A4-sized paper and are designed to be placed on a desktop.

The recent trend is to eliminate any steps on the surface of the operation unit (excluding various buttons and keys), and to make the touch panel surface and the cover surface of the operation unit almost flush with each other, moving towards a flat design with no height difference at the boundary.

There are several types of touch panels, and traditionally resistive (pressure-sensitive) types have been the mainstream, but there is a growing shift to capacitive touch panels, which react to the electrical signals from a person's hand and can be operated with a lighter touch. Each of these types has its advantages and disadvantages, and at present, for example, resistive types are used when cost is a priority, while capacitive types are used when operational feel is a priority.

Furthermore, in recent years, there has been an increase in the incorporation of near field wireless communication means (commonly abbreviated as NFC, short for Near Field Communication). This technology makes it possible to perform various authentications from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and to operate the image forming device to print from the mobile device. NFC is often placed near the touch panel from the standpoint of accessibility and ease of recognition of input information from the mobile device.

Patent document 1 discloses a technology in which an NFC and a touch panel are placed on the same surface, processing is performed according to operations received by the NFC, and operations received by the touch panel are invalidated.

JP 2015-179311 A

However, the configuration described in Patent Document 1 has an issue in that when a mobile device is held over a marker area for NFC detection, the edge of the mobile device or the fingers holding the mobile device may touch the touch panel, causing an operation that is not intended by the user.

The object of the present invention is to prevent unintended erroneous operation during detection by short-range wireless communication means.

A representative configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object is an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet, the image forming apparatus comprising: a device main body; an image reading unit that is provided above the device main body in a vertical direction and reads an original image; and a tiltable operation unit that is provided in a front-to-rear direction of the device main body such that a front end is located forward of a front surface of the device main body, the operation unit having a detection unit that detects a communication device that is brought close within a detection range, an NFC detection board that communicates with the communication device detected by the detection unit via short-range wireless communication, a touch panel that accepts instructions from a user via a touch operation, and a cover unit that covers the NFC detection board , the NFC detection board being located outside the touch panel in a plane parallel to a surface of the touch panel, and the touch panel being configured to receive instructions from a user via a touch operation. the NFC detection substrate is disposed at a position forward of a center line that passes through the center of the touch panel and extends in a left-right direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction and the vertical direction, and to the right of the right end of the touch panel, and when the image forming apparatus is viewed from the front in the front-to-back direction, at least a part of an ejection space that is provided between the image reading unit and the device main body and through which a sheet is ejected from the device main body is visible to the left of the left end of the operation unit in the left-to-right direction , and at least a portion of the cover unit where the NFC detection substrate is disposed has, in a plane parallel to the surface of the touch panel, a first portion that is close to the edge of the touch panel and a second portion that is farther from the edge of the touch panel than the first portion, and the first portion is inclined with respect to the surface of the touch panel so as to be higher than the second portion .

The present invention makes it possible to prevent unintended erroneous operation during detection by short-range wireless communication means.

1 is a perspective view of an external appearance of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. 1 is an external side view of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of an operation unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of an operation unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an operation unit according to the first embodiment. 1A and 1B are perspective views illustrating an operation unit using NFC according to a first embodiment. FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of an operation unit according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of an operation unit according to a third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view of an operation unit according to a fourth embodiment. 13A and 13B are side views illustrating an example of NFC detection of an operation unit according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view of an operation unit according to a fifth embodiment. 13A and 13B are side views illustrating an example of NFC detection of an operation unit according to a fifth embodiment.

The following describes in detail the preferred embodiments of the present invention by way of example, with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, and relative positions of the components described in the following embodiments should be modified as appropriate depending on the configuration and various conditions of the device to which the present invention is applied. Therefore, unless otherwise specified, it is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to these alone.

Example 1
Hereinafter, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus including an input device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus including an operation unit as an input device according to the first embodiment, and Fig. 2 is an external side view of the image forming apparatus including the operation unit.

1 and 2, the image forming device 100 includes an image forming device main body 101 that forms an image on a sheet such as a recording paper to be recorded on, and an image reading device 201 that is disposed above the image forming device main body 101 and reads an image on a sheet such as a document to be read. The image forming device 100 further includes an operation unit 10 as an input device. The operation unit 10 includes a touch panel 1 and a short-range wireless communication means (commonly abbreviated as NFC for Near Field Communication, hereinafter referred to as NFC) 3, which will be described below.

In the image forming operation of the image forming device 100, an image is first stored in the device by an image reading device 201 or an image input means (not shown) such as a personal computer connected to the device body. Next, sheets to be recorded are sent out one by one from a sheet cassette 102 provided below the device, and the stored image is transferred onto the sheet by an image forming section inside the device, and output to a paper output tray 103.

At this time, various output conditions such as the number of sheets to be output and image size are input from the operation unit 10, and the device is controlled based on this information. For ease of input, the operation unit 10 is generally placed above the front of the device, such as in front of the image reading device 201. Here, the side on which the operation unit 10 is provided is the front side (front side) of the image forming device, and the opposite side is the rear side (rear side). Also, when viewed from the front side of the device, one side of the width direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction of the device is the right side, and the other side is the left side.

In Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, 1 is a touch panel, which accepts user operations by inputting information by touching the panel surface. 2 is a cover as an exterior member, which has an exterior surface that is approximately flush with the touch panel 1. In other words, the touch panel 1 is arranged so that it is approximately flush with the surface (exterior surface) of the cover 2 of the operation unit 10. As shown in Fig. 5, NFC 3 communicates with a detection target such as a mobile device that is brought close within the detection range. NFC 3 is provided near the periphery of the touch panel 1 and on the inside of the cover 2. 2a is the detection position of NFC 3, which is a position corresponding to the NFC 3 provided on the inside of the cover 2.

There are several types of touch panel 1, broadly classified into resistive film (pressure-sensitive) types that convert physical contact with the panel surface into electrical information, and capacitive types that detect minute electrical signals from a finger touching the panel surface. Capacitive types are highly sensitive and can easily accommodate fine operations, and are therefore expected to become mainstream in the future, but at present they are more expensive than resistive film types. For this reason, a resistive film (pressure-sensitive) touch panel is used in this embodiment.

Here, an image forming device that handles A4 size sheets is shown as an example of the image forming device. In the image forming device 100, the image forming device main body 101 and the image reading device 201 are similar in size in both width and depth. In the image forming device 100, the operation unit 10, which uses a touch panel 1 of a predetermined size (here, 5 inches), is positioned so that it protrudes from the main body toward the front of the device. By positioning the operation unit 10 so that it protrudes from the main body, the operation unit 10 can be tilted on the spot, and can be used at an angle that is always easy to see for everyone, from tall users to wheelchair users.

Figure 3 is a front view of the appearance of the operation unit according to the first embodiment, Figure 4 is a perspective view of the appearance of the operation unit, Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the operation unit, and Figures 6(a) and 6(b) are perspective views of a state in which a mobile device (detection target) is brought close to the operation unit according to the first embodiment and NFC is being used.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, the detection position 2a of the NFC3 is disposed on one side of the touch panel 1 as viewed from the front of the apparatus (here, the right side as viewed from the front of the apparatus ) . This reduces the amount by which the operation unit 10 protrudes to the front side of the image forming apparatus main body 101. The detection position 2a of the NFC3 protrudes from the surface of the operation unit 10 (the same surface as the touch panel 1) beyond the touch panel 1. Furthermore, the detection position 2a of the NFC3 is inclined with respect to the surface of the operation unit 10 so that the side closer to the touch panel 1 is higher than the side farther from the touch panel 1. Specifically, the detection position 2a of the cover 2 corresponding to the NFC3 is inclined so that the protrusion amount from the touch panel 1 on the side closer to the touch panel 1 is about 5 mm, and the protrusion amount from the touch panel 1 on the side farther from the touch panel 1 is 0 to 1 mm. Here, the detection position 2a of NFC3 is higher than the surface of the touch panel 1 by about 5 mm on the touch panel 1 side (left side) and about 0.5 mm on the side away from the touch panel 1 (right side), and the surface is inclined while protruding. As a result, when the mobile device 20 is brought close to the detection position 2a of NFC3, it is possible to guide the mobile device 20 to approach in accordance with the shape of the detection position 2a, which is the protruding and inclined surface of the cover 2. As a result, the mobile device 20 or the hand or fingers holding the mobile device 20 do not come into contact with the touch panel 1.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, when a user flicks on the screen of the touch panel 1, such as to move a page, the user often moves the finger up, down, left, and right from the center of the touch panel 1. At this time, if the touch panel 1 is small in size, such as 5 inches or less, when the finger Y is flicked in the direction of the arrow A from the center of the touch panel 1, the finger is swung to the outside of the touch panel 1. For example, in the case of a 5-inch touch panel 1, the screen width is about 11 cm, and when the flick is made 50 mm from the center of the screen, the position of the finger Y is the edge of the screen. In the case of a flick , the finger is swung even at a position away from the touch panel 1, so that the finger touches the convex shape of the detection position 2a of the NFC 3 arranged next to the touch panel 1. The screen width of a 7-inch touch panel is about 15 cm, and depending on the flick + the swing width of the finger Y, the finger may touch the convex shape of the detection position 2a of the NFC 3 arranged next to the touch panel 1.

Therefore, the detection position 2a of the cover 2 corresponding to NFC3 is arranged at a position away from the center line CL of the touch panel 1. More specifically, the detection position 2a of NFC3 is arranged at a distance B of 5 mm or more from the center line CL of the touch panel 1 to the upper end of the convex shape of the detection position 2a of NFC3. Here, the detection position 2a of NFC3 is arranged at a distance B of 13 mm from the center line CL of the touch panel 1. This prevents the convex shape of the detection position 2a of NFC3 from interfering with the flick operation, and prevents the discomfort caused by touching the convex shape with a flick . Here, the center line CL of the touch panel 1 is a horizontal straight line (a dashed line shown in FIG. 3) passing through the center C of the touch panel 1.

In other flick operations, the starting point of the flick may be determined by the screen layout. For example, to advance a line, the flick may be performed by touching and flicking near the line to be moved. In this embodiment, a horizontally written touch panel screen is used, and the screen is displayed left-justified, so the starting point is somewhere on the left side of the screen of the touch panel 1. Since the flick operation is performed by flicking up and down from there, the convex shape of the detection position 2a of the NFC 3 arranged on the right side of the touch panel 1 is not touched.

On the other hand, when a vertically written touch panel screen is used, the back side of the screen (the upper side of the screen of the touch panel 1 in FIG. 3) becomes the starting point of the flick . Since the flick action is from there to the left and right, the convex shape of the detection position 2a of the NFC 3 located on the front side of the center of the touch panel 1 (the lower side of the screen of the touch panel 1 in FIG. 3) is not touched. Note that when a vertically written touch panel screen is used, the detection position 2a of the NFC 3 may be located on the front side of the touch panel 1 (the lower side of the screen of the touch panel 1 in FIG. 3) instead of on the right side of the touch panel 1 shown in FIG. 3.

To access via NFC3, the mobile device 20 (see FIG. 6) must be held within a certain distance from the NFC3. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a mark (cross mark) 2b is provided at the detection position 2a on the cover 2 corresponding to NFC3 as a mark for holding the mobile device 20 over the detection position to clearly indicate the detection position.

As shown in FIG. 5, the NFC3 detection position 2a protrudes from the touch panel 1 on the top surface of the operation unit 10. Furthermore, the NFC3 detection position 2a is tilted so that it protrudes from the touch panel 1 by approximately 5 mm on the touch panel 1 side (left side) and by approximately 0.5 mm on the side away from the touch panel 1 (right side). This ensures that the distance from NFC3 (specifically the NFC detection board having the detection unit) to the detection position 2a corresponding to NFC3 on the cover 2 is 5 mm or less. This is also to satisfy the lower limit of 5 mm of the NFC3 detection standard for the mobile device 20.

By arranging the NFC 3 in parallel with and adjacent to the detection position 2a of the opposing cover 2, the height of the detection position 2a of the NFC 3 can be made higher than 5 mm.

As shown in FIG. 6(a), the operation unit 10 has the NFC3 detection position 2a located on the right side of the touch panel 1, and the NFC3 detection position 2a is located toward the front side of the device from the center of the touch panel 1. This positions the hand T holding the mobile device 20 away from the touch panel 1, preventing erroneous operation by fingers, etc.

As shown in FIG. 6(b), even when a small (approximately 80 mm wide) mobile device 20 held in hand T is brought into contact with detection position 2a of NFC3, the surface of detection position 2a of NFC3 is protruding and inclined. This causes the end of mobile device 20 on the touch panel side to be raised a predetermined height (here, approximately 15 mm) above the surface of touch panel 1, preventing fingers from unintentionally touching touch panel 1.

In this way, according to this embodiment, when the mobile device 20 is held over the detection position 2a corresponding to NFC3, it is possible to prevent unintended erroneous operations by the user, such as the edge of the mobile device or the fingers holding the mobile device touching the touch panel.

Example 2
The operation unit according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. The schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus and the basic configuration of the operation unit are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. In the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are used to designate members having the same functions as those in the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, a position on the cover 2 other than the detection position 2a corresponding to NFC3 is protruded from the touch panel 1 in the same manner as the detection position 2a, and is tilted so that the side closer to the touch panel 1 is higher than the side farther from the touch panel 1.

Figure 7 is an external perspective view of the operation unit according to the second embodiment. In Figure 7, 4 is a convex shape that is provided so as to be flush with the inclined surface of the convex shape of the NFC detection position 2a. The convex shape of the detection position 2a is provided on the front side of the operation unit 10 from the center line CL of the touch panel 1, while the convex shape 4 is provided on the back side of the operation unit 10 from the center line CL of the touch panel 1.

When a large tablet is used as a mobile device, the operation unit 10 may not be visible depending on the NFC position of the tablet. In this case, the back side of the tablet may be lower than the front side relative to the operation unit 10, and the back side of the tablet may come into contact with the touch panel 1, resulting in a false detection.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the aforementioned convex shape 4 is provided at the back of the operation unit 10 in addition to the NFC 3 detection position 2a provided on the front side of the operation unit 10. This allows the convex shape 4 to come into contact with and receive the tablet first at the back of the operation unit 10, and when the tablet is brought close, it is received at two locations, the NFC detection position 2a and the convex shape 4. This makes it possible to prevent erroneous operation on the touch panel 1 even when a large tablet is used as the mobile device 20.

Furthermore, the position of the convex shape 4 is disposed at a distance of 5 mm or more (30 mm in this example) from the center line CL of the touch panel 1 toward the rear side. This prevents the convex shape 4 from interfering with flicking when the touch panel 1 is operated.

Example 3
The operation unit according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. The schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus and the basic configuration of the operation unit are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. In the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are used to designate members having the same functions as those in the first embodiment.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, taking into consideration the case where the touch panel 1 is relatively small in size, the detection position 2a of the NFC 3 and the convex shape 4 are provided at positions that do not interfere with flicking when operating the touch panel 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the appearance of an operation unit according to Example 3. In the operation unit 10 shown in Fig. 8, the touch panel 1 is made large enough for a flick operation. In this case, as shown in Fig. 8, the convex shape of the detection position 2a corresponding to the NFC 3 of the cover 2 may be provided over the entire right side instead of being partially provided.

In this way, if the touch panel 1 is made large enough for a flick operation, even if the convex shape of the detection position 2a corresponding to NFC 3 is provided over the entire right side, it will not interfere with the flick , and unintentional erroneous operation when NFC is detected can be prevented.

Example 4
An operation unit according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9 and Fig. 10. The schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus and the basic configuration of the operation unit are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. In the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are used to designate members having the same functions as those in the first embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, the operation unit 10 is configured to have no information input means other than a touch panel, but this is not limited to the above. As shown in FIG. 9, the operation unit 10 according to this embodiment is configured to have various keys such as a numeric keypad 40 and a start key 41 as information input means other than a touch panel.

On the other hand, the size of the touch panel 1 installed in image forming devices has gradually become wider since devices capable of outputting large paper such as A3, and it is not uncommon for the diagonal size to exceed 10 inches. The touch panel 1 in Figure 9 is 10 inches in size, and has the various keys mentioned above on its right side.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the operation unit 10 according to this embodiment, in order to avoid further enlarging the width dimension of the touch panel 1, the NFC 3 is placed on the near side (front side) of the touch panel 1 in the vicinity of the periphery of the touch panel 1. In other words, the detection position 2a corresponding to the NFC 3 of the cover 2 is placed on the near side of the touch panel 1, not on the left or right side.

The detection range of the mobile device 20 by NFC3 can be as wide as about 100 mm, which is used in automatic ticket gates on trains, but in the operation unit 10 of this embodiment, the detection range is about 20 mm, taking into account the balance between function, cost, and size. Therefore, when accessing via NFC, the mobile device needs to be held close to the touch panel 1 so that it is within this range.

Figure 9 is an external perspective view of the operating unit 10 according to the fourth embodiment, and Figures 10(a) and 10(b) are side views of the operating unit 10 according to the fourth embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9, the operation unit 10 according to this embodiment has a detection position 2a corresponding to NFC3 on the cover 2 provided on the front side of the touch panel 1. Also, the detection position 2a corresponding to NFC3 on the cover 2 is inclined so that the touch panel side is higher than the side away from the touch panel 1. In other words, an inclined surface 5 with a predetermined gradient relative to the surface of the touch panel 1 is provided at the detection position 2a corresponding to NFC3 on the cover 2. This inclined surface 5 is provided across the entire width of the front side of the touch panel 1.

To access via NFC, the mobile device 20 must be held within a certain distance from the NFC 3. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9, a mark (cross mark) 2b is provided at the detection position 2a on the cover 2 corresponding to the NFC 3, as a mark for holding the mobile device 20 over the detection position, to clearly indicate the detection position.

When the mobile device 20 is held over the mark 2b on the operation unit 10, it is expected that the mobile device 20 will be guided to be held parallel to the inclined surface 5 including the detection position 2a. The inclined surface 5 is inclined so that the touch panel 1 side is raised, so when the mobile device 20 is held parallel to or abutted against the inclined surface 5, the end 20a of the mobile device 20 on the touch panel 1 side will naturally be raised. Figure 10(b) shows the mobile device 20 in a state where it is abutted against the mark 2b (see Figure 9) on the inclined surface 5, and it can be seen that the end 20a of the mobile device 20 is guided in a direction away from the touch panel 1.

As explained above, in this embodiment, by providing this inclined surface 5, it is possible to obtain the effect of reducing erroneous operation of the screen of the touch panel 1 by the mobile device 20 with a low-cost and simple configuration without increasing the cost of the input device such as the operation unit or compromising the design.

The inclined surface 5 does not necessarily have to cover the entire width of the operation unit 10. As long as it is greater than or equal to the width of the mobile device 20, even if it is partially installed, it will still be effective in reducing erroneous screen operation.

Example 5
The operation unit according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 11 and Fig. 12. The schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus and the basic configuration of the operation unit are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. In the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are used to designate members having the same functions as those in the first embodiment.

Figure 11 is an external perspective view of the operating unit 10 according to the fifth embodiment, and Figures 12(a) and 12(b) are side views of the operating unit 10 according to the fifth embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 11, the operation unit 10 according to this embodiment, like the operation unit 10 according to the fourth embodiment, has a detection position 2a corresponding to NFC3 on the cover 2 provided on the front side of the touch panel 1. Also, the detection position 2a corresponding to NFC3 on the cover 2 is inclined so that the touch panel side is higher than the side away from the touch panel 1. That is, an inclined surface 5 having a predetermined gradient with respect to the surface of the touch panel 1 is provided at the detection position 2a corresponding to NFC3 on the cover 2. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 12(a) and FIG. 12(b), this inclined surface 5 is a convex inclined surface that protrudes by a predetermined amount (protrusion amount) L from the surface of the cover 2 that is approximately the same plane as the touch panel 1.

As in the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, a mark (cross mark) 2b is provided at the detection position 2a on the cover 2 corresponding to NFC3, as a mark for holding the mobile device 20 over the detection position to clearly indicate the detection position.

When the mobile device 20 is held over the mark 2b on the operation unit 12, it is expected that the user will be guided to hold the mobile device 20 parallel to the protruding inclined surface 5 including the detection position 2a. This protruding inclined surface 5 is inclined so that the touch panel 1 side is raised. Therefore, if the mobile device 20 is held parallel to or touched against the protruding inclined surface 5, the end 20a of the mobile device 20 on the touch panel 1 side will naturally be raised.

In addition, the inclined surface 32 in this embodiment protrudes a predetermined amount (protrusion amount) L from the surface of the cover 2. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12(b), when the mobile device 20 is held over the mark 2b, the mobile device 20 abuts against the inclined surface 5 before the touch panel 1. This prevents the mobile device 20 from touching the touch panel 1. In other words, this protrusion amount L more actively prevents the mobile device 20 from touching the touch panel 1.

The larger the protrusion amount L, the more effective it is in preventing erroneous operation of the screen of the touch panel 1, but it is not unlimited. Since the detection range of the mobile device 20 by NFC3 is about 20 mm, if the protrusion amount L exceeds 20 mm, the mobile device 20 cannot be detected. Therefore, in order to balance the effect of preventing erroneous operation and the detection range, it is desirable for the protrusion amount L to be 10 mm or less, and in this embodiment (FIGS. 11 and 12), it is 5 mm.

As explained above, in this embodiment as well, by providing a protruding inclined surface 5, it is possible to obtain the effect of reducing erroneous operation of the screen of the touch panel 1 by the mobile device 20 with a low-cost and simple configuration without increasing the cost of the input device such as the operation unit or compromising the design.

The horizontal dimension of the protruding inclined surface 5 may be smaller than the horizontal dimension of the mobile device 20, or may be the entire horizontal dimension of the operation unit 10, since the effect of reducing erroneous operation does not change significantly if the protruding amount L is the same.

Furthermore, the protruding inclined surface 5, which is the detection position 2a corresponding to NFC 3 on the cover 2, does not need to be integral with the surface 30 of the cover 2 of the operation unit 10, and may be configured to be detachable from the operation unit 10.

Other Examples
In the above-described embodiment, a resistive film type (pressure-sensitive type) touch panel that converts physical contact with the panel surface into electrical information is used, but the touch panel is not limited to this type and may be a capacitive type that detects minute electrical signals from fingers that touch the panel surface.

The image forming device may also be other image forming devices such as a printer, copier, or facsimile machine, or other image forming devices such as a multifunction machine that combines the functions of these. The same effect can be obtained by applying the present invention to the input device used in these image forming devices.

CL ... center line T ... hand Y ... finger 1 ... touch panel 2 ... cover 2a ... detection position 2b ... mark 4 ... convex shape 5 ... inclined surface 10 ... operation unit 20 ... mobile device 20a ... end portion 100 ... image forming device 101 ... image forming device main body 201 ... image reading device

Claims (13)

An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet,
A device body,
an image reading unit that is provided above the device body in a vertical direction and that reads an image of a document;
a tiltable operation unit provided such that a front end portion is located forward of a front surface of the device body in a front-rear direction of the device body,
The operation unit includes:
an NFC detection board including a detection unit that detects a communication device that is brought close within a detection range and that communicates with the communication device detected by the detection unit via short-range wireless communication;
a touch panel that receives instructions from a user via touch operations;
a cover portion that covers the NFC detection board ,
the NFC detection board is located outside the touch panel in a plane parallel to a surface of the touch panel, and is provided to the right of a right end of the touch panel at a position forward of a center line that passes through a center of the touch panel and extends in a left-right direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction and the vertical direction,
When the image forming apparatus is viewed from the front side in the front-rear direction, at least a part of an ejection space that is provided between the image reading unit and the apparatus main body and through which a sheet is ejected from the apparatus main body is visually recognized to the left of a left end of the operation unit in the left-right direction ,
a portion of the cover where at least the NFC detection board is provided has, in a plane parallel to a surface of the touch panel, a first portion close to an edge of the touch panel and a second portion farther from the edge of the touch panel than the first portion;
the first portion is inclined with respect to a surface of the touch panel so as to be higher than the second portion;
1. An image forming apparatus comprising: the NFC detection board is provided at a position overlapping an area in which the touch panel is provided in a direction perpendicular to the left-right direction in a plane parallel to a surface of the touch panel;
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, At least a portion of the cover where the NFC detection substrate is provided protrudes from a surface of the touch panel,
The protruding amount of the first portion is greater than the protruding amount of the second portion.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , The operation unit is provided to the right of the center of the device body in the left-right direction.
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second electrodes are arranged in a first direction. When the image forming apparatus is viewed from the front side in the front-rear direction, a right end of the operation unit does not overlap with the discharge space in the left-right direction.
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second electrodes are arranged in a first direction. In the front-rear direction, a front end of the operation unit is located forward of the entire surface regardless of an angle at which the operation unit is tilted.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, The operation unit tilts around a rotation axis,
The pivot shaft is located rearward of the front surface in the front-rear direction.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, the operation unit has a cover that covers the NFC detection board,
the cover has a mark provided at a position corresponding to the NFC detection board, the mark being a guide for a user to hold the communication device over the NFC detection board;
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, the mark is located outside the touch panel, in front of the center line in the front-rear direction, and to the right of a right end of the touch panel;
9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8 , The mark includes text.
10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9 , the cover covers the NFC detection board and the touch panel;
9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8 , the operation unit has a first housing having the touch panel and a second housing having the NFC detection board;
The second housing is detachable from the first housing.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, the second housing has a cover that covers the NFC detection board,
The cover is provided at a position corresponding to the NFC detection board and has a mark that serves as a guide for a user to hold the communication device over the NFC detection board.
13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12 .

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