JP7619088B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming device.

Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional image forming apparatus in Figures 1 and 2. This image forming apparatus has an upper housing that houses an image reading unit that reads an image on a document, and a lower housing that houses an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet. The lower housing also houses a USB board that has a USB terminal to which a USB device such as a USB memory is connected. A USB opening that exposes the USB terminal is formed in the side wall of the lower housing.

JP 2020-57972 A

However, when a USB device is inserted into a USB opening and connected to a USB terminal, the USB device protrudes outward from the side wall of the lower housing. In the conventional image forming device described above, since there is no upper housing above the USB opening, there is a risk that liquid may seep into the USB opening or that a person or object may come into contact with the USB device inserted into the USB opening.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned conventional situation, and aims to provide an image forming device that is less susceptible to problems such as liquids entering the USB opening or people or objects coming into contact with a USB device inserted into the USB opening.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises:
An image forming unit;
a discharge roller that discharges the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming unit in a sheet discharge direction;
a first side wall and a second side wall opposed to each other in a width direction perpendicular to the paper discharge direction;
a USB board having a USB terminal to which a USB device is connected;
an upper housing that is disposed above the first side wall and the second side wall, has a protruding portion that protrudes beyond the first side wall in the width direction, and accommodates an image reading unit that reads an image of a document,
The first side wall has a first opening below the protruding portion through which the USB terminal is exposed.

In the image forming device of the present invention, the protruding portion of the upper housing located above the first opening reduces the external influence on the first opening.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming device that is less susceptible to problems such as liquid entering the first opening that exposes the USB terminal, or people or objects coming into contact with a USB device inserted into the first opening.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, seen from diagonally front left. FIG. 2 is a front view of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a left side view of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a left side view of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment, showing a schematic diagram of the positional relationship in the height direction between the drive roller holding board and the exposure unit held by the lower housing and the USB holding board. FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing an outline of the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus as viewed obliquely from above, showing a schematic positional relationship between the upper housing, the operation panel and the power switch of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a right side view of the image forming apparatus, showing a schematic positional relationship between the upper housing and the power switch, according to the embodiment of the invention. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the image forming apparatus, showing a schematic positional relationship between the upper housing and the power switch, according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view showing the image forming apparatus of the embodiment with a cover for opening and closing the additional board opening provided on the first side wall in an open state.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

(Example)
The image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment is a multifunction machine as an example of a specific embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. In the following description, the image forming apparatus 10 is set in a usable state as shown in Fig. 1 as a reference, the side from which the sheet tray 23 is pulled out is defined as the front, and the opposite side is defined as the rear, the left and right directions are defined as seen from the front side of the image forming apparatus 10, and further the upper housing 1 side of the image forming apparatus 10 is defined as the top and the lower housing 2 side is defined as the bottom, and each direction is defined. The left and right direction as seen from the front side of the image forming apparatus 10 is the width direction of the image forming apparatus 10.

<Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus>
1 to 3, an image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment includes an upper housing 1, a lower housing 2, and a connecting housing 3. The upper housing 1, the lower housing 2, and the connecting housing 3 all have a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.

The upper housing 1 is disposed above the connecting housing 3 so as to cover the upper surface of the connecting housing 3. The upper housing 1 has an upper main body 11, a document holder 12, an ADF (auto document feeder) 13, and an operation panel 14.

The upper housing 1 has an upper front side 1A, an upper left side 1B, and an upper right side 1C. The upper front side 1A is composed of a front side located at the front end of the upper main body 11 in the front-rear direction, and a front side located at the front end of the document holder 12 in the front-rear direction. The upper left side 1B is composed of a left side located at the left end of the upper main body 11 in the left-right direction, and a left side located at the left end of the document holder 12 in the left-right direction. The upper right side 1C is composed of a right side located at the right end of the upper main body 11 in the left-right direction, and a right side located at the right end of the document holder 12 in the left-right direction. The upper front side 1A, upper left side 1B, and upper right side 1C all extend vertically. The upper front side 1A corresponds to a vertical wall in the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper body 11 houses an image reading unit 15 that reads the document. The document holder 12 is a housing having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is provided above the upper body 11 so as to cover the upper surface of the upper body 11. The document holder 12 is connected at its rear to the upper body 11 so that its front can rotate up and down. The document holder 12 is provided with an ADF 13 at its top. The operation panel 14 is a panel that protrudes from the upper body 11 so as to be located forward of the upper front side surface 1A, and has a touch panel, operation buttons, etc. for operating the image forming device 10.

The lower housing 2 has a lower main body 21, an opening/closing cover 22, and a sheet tray 23.

The lower housing 2 has a lower left side surface 2A. The lower left side surface 2A is composed of the left side surface located at the left end of the lower main body 21 in the left-right direction. The lower left side surface 2A extends vertically.

The lower body 21 has an opening 21A at the front, which allows access to the inside of the device. The opening/closing cover 22 opens and closes the upper part of the opening 21A by rotating the upper part of the opening/closing cover 22 in the front-to-rear direction relative to the lower body 21. The sheet tray 23 opens and closes the lower part of the opening 21A by reciprocating in the front-to-rear direction relative to the lower body 21.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lower body 21 houses an image forming unit 24 that forms an image on the sheet S. The image forming unit 24 has a drive roller 25 and an exposure device 26. The drive roller 25 is held by a drive roller holding metal plate 27 housed in the lower body 21. There are no particular limitations on the configuration of the image forming unit 24, and configurations such as an electrophotographic type, an inkjet type, or a thermal head type can be used.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lower body 21 houses a sheet conveying device 6 that conveys the sheet S from the sheet tray 23 to the outside of the lower housing 2. The sheet conveying device 6 has a paper discharge roller 61, a paper discharge tray 62, and a conveying path 63 that connects the sheet tray 23 to the paper discharge tray 62 via the image forming unit 24. The image forming device 10 has a sheet removal opening 10A at the front as an opening between the upper surface of the lower housing 2 and the lower surface of the housing 1. The paper discharge tray 62 is formed on the upper surface of the lower housing 2 and has a shape that is inclined upward from the rear to the front. The sheet conveying device 6 has multiple pairs of conveying rollers in the conveying path 63 and has a paper discharge roller 61 at the most downstream part of the conveying path 63. The paper discharge tray 62 is located downstream of the paper discharge roller 61 in the paper discharge direction, and the paper discharge roller 61 discharges the sheet S onto the paper discharge tray 62. In this specification, the direction in which the discharge roller 61 discharges the sheet S toward the discharge tray 62 is defined as the discharge direction. The discharge direction is the direction from the rear to the front of the image forming device 10 in Figures 1, 3, and 4.

The connecting housing 3 connects the upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2. The connecting housing 3 is joined to the lower housing 2 so as to cover the upper surface of the lower housing 2 from above. As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting housing 3 contains a metal plate 31 for holding a USB board. The metal plate 31 for holding a USB board holds a USB board 33 having a USB terminal 32.

The connecting housing 3 has a connecting left side surface 3A located at the left end of the connecting housing 3 in the left-right direction, and a connecting right side surface 3B located at the right end of the connecting housing 3 in the left-right direction. Both the connecting left side surface 3A and the connecting right side surface 3B extend vertically. The connecting left side surface 3A corresponds to the first side wall of the present invention, and the connecting right side surface 3B corresponds to the second side wall of the present invention. In the left-right direction of the image forming device 10, the position of the connecting left side surface 3A coincides with the position of the lower left side surface 2A. The connecting left side surface 3A is a surface that extends upward from the lower left side surface 2A. The connecting housing 3 has a connecting left first surface 3C that is a surface that continues from the connecting left side surface 3A and faces approximately downward. The connecting housing 3 further has a connecting left second surface 3D that is a surface that continues from the connecting left first surface 3C, faces approximately leftward, and connects to the lower end of the left side of the upper housing 1.

1 and 2, the first left connecting surface 3C and the second left connecting surface 3D of the upper housing 1 and the connecting housing 3 protrude in the width direction from the connecting left side surface 3A. The first left connecting surface 3C and the second left connecting surface 3D of the upper housing 1 and the connecting housing 3 form a protruding portion 16. As shown in FIG. 3, the first left connecting surface 3C, which corresponds to the lower surface 16A of the protruding portion 16, has a handle portion 17A on which the user's fingers can be placed. The handle portion 17A is formed by a plurality of ribs. That is, a plurality of ribs aligned in the left-right direction at the left edge of the first left connecting surface 3C extend in the front-rear direction. The handle portion 17A is formed in the range indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 3. The handle portion 17A extends continuously from near the rear end of the connecting housing 3 in the front-rear direction toward the front to near the upper front side surface 1A in the front-rear direction of the image forming device 10.

2, the connecting housing 3 has a connecting right first surface 3E that is a surface that continues from the connecting right side surface 3B and faces substantially downward. The connecting housing 3 further has a connecting right second surface 3F that is a surface that continues from the connecting right first surface 3E, faces substantially to the right, and connects to the lower end of the right side of the upper housing 1. The connecting right first surface 3E has a handle portion 17B on which the user's fingers can be placed. The handle portion 17B extends continuously forward from near the rear end of the connecting housing 3 in the front-to-rear direction to the vicinity of the upper front side surface 1A, which is in the same range in the front-to-rear direction as the handle portion 17A.

2 and 3, the connecting left side surface 3A has a USB opening 34 into which the USB device 4 is inserted. That is, the connecting left side surface 3A has the USB opening 34 so as to expose the USB terminal 32 on the USB board 33 located inside the connecting left side surface 3A. The USB opening 34 corresponds to the first opening of the present invention. The USB device 4 is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a USB memory. The USB opening 34 is located below the protrusion 16. In the left-right direction of the image forming device 10, the USB device 4 inserted into the USB opening 34 and connected to the USB terminal 32 is located to the right of the upper left side surface 1B. Specifically, in the left-right direction of the image forming device 10, the left end of the USB device 4 inserted into the USB opening 34 and connected to the USB terminal 32 is separated to the right from the upper left side surface 1B by the distance indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 2. That is, when the USB device 4 is inserted into the USB opening 34 and connected to the USB terminal 32, the upper side of the USB device 4 is covered by the protrusion 16.

As shown in FIG. 3, the USB opening 34 is located forward of the center of the connecting housing 3 and rearward of the upper front side surface 1A of the upper housing 1 in the front-rear direction of the image forming device 10. The handle 17A is located above the USB opening 34. Specifically, in the front-rear direction of the image forming device 10, the front end of the handle 17A is located forward of the rear end of the USB opening 34. A vertical gap 35 is formed between the handle 17A and the USB opening 34 to allow fingers to be inserted and removed. The size of this vertical gap 35 is within the range indicated by arrow C in FIG. 3.

The power switch 18 of the image forming device 10 is disposed on the upper surface of the lower housing 2. The power switch 18 is located below the upper housing 1. As shown in Figs. 6 and 8, the power switch 18 is located on the connecting right side 3B side from the center in the left-right direction of the image forming device 10, and is located to the left of the upper right side 1C in the left-right direction of the image forming device 10. Specifically, in the left-right direction of the image forming device 10, the right end of the power switch 18 is separated to the left from the upper right side 1C by the distance indicated by the arrow D in Fig. 6. Also, the power switch 18 is located in a position that does not overlap with the operation panel 14 in a plan view. As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the power switch 18 is located rearward of the upper front side 1A in the front-rear direction of the image forming device 10. Specifically, in the front-rear direction of the image forming device 10, the front end of the power switch 18 is located rearward of the upper front side 1A by the distance indicated by the arrow E in Fig. 7.

1 and 3, the lower left side surface 2A of the lower housing 2 and the connecting left side surface 3A of the connecting housing 3 have an opening 51 for an additional board into which an additional board is inserted. The opening for an additional board corresponds to the second opening of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the opening 51 for an additional board is opened and closed by a cover 53 that rotates around a pivot shaft 52 disposed at the upper end of the opening 51 for an additional board. An engaged portion 51A is provided at the lower end of the opening 51 for an additional board. The cover 53 has an engaging portion 53A that can be engaged with and disengaged from the engaged portion 51A. The engaging portion 53A engages with the engaged portion 51A when the cover 53 rotates from above to below around the pivot shaft 52 due to its own weight. The engagement between the engaging portion 53A and the engaged portion 51A is released when the user pulls up the lower end of the cover 53.

<Action and effect>
In the image forming apparatus 10 configured as described above, since the USB opening 34 is located below the protruding portion 16 of the upper housing 1, the upper side of the USB device 4 inserted into the USB opening 34 is covered by the protruding portion 16. Therefore, the protruding portion 16 located above the USB opening 34 reduces the influence of the external environment on the USB opening 34.

Therefore, with this image forming device 10, problems such as liquid entering the USB opening 34 or people or objects coming into contact with the USB device 4 inserted into the USB opening 34 are unlikely to occur.

Even if the image forming device 10 is installed with its left end against the wall of the room, a space for attaching the USB device 4 can be secured between the USB opening 34 and the wall of the room.

In this image forming device 10, a vertical gap 35 that allows fingers to be inserted and removed is formed between the handle portion 17A and the USB opening 34. With this configuration, even if a USB device 4 is inserted into the USB opening 34, the user can insert their fingers through the vertical gap 35 and hook it onto the handle portion 17A, so the USB device 4 is less likely to get in the way when moving the image forming device 10. When the user lifts the image forming device 10, they lift it by hooking their fingers between the handle portions 17A and 17B.

In this image forming device 10, the USB opening 34 is located forward of the center of the image forming device 10 in the front-to-rear direction. With this configuration, the distance from a user standing in front of the image forming device 10 to the USB opening 34 is short, so the user standing in front of the image forming device 10 can easily insert the USB device 4 into the USB opening 34.

In this image forming device 10, the USB opening 34 is located behind the upper front side surface 1A of the upper housing 1. With this configuration, the user can determine that the USB opening 34 is located behind the upper front side surface 1A of the upper housing 1, based on the upper front side surface 1A, making it easier to insert the USB device 4 into the USB opening 34.

In this image forming device 10, the USB board 33 is located above the drive roller holding metal plate 27 housed in the lower housing 2. This configuration makes it difficult for grease and foreign matter around the drive roller 25 held by the drive roller holding metal plate 27 to reach the USB board 33.

In this image forming device 10, the USB board holding metal plate 31 that holds the USB board 33 is housed in the connecting housing 3. With this configuration, the USB board holding metal plate 31 is housed in the connecting housing 3, which is separate from the upper housing 1 that houses the image reading unit 15 and the lower housing 2 that houses the image forming unit 24, so that adverse effects such as vibration transmission from the image reading unit 15 and the image forming unit 24 to the USB board 33 are reduced.

In this image forming device 10, the USB board 33 is located above the exposure device 26. With this configuration, the USB board 33, which is located above the exposure device 26, is less susceptible to adverse effects from paper dust and the like.

In this image forming device 10, the power switch 18 is located below the upper housing 1. In the left-right direction of the image forming device 10, the power switch 18 is located to the left of the upper right side surface 1C of the upper housing 1, and in the front-rear direction of the image forming device 10, it is located behind the upper front side surface 1A of the upper housing 1. With this configuration, the upper side of the power switch 18 is covered by the upper housing 1, reducing the problem of liquid getting on the power switch 18.

In this image forming device 10, the power switch 18 is located closer to the connecting right side 3B than the center in the left-right direction of the image forming device 10, and is located to the left of the upper right side 1C of the upper housing 1. The power switch 18 is also located in a position that does not overlap with the operation panel 14 in a plan view. With this configuration, because the power switch 18 is separated from the operation panel 14, the problem of the user accidentally pressing the power switch 18 when operating the operation panel 14 is reduced.

In this image forming device 10, the connecting left side surface 3A has an opening 51 for an additional board, and a cover 53 that opens and closes the opening 51 for an additional board by rotating around a pivot 52 located at the upper end of the opening 51 for an additional board. With this configuration, the cover 53 rotates around the pivot 52 located at the upper end of the opening 51 for an additional board, so even if you forget to close the cover 53, the opening 51 for an additional board is closed by the cover 53 rotating under its own weight, reducing the impact on device performance, such as changes in airflow, caused by forgetting to close the cover 53.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to examples, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above examples and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the USB opening 34, the expansion board opening 51, and the cover 53 may be arranged in positions symmetrical to the above embodiment in the connecting housing 3. Also, the first side wall does not have to be on the connecting housing 3. For example, the lower housing 2 may have a first side wall, the upper housing 1 may have a protruding portion 16 that protrudes in the width direction beyond the first side wall, and the USB opening 34 may be on the first side wall below the protruding portion 16.

The present invention can be used in image forming devices, as well as image reading devices and multifunction devices, for example.

1: Upper housing 2: Lower housing 3: Connecting housing 4: USB device 3A: Connecting left side surface (first side wall)
3B…Connection right side (second side wall)
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 image forming device 14 operation panel 15 image reading section 16 protrusion 17 handle 18 power switch 24 image forming section 25 drive roller 26 exposure unit 27 drive roller holding metal plate 31 USB board holding metal plate 32 USB terminal 33 USB board 34 USB opening (first opening)
35: Vertical gap 51: Opening for additional board (second opening)
52... Rotating shaft 53... Cover

Claims (11)

an image forming section having a drive roller ;
a discharge roller that discharges the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming unit in a sheet discharge direction;
a first side wall and a second side wall opposed to each other in a width direction perpendicular to the paper discharge direction;
a USB board having a USB terminal to which a USB device is connected;
an upper housing that is disposed above the first side wall and the second side wall, has a protruding portion that protrudes beyond the first side wall in the width direction, and accommodates an image reading unit that reads an image of a document;
a lower housing that is disposed below the upper housing and that houses the image forming unit;
a connecting housing that connects the upper housing and the lower housing ,
the first side wall has a first opening below the protruding portion through which the USB terminal is exposed;
the lower housing accommodates a driving roller holding metal plate that holds the driving roller,
the connecting housing accommodates a USB board holding metal plate that holds the USB board,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the USB board is located above the drive roller holding metal plate . 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first side wall has a second opening into which an additional board is inserted, and a cover which opens and closes the second opening by rotating about a rotation axis located at the upper end of the second opening. An image forming unit;
a discharge roller that discharges the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming unit in a sheet discharge direction;
a first side wall and a second side wall opposed to each other in a width direction perpendicular to the paper discharge direction;
a USB board having a USB terminal to which a USB device is connected;
an upper housing that is disposed above the first side wall and the second side wall, has a protruding portion that protrudes beyond the first side wall in the width direction, and accommodates an image reading unit that reads an image of a document,
an image forming apparatus characterized in that the first side wall has a first opening below the protrusion that exposes the USB terminal, a second opening into which an expansion board is inserted, and a cover that opens and closes the second opening by rotating around a pivot axis located at the upper end of the second opening. The image forming unit has a drive roller,
a lower housing that is disposed below the upper housing and that houses the image forming unit;
the lower housing accommodates a driving roller holding metal plate that holds the driving roller,
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the USB board is located above the drive roller holding metal plate. a connecting housing that connects the upper housing and the lower housing,
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the connecting housing accommodates a USB board holding metal plate for holding the USB board. The protrusion has a handle portion on which a user's fingers can be placed,
The handle portion is located above the first opening,
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a vertical gap is formed between the handhold and the first opening, allowing insertion and removal of the hand and fingers. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first opening is located downstream in the paper discharge direction from a center of the first side wall in the paper discharge direction. the upper housing has a vertical wall extending in a vertical direction and facing downstream in the paper discharge direction,
8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first opening is located upstream of the vertical wall in the paper ejection direction of the first side wall. The image forming unit has an exposure device,
9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the USB board is located above the exposure unit. The image forming apparatus further includes a power switch.
10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power switch is located below the upper housing. The image forming apparatus further includes a power switch.
the upper housing has an operation panel for operating the image forming apparatus,
11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power switch is located closer to the second side wall than the center in the width direction and at a position not overlapping with the operation panel in a plan view.

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