Original document pressing plate opening and closing device and office machine including this original document pressing plate opening and closing device

Abstract

This invention provides a document pressing plate opening and closing device and an office machine including the document pressing plate opening and closing device. The document pressing plate opening and closing device includes a mounting member, a support member, and a lifting member. The mounting member is mounted on the device body side of the office machine having the document pressing plate. The support member is supported on the mounting member by a first hinge shaft and can rotate. The lifting member overlaps with the support member and is pivotally supported on the free end side of the support member by a second hinge shaft, allowing it to rotate in the opposite direction to the support member, and is mounted on the document pressing plate. The document pressing plate opening and closing device is provided with a finger anti-pinch cover. When the lifting member rotates in the opposite direction to the support member, its upper end side is connected to the lifting member and can rotate, while its lower end side engages with the track portions provided on both sides of the mounting member and can slide, thereby blocking the space formed between the lifting member and the support member.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a document pressing plate opening and closing device included in an office machine such as a copying machine, a multifunction printer, a printer, a facsimile machine, a scanner, and the like, and an office machine including the same. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the device main body of an office machine such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, a scanner, and the like, there is a design in which a document pressing plate is installed to the upper rear portion of the device main body by a document pressing plate opening and closing device and is rotatable. The document pressing plate opening and closing device is a hinge mechanism that rotatably supports the document pressing plate around a hinge shaft. It not only allows the document pressing plate to be closely attached to the surface of an exposure glass on the device main body, but also allows the exposure glass to be exposed. When a document is placed on the surface of the exposure glass, the document pressing plate is rotated (opened and closed in the up and down directions) by the document pressing plate opening and closing device to expose (open) the surface of the exposure glass, and after the document is placed on the surface of the exposure glass, the document pressing plate is closed to press the document on the surface of the exposure glass.

[0003] In the above-described document pressing plate opening and closing device, there is a known document pressing plate opening and closing device that is provided with a lifting member and a compression coil spring, and allows a document of any thickness to be closely attached to an exposure glass, and by the pushing force of the compression coil spring, the document pressing plate is rotatable without feeling its own weight (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-95339).

[0004] The document pressing plate opening and closing device described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-95339 includes a mounting member installed to the device main body of an office machine, a support member pivotally supported to the mounting member by a first hinge shaft and rotatable, a lifting member overlapped with the support member and pivotally supported to the free end portion of the support member by a second hinge shaft and rotatable, and installed to a document pressing plate, and a compression coil spring provided between the lifting member and the mounting member and pushing the lifting member in the direction of overlapping with the support member.

[0005] With the above-described configuration, when a document as thick as a book is to be copied, after the thick document is placed on the exposure glass, the document pressing plate is rotated in the closing direction, and the end portion of the document on the side of the document pressing plate opening and closing device will contact the document pressing plate. If the document pressing plate is further pressed down, the lifting member will be inverted with respect to the support member about the second hinge shaft, and the document pressing plate will be horizontally disposed with respect to the exposure glass, and the thick document will be pressed on the exposure glass, and the outside light will be prevented from entering and exiting the inside of the office machine through the exposure glass.

[0006] In this way, when a document as thick as a book is to be copied, the document pressing plate is rotated in the closing direction, and the end portion of the document on the side of the document pressing plate opening and closing device will contact the document pressing plate. If the document pressing plate is further pressed down, the lifting member will be inverted with respect to the support member about the second hinge shaft, and the document pressing plate will be horizontally disposed with respect to the exposure glass, and the thick document will be pressed on the exposure glass, and the outside light will be prevented from entering and exiting the inside of the office machine through the exposure glass. Figure 10As shown, a space will be generated between the rear portion of the lifting member and the rear portion of the supporting member. Depending on the configuration of the document pressing plate opening and closing device, if a thick document on the exposure glass is removed and opened once in the opening direction, the lifting member will overlap the supporting member and return to the original position; but if the document pressing plate is closed in the state that the lifting member is reversed, the document pressing plate, i.e. the lifting member, will be closed in the state that the space between the rear portion of the lifting member and the rear portion of the supporting member is generated, and the front end side of the document pressing plate will be in the lowered state. In this case, the lifting member can return to the original position by overlapping the supporting member if the document pressing plate is opened once in the opening direction; but because of the ignorance or misunderstanding of the device, sometimes the operator does not perform this operation, and the hand is pressed down to the rear end portion of the document pressing plate and the part of the lifting member. In this way, the fingers can be clamped by the space generated between the lifting member and the supporting member, causing the problem of injury. SUMMARY

[0007] The present application is to solve the above problems, and aims to provide a document pressing plate opening and closing device and an office machine including the same, which can prevent the above finger clamping accident in the known document pressing plate opening and closing device.

[0008] To achieve the above purpose, the document pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application includes a mounting member, a supporting member, and a lifting member. The mounting member is mounted on the device body side of an office machine having a document pressing plate. The supporting member is pivotally supported on the mounting member by a first hinge shaft to be rotatable. The lifting member overlaps the supporting member and is pivotally supported on the free end side of the supporting member by a second hinge shaft to be rotatable in the opposite direction of the supporting member, and is mounted on the document pressing plate. The document pressing plate opening and closing device is provided with a finger clamping prevention cover. The upper end portion side of the finger clamping prevention cover is connected to the lifting member to be rotatable, and the lower end portion side is engaged with the track portions provided on both sides of the mounting member to be slidable, thereby blocking the space formed between the lifting member and the supporting member.

[0009] Further, according to the document pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application, the finger clamping prevention cover will be provided on the track portions of the mounting member, and the both side plates thereof will be extended from the rear plate of the mounting member to the rear end portion side, and the front end portion side thereof will be bent inwardly to form.

[0010] According to the present application, even if the original is as thick as a book, the original pressing plate can horizontally cover and press on the exposure glass, and the invasion of external light into the device body is prevented. In addition to the above-mentioned effects, a high-safety and low-cost original pressing plate opening and closing device is provided, and the finger clamping space between the lifting member and the support member is avoided, and the injury accident is prevented. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application installed on a copying machine as a representative office machine and viewed from the rear.

[0012] Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application viewed from the oblique rear.

[0013] Figure 3 FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application viewed from the oblique rear when the support member is opened at 90 degrees with respect to the mounting member.

[0014] Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application viewed from the oblique rear when the lifting member is inverted with respect to the support member.

[0015] Figure 5 FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application.

[0016] Figure 6 FIG. 6 is a finger clamping cover diagram of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application, (a) is a perspective view viewed from the rear, and (b) is a perspective view viewed by laying it down.

[0017] Figure 7 FIG. 7 is a mounting member diagram of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application, (a) is a perspective view viewed from the rear, and (b) is a side sectional view thereof.

[0018] Figure 8 FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application in a closed state.

[0019] Figure 9 FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application when opened to an intermediate opening angle.

[0020] Figure 10 FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application when the lifting member is inverted with respect to the support member.

[0021] Figure 11 FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of the original pressing plate opening and closing device of the present application when the support member is opened to 90 degrees. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The following will describe embodiments of the original document presser plate opening and closing device and the office machine including the same according to the drawings.

[0023] Figures 1-11 are drawings showing examples of the original document presser plate opening and closing device and the office machine including the same using the embodiments of the present application. The original document presser plate opening and closing devices 1A, 1B of the present application are a kind of hinge devices which mount the original document presser plate 3 on the device body 2B of the office machine such as a copier, a multifunction printer, a printer, a facsimile machine, a scanner, etc. and enable opening and closing.

[0024] The original document presser plate opening and closing device of the present application, as shown in Figure 1 is composed of the large original document presser plate opening and closing device 1A on the right side and the small original document presser plate opening and closing device 1B on the left side when facing the drawings, the large original document presser plate opening and closing device 1A on the right side uses a double helical spring and an oil pressure damper, and the small original document presser plate opening and closing device 1B on the left side uses only a double helical spring. The reason for such a configuration is that one side of the original document presser plate 3 is provided with an automatic document feeder, and thus the weight thereof is biased on the original document presser plate opening and closing device on the right side in the drawing. As shown in the drawing, the original document presser plate opening and closing devices on the left and right sides are both provided with finger guard covers 7A, 7B, and even though the sizes are different, the configurations are the same. The following will describe the large original document presser plate opening and closing device of the symbol 1A. Although the sizes of the original document presser plate opening and closing devices on the left and right sides are different in this embodiment, they can also be the same size and the same configuration.

[0025] The original pressing plate opening and closing device 1A of the present application comprises a mounting member 4, a support member 5 and a lifting member 6. The mounting member 4 is mounted on the device body 2B of the copying machine 2A; the support member 5 is rotatably connected to the two side plates 42, 42 of the mounting member 4 through the first hinge shaft 11; and the lifting member 6 is rotatably connected to the two side plates 52, 52 of the support member 5 through the second hinge shaft 12 and is mounted on the original pressing plate 3. The support member 5 rotates the original pressing plate 3 from the closed position in contact with the device body 2B to the maximum use opening position in normal use, and further rotates the original pressing plate 3 from the maximum use opening position to the maximum opening position in maintenance. The original pressing plate opening and closing device 1A of the present application is characterized in that a finger anti-pinch cover 7A is provided, which prevents the fingers from entering the space R formed when the lifting member 6 rotates about the second hinge shaft 12 penetrating through the support member 5. In addition, although only one of the first hinge shaft 11 and the second hinge shaft 12 is shown in the drawing, they can be divided into two parts and pivotally supported between the two side plates 42, 42 of the mounting member 4 and the two side plates 52, 52 of the support member 5, and between the two side plates 52, 52 of the support member 5 and the two side plates 62, 62 of the lifting member 6. In the present application, the first hinge shaft 11 and the second hinge shaft 12 include the above-mentioned cases. In particular, in the Figure 5

[0026] The mounting member 4, as shown in Fig. 2, is composed of a bottom plate 41 mounted on the rear upper end side of the device body 2B, two side plates 42, 42 extending from the two side ends of the bottom plate 41 in a direction perpendicular to the bottom plate 41 (including a slightly perpendicular direction), and a slightly rectangular rear plate 43 extending from one end (rear end) of the bottom plate 41 in a direction perpendicular to the bottom plate 41 (including a slightly perpendicular direction). Figure 7

[0027] The bottom plate 41 is formed in a slightly rectangular shape and has size mounting holes 41a, 41b for mounting on the device body 2B by means of mounting bolts T or the like. The two side plates 42, 42 are formed in a slightly L-shaped cross section and have first hinge shaft holes 46, 46 at positions extending upwardly perpendicular to the bottom plate 41. Pressure receiving member holes 47, 47 are provided at positions further to the bottom plate 41 (lower side) and inwardly (front side) than the first hinge shaft holes 46, 46 of the two side plates 42, 42. A pressure receiving member 13 is inserted through the pressure receiving member holes 47, 47 of the two side plates 42, 42. In addition, the pressure receiving member 13 can not be a pin, but a bent member or a resin product can be mounted between the two side plates 42, 42.

[0028] ​​Further, the two side plates 42, 42 of the mounting member 4 are provided so as to extend rearward along both sides of the rear plate 43, and are bent so as to be spaced apart from and parallel to the rear plate 43 at their respective front ends, thereby forming the track portions 48, 48 for the finger guard cover 7A, as will be described later.

[0029] The support member 5 is composed of an upper plate 51, two side plates 52, 52 extending from the end portions of the upper plate 51 in a direction perpendicular to the upper plate 51 (including a direction slightly inclined thereto), so as to cover the two side plates 42, 42 of the mounting member 4 from both side end portions along the sliding direction of the pair of sliders 31, 32, as will be described later, and holding pieces 54, 54 bent 90° from the front end portions of the two side plates 52, 52 toward opposite sides of each other, and further provided with stop pieces 55, 55 upward from the two side plates 52, 52.

[0030] One end portion (front end portion) of the two side plates 52, 52 is provided with a second hinge shaft insertion hole 53, 53 (only one of which is shown in the drawing) through which the second hinge shaft 12 is inserted, and further provided with a cutout portion 56, 56 (only one of which is shown in the drawing) through which the actuating member 14, as will be described later, is inserted. The other end portion (rear end portion) of the two side plates 52, 52 is provided with a first hinge shaft insertion hole 58, 58. The first hinge shaft insertion holes 58, 58 of the two side plates 52, 52 are aligned with the first hinge shaft holes 46, 46 of the mounting member 4, and the first hinge shaft 11 is inserted through these holes, whereby the support member 5 is pivotably coupled to the mounting member 4 with the first hinge shaft 11 as the pivot.

[0031] The support member 5 is fitted with a pair of sliders 31, 32. The pair of sliders 31, 32 have closed surfaces 31a, 32a as bottom surfaces, and are formed as bottomed cylindrical tubes having a rectangular cross section. The pair of sliders 31, 32 are slidably accommodated in the support member 5 so as to face each other with their open portions, and an elastic member 21 composed of compression coil springs 21a, 21a is elastically provided in the pair of sliders 31, 32. In other words, the concave interiors of the sliders 31, 32 are formed as spring accommodating portions 31b, 32b for accommodating the compression coil springs 21a, 21a. The compression coil springs 21a, 21a can be one or two or more, for example, two arranged side by side or stacked, and urge the pair of sliders 31, 32 apart from each other. Further, one of the compression coil springs 21a, 21a accommodates an oil pressure damper 9 therebetween, which is provided between the slider 31 and the slider 32, and has a cushioning effect, and when the original pressing plate 3 is closed from the open state to a specific closing angle, the front end of the piston rod 9a abuts against the inner bottom portion of the slider 31, thereby preventing the original pressing plate from being suddenly closed.

[0032] The pair of sliders 31, 32 are formed to a length that can be housed in the support member 5 when the bottom plate 41 of the mounting member 4 and the upper plate 51 of the support member 5 are slightly parallel (for example, when the original pressing plate opening and closing device 1A of the present application is mounted on a copying machine 2A or the like, and the original pressing plate 3 is in close contact with the surface of the exposure glass 2c above the device body 2B (when the original pressing plate is in close contact) ).

[0033] The bottom surface of the slider 31 on the front end portion side, that is, the outer surface of the blocking surface 31a is formed as a flat surface. This blocking surface 31a is pressed against the actuating member 14 by the urging force of the elastic member 21, and causes the support member 5 and the lifting member 6 to overlap. In this case, the place where the lifting member 6 is linked to the support member 5 by the second hinge shaft 12 moves further upward than in the known art, and the lower side of the upper plate 61 of the lifting member 6 abuts against the stopper pieces 55, 55 provided upward from the side plates 52, 52 of the support member 5, and a gap is created between the upper plate 51 of the support member 5 and the upper plate 61 of the lifting member 6, and the lifting member 6 is not inclined with respect to the support member 5.

[0034] The lifting member 6 is composed of an upper plate 61 mounted to the rear end side of the original pressing plate 3 by means of a screw or the like, and side plates 62, 62 extending from both ends of the upper plate 61 in a direction perpendicular to the upper plate 61 (including a direction slightly perpendicular thereto). The front end portion side of the side plates 62, 62 of the lifting member 6 is provided with second hinge shaft insertion holes 63, 63 (only one of which is shown in the drawing), and the positions further below the second hinge shaft insertion holes 63, 63 are provided with actuating member holes 64, 64 through which the actuating member 14 is inserted and fixed. The actuating member 14 is inserted and fixed in the actuating member holes 64, 64 of the side plates 62, 62. The second hinge shaft insertion holes 63, 63 of the side plates 62, 62 of the lifting member 6 and the second hinge shaft insertion holes 53, 53 of the support member 5 are aligned with each other, and the second hinge shaft 12 is inserted through these second hinge shaft insertion holes 63, 63 and second hinge shaft insertion holes 53, 53, and the lifting member 6 and the support member 5 are linked so as to be freely rotatable with respect to each other about the second hinge shaft 12. In addition, the actuating member 14 is shown as a pin or shaft, but a member of another shape can be used, or a protruding member can be provided integrally or separately from the front end side of the lifting member 6. The actuating member 14 includes the above-described modes.

[0035] A finger guard cover 7A is provided between the rear end portion side of the support member 5 and the rear end portion side of the lifting member 6. This finger guard cover 7A is provided so as to cover the second hinge shaft 12 and the actuating member 14, and is provided so as to be able to be removed from the support member 5. Figure 5 and Figure 6As shown, the finger-jamming-preventing cover 7A has almost the same width as the width of the horizontal section of the lifting member 6, and fills the space R between the lifting member 6 and the supporting member 5 when the lifting member 6 is reversed with respect to the supporting member 5. The finger-jamming-preventing cover 7A is composed of a base plate 8, two side plates 8a, 8a provided on both sides of the base plate 8, and engaging protrusions 8c, 8c provided on both sides of the lower end of an engaging plate 8b, and the width of the engaging plate 8b is narrow, and the base plate 8 is slightly bent inward. As shown in Figure 5 As shown, the right end of the side plates 62, 62 of the lifting member 6 is provided with an assembling hole 62a, 62a (only one of which is shown in the figure), and the shaft support pins 8e, 8e are connected to the assembling holes 62a, 62a after penetrating the mounting holes 8d, 8d provided on the upper end of the side plates 8a, 8a of the finger-jamming-preventing cover 7A, so that the finger-jamming-preventing cover 7A can be rotated. In addition, the engaging protrusions 8c, 8c provided on the lower end of the finger-jamming-preventing cover 7A are engaged with the track portions 48, 48 provided on the mounting member 4, so that the finger-jamming-preventing cover 7A can slide in the vertical direction.

[0036] The original-pressing-plate opening and closing device 1A of the present embodiment can stably and closely contact original documents of any thickness on the device body 2B of the copying machine 2A. In addition, since the supporting member 5 is mounted on the original-pressing plate 3 by the lifting member 6 described below, the entrance of external light into the interior of the device body 2B to affect exposure can be prevented as much as possible. In addition, by the finger-jamming-preventing cover 7A, the fingers of a person can be prevented from being inadvertently put into the space R formed between the rear portions of the lifting member 6 and the supporting member 5 and being pinched when the original-pressing plate is lifted.

[0037] In addition, the original-pressing-plate opening and closing device 1A of the present embodiment makes the lower surface of the upper plate 61 of the lifting member 6 abut against the stop pieces 55, 55 of the supporting member 5 by the pushing force of the elastic member 21, and since the upper plate 51 of the supporting member 5 and the upper plate 61 of the lifting member 6 are slightly parallel and close to each other, the rear end of the lifting member 6 does not rotate downward. Therefore, when the original-pressing plate 3 is lifted and an original document is placed on the surface of the exposure glass 2c of the device body 2B, the original-pressing plate 3 is usually lifted upward by holding the gripping portion provided on the end portion or the vicinity thereof on the opposite side of the portion where the lifting member 6 is mounted on the original-pressing plate 3, and the original-pressing plate 3 rotates about the first hinge shaft 11, so that the surface of the exposure glass 2c is exposed. At this time, the original document can be placed on the surface of the exposed exposure glass 2c.

[0038] After the original is placed, the raised original pressing plate 3 is lowered, and the original pressing plate 3 will rotate (move downward) about the first hinge shaft 11 in the direction of contact with the surface of the exposure glass 2c. At this time, the upper plate 61 of the lifting member 6 will be maintained in abutment against the stopper 55, 55 of the support member 5 by the pushing force of the elastic member 21, in other words, the original pressing plate 3 will rotate, but the original pressing plate 3 (the lifting member 6) will not rotate about the second hinge shaft 12.

[0039] At this time, if the original placed on the surface of the exposure glass 2c of the original placing table is as thin as paper, the original pressing plate 3 will be in face-to-face contact with the paper when the original pressing plate 3 contacts the paper. As a result, the entire original will contact the original pressing plate 3 and the original will be pressed against the surface of the exposure glass 2c, so that the original will be stably and tightly attached to the surface of the exposure glass 2c.

[0040] On the other hand, if the original 90 placed on the exposure glass 2c is as thick as a book, as shown in Figure 10 , once the original pressing plate 3 is closed, the original pressing plate 3 will contact the end 90a of the original 90 on the side of the support member 5 or near the end 90a, so that a space will be formed between the end on the opposite side of the original 90 and the original pressing plate 3. In other words, the original pressing plate 3 will be in a suspended state at the end on the gripping portion side. If the end near the gripping portion side of the suspended original pressing plate 3 is pressed against the surface of the exposure glass 2c, the operating member 14 will push the slide 31 toward the slide 32 and move the slide 31 toward the slide 32 against the pushing force of the elastic member 21, and at the same time, the original pressing plate 3 (the lifting member 6) will rotate about the second hinge shaft 12. That is, the original pressing plate 3 will move to cover the upper portion of the original 90. For example, if the upper portion of the original 90 is a flat surface, the upper portion will be in face-to-face contact with the original pressing plate 3. Thus, the original 90 as thick as a book can be stably and tightly attached to the surface of the exposure glass. Furthermore, when the lifting member 6 rotates about the second hinge shaft 12, a space R will be formed between the rear end of the lifting member 6 and the rear end of the support member 5. If the finger preventing cover 7A is not present, a person's finger or the like can be inadvertently inserted into the space R, but the space R is shielded by the finger preventing cover 7A, so that the person's finger or the like can be prevented from being inserted into the space R and pinched.

[0041] In addition, the upper end portion side of the finger preventing cover 7A of the present application is connected to the lifting member 6 by the shaft support pins 8e, 8e, and the lower end portion side is engaged with the rail portions 48, 48 provided on the mounting member 4 by the engagement protrusions 8c, 8c. Thus, after the original pressing plate opening and closing device 7A is mounted on the copying machine 2A, the structure cannot be arbitrarily removed by a person, so that the safety is further improved.

[0042] [Industrial applicability] As detailed above, the original pressing plate opening and closing device 1A of the present application can stably press the original against the upper surface of the device body 2B regardless of the thickness of the original, in addition to the aforementioned effects, and can make the user safer in use than the prior art, and is particularly suitable for an original pressing plate opening and closing device of an office machine such as a copying machine, and an office machine including the same.

Claims

1. A document pressing plate opening and closing device comprising: a mounting member mounted on a device body side of an office machine having a document pressing plate; a support member pivotally supported on the mounting member by a first hinge shaft; and a lifting member overlapping the support member, pivotally supported on a free end side of the support member via a second hinge shaft in a direction opposite to the support member, and mounted on the document pressing plate; wherein the document pressing plate opening and closing device is provided with a finger guard cover, the upper end portion side of which is linked to the lifting member to be rotatable, and the lower end portion side of which is engaged with rail portions provided on both sides of the mounting member to be slidable, thereby blocking a space portion formed between the lifting member and the support member when the lifting member is rotated in the direction opposite to the support member; the finger guard cover comprising: a base plate portion; and engagement protrusions provided on both end portions of the lower end portion side of an engagement plate portion formed by slightly bending the base plate portion inwardly, the engagement protrusions being rotatable by being mounted on the rear end portion side of both side plates of the lifting member via a pivot pin provided on the upper end portion side of both side plates thereof. the engagement protrusions being slidable on the rail portions provided on both rear end portions of the mounting member.

2. The document pressing plate opening and closing device according to claim 1, wherein the rail portions are provided on both side plates of the mounting member, extending from both side plates of the rear plate of the mounting member toward the rear end portion side, and formed by bending the front end portion side of each of the side plates inwardly.

3. An office machine comprising the document pressing plate opening and closing device according to claim 1. ​

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