Structure and image forming apparatus

Abstract

To attach an additional member to outer side faces of some of a plurality of square pipes with high positional accuracy.SOLUTION: Each of four outer side faces 62 of each of a plurality of square pipes 60 has a groove part 62a formed along a longitudinal direction of each of the plurality of square pipes 60 and a pair of ridge parts 62b constituting edge parts on both sides of the groove part 62a. An additional member 7 has a contact plane 7a that is a plane in contact with some of the plurality of square pipes 60. The additional member 7 is fixed to a plurality of first target pipes 60x being some of the plurality of square pipes 60 with the contact plane 7a in contact with at least one of the pair of ridge parts 62b of each of the plurality of first target pipes 60x, or the additional member 7 is fixed to a second target pipe 60y being one of the plurality of square pipes 60 with the contact plane 7a in contact with the pair of ridge parts 62b of the second target pipe 60y.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a structure including a plurality of joined square pipes and an image forming apparatus including the structure. [Background technology]

[0002] The image forming apparatus includes a paper feed unit, a printing unit, a developer container, etc. The image forming apparatus further includes a structure supporting the paper feed unit, the printing unit, and the developer container.

[0003] For example, it is known that the structure includes a plurality of square pipes joined by welding (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The structure having such a configuration has high strength. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2000-138470 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Incidentally, a typical square pipe is manufactured by bending a single metal plate and then welding two edges of the metal plate together.

[0006] On the other hand, there are cases where an additional member such as a sheet metal member is attached to a part of the plurality of square pipes in a state where the additional member is aligned along the outer side surface of the part of the plurality of square pipes. In such cases, it may be required that the additional member be attached with high positional accuracy.

[0007] Conventionally, due to insufficient precision in the shape of the outer surface of each of the plurality of square pipes, it has been difficult to attach the additional member to a portion of the plurality of square pipes with high positional precision.

[0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a structure and an image forming apparatus having a plurality of joined square pipes and an additional member attached with high positional accuracy to some of the outer side surfaces of the plurality of square pipes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] A structure according to one aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of joined square pipes and an additional member attached to a portion of the plurality of square pipes. The four corners of each of the plurality of square pipes include three first corners formed by bending a single metal plate and one second corner including two edges of the metal plate and a welded portion joining the two edges. Each of the four outer side surfaces of the plurality of square pipes has a groove formed along the longitudinal direction of each of the plurality of square pipes and a pair of ridges forming edges on both sides of the groove. The additional member has a contact plane that is a plane that is in contact with a portion of the plurality of square pipes. The additional member is fixed to the plurality of first target pipes with the contact plane in contact with at least one of the pair of ridges of each of the plurality of first target pipes that are a portion of the plurality of square pipes, or the additional member is fixed to the second target pipe with the contact plane in contact with the pair of ridges of a second target pipe that is one of the plurality of square pipes.

[0010] An image forming apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes the structure described above, and a print unit attached to the structure and configured to form an image on a sheet. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a structure and an image forming apparatus having a plurality of joined square pipes and an additional member attached with high positional accuracy to the outer side surfaces of some of the plurality of square pipes. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus including a structure according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the structure according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one of the square pipes in the structure according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a part of a manufacturing process of the square pipe in the structure according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a plurality of first target pipes and a first addition member in the structure according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second target pipe and a second addition member in the structure according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiment is an example of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention.

[0014] [Configuration of image forming apparatus 10] A structure 6 according to the embodiment is employed in an image forming apparatus 10. As shown in FIG.

[0015] The main unit 1 includes a paper feed section 30, a paper transport device 3, a print section 4, one or more developer containers 5, and a structure 6. The image reading unit 2 is connected to an upper portion of the main unit 1. The image reading unit 2 is a device that reads an image of a document.

[0016] The paper feed unit 30 is a device that stores a plurality of sheets of paper and sends the stored sheets of paper one by one to the paper transport path 300. The paper transport device 3 includes a plurality of transport roller pairs 31 that transport the sheets of paper along the paper transport path 300.

[0017] The printing unit 4 is a device that forms an image on the paper supplied from the paper feed unit 30 through the paper transport device 3. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the printing unit 4 forms an image on the paper by an electrophotographic method. The paper is an example of a sheet.

[0018] The electrophotographic printing section 4 includes a laser scanning unit 40 , one or more image forming sections 4 x , a transfer device 44 , and a fixing device 45 .

[0019] 1, the printing unit 4 is a tandem type color image printing device. Therefore, the printing unit 4 includes four image forming units 4x corresponding to the four colors of toner, namely, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Furthermore, the image forming device 10 includes four developer containers 5 corresponding to the four image forming units 4x.

[0020] In each image forming unit 4x, a drum-shaped photoconductor 41 rotates, and a charging device 42 charges the outer peripheral surface of the photoconductor 41. Furthermore, a laser scanning unit 40 writes an electrostatic latent image on the outer peripheral surface of the photoconductor 41, and a developing device 43 develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image.

[0021] Furthermore, in the transfer device 44, the intermediate transfer belt 440 rotates while being in contact with the four photoconductors 41, and four primary transfer devices 441 corresponding to the four image forming units 4x transfer the toner images onto the intermediate transfer belt 440. Furthermore, a secondary transfer device 442 transfers the toner images on the intermediate transfer belt 440 onto the paper being transported along the paper transport path 300.

[0022] The fixing device 45 applies heat and pressure to the toner image on the paper, thereby fixing the toner image to the paper. The paper transport device 3 discharges the paper on which the image has been formed from the paper transport path 300.

[0023] Each developer container 5 supplies toner to a corresponding developing device 43 in the printing unit 4. The toner is an example of a developer. The printing unit 4 may be a device that forms an image on the paper by an inkjet method or another method.

[0024] The paper feed section 30, the paper transport device 3, the printing section 4 and the developer container 5 are attached to a structure 6. The image reading unit 2 is connected to an upper part of the structure 6.

[0025] The structure 6 includes a plurality of joined square pipes 60 (see FIG. 2). In the structure 6, a plurality of metallic square pipes 60 are joined by welding. Such a structure 6 has high strength.

[0026] Incidentally, a typical square pipe is manufactured by bending a single metal plate and then welding two edges of the metal plate together.

[0027] On the other hand, there are cases where one or more additional members 7 are attached to parts of the square pipes 60 in a state where they are aligned along the outer side surfaces of the parts of the square pipes 60 (see FIG. 2). In this case, it may be required that the additional members 7 be attached with high positional accuracy.

[0028] For example, the additional member 7 is a sheet metal member manufactured by bending a metal plate and / or drilling holes.

[0029] In this embodiment, the structure 6 includes a plurality of additional members 7 attached to some of the plurality of square pipes 60 (see FIG. 2). The additional members 7 are fixed to some of the plurality of square pipes 60 by welding or screws.

[0030] In the conventional structure, due to insufficient precision in the shape of the outer surface of each of the multiple conventional square pipes, it was difficult to attach the additional member 7 to a part of the multiple conventional square pipes with high positional precision.

[0031] In this embodiment, the structure 6 has a configuration that enables the additional members 7 to be attached with high positional accuracy to some of the outer side surfaces of the multiple square pipes 60. The configuration will be described below.

[0032] [Each configuration of square pipe 60] Each of the plurality of square pipes 60 has four outer side surfaces 62 and four corners 63 (see FIG. 3). The four outer side surfaces 62 and the four corners 63 are formed to extend in the longitudinal direction of each square pipe 60.

[0033] The four corners 63 include three first corners 63a and one second corner 63b. The three first corners 63a are three bent portions formed by bending a single metal plate. The second corner 63b includes two edge portions 61 of the metal plate and a welded portion 600 that joins the two edge portions 61.

[0034] The two edges 61 and the welded portion 600 are formed extending in the longitudinal direction of each of the square pipes 60 .

[0035] Each of the square pipes 60 has a plurality of through holes 64 formed in one or more of the four outer side surfaces 62 (see FIG. 3). The processing of the plurality of through holes 64 in the plurality of square pipes 60 is performed on the flat metal plate before bending.

[0036] Some or all of the multiple through holes 64 are used for mounting components. For example, the components are directly mounted to one of the outer side surfaces 62 of each of the square pipes 60 by fastening members such as screws inserted into the through holes 64.

[0037] In this embodiment, the image reading unit 2, the paper transport device 3 and the printing section 4 are attached to the structure 6 by the fixing members inserted into the through holes 64.

[0038] It is possible that two or more of the multiple square pipes 60 are the same type of member in order to standardize parts. In this case, some of the multiple through holes 64 in some of the multiple square pipes 60 of the same type may not be used for mounting parts.

[0039] In each of the square pipes 60, none of the four outer side surfaces 62 includes a welded portion 600. Therefore, in each of the square pipes 60, it is easy to form one or more through holes 64 in each of the four outer side surfaces 62.

[0040] For example, four or more through holes 64 are formed in four outer side surfaces 62 of at least one of the plurality of square pipes 60 (see FIG. 3).

[0041] In each of the square pipes 60, two of the four outer side surfaces 62 are formed between the three first corners 63a. The remaining two of the four outer side surfaces 62 are formed between two of the three first corners 63a and the second corners 63b.

[0042] By employing square pipes 60 as shown in FIG. 3 in the structure 6, all of the four outer side surfaces 62 of each square pipe 60 can be used for mounting components.

[0043] In this embodiment, the three first corners 63a are chamfered (see FIG. 3). In addition, at the second corners 63b, the two edges 61 of the metal plate are bent to form a chamfered shape.

[0044] In each of the square pipes 60, the welded portion 600 may be formed to slightly protrude from the gap between the two edge portions 61. Even in such a case, since the two edge portions 61 form a chamfered shape, the welded portion 600 does not interfere with the components attached to each of the two outer side surfaces 62 adjacent to the second corner portion 63b.

[0045] Each of the four outer side surfaces 62 of each of the plurality of square pipes 60 has a groove portion 62a and a pair of ridge portions 62b (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

[0046] The groove portion 62a is a concave portion formed along the longitudinal direction of each of the multiple square pipes 60. The pair of ridge portions 62b form the edges on both sides of the groove portion 62a. The pair of ridge portions 62b are also formed along the longitudinal direction of each of the multiple square pipes 60.

[0047] The pair of ridges 62b form a pair of apexes between the pair of steps on both sides of the groove 62a and the pair of corners 63. Each of the multiple square pipes 60 has four grooves 62a and four pairs of ridges 62b corresponding to the four outer side surfaces 62.

[0048] For example, the step between each of the grooves 62a and a pair of ridges 62b on both sides of each of the grooves 62a is about 0.3 to 0.8 millimeters.

[0049] In the following description, the square pipe before the grooves 62a and the pair of ridges 62b on each of the four outer side surfaces 62 are formed will be referred to as an original square pipe 60P (see FIG. 4).

[0050] As shown in FIG. 4, the grooves 62a and the pair of ridges 62b on each of the four outer side surfaces 62 of each of the multiple square pipes 60 are formed by roll pressing in which the original square pipe 60P is passed between four pressure rollers 8.

[0051] Two of the four pressure rollers 8 and the remaining two are disposed opposite each other across a forming space 80 into which the square base pipe 60P is inserted. The four pressure rollers 8 are fixed at predetermined positions.

[0052] As the base square pipe 60P passes through the molding space 80, the four pressure rollers 8 rotate while pressing against the four outer side surfaces of the base square pipe 60P. As a result, four grooves 62a corresponding to the surface shapes of the four pressure rollers 8 are formed in the four outer side surfaces of the base square pipe 60P.

[0053] At the same time that the four grooves 62a are formed, a pair of ridges 62b are formed on both sides of each of the four grooves 62a.

[0054] In addition, when the roll press is performed, the inner side surface of the original square pipe 60P is not constrained. Therefore, the four inner side surfaces 65 of each of the multiple square pipes 60 are formed inwardly convex in correspondence with the four grooves 62a (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

[0055] Even if the dimensional accuracy of the four outer side surfaces of the original square pipe 60P is insufficient, the dimensional accuracy of the four grooves 62a and the four pairs of ridges 62b in the square pipe 60 after molding is high.

[0056] On the other hand, each of the additional members 7 has a contact plane 7a that is a plane that contacts a part of the multiple square pipes 60 of the structure 6 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). Hereinafter, the two types of members among the additional members 7 will be referred to as a first additional member 7x and a second additional member 7y, respectively (see FIGS. 2, 5, and 6).

[0057] Moreover, among the multiple square pipes 60, the multiple pipes to which the first additional member 7x is attached are referred to as first target pipes 60x (see FIG. 5). Similarly, among the multiple square pipes 60, the pipe to which the second additional member 7y is attached is referred to as second target pipes 60y (see FIG. 6).

[0058] The first addition member 7x is fixed to the multiple first target pipes 60x with the contact plane 7a of the first addition member 7x in contact with at least one of a pair of ridge portions 62b of each of the multiple first target pipes 60x (see FIG. 5).

[0059] In the example shown in FIG. 5, the multiple fixing portions 71 of the first addition member 7x are welded to the groove portions 62a of the multiple first target pipes 60x.

[0060] When the contact plane 7a is in contact with at least one of the pair of ridges 62b of each of the first target pipes 60x, a small gap is formed between the first additional member 7x and the groove 62a. When two members are disposed with a gap of about 0.3 to 0.8 mm between them, there is no particular problem in welding the two members.

[0061] On the other hand, the second addition member 7y is fixed to the second target pipe 60y in a state in which the contact plane 7a of the second addition member 7y is in contact with a pair of ridge lines 62b of the second target pipe 60y (see FIG. 6).

[0062] In the example shown in Fig. 6, the second additional member 7y is fixed to the second target pipe 60y by a plurality of screws 72. The plurality of screws 72 are inserted into a plurality of through holes 73 formed in the second additional member 7y and a plurality of through holes 64 formed in the second target pipe 60y (see Fig. 6).

[0063] Note that a plurality of fixing portions of the second additional member 7y may be welded to the groove portion 62a of the second target pipe 60y (not shown).

[0064] In a state in which the contact plane 7a of the additional member 7 is in contact with at least one of a pair of ridge lines 62b of some of the multiple square pipes 60, the additional member 7 is positioned with high accuracy.

[0065] By employing the structural body 6, it is possible to attach the additional member 7 to a portion of the outer side surface 62 of the plurality of square pipes 60 with high positional accuracy. [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 4: Printing section 6 :Structure 7: Additional parts 7a: Contact plane 7x: First additional member 7y: Second additional member 10: Image forming device 60: Square pipe 60P: Square pipe 60x: First target pipe 60y: Second target pipe 62:Outer side 62a: Groove 62b: Ridge 63: Corner 63a: 1st corner 63b:Second corner 80: Molding space 600: Welded section

Claims

1. A structure having a plurality of joined square pipes and an additional member attached to a portion of the plurality of square pipes, the four corners of each of the plurality of square pipes include three first corners formed by bending a single metal plate, and one second corner including two edge portions of the metal plate and a weld portion joining the two edge portions; Each of the four outer side surfaces of each of the plurality of square pipes has a groove portion formed along a longitudinal direction of each of the plurality of square pipes and a pair of ridge portions forming edges on both sides of the groove portion, the additional member has a contact plane which is a plane in contact with a part of the plurality of square pipes, A structure in which the additional member is fixed to the first target pipes with the contact plane contacting at least one of the pair of ridge portions of each of the first target pipes that are part of the plurality of square pipes, or the additional member is fixed to the second target pipe with the contact plane contacting the pair of ridge portions of a second target pipe that is one of the plurality of square pipes.

2. The structure according to claim 1 , wherein the additional member is welded to the groove of each of the plurality of first target pipes or to the groove of the second target pipe.

3. 3. The structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the groove portions and the pair of ridge portions on each of the four outer side surfaces of each of the plurality of square pipes are formed by a roll press in which an original square pipe before the groove portions and the pair of ridge portions on each of the four outer side surfaces are formed is passed between four pressure rollers that press the original square pipe against the four outer side surfaces.

4. A structure according to claim 1 or 2, a print unit attached to the structure and configured to form an image on a sheet.

Images