High-voltage power supply board, electronic equipment, and image forming apparatus

Abstract

The size of the high-voltage power supply board, which has terminals for outputting high-voltage power to each operating unit, is reduced, thereby reducing constraints on placement when installing the board. [Solution] The high-voltage power supply board 10 has a rectangular outer shape, and a plurality of first output terminals 111 for outputting high-voltage power to a tram unit are provided in a region along one side edge 101 of the high-voltage power supply board 10, and a plurality of second output terminals 121 for outputting high-voltage power to a developing unit are provided in a region along the other side edge 102 opposite to the first side edge 101 of the high-voltage power supply board 10.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a high-voltage power supply board, an electronic apparatus, and an image forming apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, for example, is provided with a high-voltage power supply board that outputs high-voltage power to a drum unit and a developing unit, as shown in Patent Document 1 below. When the high-voltage power supply board has a rectangular outer shape in which two opposing sides are longer than the other two opposing sides, the respective terminals that output high-voltage power to both of the units are arranged in a line on one side edge of the board formed by the long sides. This is because inside the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus, the positions where the drum unit and the developing unit are disposed are close to each other, and in order to output high-voltage power to the respective units, it is necessary to arrange the respective terminals for the units at positions close to each other.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, as described above, when the respective terminals that output high-voltage power to both units are arranged in a line on one side edge of the board formed by the long sides, it is necessary to secure an insulation distance between the respective terminals in addition to the space for components and circuits disposed on the board surface, so the size of the board increases in the direction in which the long sides extend. In the case of a high-voltage power supply board, since the power to be output is high voltage, the above insulation distance also needs to be increased. When the size of the board increases in the longitudinal direction in this way, restrictions arise on the arrangement of the board inside the apparatus main body.

[0005] This invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and aims to reduce the size of the high-voltage power supply board on which each operating unit has terminals for outputting high-voltage power, thereby reducing the constraints on the placement of the board when it is installed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A high-voltage power supply board according to one aspect of the present invention is a high-voltage power supply board having a rectangular outer shape, wherein a plurality of first output terminals for outputting high-voltage power to a first operating unit are provided in a region along one side edge of the high-voltage power supply board, and a plurality of second output terminals for outputting high-voltage power to a second operating unit different from the first operating unit are provided in a region along the other side edge of the high-voltage power supply board opposite to the one side edge.

[0007] An electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a high-voltage power supply board according to one aspect of the present invention and a mounting member provided on the main body of the device to which the high-voltage power supply board is attached, wherein the mounting member is provided with a high-voltage power supply output line that is connected to one of the first output terminal and the second output terminal, and is wired from the connection point to a position close to the other of the first output terminal and the second output terminal, maintaining an insulating distance from the solder surface provided on the high-voltage power supply board.

[0008] An image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a high-voltage power supply board according to one aspect of the present invention, a developing unit as the first operating unit, and a photoreceptor drum unit as the second operating unit, and includes an image forming unit for forming an image on a recording medium, and a mounting member provided on the main body of the apparatus to which the high-voltage power supply board is attached, wherein the mounting member is provided with a high-voltage power supply output line that is connected to one of the first output terminal and the second output terminal, and is wired from the connection point to a position close to the other of the first output terminal and the second output terminal, maintaining an insulating distance from the solder surface provided on the high-voltage power supply board. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, the size of the high-voltage power supply board, on which each operating unit has terminals for outputting high-voltage power, can be reduced, thereby reducing constraints on the placement of the board during installation. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a front cross-sectional view showing the structure of an image forming apparatus 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of a high-voltage power supply board, where (A) is a plan view showing the surface of the board and (B) is a plan view showing the back of the board. [Figure 3] This figure shows a comparative example of a high-voltage power supply board according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] This is an illustrative diagram showing an example of a wiring pattern connecting a connector to the first high-voltage generation circuit and the second high-voltage generation circuit on a high-voltage power supply board. [Figure 5A] This figure shows an example of a mounting member to which a high-voltage power supply board is attached, and is a plan view showing one side of the mounting member. [Figure 5B] This figure shows an example of a mounting member to which a high-voltage power supply board is attached, and is a plan view showing another side of the mounting member. [Figure 6] This figure shows the first output terminal portion of a high-voltage power supply board attached to a mounting member. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] Hereinafter, a high-voltage power supply board, electronic equipment, and image forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a front cross-sectional view showing the structure of an image forming apparatus 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 is an example of electronic equipment according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 is, for example, a multifunction device that combines multiple functions such as a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function, or an image forming apparatus such as a copier, printer, or facsimile. In this embodiment, a color image forming apparatus is described as an example, but an image forming apparatus for monochrome printing may also be used.

[0012] The image forming apparatus 1 is configured with an apparatus body 110, an input receiving unit 47, an image forming unit 120, a fixing unit 23, a paper feeding unit 24, a document feeding unit 6, and an image reading unit 5, etc.

[0013] When the image forming apparatus 1 performs a document reading operation, the image reading unit 5 optically reads the image of the document fed by the document feeding unit 6 or the document placed on the document placement glass 161, and generates image data. The image data generated by the image reading unit 5 is stored in the built-in HDD or on a network-connected computer, etc.

[0014] When the image forming apparatus 1 performs an image forming operation, the image forming unit 120 forms a toner image on the paper P, which is a recording medium fed from the paper feeding unit 24, based on the image data generated by the document reading operation described above. When performing color printing, the magenta image forming unit 3M, the cyan image forming unit 3C, the yellow image forming unit 3Y, and the black image forming unit 3Bk of the image forming unit 120 each form a toner image on the photoreceptor drum 31 (image carrier) through the processes of charging, exposure, and development, based on the image consisting of the respective color components that make up the above image data, and transfer the toner image onto the intermediate transfer belt 125 by the primary transfer roller 126.

[0015] Furthermore, the image forming units 3M, 3C, 3Y, and 3Bk each have toner cartridges (not shown) of their respective colors. The toner cartridges contain toner, which is a consumable item consumed by the image forming unit 120 on the paper. The toner cartridges are removable from the image forming units 3M, 3C, 3Y, and 3Bk, and when a toner cartridge becomes empty, the user replaces it with a new one.

[0016] The toner images of the respective colors primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 125 are superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 125 by adjusting the transfer timing to form a color toner image. The secondary transfer roller 125a transfers the color toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 125 onto the sheet P that has been conveyed through the sheet conveyance path from the sheet feeding unit 24, at the nip portion N with the drive roller 127 across the intermediate transfer belt 125. Thereafter, the fixing unit 23 fixes the toner image on the sheet P to the sheet P by thermocompression bonding. After that, the sheet P is discharged to the discharge tray 25.

[0017] The sheet feeding unit 24 includes a plurality of sheet feeding cassettes 241. The sheet feeding cassettes 241 store sheets P to be conveyed to the image forming unit 120. A control unit 91, which will be described later, rotationally drives the pickup roller 145 of the sheet feeding cassette 241 to convey the sheets P stored in each sheet feeding cassette 241 toward the image forming unit 120.

[0018] Next, the image forming units 3M, 3C, 3Y, and 3Bk will be described. Around the rotatably disposed photosensitive drum 31, there are provided a charging device 32 that charges the photosensitive drum 31, an optical scanning device 40 that exposes the photosensitive drum 31 with image information based on image data, a developing device 33 that forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum 31, and a cleaning device that removes residual toner on the photosensitive drum 31. For example, the photosensitive drum 31 and the charging device 32 constitute a drum unit, and the developing device 33 constitutes a developing unit.

[0019] In each of the image forming units 3M, 3C, 3Y, and 3Bk, the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is uniformly charged, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is scanned with a light beam emitted from the optical scanning device 40 to form an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image is developed with toner to form a toner image. Then, the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 125. Each of the image forming units 3M, 3C, 3Y, and 3Bk superimposes the toner image of the respective color on the intermediate transfer belt 125 and transfers it to the intermediate transfer belt 125, whereby a color toner image is formed.

[0020] Next, a high-voltage power supply board that supplies high-voltage power to operation units mounted on the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. Here, the description will be given taking a high-voltage power supply board that supplies high-voltage power to the drum unit and the developing unit as an example. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the high-voltage power supply board 10, where (A) is a plan view showing the front surface of the board, and (B) is a plan view showing the back surface of the board.

[0021] The high-voltage power supply board 10 has a rectangular outer shape. Here, the high-voltage power supply board 10 which is a square will be described. A first high-voltage generation circuit 11 and a second high-voltage generation circuit 12 are mounted on the front surface of the high-voltage power supply board 10 (the same applies throughout the present embodiment). The present embodiment shows an example in which four of each of the first high-voltage generation circuits 11 and the second high-voltage generation circuits 12 are mounted.

[0022] The first high-voltage generation circuit 11 is a circuit that generates high-voltage power to be output to the drum unit using power supplied from the outside. Each of the first high-voltage generation circuits 11 is arranged side by side in a region on the board along one side edge 101 of the high-voltage power supply board 10. For each first high-voltage generation circuit 11, a first output terminal 111 that is connected to the first high-voltage generation circuit 11 and outputs the high-voltage power generated by the first high-voltage generation circuit 11 to the outside is provided on the back surface of the board. The plurality of first output terminals 111 are arranged side by side in a region along the one side edge 101 of the high-voltage power supply board 10 on the back surface of the board. The first output terminal 111 is a terminal that outputs high-voltage power to the drum unit. Around each first output terminal 111 on the back surface of the board, wiring and soldering necessary for mounting the corresponding first high-voltage generation circuit 11 are provided. Each first output terminal 111 and its corresponding wiring and soldering are arranged on the back surface of the board while maintaining an insulation distance D1 from the other first output terminals 111 and their corresponding wiring and soldering.

[0023] The second high-voltage generation circuit 12 is a circuit that generates a high-voltage power supply to be output to the developing unit using an externally supplied power supply. Each second high-voltage generation circuit 12 is arranged in a row on the high-voltage power supply board 10 in an area along the other side edge 102 that is opposite to the one side edge 101. For each second high-voltage generation circuit 12, a second output terminal 121 is provided on the back of the board, which is connected to the second high-voltage generation circuit 12 and outputs the high-voltage power supply generated by the second high-voltage generation circuit 12 to the outside. The second output terminals 121 are arranged in a row on the back of the board in an area along the side edge 102 of the high-voltage power supply board 10. The second output terminals 121 are terminals that output high-voltage power to the developing unit. Wiring and soldering necessary for mounting the corresponding second high-voltage generation circuit 12 are provided around each second output terminal 121 on the back of the board. Each second output terminal 121 and its corresponding wiring and soldering are arranged on the back of the circuit board, maintaining an insulating distance D2 between them and the wiring and soldering corresponding to other second output terminals 121.

[0024] As described above, in the region along one side edge 101 of the high-voltage power supply board 10, the wiring and soldering corresponding to each first output terminal 111 are arranged while maintaining an insulating distance D1 between them and the wiring and soldering corresponding to other first output terminals 111, and the wiring and soldering corresponding to each second output terminal 121 are arranged while maintaining an insulating distance D2 between them and the wiring and soldering corresponding to other second output terminals 121. In contrast, as shown in the comparative example in Figure 3, when the first output terminal 111' for the drum unit and the second output terminal 121' for the developing unit are arranged side by side in the region along one side edge 101' of the high-voltage power supply board 10', it becomes necessary to provide an insulating distance D3 between each of the first output terminals 111' etc. and the second output terminal 121' etc. for the developing unit. Therefore, the high-voltage power supply board 10' of the comparative example requires a larger dimension in the direction in which one side edge 101' extends compared to the high-voltage power supply board 10 of this embodiment, which has only one of the first output terminal 111 and the second output terminal 121 on one side edge. Consequently, the high-voltage power supply board 10 of this embodiment can be made smaller in size than the high-voltage power supply board 10' shown in the comparative example, thereby reducing the constraints on the position in which the high-voltage power supply board 10 can be placed when it is installed in the main body 110 of the image forming apparatus 1.

[0025] Furthermore, a connector 14 is provided on the surface of the substrate to which wiring for inputting control signals to be output to the first high-voltage generation circuit 11 and the second high-voltage generation circuit 12 is connected. The connector 14 is located near the lateral edge 103 perpendicular to one side edge 101 and the other side edge 102 of the high-voltage power supply substrate 10, and is provided in the central part between the one side edge 101 and the other side edge 102 (including a predetermined proximity area from the central part).

[0026] Figure 4 is an illustrative diagram showing an example of a wiring pattern connecting the connector 14 to the first high-voltage generation circuit 11 and the second high-voltage generation circuit 12. Between the connector 14 and the first high-voltage generation circuit 11 and the second high-voltage generation circuit 12, a wiring pattern 15 is provided to output the control signals to the first high-voltage generation circuit 11 and the second high-voltage generation circuit 12. In the example shown in this embodiment, the connector 14 is provided with a plurality of control signal output terminals, and a wiring pattern 15 is provided for each of the plurality of control signal output terminals. Each wiring pattern 15 is connected to either the first high-voltage generation circuit 11 or the second high-voltage generation circuit 12 that corresponds to it.

[0027] As described above, by arranging the first output terminals 111 on one side edge 101 of the high-voltage power supply board 10 and the second output terminals 121 on the other side edge 102, and further arranging the connector 14 in the above position, the circuits from the connector 14 to each of the first output terminals 111 and each of the second output terminals 121 can be arranged separately on the side of one side edge 101 and the side of the other side edge 102 for the drum unit and the developing unit, thereby effectively utilizing the area on the board surface and simplifying pattern design and component placement.

[0028] Furthermore, by positioning the connector 14 in the center between one side edge 101 and the other side edge 102 as described above, the connector 14 is less susceptible to noise from the first output terminals 111 located on the side of the first side edge 101 and the second output terminals 121 located on the side of the other side edge 102.

[0029] Furthermore, by positioning the connector 14 in the above location, the substrate area can be equally allocated to the first high-voltage generation circuit 11 and the second high-voltage generation circuit 12. As a result, the wiring pattern 15 extending from the connector 14 to the first high-voltage generation circuit 11 and the second high-voltage generation circuit 12 can be designed identically on the developing unit side and the drum unit side, as shown in Figure 4, making the design of the wiring pattern 15 easier.

[0030] Next, the mounting members to which the high-voltage power supply board 10 is attached within the main body 110 of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. Figure 5A is a diagram showing an example of a mounting member 16 to which the high-voltage power supply board 10 is attached, and is a plan view showing one side of the mounting member 16. Figure 5B is a diagram showing an example of a mounting member 16 to which the high-voltage power supply board 10 is attached, and is a plan view showing the other side of the mounting member 16.

[0031] The mounting member 16 to which the high-voltage power supply board 10 is attached has contacts 163 arranged side by side on one side 161, which connect to each of the second output terminals 121 of the high-voltage power supply board 10. When the high-voltage power supply board 10 is attached and fixed to the mounting member 16 by screws or the like, each of the second output terminals 121 makes contact with the corresponding contact 163 and makes an electrical connection. These contacts 163 are electrically connected to high-voltage power output lines 165 provided on the other side 162 of the mounting member 16. The high-voltage power output lines 165 are provided individually for each of the contacts 163.

[0032] Each high-voltage power output line 165 is wired along the other side 162 of the mounting member 16, extending from one side edge 1601 where the contacts 163 are located to the other side edge 1602, which is located opposite the one side edge 1601. Since the high-voltage power board 10 is attached to the mounting member 16 on the side 161, each high-voltage power output line 165 arranged on the other side 162 is insulated from the circuits and solder surfaces provided on the board surface of the high-voltage power board 10 attached to the mounting member 16.

[0033] Furthermore, the high-voltage power supply board 10 is sized such that when it is attached to the mounting member 16, the first output terminal 111 is located on the other side edge 1602 of the mounting member 16. When the high-voltage power supply board 10 is attached to the mounting member 16, as shown in Figure 6, the first output terminal 111 is located further outside the other side edge 1602 of the mounting member 16 and is exposed from the mounting member 16.

[0034] Each high-voltage power output line 165 is provided with an output terminal 1651 at its end on the other side edge 1602 side, which outputs high-voltage power to an operating unit located inside the main body 110 of the image forming apparatus 1. In this embodiment, the contacts of the developing unit are connected to the output terminal 1651, and high-voltage power is supplied to the developing unit from the output terminal 1651. As shown in Figure 6, each high-voltage power output line 165 extends to a position where the output terminal 1651 is located alongside each first output terminal 111 that is exposed outside the other side edge 1602 of the mounting member 16 when the high-voltage power supply board 10 is attached to the mounting member 16. This allows both the power connection work to the drum unit and the power connection work to the developing unit to be performed in the region R shown in Figure 6 when the high-voltage power supply board 10 is attached to the mounting member 16, thereby improving work efficiency.

[0035] In other words, according to the high-voltage power supply board 10 of this embodiment, after attaching the high-voltage power supply board 10 to the mounting member 16, the power connection work to the drum unit and the power connection work to the developing unit can be performed in the same manner as when using the high-voltage power supply board 10' of the comparative example shown in Figure 3, when the high-voltage power supply board 10 is installed inside the main body 110 of the image forming apparatus 1. Furthermore, according to the high-voltage power supply board 10 of this embodiment, the board size in the direction in which the first output terminal 111 and the second output terminal 121 are aligned can be made smaller than that of the high-voltage power supply board 10' of the comparative example.

[0036] Therefore, according to the high-voltage power supply board 10 of this embodiment, the size of the high-voltage power supply board 10, which has terminals for outputting high-voltage power to each operating unit, can be reduced, and the constraints on the placement position when installing the board can be reduced.

[0037] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiments and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above embodiments, an image forming apparatus 1 is described as an example of an electronic device according to the present invention, but the electronic device according to the present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus and broadly includes electronic devices having a mechanism for supplying high-voltage power to an operating unit.

[0038] Furthermore, the configurations and processes shown in the above embodiments using Figures 1 to 6 are merely one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not intended to be limited to these configurations and processes. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0039] 1. Image forming apparatus 120 Image forming unit 10 High-voltage power supply board 101 One side edge 102 The other side edge 103 Lateral edge 11. First High-Voltage Generation Circuit 111 First Output Terminal 12. Second High-Voltage Generation Circuit 12. Second High-Voltage Generation Circuit 121 Second Output Terminal 14 connectors 15 Wiring Patterns 16 Mounting components 1601 One side edge 1602 Other side edge 161 One aspect 162 Other aspects 163 Contacts 165 High-voltage power output line 1651 Output terminal

Claims

1. A high-voltage power supply board having a rectangular outer shape, Multiple first output terminals for outputting high-voltage power to the first operating unit are provided in a region along one side edge of the high-voltage power supply board. A high-voltage power supply board wherein a plurality of second output terminals for outputting high-voltage power to a second operating unit different from the first operating unit are provided in a region along the other side edge opposite to one side edge of the high-voltage power supply board.

2. For each of the first output terminals, a first high-voltage generation circuit for generating the high-voltage power output from the first output terminal is provided at a position adjacent to the first output terminal. For each of the second output terminals, a second high-voltage generation circuit for generating the high-voltage power output from the second output terminal is provided at a position adjacent to the second output terminal. A connector to which wiring inputting control signals to be output to the first high-voltage generation circuit and the second high-voltage generation circuit is connected is located in the central part between the first and second side edges, near the side edge perpendicular to the first and second side edges. The high-voltage power supply board according to claim 1, wherein the wiring pattern for outputting the control signal is provided connecting the connector to the first high-voltage generation circuit and the second high-voltage generation circuit.

3. A high-voltage power supply board according to claim 1 or claim 2, The device body includes a mounting member to which the high-voltage power supply board is attached, The mounting member is provided with a high-voltage power output line that is connected to one of the first output terminals and the second output terminals, and is routed from the connection point to a position close to the other of the first output terminals and the second output terminals, maintaining an insulating distance from the solder surface provided on the high-voltage power supply board.

4. A high-voltage power supply board according to claim 1 or claim 2, The image forming unit comprises a developing unit as the first operating unit and a photoreceptor drum unit as the second operating unit, and forms an image on a recording medium. The device body includes a mounting member to which the high-voltage power supply board is attached, An image forming apparatus, wherein the mounting member is provided with a high-voltage power output line that is connected to one of the first output terminals and the second output terminals, and is routed from the connection point to a position close to the other of the first output terminals and the second output terminals, maintaining an insulating distance from the solder surface provided on the high-voltage power supply board.

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