Image forming device

Abstract

To allow easy attachment and detachment of a top board cover from the front of an image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 20 forming an image on a recording medium comprises: a main body 20a; and a top board cover 40 that is detachably attached to the main body in an attachment direction MD directed from the front toward the depth of the main body and forms at least part of a top face of the main body. The top board cover has a plane part 41a that is provided on the top face of the top board cover, a first attachment part 45 that is provided on the top board cover on the upstream side in the attachment direction and fixed to the main body when the top board cover is attached to the main body, and a second attachment part 46 that is provided on the top board cover on the downstream side in the attachment direction and whose position in a height direction is regulated when the top board cover is attached to the main body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a top plate cover. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there has been an image forming apparatus in which an adjustable fastening means is provided on the side of the exterior top plate so that the front part of the exterior top plate of the image forming apparatus and the front part of the exterior top plate of the post-processing apparatus are aligned in a straight line when the image forming apparatus is connected to the post-processing apparatus (Patent Document 1). Also, an image forming apparatus has been proposed in which the top cover is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus with stepped screws, thereby reducing the number of fixing screws and making it easier to remove the top cover by sliding it when removing it from the main body (Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-147873 A [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-246742 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, the fastening means disclosed in Patent Document 1 allows for the alignment of the exterior top plate, but since the fastening means is provided on the side of the device, it is necessary to move the adjacent device or remove the top plate of the adjacent device in order to adjust the fastening means. Therefore, when performing maintenance that requires the removal of the exterior top plate, it is laborious and time-consuming.

[0005] As disclosed in Patent Document 2, when the top cover (top plate) is fastened to the device body from the top side, there is no need to move the device connected adjacently when removing the top cover. However, if screw holes are provided on the flat surface of the top surface of the top cover, there is a problem that it is difficult for the user to work on the flat surface of the top cover. For example, in the user's work with POD products (Print On Demand / light printing products that print small quantities), the screw holes can be a hindrance when the user writes notes about the output on the flat surface of the top cover.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE An object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily attach and detach a top panel cover from the front of an image forming apparatus. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to an embodiment of the present invention, an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium includes: frame body and, The above frame body It is removably attached to The image forming apparatus Constituting at least a part of the top surface of Has an upper surface A top cover and Equipped with The frame body is a frame upper surface portion facing the upper surface portion of the top plate cover; a frame front surface portion disposed in front of the frame top surface portion in a front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus; A frame body rear surface portion is disposed on the rear side of the frame body upper surface portion in the front-rear direction and has a hole provided therein, The top plate cover is The frame front portion is fixed to the image forming apparatus by a screw inserted from the front side of the image forming apparatus. a first mounting portion fixed to the The image forming apparatus is inserted into the hole from the front side. A second mounting portion; Including, It is characterized by: Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, the top panel cover can be easily attached and detached from the front of the image forming apparatus. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming system. [Diagram 2] FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus with the upper front cover removed. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the top plate cover taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3 . [Diagram 5] 5 is a cross-sectional view of the top plate cover taken along line VV in FIG. 4; [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the top plate cover showing the range in which a downward force acts. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus showing a twisting force acting on the top plate cover. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] (Image forming system) The configuration of the image forming system 1 will be described below with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the image forming system 1. When viewed from the front of the image forming system 1, the direction toward the front side is the front direction F, the direction toward the back side is the back direction B, the direction toward the right side is the right direction R, the direction toward the left side is the left direction L, the direction toward the top side is the up direction U, and the direction toward the bottom side is the down direction D. In FIG. 1, the image forming system 1 includes a feeding device 10, an image forming device 20, and a post-processing device 30, which are arranged adjacent to each other in this order from the right side toward the left direction L. The feeding device 10 is connected to the image forming device 20, and the image forming device 20 is connected to the post-processing device 30.

[0011] In an image forming operation, the feeding device 10 feeds a recording medium (hereinafter referred to as a sheet) on which an image is to be formed to the image forming device 20. The sheets include paper such as plain paper or thick paper, special paper such as coated paper, resin sheets such as plastic film for overhead projectors, sheets of any material such as cloth, and sheets of any shape such as envelopes or index sheets. The sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming device 20 is discharged from the image forming device 20 to a post-processing device 30.

[0012] The feeding device 10 has a sheet storage unit (not shown) capable of storing a large number of sheets. The feeding device 10 feeds sheets one by one from the sheet storage unit (not shown) to the image forming device 20 in accordance with an image formation instruction.

[0013] The image forming apparatus 20 has an engine unit (not shown) that forms an image on a sheet with toner using, for example, an electrophotographic system. The engine unit (not shown) forms an image on a sheet fed from the feeding device 10. The image forming apparatus 20 discharges the sheet on which the image has been formed to the post-processing device 30. The image forming apparatus 20 is, for example, a device that forms a color image or a monochrome image on a sheet, such as a copier, printer, facsimile machine, or multifunction machine.

[0014] The post-processing device 30 performs post-processing on the sheets on which images have been formed by the image forming device 20. The post-processing device 30 performs post-processing such as flattening the sheets, bundling multiple sheets, and stapling multiple sheets. The post-processing device 30 discharges the sheets to a discharge tray (not shown).

[0015] (Image forming device) Next, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 will be described with reference to Figs. 2, 3 and 4. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus 20. A top cover 40, an operation unit 70 and an image reading unit 80 are provided at the top of the image forming apparatus 20. A front upper cover 60 and a front door 61 are provided at the front of the image forming apparatus 20. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus 20 with the front upper cover 60 removed. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the top cover 40 taken along line IV-IV in Fig. 3.

[0016] The top plate cover 40 is disposed on the front side (front direction F) of the upper part of the image forming apparatus 20. The top plate cover 40 covers the front part of the upper part of the image forming apparatus 20. The top plate cover 40 is supported by a frame 90 which is the main framework of the image forming apparatus 20. A flat portion 41a is provided on the upper surface 41 of the top plate cover 40. The flat portion 41a has a flat surface on which the user can perform work such as writing notes for printing or binding printed sheets.

[0017] The operation unit 70 is provided on the upper surface 41 of the top panel cover 40. A user can operate the image forming system 1 by operating the operation unit 70. The operation unit 70 is provided with a touch panel 71. The touch panel 71 displays operation buttons operated by the user to operate the image forming system 1 and image formation information.

[0018] The image reading unit 80 is disposed on the rear side (rear direction B) of the image forming apparatus 20. The image reading unit 80 reads an image of a document and outputs image data to the image forming apparatus 20. The image forming apparatus 20 forms (copies) an image of the document on a sheet based on the image data, and outputs the image data to an external device (not shown).

[0019] The front door 61 is provided openably and closably on the front surface of the image forming apparatus 20. The front door 61 is opened in order to replace a toner bottle (not shown), which is a consumable item of an engine unit (not shown) inside the image forming apparatus 20, or to perform maintenance on an internal unit (not shown), etc.

[0020] The front upper cover 60 is provided on the front side of the image forming apparatus 20, below the top plate cover 40 (downward direction D) and above the front door 61 (upward direction U). The front upper cover 60 is detachably attached to the main body 20a of the image forming apparatus 20. The front upper cover 60 covers the area between the top plate cover 40 and the front door 61, and also has a design aspect.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 4, a space S is provided between the top panel cover 40 and the frame upper surface 91 of the frame 90. A near field communication device such as a contactless IC card reader (not shown) or NFC (NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION) (not shown) is disposed in the space S. A user can establish wireless communication between the IC card or mobile device and the near field communication device in a contactless manner by holding the IC card or mobile device over the upper surface 41 of the top panel cover 40. Examples of mobile devices include an NFC-compatible mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a tablet PC, an NFC-compatible camera, an NFC-compatible video camera, and an NFC-compatible notebook computer.

[0022] (Top cover) The configuration and function of the top plate cover 40 will be described below with reference to Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The top plate cover 40 is removably attached to the main body 20a of the image forming apparatus 20 from the front of the image forming apparatus 20, and constitutes at least a part of the top surface of the main body 20a. The top plate cover 40 has a cover member 43, a frame member 44, a front support member 45 and a rear support member 46. A flat portion 41a is provided on the upper surface of the cover member 43. The frame member 44 is assembled to the cover member 43. The front support member 45 and the rear support member 46 are assembled to the frame member 44. The cover member 43, the frame member 44, the front support member 45 and the rear support member 46 are assembled together as the top plate cover 40. Since the top plate cover 40 is formed together, the top plate cover 40 can be attached to and detached from the main body 20a of the image forming apparatus 20 as one part.

[0023] The frame 90 has a frame upper surface 91, a frame front surface 92, and a frame inner surface 93. The top plate cover 40 is disposed on the frame upper surface 91 of the frame 90. The front support member (first mounting portion) 45 is provided on the top plate cover 40 on the front side of the image forming device 20, i.e., on the upstream side in the mounting direction MD of the top plate cover 40 to the main body 20a of the image forming device 20. When the top plate cover 40 is mounted on the main body 20a of the image forming device 20, the front support member (first mounting portion) 45 is fixed to the frame front surface 92 provided on the main body 20a of the image forming device 20 by a screw (fastening member) 50. The screw 50 is inserted from the front of the image forming device 20 in the mounting direction MD. When the top plate cover 40 is attached to the main body 20a of the image forming apparatus 20, the rear support member (second mounting portion) 46 is provided on the top plate cover 40 at the rear side of the top plate cover 40, i.e., on the downstream side in the attachment direction MD. The rear support member (second mounting portion) 46 of the top plate cover 40 is inserted into a support hole 94 provided on an inner frame surface 93 provided on the main body 20a of the image forming apparatus 20, and its position in the height direction is regulated. The rear support member 46 has a protrusion extending in the attachment direction MD and in the left-right direction. The support hole 94 has a long and narrow slit provided in the left-right direction.

[0024] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the top plate cover 40 taken along the line VV in FIG. 4. The two front support members 45 are arranged in the left-right direction (right direction R and left direction L) in the front direction F of the top plate cover 40. The front support member 45 is abutted against the frame body front surface 92 in the back direction B and fastened to the frame body front surface 92 by a screw 50. The front support member 45 is supported by the frame body front surface 92 so as not to move in any direction relative to the frame body front surface 92. The two back side support members 46 are arranged in the left-right direction (right direction R and left direction L) in the back direction B of the top plate cover 40. The back side support member 46 is inserted into a support hole 94 of the frame body inner surface 93 in the back direction B. The back side support member 46 is supported by the frame body inner surface 93 so as to be movable in the front direction F and the back direction B relative to the frame body inner surface 93.

[0025] The top plate cover 40 is attached to the image forming apparatus 20 alone. Therefore, when the screw 50 of the fastening portion of the front support member 45 is removed, the top plate cover 40 can be removed in the forward direction F from the image forming apparatus 20 without removing the image reading unit 80 adjacent to the top plate cover 40. Even if the image forming system 1 is configured by connecting the feeding device 10 and the post-processing device 30 as devices adjacent to the image forming apparatus 20, the top plate cover 40 can be removed independently as a single unit. Therefore, even after the image forming system 1 is installed at the user's place, the user can easily attach optional devices such as a short-range wireless communication device to the image forming apparatus 20 according to his / her request.

[0026] In this embodiment, the top plate cover 40 is fixed to the frame body 90 only by two front support members (multiple fixing parts) 45. Inside the depth direction B of the top plate cover 40, the top plate cover 40 is restricted from moving only in the up and down directions (upward direction U and downward direction D) relative to the frame body 90 by two rear support members (multiple support parts) 46. According to this embodiment, the top surface 41, which is the outer surface of the top plate cover 40, is not fixed in the downward direction D to a handle member provided on the frame body 90. Therefore, the flat portion 41a of the top plate cover 40 can be made wider without providing fixing holes in the flat portion 41a of the top plate cover 40.

[0027] In this embodiment, the top plate cover 40 is provided with two front support members 45 and two rear support members 46. However, the number of front support members 45 is not limited to two, and three, four, five or more front support members 45 may be provided on the top plate cover 40. Furthermore, the number of rear support members 46 is not limited to two, and three, four, five or more rear support members 46 may be provided on the top plate cover 40.

[0028] After the top plate cover 40 is fixed to the frame body 90, the front upper cover 60 is attached to the image forming apparatus 20 so that the screws 50 fastening the front support member 45 to the frame body front surface 92 are not visible from the outside of the image forming apparatus 20. The front upper cover 60 covers the screws 50 and the front support member 45 so that they are not visible on the outer surface (outer shell) of the image forming apparatus 20. In order to provide a space on the front surface of the image forming apparatus 20 as an attachment margin for the front upper cover 60, the portion of the front support member 45 where the screws 50 are attached is positioned further back in the direction B than the front surface 42 of the top plate cover 40.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 5, in the left-right direction (right direction R and left direction L) of the image forming device 20, the position of the left rear support member (second left mounting portion) 46 is approximately the same as the position of the left front support member (first left mounting portion) 45. The left-right direction of the image forming device 20 is perpendicular to the mounting direction MD of the top plate cover 40. In the left-right direction of the image forming device 20, the position of the right rear support member (second right mounting portion) 46 is disposed closer to the outer periphery of the image forming device 20, i.e., closer to the right side surface 47 of the top plate cover 40, relative to the position of the right front support member (first right mounting portion) 45. However, this embodiment is not limited to this. In the left-right direction (right direction R and left direction L) of the image forming device 20, the right rear support member 46 may be disposed at a position approximately the same as the right front support member 45 or closer to the right side surface 47 in the right direction R than the right front support member 45. That is, the distance between the right rear support member 46 and the right side surface 47 may be the same as or shorter than the distance between the right front support member 45 and the right side surface 47. In the left-right direction (right direction R and left direction L) of the image forming apparatus 20, the left rear support member 46 may be provided at a position that approximately coincides with the left front support member 45 or at a position closer to the left side surface 48 in the left direction L than the left front support member 45. That is, the distance between the left rear support member 46 and the left side surface 48 may be the same as or shorter than the distance between the left front support member 45 and the left side surface 48.

[0030] The right side 47 and the left side 48 of the top plate cover 40 extend parallel to the mounting direction MD of the top plate cover 40. The top surface 41, the right side 47 and the left side 48 of the top plate cover 40 do not have screw holes for fixing the top plate cover 40 to the main body 20a of the image forming apparatus 20. In addition, the top surface 41, the right side 47 and the left side 48 of the top plate cover 40 do not have a locking portion to which a connector that connects the feeding device 10 and the post-processing device 30 adjacent to the image forming apparatus 20 and the image forming apparatus 20 is locked. Therefore, even if the feeding device 10 and the post-processing device 30 are connected to the image forming apparatus 20, the top plate cover 40 can be easily attached to and detached from the main body 20a.

[0031] (Action of external force) Next, the action of an external force acting on the top plate cover 40 will be described with reference to Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7. When a user works on the flat surface 41a of the upper surface 41 of the top plate cover 40, a downward force FD acts on the flat surface 41a in the downward direction D as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the top plate cover 40 showing ranges Hi and Ho in which the downward force FD acts. The range Hi is a range surrounded by the front support member 45 on the right side, the front support member 45 on the left side, the rear support member 46 on the left side, and the rear support member 46 on the right side. When the downward force FD is applied to the flat surface 41a within the range Hi, the downward force FD can be received by the front support member 45 and the rear support member 46.

[0032] A downward force FD may act on the flat surface portion 41a outside the range Hi. The range Ho shown in FIG. 6 is the front side of the top cover 40 outside the range Hi. The range Ho is the range between the front surface 42 of the top cover 40 and the front surface 92 of the frame body 90. The range Ho is located in the forward direction F from the screw 50 of the front support member 45, and in the rear direction B from the front surface 42 of the top cover 40. The top surface 41 of the top cover 40 protrudes in the forward direction F from the position of the front support member 45. When a user works on the flat surface portion 41a of the top surface 41 of the top cover 40, if a downward force FD is applied to the flat surface portion 41a within the range Ho, a downward force FD acts in the downward direction D on the flat surface portion 41a in the forward direction F from the front support member 45. As shown in FIG. 4, a moment Fm is generated in the top cover 40 by the downward force FD acting on the flat surface portion 41a in the forward direction F from the front support member 45.

[0033] When a moment Fm acts on the top panel cover 40, an upward force FU that lifts the rear portion of the top panel cover 40 acts on the top panel cover 40, with the fastening portion of the front support member 45 by the screw 50 as the fulcrum Ps. However, because the rear support member 46 of the top panel cover 40 is engaged with the support hole 94 of the frame inner surface 93, the rear portion of the top panel cover 40 is prevented from being lifted by the upward force FU.

[0034] 4, 5, and 7, when a downward force FD is applied to the top surface front corner 41fc at the end in the right direction R at the front side of the top panel cover 40, a twisting force Ft acts on the top panel cover 40. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus 20 showing the twisting force Ft acting on the top panel cover 40. When the twisting force Ft acts on the top panel cover 40, as shown in FIG. 5, the line segment connecting the right front support member 45 and the right rear support member 46 acts as a branch line Lb and receives the twisting force Ft. Therefore, the upward force FU that tries to lift the top surface rear corner 41bc of the top surface 41 is suppressed. The effect of the branch line Lb in suppressing the upward force FU is stronger when the position of the right rear support member 46 is closer to the right side surface 47 of the top panel cover 40 (the outer contour on the right side of the image forming apparatus 20) than the position of the right front support member 45 in the left-right direction of the image forming apparatus 20.

[0035] In this embodiment, the upper surface 41 of the top panel cover 40 protrudes in the forward direction F from the frame front surface 92. The space between the top panel cover 40 and the front door 61 is covered by the front upper cover 60. However, the front upper cover 60 is not necessarily required. For example, the front door 61 may be configured such that the upper part of the front door 61 covers the screws 50 of the front support member 45 when the front door 61 is closed.

[0036] As described above, the top panel cover 40, which is detachable from the main body 20a of the image forming apparatus 20, has the rear support member 46 inserted into the support hole 94 in the mounting direction MD (FIG. 4), and the front support member 45 fixed to the frame front surface 92 by the screw 50. This makes it easy to attach and detach the top panel cover 40 to the main body 20a of the image forming apparatus 20, and ensures the robustness of the top panel cover 40 against external forces. This improves the maintainability and user convenience of the top panel cover 40.

[0037] According to this embodiment, the top plate cover 40 can be fixed to the main body 20a of the image forming apparatus 20 by accessing the rear direction B from the front of the image forming apparatus 20. The rear side support member 46 provided in the rear direction B of the top plate cover 40 is supported by the frame body inner surface 93 simply by being inserted into the support hole 94 of the frame body inner surface 93 without using a fastening member such as a screw 50. Therefore, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus 20 that ensures robustness against external forces while ensuring maintainability and user convenience. According to this embodiment, the top plate cover 40 can be easily attached and detached from the front of the image forming apparatus 20.

[0038] In this embodiment, the feeding device 10, the image forming device 20, and the post-processing device 30 are connected to form the image forming system 1. However, this embodiment is not limited to this. The adjacent device connected to the image forming device 20 may be a device having other functions such as a conveying device, an inspection device, an inserter, etc. Also, the image forming device 20 may be a standalone image forming device that operates independently without being used in the image forming system 1.

[0039] In this embodiment, the top panel cover 40 is provided in the image forming apparatus 20. However, this embodiment is not limited to this. The top panel cover that constitutes the top surface of the feeding device 10, the post-processing device 30, the conveying device, the inspection device, the inserter, etc. may be configured like the top panel cover 40 of this embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 20. Image forming device 20a···Main unit 40···Top plate cover 41...Top surface 41a...Plane part 45 Front support member 46 Rear support member MD...Installation direction

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, A frame body, a top panel cover that is removably attached to the frame and has a top surface that constitutes at least a part of a top surface of the image forming apparatus; Equipped with The frame body is a frame upper surface portion facing the upper surface portion of the top plate cover; a frame front surface portion disposed in front of the frame top surface portion in a front-rear direction of the image forming apparatus; A frame body rear surface portion is disposed on the rear side of the frame body upper surface portion in the front-rear direction and has a hole provided therein, The top plate cover is a first attachment portion fixed to the front surface of the frame by a screw inserted from the front side of the image forming apparatus; a second attachment portion that is inserted into the hole from the front side of the image forming apparatus; 1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

2. The hole is provided with a long and narrow slit in the left-right direction, 2 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second attachment portion has a protruding portion extending in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction.

3. The top cover has a right side and a left side, the first mounting portion includes a first right mounting portion and a first left mounting portion; the second mounting portion includes a second right mounting portion and a second left mounting portion; a distance between the second right mounting portion and the right side surface is equal to or shorter than a distance between the first right mounting portion and the right side surface; 2 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a distance between the second left attachment portion and the left side surface is equal to or shorter than a distance between the first left attachment portion and the left side surface.

4. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a part of the upper surface of the top plate cover protrudes toward a front side of the image forming apparatus beyond the first attachment portion.

5. The image forming apparatus further includes an opening / closing door provided on a front side thereof, The opening and closing door is disposed below the top plate cover, 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a recess recessed from the front side of the image forming apparatus toward the back side is formed between the opening and closing door and the top plate cover.

Images