Image forming device

Abstract

To provide an image formation device that can achieve cost reduction and miniaturization of a device while securing good accessibility to a USB port.SOLUTION: A main control board 113 and a USB board 150 with a USB port 101 mounted thereon are supported on opposite surfaces of a board support plate 114. The USB board 150 is supported in a state of overlapping at least partially with the main control board 113 when viewed from the lateral direction. The board support plate 114 is fixed to a casing part, and the USB board 150 and the main control board 113 are disposed on the same side in the casing part with respect to the lateral direction. This enables the USB board 150 and the main control board 113 to be electrically connected without lengthening a connection cable 115, and also eliminates the need for a protection member to protect the connection cable 115 from electromagnetic disturbance. Thus, cost of an image formation device can be restrained, and since there is no need to secure a space in the casing part for routing a connection cable 115, downsizing of the image formation device can be achieved as well.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, image forming devices such as printers, copiers, facsimiles, and multifunction devices are capable of forming images on recording materials based on image data stored in recording media such as USB memory. To do this, image forming devices are provided with a USB port into which a user can insert or remove a USB memory, and a USB board that controls input and output of image data between the USB memory inserted in the USB port and memory (such as RAM) on the device itself (Patent Document 1).

[0003] Unlike input / output interfaces such as LAN ports that connect to external devices such as personal computers to input and output data, USB ports are provided in locations on image forming devices that are easily accessible to users. In the case of the device described in Patent Document 1, the USB port is provided near the front on the left side of the device, allowing users to insert and remove USB memory from the left and right when viewed from the front. The USB board is connected to a main board located behind the left side cover by a connection cable to input and output data. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-70264 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Conventionally, the USB board and the main board were located approximately 100 to 200 mm apart. This required the use of a long connection cable, and workers performing assembly and maintenance had to consider the routing of the connection cable within the device when connecting the USB board and the main board, which was time-consuming and cumbersome. Furthermore, because long connection cables are susceptible to electromagnetic interference, a protective member had to be installed within the device to protect the connection cable from electromagnetic interference. However, this increases the cost of the image forming device and requires space within the device to route the connection cable, including the protective member, which increases the device's size, which is undesirable as it goes against the recent demand for miniaturization of image forming devices.

[0006] In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims to provide an image forming apparatus that can reduce the cost and size of the apparatus while ensuring good accessibility to the USB port for the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] an image forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, which is an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material, comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material; a housing that houses the image forming unit; a discharge section that discharges the recording material on which the image has been formed by the image forming unit from within the housing; a loading section that is provided on the top surface of the housing in the vertical direction and that loads the recording material discharged by the discharge section; a first electrical board that is arranged outside the loading section in the housing in a width direction that intersects the vertical direction and the direction in which the recording material is discharged by the discharge section; a second electrical board that has a media insertion / extraction section formed with an insertion port through which a recording medium can be inserted and that controls the data reading operation from the recording medium inserted into the insertion port; and a connection cable that connects the first electrical board and the second electrical board; [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the cost and size of the device while ensuring good user accessibility to the medium insertion / removal section in which an insertion port into which a recording medium can be inserted is formed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus as seen from the front side. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus as seen from the rear side. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the board support plate as seen from the main control board side. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the board support plate as seen from the USB board side. [Figure 6] A diagram to explain the overlap of the USB board and the main control board. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the circuit board unit as viewed from the front side. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the arrangement of USB ports. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] <Image forming device> The present embodiment will be described below. First, an overview of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 is a top-discharge type apparatus in which a discharge opening 5 is formed on the top surface of a housing 1A as a space for discharging recording materials from the housing 1A (inside the housing). A discharge tray 51 is disposed in the discharge opening 5 as a stacking section having a stacking surface for stacking recording materials discharged from the housing 1A. In the image forming apparatus 1 of this embodiment, recording materials on which an image has been formed are discharged from the housing 1A to the discharge tray 51 in a discharge direction from the back (rear) side toward the front (front) side. In addition, an operation unit 4 that a user can operate to operate the image forming apparatus 1 is provided on the top surface of the housing 1A.

[0011] In this specification, the side on which a user stands when operating the operation unit 4 to operate the image forming apparatus 1 is referred to as the "front (or front)," the opposite side as the "back (or rear)," the right side as viewed from the front as the "right," and the left side as viewed from the front as the "left." Also, the upper side as viewed from the front as the "top," and the lower side as viewed from the front as the "bottom." Therefore, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the operation unit 4 is located above the housing 1A and to the right of the center as viewed from the front.

[0012] The housing 1A is composed of a plurality of metal plates, such as a left-side plate frame 1FL serving as a holding member for holding one end of the image forming unit 300 (see FIG. 3 described later) in the left-right direction, a right-side plate frame (not shown) for holding the other end, and a stay (not shown) for connecting the left-side plate frame 1FL and the right-side plate frame, and the outer periphery and top surface are covered by an exterior cover that constitutes the exterior of the image forming apparatus 1. The housing 1A has a front cover 81 and a cassette cover 84 on the front side as exterior covers. As shown in the figure, the front cover 81 is disposed above the cassette cover 84 in the vertical direction. The front cover 81 is detachably attached to the housing 1A, and the cassette cover 84 is attached to the cassette 40 (see FIG. 3) and is provided so that it can be pulled out from the housing 1A toward the front together with the cassette 40.

[0013] 2, the housing 1A has side covers 82 that cover the left and right sides, and a rear cover 83 that covers the rear. The housing 1A also has a top cover 85 and a support cover 86 as exterior covers, which form the top surface (top surface) of the housing 1A. The top cover 85 is provided with a discharge tray 51, and the support cover 86 is provided with an operation unit 4. The operation unit 4 has a display 41 and an input unit 42 such as buttons and switches. The operation unit 4 is located on one end side (here, the opposite side from the left side plate frame 1FL) outside the discharge unit 70 in the left-right direction (the vertical direction and the width direction that intersects with the discharge direction of the recording material P by the discharge unit 70 (see FIG. 3)).

[0014] The top cover 85 and the support cover 86 may be provided integrally, or the top cover 85, the support cover 86 and the discharge tray 51 may be provided integrally. The display 41 may also be a touch panel that allows the user to perform operations similar to those of the input unit 42, such as inputting an image formation job or selecting a recording material P, in response to a touch operation on the screen by the user.

[0015] Next, the configuration for image formation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 1 of this embodiment is an electrophotographic full-color printer equipped with image forming units Pa, Pb, Pc, and Pd for yellow, magenta, cyan, and black along an intermediate transfer belt 15. The image forming apparatus 1 is capable of receiving image data from an external device (not shown), such as a USB memory or a personal computer, and forming a toner image on a recording material P based on the received image data. Examples of the recording material P include various types of sheet materials, such as plain paper, cardboard, rough paper, textured paper, coated paper, plastic film, and cloth.

[0016] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, an intermediate transfer device 60 is provided below the image forming stations Pa to Pd. The intermediate transfer device 60 is configured such that an endless intermediate transfer belt 15 is stretched around a plurality of rollers (31, 32, 33) and moves in the direction of arrow R1. An outer secondary transfer roller 16 is provided at a position facing the roller 31 that stretches the intermediate transfer belt 15, with the intermediate transfer belt 15 sandwiched therebetween, forming a secondary transfer section N2 that transfers a toner image carried on the intermediate transfer belt 15 to a recording material P. The secondary transfer section N2 is a transfer nip formed by the roller 31 and the outer secondary transfer roller 16, and the toner image is secondarily transferred onto the recording material P, for example, in response to a secondary transfer voltage being applied to the outer secondary transfer roller 16 by a power source (not shown).

[0017] The following describes a process for forming, for example, a four-color full-color image using the image forming apparatus 1. However, the four image forming units Pa to Pd provided in the image forming apparatus 1 have substantially the same configuration except for the different developing colors. Therefore, the black image forming unit Pd will be described as a representative, and descriptions of the other image forming units Pa to Pc will be omitted.

[0018] The image forming station Pd has a photosensitive drum 10d as a photosensitive member. The photosensitive drum 10d is rotated in the direction of arrow R2 by a drum drive motor (not shown). Around the photosensitive drum 10d, a charging device 11d, a developing device 12d, a primary transfer roller 14d, and a cleaning device 13d are provided.

[0019] When the image forming operation starts, first, the surface of the rotating photosensitive drum 10d is uniformly charged by the charging device 11d. Next, the charged surface of the photosensitive drum 10d is exposed to laser light Ld corresponding to an image signal emitted from the exposure device 2. As a result, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image signal is formed on the photosensitive drum 10d. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 10d is developed into a toner image by a developer contained in the developing device 12d. In this embodiment, one exposure device 2 is provided above the image forming units Pa to Pd, and only one exposure device 2 exposes the multiple photosensitive drums 10a to 10d. In other words, one exposure device 2 is shared by the multiple image forming units Pa to Pd for exposure.

[0020] The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 10d is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 15 at a primary transfer portion N1d formed between primary transfer rollers 14d arranged on either side of the intermediate transfer belt 15. At this time, a primary transfer voltage is applied to the primary transfer roller 14d from a power source (not shown). The intermediate transfer belt 15 carries and transports the toner image transferred from the photosensitive drum 10d. Note that any toner or other deposits remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10d after the primary transfer are removed by a cleaning device 13d.

[0021] Such operations are performed sequentially at the yellow, magenta, cyan, and black image forming units Pa to Pd, and the four color toner images are superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 15. Thereafter, the recording material P stored in the cassette 40 is conveyed to the secondary transfer unit N2 in accordance with the timing of the toner image formation.

[0022] The cassette 40 is provided below the housing 1A (see FIG. 1) and can accommodate a large number of recording materials P. A feeding roller 901 feeds the recording materials P one by one from the cassette 40 toward a registration roller 902. The registration roller 902 corrects skew of the recording material P and transports the recording material P to a secondary transfer portion N2 in synchronization with the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 15. Then, the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 15 is secondarily transferred onto the recording material P in response to a secondary transfer voltage being applied to the outer secondary transfer roller 16 by a power source (not shown).

[0023] The recording material P onto which the toner image has been secondarily transferred is transported to the fixing device 50. The fixing device 50 heats and pressurizes the recording material P while transporting it, fixing the toner image to the recording material P. The recording material P onto which the toner image has been fixed by the fixing device 50 is transported upward (i.e., vertical transport), and is discharged from the inside of the housing 1A to the outside toward the front by the discharge section 70, where it is stacked on the discharge tray 51 (see FIG. 1). The discharge section 70 has a pair of transport rollers, a first roller 71 and a second roller 72, which come into contact with each other to form a discharge nip section N3 capable of nipping and transporting the recording material P, and discharges the recording material P obliquely upward from the inside of the housing 1A.

[0024] In this embodiment, the image forming units 300 that form a toner image on the recording material P are configured by the image forming sections Pa to Pd, the intermediate transfer device 60, the outer secondary transfer roller 16, etc. The exposure device 2, the image forming unit 300, the fixing device 50, the feed roller 901, the registration roller 902, the discharge section 70, and the cassette 40 are housed in the housing 1A.

[0025] The image forming apparatus 1 includes electrical boards such as a laser board for controlling the exposure device 2, an operation unit board for operating the operation unit 4 as a touch panel, a USB board, and a main control board. These electrical boards are boards on which, for example, a CPU, memories such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory), electronic components, electrical components, and ports for data input and output are mounted. In addition to the above, other electrical boards include a drive board for driving motors and a power supply board for applying voltage to various devices. These electrical boards are electrically connected by connection cables. In this specification, a connection cable includes not only a single signal line but also a bundle of multiple signal lines.

[0026] <Main control board> Returning to FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a main control board 113. The main control board 113, which serves as a first electrical board, is an electrical board that controls the entire image forming apparatus, and is disposed outside of the discharge tray 51 in the left-right direction in the housing 1A (here, on the left side panel frame 1FL side). As will be described later, the main control board 113 is supported by a board support plate 114 together with a USB board 150 (see FIG. 4), and is fixed to a predetermined position in the housing 1A by fastening the board support plate 114 to the left side panel frame 1FL with screws. Note that a left side cover 82 shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the outside of the main control board 113 shown in FIG. 1.

[0027] As shown in Fig. 2, the main control board 113 is equipped with two USB ports 131 and 132 and one LAN port 133 as interfaces for inputting and outputting data to and from external devices such as a personal computer. These ports are not covered, allowing the user to quickly connect and disconnect USB cables and LAN cables. These ports are the kind of ports to which cables are connected permanently or for long periods of time, and are arranged on the back side of the housing 1A so that the connection cables do not interfere with the user after connection.

[0028] <USBポート> Also, as shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a USB port 101 for a USB memory 400 in the housing portion 1A. An insertion port 102 into which the USB memory 400 as a recording medium can be inserted is formed in the USB port 101 as a medium insertion / removal portion, and the insertion port 102 is exposed from an opening provided on the upper surface of the housing portion 1A. The USB port 101 is disposed on the downstream side of a pair of discharge rollers (a first roller 71 and a second roller 72, see FIG. 3) with respect to the discharge direction of the recording material P by the discharge portion 70. Further, the USB port 101 is disposed between the main control board 113 and the discharge tray 51 in the left-right direction, and is disposed at the upper portion of the left side plate frame 1FL.

[0029] Note that the housing portion 1A is provided with an opening / closing cover 122 (see FIG. 2) to prevent foreign matter from entering through the insertion port 102 of the USB port 101 when the USB memory 400 is not attached. The opening / closing cover 122 is provided so as to be movable between an open position where the insertion port 102 through which the user can insert the USB memory 400 is open and a closed position where the insertion port 102 through which the user cannot insert the USB memory 400 is closed.

[0030] <USB board> Next, the USB board and the board support plate will be described using FIGS. 4 to 7 while referring to FIGS. 1 and 2. In the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a USB port 101 for the USB memory 400 is mounted on the USB board 150. The USB board 150 as a second electrical component board is an electrical component board capable of controlling a data reading operation from the USB memory 400 inserted into the insertion port 102 of the USB port 101. The USB board 150 on which the USB port 101 is mounted is electrically connected to the main control board 113 via a connection cable 115 so that data can be input and output. Thereby, the main control board 113 can acquire the image data stored in the USB memory 400 inserted into the insertion port 102 of the USB port 101 and store it in a memory (for example, RAM etc.) not shown.

[0031] <Board support plate> 4 and 5, both main control board 113 and USB board 150 are supported by a plate-shaped board support plate 114. Main control board 113, which is equipped with USB ports 131 and 132 and LAN port 133, is supported on one side of board support plate 114, which serves as a support member. Board support plate 114 supports main control board 113 with the surface of main control board 113 facing the surface of board support plate 114.

[0032] On the other hand, the USB board 150 having the USB port 101 mounted thereon is supported on two sides opposite to one side of the board support plate 114 that supports the main control board 113. The board support plate 114 supports the USB board 150 with the surface of the USB board 150 facing the surface of the board support plate 114. The USB board 150 is supported by the board support plate 114 so that the USB port 101 is located downstream of the center of the main control board 113 in the discharge direction (forward direction) of the recording material P.

[0033] Support bases 103 are provided on two sides of board support plate 114, extending vertically from the surface to support USB port 101. Support bases 103 are provided to prevent excessive force from being applied to USB board 150 when inserting or removing USB memory 400 into or from USB port 101.

[0034] As described above, USB board 150 and main control board 113 are supported on both sides of board support plate 114 with their surfaces facing each other. In this embodiment, USB board 150 is supported on board support plate 114 in a state where at least a portion of USB board 150 overlaps with main control board 113 when viewed from the left-right direction.

[0035] In this embodiment, the state of at least partial overlapping includes the case shown in Fig. 6. That is, when main control board 113 is not a simple rectangle but has a partially cut-out shape (see dash-dot line), if even a part of USB port 101 or USB board 150 overlaps with a relatively simplified shape excluding the cut-out part (see dash-dot line), this is referred to as a state of at least partial overlapping.

[0036] The USB board 150 and main control board 113, which are supported on both sides of board support plate 114, are electrically connected to each other via connection cable 115 to enable data input and output. One end of connection cable 115 is connected to a first connector unit 134 provided on main control board 113, and the other end is connected to a second connector unit 150C provided on USB board 150. The first connector unit 134 and the second connector unit 150C are disposed above the center of main control board 113 in the vertical direction.

[0037] Furthermore, board support plate 114 is provided with cable guide 116 that straddles main control board 113 and USB board 150, and cable guide 116 holds connection cable 115 and guides it between main control board 113 and USB board 150. This cable guide 116 is provided to make it easier for workers performing assembly or maintenance to route connection cable 115, for example, and to prevent connection cable 115 from being damaged by surrounding components due to impacts when transporting the device.

[0038] In this way, USB board 150 and main control board 113 are supported on both sides of board support plate 114, and first connector portion 134 and second connector portion 150C are disposed vertically above the center of main control board 113. This allows connection cable 115 to be shortened, and also allows cable guide 116 to be formed in a minimum size.

[0039] By fastening the above-described board support plate 114 to the left side frame 1FL with screws, the USB board 150 and the main control board 113, including the USB port 101, are simultaneously fixed to predetermined positions in the housing 1A. As shown in FIG. 7 , the board support plate 114 is disposed between the left side frame 1FL and the left side cover 82 in the left-right direction in the housing 1A. The board support plate 114 is also fixed to the left side frame 1FL so that the USB board 150 is disposed more inward in the left-right direction than the main control board 113 in the housing 1A. By fixing the board support plate 114, which supports the USB board 150 and the main control board 113, to the left side frame 1FL in this way, the USB board 150 is disposed more outward in the left-right direction than the discharge tray 51 in the same housing 1A as the main control board 113. In this embodiment, the main control board 113 and the USB board 150 are arranged outside the discharge tray 51 in the left-right direction, on the other end opposite the end where the operation unit 4 is arranged (see FIG. 1).

[0040] As described above, in this embodiment, the board support plate 114, which supports the USB board 150 and the main control board 113 on both sides, is fixed to the housing 1A. This allows the USB board 150 to be located on the same side of the housing 1A as the main control board 113 in the left-right direction. This allows workers performing assembly and maintenance to easily route the connection cable 115 connecting the USB board 150 and the main control board 113 within the housing 1A. Furthermore, since the USB board 150 and the main control board 113 can be electrically connected without increasing the length of the connection cable 115, there is no need to provide a protective member to protect the connection cable 115 from electromagnetic interference. This reduces the cost of the image forming apparatus 1. Furthermore, since there is no need to secure space within the housing 1A for routing the connection cable 115, the image forming apparatus 1 can be made more compact. Furthermore, this embodiment allows for good access to the USB port 101.

[0041] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the USB board 150 on which the USB port 101 is mounted is disposed further inside the housing 1A in the left-right direction than the main control board 113, which makes it possible to effectively utilize the space vertically below the USB port 101. Therefore, compared to when the USB board 150 is disposed further outside the housing 1A in the left-right direction than the main control board 113, there is no need to increase the size of the device, which contributes to making the image forming apparatus 1 more compact.

[0042] Furthermore, since the USB port 101 is provided on the top surface of the housing 1A, the installation area of ​​the image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced in the left-right direction, including the area that must be secured for inserting and removing the USB memory 400, compared to when the USB port 101 is provided on the side surface of the housing 1A. Furthermore, when the USB memory 400 is attached, the USB memory 400 protrudes from the top surface of the housing 1A, but since it is difficult for a user to get caught on the USB memory 400, there is little risk of damaging the USB memory 400, the USB board 150, etc.

[0043] [Other embodiments] In the above-described embodiment, the main control board 113 (and the USB board 150) is shown to be located on the left rear side of the housing unit 1A (see Figure 1), but the main control board 113 (and the USB board 150) may also be located on the left front side, right rear side, or right front side of the housing unit 1A.

[0044] In the above-described embodiment, the USB port 101 is arranged with the insertion slot 102 of the USB memory 400 facing upward (see FIGS. 1 and 4 ). However, this is not limiting. For example, as shown in FIG. 8 , the USB port 101 may be mounted obliquely upward, facing the front, so that the insertion slot 102 of the USB port 101 is horizontally elongated and at an elevation angle of, for example, 30° to 45° relative to the horizontal direction. Arranging the USB port 101 in this manner requires space forward for inserting and removing the USB memory 400, but reduces the space above. Therefore, even if a document reader (not shown) for reading an image of a document is provided vertically above the housing 1A, the user can easily see the insertion slot 102 of the USB memory 400 and easily access the USB port 101.

[0045] In the above embodiment, the portable USB memory 400 that can be easily carried by the user as a recording medium has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this and other portable recording media such as an SD card may be used. In this case, the USB port 101 and the USB board 150 may be ports and electrical boards that correspond to the respective recording media.

[0046] The above-described embodiment is not limited to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus that forms a toner image on a recording material using a developer containing toner and carrier, but may also be applied to image forming apparatuses using other methods, such as an inkjet image forming apparatus that forms an image by ejecting ink onto a recording material. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1...image forming apparatus, 1A...casing, 1FL...holding member (left side plate frame), 4...operation unit, 51...loading unit (discharge tray), 70...discharge unit, 71 (72)...conveyor rollers (first roller, second roller), 82...exterior cover (side cover), 101...medium insertion / removal unit (USB port), 102...insertion port, 113...first electrical board (main control board), 114...support member (board support plate), 115...connection cable, 116...cable guide, 134...first connector unit, 150...second electrical board (USB board), 150C...second connector unit, 300...image forming unit, 400...recording medium (USB memory), N3...nip unit (discharge nip unit), P...recording material

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material; a housing portion that houses the image forming unit; a discharge section that discharges, from inside the housing section, a recording material on which an image has been formed by the image forming unit; a stacking section provided on an upper surface of the housing section in the vertical direction, for stacking the recording material discharged by the discharge section; a first electrical board disposed on the housing at an outer side than the stacking portion in a width direction intersecting a vertical direction and a direction in which the recording material is discharged by the discharge portion; a second electrical board having a medium insertion / removal section formed with an insertion port into which a recording medium can be inserted, and controlling an operation of reading data from the recording medium inserted into the insertion port; a connection cable connecting the first electrical board and the second electrical board, the second electrical board is disposed on the same side of the housing as the first electrical board and further outward from the loading section in the width direction, and at least a portion of the second electrical board overlaps with the first electrical board when viewed from the width direction. An image forming apparatus characterized by:

2. the second electrical board is disposed inward of the first electrical board in the width direction of the housing portion; 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a recording medium.

3. the discharge section has a pair of conveying rollers that contact each other to form a nip portion that can sandwich and convey the recording material; the medium insertion / removal unit is disposed downstream of the pair of discharge rollers in the discharge direction.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a recording medium.

4. The medium insertion / removal unit is arranged so that the insertion slot is exposed from an opening provided on the top surface of the housing unit.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a recording medium.

5. the medium insertion / removal unit is disposed downstream of the center of the first electrical board in the ejection direction.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a recording medium.

6. an operation unit disposed on one end side outside the discharge unit in the width direction, the first electrical board and the second electrical board are disposed on the other end side opposite to the one end side and outside the discharge portion in the width direction; 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a recording medium.

7. a plate-shaped support member provided in the housing portion, the plate-shaped support member supporting the first electrical board on one side and supporting the second electrical board on two sides opposite to the one side; 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a recording medium.

8. The first electrical board and the second electrical board are arranged such that their surfaces face each other.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7,

9. the housing portion includes a holding member that holds one end of the image forming unit in the width direction, and an exterior cover that is disposed outside the holding member and forms an exterior of the image forming apparatus, The support member is disposed between the holding member and the exterior cover in the width direction.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image forming apparatus is a recording medium.

10. the first electrical board has a first connector portion that is provided above a center of the first electrical board in the vertical direction and that connects one end of the connection cable; the second electrical board has a second connector portion to which the other end of the connection cable is connected, the support member has a cable guide that is provided at a position spanning the first electrical board and the second electrical board, and that holds the connection cable and guides it between the first electrical board and the second electrical board.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image forming apparatus is a recording medium.

11. The first electrical board is a main control board that controls the entire device.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a recording medium.

Images