CN203232244U - image forming equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides image forming equipment which is capable of reducing holes formed in a side cover. The image forming equipment comprises a side frame, a side cover and at least one circuit base plate, wherein the side frame is used for holding an image forming part; the image forming part is provided with a photoreceptor and an exposure device for exposing the photoreceptor; the side cover is configured on the outer side of the side frame; a configuration space is formed between the side cover and the side frame; the circuit base plate is configured in the configuration space; the side frame has an air sucking hole for sucking air from the inner side of the side frame to the configuration space, and an exhaust port which is formed above the air sucking hole and is used for exhausting air from the configuration space to the inner side of the side frame. According to the image forming equipment provided by the utility model, foreign matters are prevented from entering from the hole in the side cover, and the appearance of the image forming equipment is improved.

Description

image forming equipment

technical field

The utility model relates to an image forming device, in particular to an image forming device capable of reducing the holes formed on the side cover.

Background technique

There is known an image forming apparatus provided with a circuit substrate. In this image forming apparatus, for the large amount of heat generated by the operation of the circuit board, it is necessary to provide an air intake port or an exhaust port on the wall of the apparatus main body, and cool it by air flow. However, if an exhaust port is provided on the side cover, since metal products such as paper clips may enter through the exhaust port, it is desirable to have as few gaps or openings as possible for exhaust or air intake.

Utility model content

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reducing holes formed in a side cover.

In order to achieve the above object, the utility model provides an image forming device, comprising: a side frame, which holds an image forming part, and the image forming part has a photoreceptor and an exposure device for exposing the photoreceptor; a side cover, which Arranged outside the side frame body, an arrangement space is formed between the side cover and the side frame body; and at least one circuit board arranged in the arrangement space. The side frame body has an air intake port for sucking air from the inside of the side frame body into the arrangement space, and is disposed above the air intake port from the arrangement space toward the inside of the side frame body. exhaust vent.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the components on at least one of the circuit boards are arranged on the side of the side frame with respect to the board.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the side frame body has a protruding portion that partially protrudes inward, and a part of the components of the circuit board enters the inner side of the protruding portion and protrudes toward the inner side of the arrangement space. out of the bulge.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, a guide portion is formed on the inner surface of the side frame for guiding the installation of the process cartridge having the photoreceptor, and the guide portion is arranged at a different position from the protruding portion. Location.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the suction port is disposed at a position lower than the components of the circuit board.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the exhaust port is disposed at a position higher than the exposure device.

In the image forming device of the present invention, the exhaust port has a plurality of holes.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the components are disposed on the circuit board on the side of the side frame with respect to the board and above the lower end of the air inlet and the upper end of the air outlet in the height direction. The height ranges below are arranged so as to overlap.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the side frame is provided with an air intake port and an exhaust port, and the air is sucked from the inside of the side frame and exhausted to the inside. Therefore, even if there are few holes in the side cover, there is no question. Therefore, entry of foreign matter through the hole in the side cover can be suppressed. In addition, since there is no problem even if there are few holes opened in the side cover, the appearance of the image forming apparatus can be improved.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view of a side frame seen from the inside.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A of Fig. 2 .

Fig. 4 is a B-B sectional view of Fig. 2 .

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the side frame with the side cover removed, viewed from the outside.

Fig. 6 is a C-C sectional view of Fig. 2 .

Fig. 7 is for explaining the voltage supply contact to the charger, wherein (a) is a perspective view, and (b) is a D-D sectional view of (a).

Detailed ways

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In the following description, first, the overall structure of a laser printer as an example of an image forming apparatus will be described, and then features of the present invention will be described in detail.

In the following description, the directions are described based on the user's directions when using the laser printer. That is, in Fig. 1, the right side when facing the paper is the "front side", the left side when facing the paper is the "rear side", the far side when facing the paper is the "right side", and when facing the paper The proximal side of is "Left". In addition, the up-down direction when facing a paper surface is "up-down direction".

<Outline structure of laser printer>

As shown in FIG. 1 , a laser printer 1 has a cabinet 2 as an apparatus main body, a supply unit 3 for supplying paper P, and an image forming unit 4 for forming an image on paper P. As shown in FIG.

The housing 2 mainly includes side walls 200 arranged on the left and right (only the right side is shown in FIG. 1 ), a rear cover 21 , an upper cover 22 , an upper wall 25 , and a front cover 23 . The specific structure of the side wall 200 will be described later. The upper cover 22 is configured to be opened and closed vertically with the rear as a fulcrum, and the process cartridge 6 described later can be attached and detached through an opening formed when the upper cover 22 is opened.

In the supply unit 3 , a paper feed tray 31 for storing paper P is provided. On the rear side of the paper feed tray 31 , various transport mechanisms such as a pickup roller 32 are provided, and the paper P placed on the paper feed tray 31 can be fed to the image forming unit 4 one at a time.

The image forming unit 4 has a scanner unit 5 as an example of an exposure device, a process cartridge 6 , and a fixing device 7 .

The scanning unit 5 is provided on the front side in the housing 2, and has a laser emitting unit, a polygon mirror, a lens, a reflection mirror, and the like, which are not shown. In this scanning unit 5 , a laser beam is scanned and irradiated onto the surface of a photosensitive drum 61 described later at high speed. Above the scanning unit 5 , a partition wall 51 covering the scanning unit 5 is provided. The front end of the partition wall 51 has a gap 52 through which the air inside the partition wall 51 can be discharged to the outside. In addition, above the partition wall 51, the aforementioned upper wall 25 is provided, through the gap between the upper wall 25 and the partition wall 51, the gap between the upper wall 25 and the front cover 23, and the gap between the upper cover 22 (discharge tray 9) and the upper wall 25. The gap can also vent the air to the outside.

The process cartridge 6 includes, in addition to the photosensitive drum 61 , a transfer roller 62 for transferring the toner image on the photosensitive drum 61 onto the paper P, a charger 64 , a developing roller 65 , and layers not shown in the figure. Thickness limiting sheet, toner holding chamber, etc. The process cartridge 6 can be attached to or detached from the cabinet 2 through an opening formed when the upper cover 22 is opened. Specifically, attachment and detachment are performed by guiding the shaft 61A of the photosensitive drum 61 on the first guide portion 212 formed on the side wall 200 and guiding the boss 63 on the second guide portion 213 .

In this process cartridge 6 , the surface of a rotating photosensitive drum 61 is uniformly charged by a charger 64 , and then scanned by a laser beam from a scanning unit 5 at high speed to be exposed. As a result, the potential of the exposed portion is lowered, and an electrostatic latent image based on the image data is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 .

Then, the toner in the toner containing chamber is supplied to the electrostatic latent image of the photosensitive drum 61 by the developing roller 65 , forming a toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 . After that, the toner image carried on the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 is transferred to the paper P by conveying the paper P between the photosensitive drum 61 and the transfer roller 62 .

The fixing device 7 is disposed above the process cartridge 6 and mainly includes a heating roller 71 and a pressure roller 72 .

The heat roller 71 is a member for heating the paper P, and a heat source such as a halogen lamp (not shown) is provided inside the heat roller 71 . The pressure roller 72 is a member that pinches and conveys the paper P between it and the heating roller 71 , and is provided on an oblique rear upper side of the heating roller 71 .

In the fixing device 7 configured in this way, the toner transferred to the paper P is thermally fixed when the paper P passes between the heat roller 71 and the pressure roller 72 . Further, the paper P thermally fixed by the fixing device 7 is transported to a discharge roller 8 disposed downstream of the fixing device 7 , and is discharged onto a discharge tray 9 by the discharge roller 8 .

<Structure of Side Wall 200 >

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the side wall 200 is configured to have a side frame body 210 and a side cover 220 . Although the description of the specific structure is omitted, the side frame body 210 supports the aforementioned scanning unit 5 , process cartridge 6 and fixing device 7 .

Between the side frame body 210 and the side cover 220, an arrangement space 290 is formed. In the arrangement space 290, a low-voltage substrate 230, a high-voltage substrate 240, and a main substrate 250 (see FIG. 5 ), which are examples of circuit substrates, are arranged.

The low-voltage board 230 is a circuit board for driving a motor not shown in the figure, and as shown in FIG. Protruding multiple bosses (not shown) are fixed.

The high-voltage substrate 240 is a circuit substrate for supplying voltage to the photosensitive drum 61 of the process cartridge 6, the charger 64, etc., and is disposed at the upper half of the side frame body 210. It is fixed by a plurality of bosses (not shown) protruding outward.

The main board 250 is a circuit board for signal processing of print data input to the laser printer 1 , and is arranged corresponding to a range protruding upward from the rear of the side frame 210 . When viewed facing the substrate 251 of the main substrate 250 , a part of the lower portion of the main substrate 250 overlaps with the upper portion of the substrate 241 of the high voltage substrate 240 .

As shown in FIG. 3 , each element 235 of the low-voltage board 230 is arranged on the side of the side frame body 210 with respect to the board 231 , that is, inside. Also in the high-voltage substrate 240 , each element 245 is arranged on the side of the side frame 210 with respect to the substrate 241 , that is, arranged inside. On the contrary, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , each element 255 of the main substrate 250 is arranged on the side cover 220 side with respect to the substrate 251 , that is, arranged outside.

As shown in FIG. 4 , a part of the lower part of the side frame body 210 forms a protruding part 211 that partially protrudes inward, so that a part of the arrangement space 290 located on the back side of the protruding part 211 forms a bulging part that bulges inward. 290A. There are many kinds of elements 235 provided on the low-voltage substrate 230 , and among them, the part of the element 235A that is tall and protrudes more from the substrate 231 enters the bulging portion 290A corresponding to the inner side of the protruding portion 211 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the first guide portion 212 and the second guide portion 213 are formed on the inner surface of the side frame body 210 as guide portions for guiding when the process cartridge 6 is installed in the cabinet 2 . The first guide portion 212 is formed as a groove extending downward and rearward from the upper end of the side frame body 210 and visible from the inner side. The second guide part 213 is arranged on the front side of the first guide part 212 and is formed as a groove extending downward and rearward from the upper end of the side frame body 210 and visible from the inside. The first guide portion 212 and the second guide portion 213 are formed at different positions from the aforementioned protruding portion 211, so that the concavo-convex shape required for forming the guide portion is not provided on the protruding portion 211, but is provided on a portion located relatively outside, Therefore, the amount of protrusion to the inside of the side frame body 210 is reduced, and the size of the laser printer 1 can be reduced.

At the lower end of the front portion of the side frame body 210, a rectangular air intake port 260 long in the front-rear direction is formed. The air intake port 260 is an opening for introducing cooling air into the arrangement space 290 from the inside of the side frame body 210 , specifically, from the vicinity of the side of the paper feed tray 31 . The intake port 290 is arranged at a position lower than the components 235, 245, 255 on the circuit boards such as the low-voltage board 230, the high-voltage board 240, and the main board 250 (see FIG. 3 ). Therefore, when air flows from bottom to top in arrangement space 290 due to heat generated by the components, each circuit board can be efficiently cooled by the air flowing into arrangement space 290 from air inlet 260 .

A substantially trapezoidal first exhaust port 271 is provided on the upper front portion of the side frame body 210 , and a second exhaust port 272 composed of a plurality of small holes is provided near the center of the side frame body 210 in the front-rear direction. The first exhaust port 271 and the second exhaust port 272 are openings for exhausting air from the arrangement space 290 to the inside of the side frame body 210 . Note that the laser printer 1 of this embodiment moves cooling air by convection generated when each circuit board generates heat, and does not have a fan.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the first exhaust port 271 is disposed above the scanning unit 5 and below the partition wall 51 , and opens to a space below the partition wall 51 . Accordingly, since the first exhaust port 271 is positioned higher than the scanning unit 5 , it is possible to suppress the scanning unit 5 from being heated by the air flowing out from the first exhaust port 271 . In addition, the second exhaust port 272 is also disposed above the scanning unit 5 , so the air exhausted from the second exhaust port 272 to the inside of the side frame 210 does not heat the scanning unit 5 . Note that the second exhaust port 272 is constituted by a collection of small holes, so that the user's fingers and the like cannot enter, but a passage cross section required for exhaust can be ensured.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the elements 235, 245 are disposed on the low-voltage substrate 230 and the high-voltage substrate 240 inside the substrates 231, 241, higher than the lower end of the suction port 260 in the height direction, and higher than the first exhaust port. The port 271 and the lower height range of the upper end of the second exhaust port 272 are arranged to overlap. That is, the low-pressure substrate 230 that generates a large amount of heat is arranged so as to correspond to the heights of the intake port 260 , the first exhaust port 271 , and the second exhaust port 272 , thereby cooling more efficiently. In addition, since the circuit board with large heat generation such as the low-voltage board 230 arranges the element 235 inside the board 231, the board 231 is used as a flame-resistant wall. Therefore, the side cover 220 can be made of a material with low flame retardancy, so that the cost can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 6 , in the portion where the main substrate 250 faces the high-voltage substrate 240 , on the main substrate 250 , the low-sized component 255A among the components 255 is arranged, and at the same time, on the high-voltage substrate 240 , the low-sized component 245 is arranged on the high-voltage substrate 240 . element 245A. Thus, by arranging low-sized elements 245A and 255A on the portion where the main substrate 250 and the high-voltage substrate 240 face each other, the high-voltage substrate 240 and the main substrate 250 can be overlapped in the height direction, and the distance in the facing direction can be shortened. , can suppress the laser printer 1 from being too high, and can suppress the laser printer 1 from being too large in the lateral direction.

A hole 218 is formed near the center in the height direction of the side frame body 210 , and the voltage supply contact 100 provided on the high voltage substrate 240 protrudes from the hole 218 for the charger 64 . The voltage supply contact 100 is in contact with the contact of the charger 64 of the process cartridge 6 .

As shown in FIG. 7( a), the voltage supply contact 100 has a cannonball-shaped contact portion 110 and a flange portion 120 extending radially from the base end of the contact portion 110 . The incision 121. As shown in FIG. 7( b ), the flange portion 120 of the voltage supply contact 100 enters into the guide tube portion 219 formed on the side frame body 210 . In the guide tube part 219, a key 219A extending in the axial direction of the tube is formed corresponding to the notch 121, and the notch 121 can slide in the guide tube part 219 by engaging with the key 219A. The voltage supply contact 100 is urged from the outside to the inside by the spring 180 , and the tip end of the contact portion 110 comes into pressure contact with the contact of the charger 64 of the process cartridge 6 by the force of the spring 180 . By moving the cutout 121 in cooperation with the key 219A, the voltage supply contact 100 can slide smoothly with respect to the guide cylinder portion 219 without hindrance, thereby enabling stable operation.

Next, the functions and effects of the laser printer 1 configured as described above will be described.

When the laser printer 1 is in operation, the main substrate 250 processes print data, and at the same time, the low-voltage substrate 230 drives a motor (not shown), and the high-voltage substrate 240 drives the process cartridge 6 .

The components 235, 245, and 255 generate heat due to the operation of these circuit boards, and the temperature in the arrangement space 290 rises due to the heat. When the temperature in the arrangement space 290 rises, an air flow from bottom to top occurs in the arrangement space 290 , whereby air is introduced into the arrangement space 290 from the inside of the side frame 210 as shown in FIG. 3 . In addition, the heated air is discharged from the configuration space 290 to the inside of the side frame body 210 through the first exhaust port 271 on the upper part. As shown in FIG. Inside the partition wall 51 , the gap 52 at the front end of the partition wall 51 leaks forward, and is discharged to the outside through the gap between the upper wall 25 and the front cover 23 .

In addition, the heated air in the arrangement space 290 is exhausted from the second exhaust port 272 to the inside of the side frame 210 as shown in FIG. 4 . As shown in Figure 1, a part of the air discharged from the second exhaust port 272 passes under the upper cover 22, through the gap between the upper cover 22 and the upper wall 25, the gap between the upper wall 25 and the partition wall 51, and The gap between the upper wall 25 and the front cover 23 is discharged to the outside. The remaining air discharged from the second exhaust port 272 flows to the rear side, rises toward the discharge roller 8 , and is discharged to the outside from the gap around the discharge roller 8 .

Thus, according to the laser printer 1 of the present embodiment, the side frame body 210 is provided with the air intake port 260 and the exhaust port (the first exhaust port 271 and the second exhaust port 272 ), and from the inside of the side frame body 210 Inhale, exhale to the inside. Therefore, even if there are few holes in the side cover 220, there is no problem, and entry of foreign matter through the holes in the side cover 220 can be suppressed. In addition, since there is no problem even if the number of holes opened in the side cover 220 is small, the design of the appearance can be improved.

Note that although the heated air entering the inside of the side cover 220 is discharged to the outside through the gaps in the upper part of the cabinet 2, each gap in the upper part can make use of the width of the cabinet 2 (dimensions in the left-right direction) for a long time. The dimension (distance between a pair of walls) is small, and since the cross-section of the channel itself that utilizes the width as much as possible is large, sufficient exhaust capacity can be ensured. In addition, the gap between the upper cover 22 and the upper wall 25, the gap between the upper wall 25 and the partition wall 51, etc., are different from openings on the side cover 220 because a pair of walls face each other to form a channel. , making the channel longer. Therefore, although air can be easily passed, since small objects such as paper clips hardly pass through, there is no problem that metal pieces such as paper clips enter the apparatus.

In addition, since the components on the low-voltage substrate 230 and high-voltage substrate 240 of the laser printer 1 are arranged on the side frame body 210 side with respect to the substrates 231, 241, the substrates 231, 241 serve as flame-resistant walls for the components 235, 245, reducing the The flame retardancy of the side cover 220 reduces the cost.

Furthermore, in the laser printer 1 of the present embodiment, since part of the components 235A of the low-voltage board 230 enters the protruding portion 290A formed in the arrangement space 290 on the rear side of the protruding portion 211, the space can be effectively used and the cost can be reduced.

In addition, since the air inlet 260 of the laser printer 1 is disposed at a lower position than the components 235, 245, and 255, the components 235, 245, 235, 245, and 255.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified.

For example, although three circuit boards are provided in the above-described embodiment, the number of circuit boards may be arbitrary. In addition, the number of the intake port and the exhaust port provided in a side frame body may be arbitrary.

Although a monochrome laser printer is shown as an example of an image forming apparatus in the above-described embodiments, the image forming apparatus may be a color printer, a copier, a multifunction machine, or the like.

Although an image forming apparatus without a fan is exemplified in the above-described embodiments, the image forming apparatus may also be provided with a fan.

Claims (8)

1. An image forming device, characterized in that, comprising: a side frame holding an image forming section having a photoreceptor and an exposure device for exposing the photoreceptor; a side cover, which is arranged outside the side frame body, and forms an arrangement space between the side cover and the side frame body; and at least one circuit substrate, the circuit substrate is arranged in the arrangement space, The side frame body has an air intake port for sucking air from the inside of the side frame body into the arrangement space, and is disposed above the air intake port from the arrangement space toward the inside of the side frame body. exhaust vent. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the components on at least one of the circuit boards are arranged on the side of the side frame with respect to the board. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: The side frame body has a protrusion partially protruding inward, A part of the components of the circuit board enters a bulging portion located on the inner side of the protruding portion and bulged toward the inner side of the arrangement space. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: A guide portion is formed on the inner surface of the side frame for guiding the installation of the process cartridge having the photoreceptor, The guide portion is arranged at a different position from the protruding portion. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The intake port is arranged at a position lower than the components of the circuit board. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The exhaust port is disposed at a position higher than the exposure device. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The exhaust port has a plurality of holes. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: The circuit board, which is arranged on the side of the side frame with respect to the board, overlaps with a height range above the lower end of the air inlet and below the upper end of the air outlet in the height direction.

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