JP2008160714A - Scanner, and image forming apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce manufacturing costs by disposing a positioning member on an upper surface of a document cover so as to improve appearance of a rear side of the document cover in a scanner. <P>SOLUTION: On the upper surface of a document cover 11 in the scanner, a guide (positioning member) 30 is disposed. The guide 30 includes a fitting pawl 30c projected downward and a leaf spring part 30d formed on a lower surface thereof. A through-groove 11d in a long hole shape is formed on the document cover 11. In a state where the guide 30 is mounted by engaging the fitting pawl 30c into the through-groove 11d, the guide 30 is energized upward by abutting the leaf spring part 30d to the document cover 11 and bending it upward, so that the guide is mounted so as to be hardly slid on the document cover 11. On the lower surface of the document cover 11, any through-hole or the like is not formed but a cover projection 11e is formed to cover the through-groove 11d, so that light leak is prevented, appearance of the lower surface of the document cover 11 is improved and it is not necessary to separate dispose a cover member or the like. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a scanner device having a function of reading a plurality of documents as image data while sequentially conveying them, and an image forming apparatus using the scanner device.

  Conventionally, as a scanner device having a function of scanning a document and reading it as image data, a plurality of documents are placed on a document cover provided for pressing the document on a document table, and the documents are automatically documented. Some of the documents can be easily read by being sequentially conveyed by a feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF). In such a scanner apparatus, a slidable positioning member (guide) is provided on the document cover according to the size of the document to be placed, and the side edge of the document can be positioned. .

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a document cover provided with a positioning member of the conventional scanner device as described above. As shown in the figure, the document cover 811 is formed with a through hole 811c and an elongated through groove 811d. The positioning member 830 is arranged so that a biasing shaft 830b projecting downward substantially at the center of the positioning member 830 passes through the through hole 811c, and the insertion claw 830c of the positioning member 830 engages with the through groove 811d. The document cover 811 is slidable along the longitudinal direction of the through groove 811d. As shown in the drawing, an urging member 850 constituted by a spring, a screw, and the like is attached to the urging shaft 830 b from the lower surface side of the document cover 811, and the positioning member 830 is formed by the spring of the urging member 850. It is configured to be biased upward. The positioning member 830 is biased in this manner and generates a frictional force with the document cover 811, so that the document can be reliably positioned without sliding on the document cover 811 without permission. It is configured to be able to. As shown in the figure, a cover member 860 is mounted on the lower surface of the document cover 811 so as to cover the urging member 850, the through groove 811d, and the like. As a result, when the document cover 811 is opened and the lower surface of the document cover 811 is exposed, fine members, the through hole 811c, the through groove 811d, and the like are hidden by the cover member 860, and from the through hole 811c and the through groove 811d. Are prevented from leaking, and the appearance of the lower surface of the document cover 811 is improved.

  However, in the conventional scanner device as described above, the positioning member 830 is disposed on the upper surface of the document cover 811 and the biasing member 850, the cover member 860, etc. are provided in order to improve the appearance of the lower surface of the document cover 811. There is a problem that the number of parts increases. When the number of parts increases, the part cost increases and the assembly work becomes complicated, so that the manufacturing cost of the scanner device increases.

Patent Document 1 discloses a structure in which a cover member for movably supporting a positioning member is fixed by a claw formed on the back surface of a paper placing table in a paper width adjusting device. Patent Document 2 shows a structure of a recording apparatus in which a positioning member is slidably fixed so as to hold a sheet placing plate by a bent portion formed in the positioning member. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-228561 discloses a paper feeding device that supports a positioning member by fitting a claw at the bottom of the positioning member into a long hole of a paper tray. In Patent Document 4, in a paper guide mechanism configured such that left and right positioning members move in conjunction with each other, a holder for holding a pinion gear is provided from the back side of the paper placement surface. The structure which fits the part and fixes the pinion gear is shown. However, these Patent Documents 1 to 4 disclose an effective solution to the above problem, that is, for example, when a positioning member is arranged on the upper surface of the document cover so that the appearance of the back surface of the document cover is not deteriorated. However, a structure that can prevent an increase in manufacturing cost is not shown.
Japanese Patent No. 3586756 JP 2004-331322 A Japanese Patent No. 2990695 JP 2000-229733 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and even if a positioning member is arranged on the upper surface of the document cover, the appearance of the back surface of the document cover is good, the number of parts is small, and the manufacturing cost is low. It is another object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus using the same.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is directed to a scanner housing, a substantially rectangular document table disposed on an upper surface of the scanner housing, and a scanner housing that can be opened and closed to cover the document table. An auto document feeder that sequentially conveys the original cover disposed and the original placed on the upper surface of the original cover, and the original conveyed by the auto document feeder or the original placed on the original platen A scanner unit having a function of reading as image data, and an image is formed on a recording sheet based on image data of a document read from the scanner unit or input from an external device. An image forming unit having a function, and the document cover is engaged with a through groove formed in a portion near the end of the document cover and the through groove. The insertion claw has a fitting claw and is slidable along the through groove according to the size of the document placed on the upper surface of the document cover. In the image forming apparatus having a positioning member that can position the end portion of the placed document, the through groove is not exposed downward in the vicinity of the through groove on the lower surface of the document cover. A cover protrusion formed so as to be covered is formed integrally with the original cover, and a leaf spring portion extending obliquely downward so as to have flexibility upward on the lower surface side of the positioning member When the positioning member is disposed on the document cover, the end portion of the leaf spring portion comes into contact with the upper surface of the document cover and the leaf spring portion bends upward. , The positioning member Wherein being configured such frictional force increases between the document cover, whereby said original cover well bottom surface of the appearance of, and one in which the number of parts is small and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, a scanner housing, a substantially rectangular document table disposed on the upper surface of the scanner housing, and an openable / closable opening on the scanner housing so as to cover the upper surface of the scanner housing, It has a document cover with a through-groove at the top and a fitting claw that engages with the through-groove, and can slide along the through-groove according to the size of the document placed on the top surface of the document cover A positioning member that is disposed on the document cover in a state in which the insertion claw is engaged with the through-groove and can position an end of the placed document, and a document placed on the document cover. A scanner device having a function of reading a document conveyed from the auto document feeder or a document placed on the document table as image data. On the lower surface side of the female member, there is a biasing portion that abuts on the upper surface of the document cover in a state where the positioning member is arranged on the document cover and deforms to bias the positioning member upward. The positioning member is configured to be difficult to slide on the document cover due to a frictional force between the positioning member and the document cover that is generated by being biased by the biasing portion. It is what.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, a cover protrusion formed so as to cover the through groove so as not to be exposed downward is provided at a portion near the through groove on the lower surface of the document cover. It is formed integrally with the document cover.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the leaf spring portion is integrally formed on the lower surface side of the positioning member, and the lower end portion of the leaf spring portion is on the upper surface of the document cover while the positioning member is disposed on the document cover. Since the contact member is configured to increase the frictional force between the positioning member and the document cover, it is not necessary to separately use a biasing member such as a spring or a screw in order to make the positioning member difficult to slide. Further, it is not necessary to provide a through hole or the like for arranging such an urging member in the document cover, and a cover protrusion is integrally formed on the lower surface of the document cover so as not to expose the through groove downward. Therefore, light leakage between the upper surface side and the lower surface side of the document cover can be prevented and the appearance of the lower surface of the document cover can be improved without providing a cover member or the like separately. Accordingly, the number of parts can be reduced, the part cost can be reduced, and the assembly can be easily performed, and the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus can be reduced.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the biasing portion is integrally formed on the lower surface side of the positioning member, and the positioning member slides on the document cover in a state where the positioning member is biased by the biasing portion. Since it is arranged so as to be difficult, it is not necessary to separately provide a biasing member such as a spring in order to make it difficult to slide the positioning member, and the number of parts can be reduced. Further, since the urging portion is located between the positioning member and the document cover, and it is not necessary to provide a through hole or the like in the document cover for arranging the member for urging the positioning member, the cover member or the like is separately provided. Even if it is not provided, light leakage between the upper surface side and the lower surface side of the document cover can be prevented, the appearance of the lower surface of the document cover can be improved, and the number of parts can be reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the component cost, and to easily assemble, and to reduce the manufacturing cost of the scanner device.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the cover protrusion that covers the lower surface of the document cover so as not to expose the through groove is integrally formed on the lower surface of the document cover, the appearance of the lower surface side of the document cover can be improved without increasing the number of parts. Can be further improved.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of an image forming apparatus according to this embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 is of a so-called all-in-one type, and includes an image forming unit 2 housed in a resin-made printer housing 10 and a rear end of the image forming device 2 above the printer housing 10. 10 is arranged in a state of being pivotally supported so as to be horizontally rotatable, and is disposed in an upper part of a printer housing 10 and a substantially rectangular parallelepiped scanner unit 3 (scanner device) for reading a document (not shown) as image data. An operation button 4 that can be operated from the outside and a liquid crystal display unit 5 that displays the operation state of the image forming apparatus 1 and an external device such as a digital still camera or a memory card are disposed on the front surface of the printer housing 10, for example. It has the connector part 7 grade | etc., Connected. A paper feed tray 15 on which recording paper (not shown) to be transported to the image forming unit 2 is set is provided on the back surface of the printer housing 10, and the image forming unit 2 is disposed on the front surface of the image forming unit 2. A paper discharge tray 16 is provided on which the recording paper on which the image 2 is formed is discharged. A document cover 11 is provided on the upper portion of the scanner unit 3 so as to be openable and closable with respect to the scanner housing 12 so as to cover the upper surface of the scanner housing 12 configured separately from the printer housing 10. In addition, an auto document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) 20 having a function of sequentially transporting documents placed on the document tray 25 on the document cover 11 in a readable manner to the scanner unit 3 is provided above the scanner unit 3. Is arranged. The image forming apparatus 1 includes, for example, image data input from an external device connected to the connector unit 7 or the like, or an external personal computer connected via a connector provided on the back of the printer housing 10, for example. And the like, and the image forming unit 2 has a function of forming an image on a recording sheet using image data read by the scanner unit 3.

  The image forming unit 2 forms an image on a recording sheet by a so-called inkjet method. For example, the image forming unit 2 feeds recording sheets one by one from the paper feed tray 15 into the printer housing 10 and discharges them onto the paper discharge tray 16, a recording medium having a motor that drives the rollers, and the like. A carriage 2a equipped with a paper transport mechanism (not shown), a head for ejecting ink onto the recording paper transported inside the printer housing 10, and the carriage 2a reciprocating in a direction substantially perpendicular to the recording paper transport direction. A motor to be driven, a driving belt (not shown), and the like are included. Note that the image forming unit 2 may form an image on a recording sheet by, for example, an electrophotographic method or a thermal transfer method.

  The scanner unit 3 is of a so-called flatbed type, and has a substantially rectangular original platen 3a disposed on the upper surface of the scanner housing 12, and the image forming apparatus 1 in the front-rear direction on the side of the original platen 3a. And a transmission window 3b arranged in a strip shape in the longitudinal direction. The document table 3a and the transmission window 3b are made of, for example, a glass plate. The document table 3 a of the scanner unit 3 is covered with a document cover 11. The upper surface of the document cover 11 also serves as a document tray 25 on which a document transported by the ADF 20 is placed. On the document cover 11, a reference position of the placed document on the document tray 25 is set. In addition, the reference portion 26 erected on the back side portion of the document cover 11 and the end portion of the document placed on the document tray 25 are sandwiched between the reference portion 26, whereby the document tray A guide (positioning member) 30 and the like for positioning the document on 25 are provided. The ADF 20 is disposed on the side of the upper portion of the document cover 11, and feeds a document on the document tray 25 one by one into the interior covered by the document transport path cover 22. A conveyance roller or the like is arranged for conveyance. A document discharge tray 27 for discharging a document conveyed by the ADF 20 and read by the scanner unit 3 is attached to the ADF 20 so as to be positioned above the document tray 25. In the scanner unit 3, the document is conveyed from the document tray 25 toward the side of the scanner housing 12 into the ADF 3, and discharged from the ADF 3 onto the document discharge tray 27.

  Inside the scanner housing 12, for example, a reading unit (not shown) configured to read a document as image data, which includes a motor (not shown) and a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) driven by the motor. ) Is stored. The scanner unit 3 is configured to move the CIS along the document table 3a inside the scanner housing 12, image the document placed on the document table 3a by the CIS, and read the document as image data. Yes. The scanner unit 3 is configured to read the original as image data by reading the surface of the conveyed original by the CIS through the transmission window 3b while conveying the original by the ADF 20. The scanner unit 3 may be configured to be able to read a document by a reading unit using an image sensor such as a CCD.

  2 and 3 show a structure for attaching the guide 30 to the document cover 11. 4A and 4B show the structure of the guide 30. FIG. In the present embodiment, a recessed portion 11 b in which the guide 30 is disposed is formed in a substantially central portion near the front end portion of the upper surface of the document cover 11. The guide 30 is fitted in the recess 11b and is attached so that the height of the upper surface thereof is substantially the same as the upper surface of the document cover 11, that is, the height of the document tray 25. As shown in FIG. 4A, the guide 30 has guide protrusions 30a that protrude upward from the upper surface of the document cover 11, and the guide protrusions 30a and the reference portion 26 constitute both ends in the document transport direction. The document can be guided and the document can be positioned. The guide 30 is slidably disposed with respect to the document cover 11 as will be described later, and the position of the guide 30 with respect to the document cover 11 is the size of the document placed on the document tray 25 (for example, A4 size or letter). The ADF 20 can be adapted to originals of various sizes. That is, in the present embodiment, the position of the guide 30 is such that one of the end portions on the document transport direction side on the document tray 25 is in contact with the reference portion 26 and the other side end portion is on the guide protrusion 30a. It is adjusted so that it will be along the position. As a result, both ends of the document placed on the document tray 25 in the conveyance direction to the ADF 20 are positioned.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the depression 11 b of the document cover 11 is formed so as to be further depressed from the upper surface of the depression 11 b so that the front-rear direction is the longitudinal direction in the vicinity of both sides of the depression 11 b. A slide groove 11c and a substantially elongated through-hole 11d formed substantially in parallel with the slide groove 11c are provided further laterally than the slide grooves 11c in the recess 11b. A cover protrusion having a substantially L-shaped cross section is provided on the lower surface of the recess 11b of the document cover 11 so as to cover the through groove 11d so that the through groove 11d is not exposed downward along the through groove 11d. Is formed. The cover protrusion 11 e is formed integrally with the document cover 11.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, a slide boss 30b is formed on the lower surface of the guide 30 so as to protrude from the slide groove 11c. In addition, on both side portions of the guide 30, fitting claws 30 c formed in a claw shape projecting sideways so that the front end portions thereof engage with the through grooves 11 d are projected downward. The lower surface of the guide 30 is substantially centered on the lower surface and extends obliquely downward toward the central portion of the guide 30. The tip of the guide 30 is formed in a plate shape having flexibility upward so that it can be displaced upward. A pair of leaf spring portions (biasing portions) 30d are formed so as to face each other. The leaf spring portion 30d is formed, for example, such that its tip protrudes downward in the natural state to the same extent as the slide boss 30b. The slide boss 30b, the insertion claw 30c, and the leaf spring portion 30d are formed integrally with the guide 30. The shape, number, and protruding direction of the leaf spring portion 30d are not limited to this, and for example, the leaf spring portion 30d may be formed so that the tip portion faces the side of the guide 30.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the guide 30 is configured such that the insertion claw 30 c is engaged with the through groove 11 d in a state where the tip end portion of the slide boss 30 b is slidably fitted into the slide groove 11 c, and the document cover 11. Is mounted in the recess 11b. That is, the guide 30 is attached so that the slide boss 30b extends along the slide groove 11c and the insertion claw 30c extends along the through groove 11d so that the recess 11b can slide in the front-rear direction. In the state in which the guide 30 is attached in this manner, the tip end portion of the leaf spring portion 30d comes into contact with the upper surface of the recess portion 11b, and the leaf spring portion 30d is bent upward. That is, the guide 30 is arranged in a state of being biased upward by the restoring force of the leaf spring portion 30d, and the force between the leaf spring portion 30d and the recess portion 11b that is in contact with the document cover 11 by the force. The frictional force between the insertion claw 30c and the through groove 11d is increased. The guide 30 is configured so that it is difficult to slide on the document cover 11 due to the large frictional force, and the position of the guide 30 is not shifted except when the position is changed in accordance with a user operation.

  FIG. 5 shows the lower surface side of the document cover 11. A document pad 14 made of, for example, sponge is attached to the lower surface of the document cover 11 at a position corresponding to the document table 3a. The document placed on the document table 3a is placed on the document table 3a by the document pad 14. It is configured so that it can be pressed. Of the lower surface of the document cover 11, the part where the guide 30 is attached, that is, the part which hits the back side of the recess 11 b, as shown in the figure, is a part projecting downward by the slide groove 11 c and the cover. Except for the presence of the protrusion 11e, it has a substantially flat shape, and is configured to improve its appearance even when the document cover 11 is opened. Since the slide groove 11c itself does not penetrate, light leakage does not occur between the upper surface and the lower surface of the document cover 11 from this portion. Further, since the bottom portion of the through groove 11d is covered with the cover protrusion 11e, light leakage from this portion hardly occurs.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, by providing the leaf spring portion 30d to make it difficult for the guide 30 to slide, it is not necessary to provide a biasing member or the like on the document cover 11, and the number of parts is reduced. The through groove 11d is covered with the cover protrusion 11e, and since there is no need to provide a through hole in the document cover 11 in order to dispose the biasing member, the document cover can be provided without providing a cover member or the like separately. The light leakage between the upper surface and the lower surface of the document cover 11 can be prevented, and the appearance of the lower surface of the document cover 11 can be improved. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 1 can be configured so that the number of parts is reduced, the part cost is reduced, and can be easily assembled, and the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the structure of the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible suitably in the range which does not change the meaning of invention. For example, instead of the leaf spring portion 30d, the guide may have a biasing portion that is integrally formed with the guide, for example, in a spiral shape, and deforms in contact with the upper surface of the document cover. The guide may be arranged so as to be slidable in accordance with the size of the document so that the rear end of the document in the conveyance direction is positioned instead of the side edge of the document. The present invention is also applicable to a scanner device having an ADF that does not have an image forming function. That is, according to the present invention, the scanner device is configured such that the guide is urged upward by the restoring force of the urging portion in a state where the guide is attached to the document cover, whereby the appearance of the back surface of the document cover is improved. In addition, the number of parts can be reduced and the manufacturing cost of the scanner device can be reduced.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The top view which shows the attachment structure of the guide of the said apparatus. The sectional side view of the attachment structure of the said guide. (A) is a perspective view of the said guide, (b) is a perspective view which shows the time when the said guide is seen from the downward direction. The perspective view which shows the lower surface of the document cover of the said apparatus. FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a guide mounting structure of a conventional scanner device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Image forming part 3 Scanner part (scanner apparatus)
3a Document table 11 Document cover 11d Through groove 11e Cover projection 12 Scanner housing 20 ADF (Auto Document Feeder)
30 Guide (positioning member)
30c insertion claw 30d leaf spring part (biasing part)

Claims (3)

A scanner housing, a substantially rectangular document table disposed on the upper surface of the scanner housing, a document cover disposed on the scanner housing so as to be openable and closable so as to cover the document table, and an upper surface of the document cover A scanner unit having an auto document feeder that sequentially conveys the placed document, and having a function of reading the document conveyed by the auto document feeder or the document placed on the document table as image data;
An image forming unit disposed below the scanner unit and having a function of forming an image on recording paper based on image data of a document read by the scanner unit or image data input from an external device;
The document cover is
A through groove formed in a portion near the end of the document cover;
The insertion claw engages with the through groove so as to be slidable along the through groove according to the size of the document placed on the upper surface of the document cover. In an image forming apparatus having a positioning member that is arranged on the document cover in a state of being placed and can position an end portion of the placed document,
A cover protrusion formed so as to cover the through groove so as not to be exposed downward is formed integrally with the document cover on the lower surface of the document cover in the vicinity of the through groove.
On the lower surface side of the positioning member, a leaf spring portion extending obliquely downward so as to have flexibility is integrally provided, and the positioning member is disposed in the document cover in a state where the positioning member is disposed on the document cover. The end portion of the leaf spring is in contact with the upper surface of the document cover, and the leaf spring is bent upward so that the frictional force between the positioning member and the document cover is increased. And
Thereby, the appearance of the lower surface of the document cover is good, the number of parts is small, and the manufacturing cost is reduced. A scanner housing;
A substantially rectangular original platen disposed on the upper surface of the scanner housing;
An original cover that is disposed in the scanner case so as to be openable and closable so as to cover the upper surface of the scanner case, and has a through groove on the top;
The insertion claw has an insertion claw engaged with the through groove, and the insertion claw can be slid along the through groove according to the size of the document placed on the upper surface of the document cover. A positioning member disposed on the document cover in an engaged state and capable of positioning an end portion of the placed document;
An auto document feeder that sequentially conveys the document placed on the document cover,
A scanner device having a function of reading a document conveyed from the auto document feeder or a document placed on the document table as image data,
On the lower surface side of the positioning member, there is an urging portion that abuts on the upper surface of the document cover in a state where the positioning member is disposed on the document cover and deforms to bias the positioning member upward. It is formed integrally with the member,
The scanner device, wherein the positioning member is configured to be difficult to slide on the document cover due to a frictional force between the positioning member and the document cover generated by being urged by the urging unit. . A cover protrusion formed so as to cover the through groove so as not to be exposed downward is formed integrally with the document cover at a portion near the through groove on the lower surface of the document cover. The scanner device according to claim 2.

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