JP2012158101A - Cover device with opening/closing detection sensor, and printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

In a cover device having a structure in which a cover body is closed in a vertical position, in addition to the function of the open / close detection sensor for determining the open state and the closed state of the cover body, the closed state of the cover body in the vertical position is maintained. The function is also simplified and the structure is simplified.
A cover body includes a mounted portion that is detachably mounted with a base end serving as a swing fulcrum, and an open / close detection sensor that detects an open / close state of the cover body, wherein the cover body is in a closed state. The swing fulcrum takes a vertical position where the swinging fulcrum is positioned downward, and is configured to be in a horizontal position in the open state. The open / close detection sensor has a first position and a second position corresponding to the closed state and the open state of the cover. A swingable sensor lever 8 that takes a position and a biasing member 10 that applies a biasing force to the sensor lever, the biasing force of the biasing member being in a state where the sensor lever is in the first position The cover body is configured to act in the closing direction.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention includes an open / close detection sensor comprising a cover body, a mounted portion to which the cover body is detachably mounted with a base end as a swing fulcrum, and an open / close detection sensor for detecting an open / close state of the cover body. The present invention relates to a cover device and a recording device.

  A recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer is provided with a paper discharge stacker. This paper discharge stacker is normally configured to open and close, and when in use, it is in an open state and receives a recording material (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “paper”), and takes a stacking position. However, when not in use, it is in a closed state and functions as a cover body that protects the inside of the recording apparatus.

  When the recording apparatus executes recording on the recording material, the paper discharge stacker cannot discharge the recorded recording material in the closed state (the cover body state). Therefore, the recording device detects the open / closed state of the paper discharge stacker by detecting the open / close status of the paper output stacker, and starts recording when it is not open (when it is closed). It is configured not to let you.

The following Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 are listed as conventional literatures for detecting the open / closed status of the paper discharge stacker with an open / close detection sensor. In these patent documents, there is disclosed a cover body in which the swinging fulcrum is positioned downward and the free end is positioned upward in the closed state, and the free end side is rotated to be in the horizontal position in the open state. Yes.
Since this cover body has a vertical posture in which the swinging fulcrum is positioned downward and the free end is positioned upward in the closed state, the free end of the cover body is prevented from being inadvertently opened in the closed state. A closed state maintaining device using a magnetic force or the like for maintaining the closed position is provided on the side.

JP 2006-239993 A JP 2004-216657 A

However, the conventional open / close detection sensor is used as long as it performs control not to start recording in the closed state by detecting the open / closed state of the openable / closable paper discharge stacker, that is, the openable / closable cover body.
That is, the open / close detection sensor and the closed state maintaining device are provided in a completely unrelated state. Therefore, the number of parts is large, and there is a problem that hinders downsizing.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a cover device having a structure in which the cover body is closed in a vertical position, in addition to the function of determining the open state and the closed state of the cover body in the open / close detection sensor, In other words, the structure can be simplified, the number of parts can be reduced, or the size can be reduced.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of a cover device provided with an open / close detection sensor according to the present invention includes: a cover body; And an open / close detection sensor for detecting an open / closed state of the cover body, and the cover body takes a vertical posture in which the swing fulcrum is positioned downward and the free end is positioned upward in the closed state, The open / close detection sensor is configured to be in a lateral posture, and the open / close detection sensor has a swingable sensor lever that takes a first position and a second position corresponding to a closed state and an open state of the cover, and swings the sensor lever. And a biasing member that applies a biasing force to the sensor lever, and the biasing force of the biasing member is applied to the cover body in a state where the sensor lever is in the first position. In the closing direction And it is characterized in that it is configured to use.

  Here, the “vertical posture” does not need to be vertical at all, and is used in the meaning that it may be inclined in a range that can be said to be substantially vertical. In addition, the “lateral posture” does not have to be horizontal, and is used in the meaning that it may be inclined within a range that can be said to be substantially horizontal.

  According to this aspect, the urging force of the urging member is configured to act in a closing direction with respect to the cover body in a state where the sensor lever is in the first position. Therefore, in the cover device having a structure in which the cover body is closed in the vertical position, in addition to the function of determining the open state and the closed state of the cover body in the open / close detection sensor, the function of maintaining the closed state of the cover body in the vertical position Thus, the structure can be simplified, the number of parts can be reduced, or the size can be reduced.

  In addition, since the cover body is in a vertical posture, the cover body is almost entirely supported by the swing fulcrum and is hardly affected by the weight when the cover body is maintained in the closed state. The biasing force of the biasing member is sufficient with a small force. Therefore, the operability when opening and closing the cover body is not deteriorated.

  By increasing the urging force of the urging member within a range that does not hinder the opening and closing of the cover body, it becomes possible to maintain the closed state of the cover body only by the urging force of the urging member. It is also possible to omit the maintenance device.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cover device including the open / close detection sensor according to the first aspect, the urging member is configured such that the urging force is applied when the cover body transitions from the closed state to the open state. Is configured to gradually increase.

According to this aspect, when the cover body shifts from the closed state to the open state, the center of gravity of the cover body moves in a direction away from the vertical axis passing through the swing fulcrum. Accordingly, the force to open the cover body gradually increases due to the weight of the cover body itself.
On the other hand, the urging force of the urging member is also configured to gradually increase when the cover body shifts from the closed state to the open state. Since this force is opposite to the force for opening the cover body by its own weight, each force acts so as to cancel each other.
Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the transition from the closed state to the open state of the cover body from becoming abrupt, and to smoothly proceed the transition, thereby improving the operability of the cover body.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the cover device including the open / close detection sensor according to the first aspect or the second aspect, the cover body is in a closed state with respect to a vertical axis passing through the swing fulcrum. The vertical posture is slightly inclined toward the closing side. Here, “slightly” is defined as such because there is no meaning to define a strict range, and means up to about 15 degrees with respect to the vertical axis V, and up to about 30 degrees. It is used.

  According to this aspect, since the self weight of the cover body confidence acts in the direction of closing the cover body, it is possible to further stabilize the maintenance of the closed state of the cover body. Alternatively, the biasing force of the biasing member can be further reduced.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cover device including the open / close detection sensor according to any one of the first to third aspects, the cover body and the sensor lever are cams on the cover body side, A cam mechanism having a sensor follower as a cam follower is formed in contact with each other, and the cam mechanism is configured such that the swing amount of the cam follower is smaller than the swing amount of the cam. To do.

  According to this aspect, the operability of opening and closing the cover body can be improved by the structure of the cam mechanism. Alternatively, it is possible to use a larger urging force of the urging member, thereby increasing the possibility that the conventional closed state maintaining device can be omitted.

A fifth aspect of the recording apparatus according to the present invention is a recording apparatus including a recording execution unit and a cover device including an open / close detection sensor, wherein the cover device including the open / close detection sensor is the first aspect. To the fourth aspect of the present invention.
According to this aspect, the effect of each aspect can be obtained as a recording apparatus.

1 is an overall perspective view of a recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the invention. The cover body is in a closed state in the side sectional view (A) and the enlarged side sectional view (B) of the cover device provided with the open / close detection sensor according to the first embodiment. The cover body is an open state in the expanded sectional side view of the cover apparatus provided with the opening-and-closing detection sensor which concerns on Example 1. FIG. The cover body is a closed state in the expanded sectional side view of the cover apparatus provided with the opening-and-closing detection sensor which concerns on Example 2. FIG. The cover body is a closed state in the principal part expanded side sectional view of the cover apparatus provided with the opening-and-closing detection sensor which concerns on Example 3. FIG.

[Example 1] (See FIGS. 1 to 3)
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a cover device including an open / close detection sensor according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
As shown in FIG. 1, the illustrated recording apparatus 1 is an ink jet printer 1 (using the same reference numeral as “recording apparatus”) capable of performing recording on a sheet P that is a recording material.
As shown in FIG. 2, the inkjet printer 1 includes a recording execution unit 2 having a recording head for ejecting ink, a cover body 3 that is a paper discharge stacker, and a fulcrum that pivots about the base end of the cover body 3. 4 includes an attached portion 5 that is attached so as to be openable and closable, and an open / close detection sensor 6 that detects an open / close state of the cover body 3.

The cover body 3 is configured to take a vertical posture in which the swing fulcrum 4 is positioned downward and the free end portion 7 is positioned upward in the closed state, and in a horizontal posture in the open state.
In the present embodiment, the cover body 3 is configured to have a vertical posture slightly inclined to the opening side with respect to the vertical axis V passing through the swing fulcrum 4 in the closed state (FIG. 2). Moreover, the horizontal posture in the open state is configured to be a slightly inclined horizontal posture in which the free end portion 7 is above the base end portion (FIG. 3).
A closed state maintaining device that maintains the closed position of the cover body 3 in the vertical position (closed state) so as not to open carelessly inside the free end 7 of the cover body 3 (the surface on which the recording material is placed in the open state). 11 is provided as an example. A magnet 14 constituting the closed state maintaining device 11 is provided on the printer main body 13 side at a position facing the magnetic body 12. The closed state of the cover body 3 is maintained by attracting the magnetic body 12 to the magnet 14.

  The open / close detection sensor 6 is a swingable sensor lever 8 that takes a first position P1 (position in FIG. 2) and a second position P2 (position in FIG. 3) corresponding to the closed state and the open state of the cover body 3. And a detecting portion 9 that detects the swing of the sensor lever 8 and a biasing member 10 that applies a biasing force to the sensor lever 8. And the urging | biasing force of the said urging | biasing member 10 is comprised so that it may act in the direction closed with respect to the said cover body 3 in the state in which the said sensor lever 8 exists in a said 1st position.

  The sensor lever 8 has a base end portion 15 which is an upper portion held by a rotation fulcrum 16 and a free end portion 17 which is a lower portion is inside the cover body 3 and is attached below the swinging fulcrum 4. The urging member 10 is pressed against the urging portion 19. The sensor lever 8 is provided with a detection projection 18 in the vicinity of the rotation fulcrum 16 (FIG. 2B).

  When the cover body 3 is in the closed state, the detection projection 18 of the sensor lever 8 is in a position retracted from the detection unit 9 (FIG. 2B). On the other hand, in the open state, the free end portion 17 is pushed and rotated by the biased portion 19, and the detection projection 18 enters the detection portion 9 (FIG. 3). Then, it is detected that the cover body 3 is in an open state due to the entry into the detection unit 9, and the detection signal is sent to the control unit 20.

  In the present embodiment, the urging member 10 is constituted by a contracted coil spring. When the cover body 3 shifts from the closed state to the open state, the urging force of the urging member 10 gradually increases as the sensor lever 8 rotates to further compress the urging member 10. It has become.

  In this embodiment, the cover body 3 and the sensor lever 8 form a cam mechanism 23 in which the biased portion 19 portion of the cover body 3 is a cam 21 and the free end portion 17 portion of the sensor lever 8 is a cam follower 22. Are in contact with each other. The cam mechanism 23 has a shape in which the free end portion 17 is recessed so that the swing amount of the cam follower 22 is smaller than the swing amount of the cam 21.

Next, the operation of the cover device including the open / close detection sensor and the ink jet printer 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.
According to the present embodiment, the urging force of the urging member 10 acts in the direction in which the sensor lever 8 is closed with respect to the cover body 3 in the state where the sensor lever 8 is in the first position P1 where the cover body is in the closed state. Therefore, in the cover device having a structure in which the cover body 3 is closed in the vertical position, in addition to the function of the open / close detection sensor 6 determining whether the cover body 3 is open or closed, the cover body 3 in the vertical position is closed. Therefore, the structure can be simplified, the number of parts can be reduced, or the size can be reduced. In this embodiment, the magnet 14 of the closed state maintaining device 11 is changed to a simple and low-cost one.

  Furthermore, since the cover body 3 is in the vertical posture, when the cover body 3 is maintained in the closed state, the weight of the cover body 3 is almost entirely supported by the swing fulcrum 4 and is hardly affected by the weight. . Thereby, the urging force of the urging member 10 is sufficient with a small force. Therefore, the operability when opening and closing the cover body 3 is not deteriorated.

  Here, if the urging force of the urging member 10 is set large within a range that does not hinder the opening and closing of the cover body 3, the closed state of the cover body 3 can be maintained only by the urging force of the urging member 10. The conventional closed state maintaining device can be omitted.

In this embodiment, the urging member is configured such that the urging force gradually increases when the cover body 3 shifts from the closed state to the open state.
By the way, when the cover body 3 shifts from the closed state to the open state, the position of the center of gravity of the cover body 3 moves in a direction away from the vertical axis V passing through the swing fulcrum 4. Accordingly, the force for opening the cover body 3 gradually increases due to the weight of the cover body 3 itself. On the other hand, the urging force of the urging member 10 is also configured to gradually increase when the cover body 3 shifts from the closed state to the open state, and this force opens the cover body 3 by its own weight. Since the force is opposite to the force to be tried, the forces act to cancel each other.
As a result, the transition from the closed state to the open state of the cover body 3 can be prevented (a kind of damper effect), the transition can be smoothly advanced, and the operability of the cover body 3 can be improved. It can be improved.

In this embodiment, the cover body 3 and the sensor lever 8 are in contact with each other by forming a cam mechanism 23 having the cover body 3 side as a cam 21 and the sensor lever 8 side as a cam follower 22. The cam mechanism 23 is configured such that the cam follower 22 is recessed so that the swing amount of the cam follower 22 is less than the swing amount of the cam 21.
Thereby, the operativity which opens and closes the cover body 3 by the said cam mechanism 23 can be improved. Alternatively, it is possible to use a larger urging force of the urging member 10, and it is easier to omit the conventional closed state maintaining device.

[Example 2] (see FIG. 4)
Hereinafter, another embodiment of the cover device including the open / close detection sensor according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
In this embodiment, the cover body 3 and the sensor lever 8 are in contact with each other by forming a cam mechanism 23 in which the cover body 3 side is a cam 21 and the sensor lever 8 side is a cam follower 22. However, the swing amount of the cam follower 22 is set in a linear relationship with respect to the swing amount of the cam 21. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the cam follower 22 is configured to be a flat shape, not a concave shape.

  According to the present embodiment, the damper effect for preventing the transition from the closed state to the open state of the cover body 3 from becoming abrupt can be expressed more greatly, and the transition can be further smoothly advanced. Thus, the operability of the cover body 3 can be further improved.

[Example 3] (see FIG. 5)
Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 5, another embodiment of the cover device including the open / close detection sensor according to the present invention will be described.
In the present embodiment, the cover body 3 is configured to have a vertical posture slightly inclined (angle θ) toward the closing side with respect to the vertical axis V passing through the swing fulcrum 4 in the closed state. Here, the angle θ is set to about 10 degrees.

  According to the present embodiment, since the weight of the cover body 3 itself acts in the direction of closing the cover body 3, it is possible to further stabilize the maintenance of the closed state of the cover body 3. Other effects are the same as those of the above embodiments.

[Other embodiments]
The recording apparatus 1 according to the present invention is basically configured to have the above-described configuration, but of course, the partial configuration may be changed or omitted without departing from the gist of the present invention. Is possible.
For example, the cover body is not limited to the paper discharge stacker, and any cover body that forms a cover device including an open / close detection sensor is applicable.
Further, the urging member is not limited to the coil spring, and a plate spring, a torsion coil spring, or the like can be used.

1 inkjet printer (recording device), 2 recording execution unit, 3 cover body,
4 Swing fulcrum, 5 Mounted part, 6 Open / close detection sensor, 7 Free end,
8 sensor lever, 9 detector, 10 biasing member, 11 closed state maintaining device,
12 Magnetic body, 13 Printer body, 14 Magnet, 15 Base end,
16 rotation fulcrum, 17 free end, 18 detecting protrusion, 19 biased part,
20 control unit, 21 cam, 22 cam follower, 23 cam mechanism, V vertical axis,
P1 first position, P2 second position, θ angle

Claims (5)

A cover body;
A mounted portion to which the cover body is attached so as to be openable and closable with the base end as a swing fulcrum
An opening / closing detection sensor for detecting an opening / closing state of the cover body,
The cover body is configured to take a vertical posture in which the swing fulcrum is positioned downward and a free end is positioned upward in the closed state, and in a horizontal posture in the open state,
The open / close detection sensor includes a swingable sensor lever that takes a first position and a second position corresponding to a closed state and an open state of the cover body, a detection unit that detects the swing of the sensor lever, and the sensor An urging member for applying an urging force to the lever,
The urging force of the urging member includes an open / close detection sensor configured to act in a closing direction with respect to the cover body in a state where the sensor lever is in the first position. Cover device. In the cover apparatus provided with the open / close detection sensor according to claim 1,
The cover device having an open / close detection sensor, wherein the biasing member is configured so that the biasing force gradually increases when the cover body shifts from a closed state to an open state. In the cover apparatus provided with the open / close detection sensor according to claim 1 or 2,
In the closed state, the cover body is configured to have a vertical posture slightly inclined toward the closing side with respect to the vertical axis passing through the swing fulcrum. . In the cover apparatus provided with the open / close detection sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The cover body and the sensor lever are in contact with each other by forming a cam mechanism in which the cover body side is a cam and the sensor lever side is a cam follower,
The cam mechanism is configured so that the swing amount of the cam follower is less than the swing amount of the cam. A recording device including a recording execution unit and a cover device including an open / close detection sensor,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover device including the open / close detection sensor is the one described in any one of claims 1 to 4.

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