Patent Application
20230053616
This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-135286 filed Aug. 23, 2021.
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus with an openable slot covering and to an image forming apparatus.
An image forming apparatus including a wire covering is disclosed by Japanese Patent No. 6465637 (claim 1 and FIGS. 3, 4, and 8). The wire covering is attached to a covering member. The covering member is provided at an output portion and extends orthogonally to a sheet output direction and to the top-to-bottom direction of the image forming unit. The wire covering covers wires with which the image forming apparatus is electrically connected to optional devices.
Another image forming apparatus including a wire covering is disclosed by Japanese Patent No. 5810119 (claim 1 and FIGS. 2, 3, and 4). The wire covering includes a surrounding portion. The surrounding portion surrounds a wire cord that electrically connects an apparatus body, which includes a document reading unit, and a document feeding device to each other. The wire covering is attachable to and detachable from the apparatus body together with the wire cord.
Aspects of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus with an openable slot covering and an image forming apparatus each including an openable covering that forms a part of an exterior covering provided over a housing. The openable covering openably covers a portion of the housing where slots into which insertion objects are insertable individually are provided, and a portion of the housing where no such slots are provided. The exterior covering including the openable covering has no seams and therefore has an improved appearance.
Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure address the above advantages and/or other advantages not described above. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not required to address the advantages described above, and aspects of the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not address advantages described above.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus with an openable slot covering, the apparatus including a housing having an openable covering that forms a part of an exterior covering and openably covers a portion of the housing, the portion having one or more slots into each of which an insertion object is insertable, wherein the openable covering is provided as a single piece of covering that openably covers an area of the housing, the area extending from a first end of the housing to a second end of the housing and including a portion having no slots, the first end and the second end being opposite each other, and the portion having no slots occupies 30% or more of the area to be covered by the openable covering.
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein:
As illustrated in any of
The housing 10A is a structure configured and shaped as predetermined and is formed of an inner frame structure and an outer shell structure, including a plurality of frame members, a plurality of exterior covering members, and so forth.
As illustrated in
The outer shell structure of the housing 10A is provided as an exterior covering 11, which includes, for example, a front covering 11a, a rear covering 11b, a left side covering, a right side covering 11d, and a top covering 11e. Since the housing 10A has a cubic outline, the covering members forming the exterior covering 11 each have a substantially rectangular shape.
As illustrated in
The portion 15 occupies an area having a certain size in the housing 10A and in which a plurality of slots 7 are gathered. The portion 15 is also regarded as a contact unit that allows the connection and the input and output of information between the apparatus 1A (the functional unit 2) and external devices through the slots 7 in predetermined manners.
Exemplary objects that are insertable into any of the slots 7 (hereinafter also referred to as “insertion objects”) include cables with universal-serial-bus (USB) terminals, storage devices, memory cards such as secure digital (SD) cards, information carrying media such as compact discs (CDs), information recording media, connecting cables (connection terminals of connecting cables), and the like.
The slots 7 are female connectors of various kinds that match applicable insertion objects. Examples of the slots 7 include USB terminal ports, SD card slots, slots for information carrying media and information recording media, connectors for connecting cables, and the like.
The apparatus 1A basically has a plurality of slots 7 but may have a single slot 7 if the single slot 7 occupies a relatively large area.
If the apparatus 1A has a plurality of slots 7, the slots 7 may be of the same kind or different kinds or may include slots 7 of the same kind and slots 7 of different kinds.
In the portion 15, as illustrated in
The portion 15 having the slots 7 may be one of a plurality of portions 15 having slots 7 and that are defined at predetermined positions of the housing 10A. As illustrated in
The functional unit 2 includes devices having respective functions corresponding to the usage of the apparatus 1A.
Examples of the devices applicable to the functional unit 2 include an image forming unit (20), to be described separately below, functional devices of a personal computer, video devices of a television or the like, functional devices of a household appliance such as a coffee machine, and so forth.
The functional unit 2 is not limited to a unit having a single function and may be a combination of units having different functions. When an insertion object is inserted into a corresponding one of the slots 7 for connection, the functional unit 2 is allowed to have relevant communications and other transactions with a corresponding external device.
The shape and size of the housing 10A may be changed with the kind of the functional unit 2. For example, the housing 10A may have an outline shape other than a cubic shape, or may have any shape and size with openings, recesses, and so forth.
As illustrated by a two-dot chain line in
In the apparatus 1A with an openable slot covering, as illustrated in
The term “single piece of covering” used herein refers to a covering formed of a single solid member, not including separate members that are openable individually.
The area 14 extending from the first end T1 to the second end T2 of the housing 10A is to be covered by the openable covering 12. The area 14 is a combination of the portion 15 having the slots 7 and the portions 17A and 17B having no slots 7. The area 14 contains and extends beyond the portion 15 having the slots 7.
The first end T1 of the housing 10A according to the first exemplary embodiment is the upper end of one of the faces of the housing 10A (the right side face), and the second end T2 of the housing 10A is the lower end of that face of the housing 10A. More specifically, the first end T1 of the housing 10A is the upper end of the right side covering 11d that covers one face (the right side face) of the housing 10A. The second end T2 of the housing 10A is the lower end of the right side covering 11d.
The direction from the first end T1 to the second end T2 of the housing 10A refers to the direction of a line extending from the first end T1, passing through the portion 15 having the slot 7, and reaching the second end T2. The direction from the first end T1 to the second end T2 in the first exemplary embodiment coincides with the top-to-bottom direction of the housing 10A. The edge (corner) of the housing 10A where the right side face and the rear face meet extends in the top-to-bottom direction. Accordingly, the direction from the first end T1 to the second end T2 also coincides with the direction in which the edge extends.
The area 14 according to the first exemplary embodiment has a substantially linear strip shape (a long narrow rectangular shape) having a predetermined width and elongated in the top-to-bottom direction of the housing 10A. The portion 15 having the slots 7 is located near the edge (corner) extending in the top-to-bottom direction at the boundary between the right side face and the rear face of the housing 10A. Accordingly, the area 14 is located near the edge.
Examples of the portions 17A and 17B (hereinafter also generally referred to as “portion 17”) having no slots 7 include the following: a portion between the portion 15 having the slots 7 and the first end T1 of the housing 10A; a portion between the portion 15 having the slots 7 and the second end T2 of the housing 10A; and, if the apparatus 1A includes a plurality of portions 15 having the slots 7, a portion between adjacent ones of the portions 15 having the slots 7.
The portion 17A having no slots 7 illustrated in
If the boundary between the portion 15 having the slots 7 and each of the portions 17A and 17B having no slots 7 is not clear, the boundary may be considered as, for example, a line that extends across the area 14 to be covered by the openable covering 12 and passes through a position near the outer end of the slot 7 positioned at a corresponding one of the two ends of the portion 15 in the top-to-bottom direction of the area 14 (the line is substantially orthogonal to the long-side direction of the area 14).
As illustrated in
If the portion 17 having no slots 7 occupies less than 30% of the area 14 to be covered by the openable covering 12, the portion 15 having the slots 7 occupies a relatively large part of the area 14 to be covered by the openable covering 12, making the ratio of the portion 17 having no slots 7 relatively small. In such a case, the portion 17 having no slots 7 may be provided without the openable covering 12, because such a portion having no slots 7 does not need to be openably covered, basically.
In the first exemplary embodiment, the combination of the portions 17A and 17B having no slots 7 occupies, for example, about 60% of the area 14 to be covered.
The openable covering 12 according to the first exemplary embodiment is provided as a single piece of covering that forms a part of the exterior covering 11. The exterior covering 11 is provided over at least a part (a face) of the housing 10A where the portion 15 having the slots 7 is located.
Specifically, the openable covering 12 is provided as a single piece of covering that openably covers the entirety of the area 14 that extends from the first end T1 to the second end T2 of the housing 10A, inclusive of the portion 17 (the portions 17A and 17B) of the housing 10A where no slots 7 are provided.
In other words, as illustrated in
Actually, the openable covering 12 includes a body portion 12a and a supporting portion 12b. The body portion 12a covers the area 14 extending from the first end T1 to the second end T2 of the housing 10A and is supported by the supporting portion 12b in such a manner as to be rotatable in opening and closing directions Do and Dc, which are indicated by arrows in the drawings.
The body portion 12a has a shape and a size with which the area 14 is coverable. The body portion 12a according to the first exemplary embodiment is a plate member having a rectangular shape elongated in the top-to-bottom direction. The body portion 12a or the right side covering 11d may have a grip, in the form of a recess or the like, to be gripped by the user with his/her fingers when the user opens the openable covering 12.
The supporting portion 12b has a shape and a size with which the body portion 12a is rotatably supportable. The supporting portion 12b according to the first exemplary embodiment is formed of a part of the rear covering 11b. Specifically, the supporting portion 12b is a plate member having a rectangular shape elongated in the top-to-bottom direction. The supporting portion 12b is continuous with the rear end of the body portion 12a and forms a right end part of the rear covering 11b.
As illustrated in
The openable covering 12 is attached at the supporting portion 12b thereof to a rear part (an inner part covered by the rear covering 11b) of the housing 10A with rotatably supporting members such as hinges or rotating shafts. Thus, the openable covering 12 is rotatable on the supporting portion 12b (the rotatably supporting members) in the opening and closing directions Do and Dc indicated by the arrows in
In the apparatus 1A with an openable slot covering that is configured as above, as illustrated in
Therefore, as illustrated in
In a comparative embodiment illustrated in
In the apparatus 100 according to the comparative embodiment, an exterior covering 11 (in the comparative embodiment, a right side covering 11d and a rear covering 11b) including the openable covering 120 has a seam Ld extending laterally (actually, in the front-to-rear direction and in the side-to-side direction). In the apparatus 100 according to the comparative embodiment, the seam Ld deteriorates the appearance of the exterior covering 11.
In the apparatus 1A with an openable slot covering, referring to
In the first exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in
If the slots 7 are gathered or the portion 15 having the slots 7 is locally defined in any one of the three sections Ev1, Ev2, and Ev3, the remainder of the area 14 (the remaining two of the three sections Ev1, Ev2, and Ev3) to be openably covered by the openable covering 12 is regarded as the portion 17 having no slots 7. In such an arrangement, the portion 17 having no slots 7 occupies at least 60% of the area 14 to be covered by the openable covering 12.
The openable covering 12 in such an arrangement is also designed to openably cover the area 14 elongated in the top-to-bottom direction, inclusive of the portion 17 having no slots 7.
In the apparatus 1A with an openable slot covering, the portion 15 having the slots 7 may be locally defined in each of any two of the three sections Ev1, Ev2, and Ev3, with the remaining one section having no slots.
Specifically, the following arrangements are possible: an arrangement where the portion 15 having the slots 7 is defined in each of the upper section Ev1 and the center section Ev2, an arrangement where the portion 15 having the slots 7 is defined in each of the center section Ev2 and the lower section Ev3, and an arrangement where the portion 15 having the slots 7 is defined in each of the upper section Ev1 and the lower section Ev3 (i.e., an arrangement where the portion 15 is defined at each of two opposite ends of the area 14). In any of the three arrangements, the portion 17 having no slots 7 occupies at least 30% of the area 14 to be covered by the openable covering 12. While the two portions 15 described here each have a plurality of slots 7, one of the two portions 15 may alternatively have a single slot 7.
In
If the apparatus 1A includes the portion 15 having the slots 7 that is locally defined in, for example, any one or each of any two of the three sections Ev1, Ev2, and Ev3, the portion (17) having no slots 7 is defined in each of the remaining two or the remaining one of the three sections Ev1, Ev2, and Ev3. That is, the portion (17) having no slots 7 occupies 30% or more of the area 14 to be covered by the openable covering 12.
The openable covering 12 of the apparatus 1A may be formed of the body portion 12a alone, without the supporting portion 12b.
The openable covering 12 including the body portion 12a alone is effective in the following arrangement, for example: as illustrated by two-dot chain lines in
In the apparatus 1A, the location of the portion 15 having the slots 7 is not limited to a position on the right side face of the housing 10A and may be a position on the front face, the left side face, the rear face, or the top face of the housing 10A.
In such an arrangement, the openable covering 12 is to form, for example, a part of the front covering 11a, a part of the left side covering, a part of the rear covering 11b, or a part of the top covering 11e.
The portion 15 having the slots 7 may be defined in each of a plurality of faces of the housing 10A among the five faces: the front face, the left side face, the right side face, the rear face, and the top face.
In such an arrangement, the openable covering 12 may be provided for each of all the plurality of faces of the housing 10A where the portions 15 having the slots 7 are defined, or for each of some of the plurality of faces.
In the apparatus 1A, as illustrated in
The openable covering 12D has a long narrow shape elongated in the side-to-side direction and is provided as a part (at the upper end) of the rear covering 11b. The openable covering 12D may be attached to the upper end of the rear face of the housing 10A or the rear covering 11b in such a manner as to be openable by rotating rearward on, for example, the lower end thereof.
In such an arrangement, the right section Eh1 and the left section Eh3 that are adjacent to the portion 15D having the slots 7 on the right and left sides, respectively, are regarded as portions 17C and 17D each having no slots.
As illustrated by two-dot chain lines in
The image forming apparatus 1B according to the second exemplary embodiment has the same configuration as the apparatus 1A according to the first exemplary embodiment, except the following: as illustrated in any of
In the following description, elements that are the same as those described in the first exemplary embodiment are denoted by corresponding ones of the reference signs used in the first exemplary embodiment, and description of those elements is omitted unless necessary.
The housing 10B is almost the same as the housing 10A according to the first exemplary embodiment, except that the housing 10B has no top covering 11e because the external reading unit 60 is provided at the top thereof, and that the housing 10B includes the medium output portion 4, which is an in-frame space where a recording medium 39 having an image formed thereon by the image forming unit 20 is to be outputted.
As illustrated in
The front covering 11h is, for example, an openable covering that openably covers the housing 10B, with the medium output portion 4 and a portion (a base 61) of the external reading unit 60 being exposed.
The front covering 11h serving as an openable covering may be shaped in such a manner as to additionally expose the medium supplying unit 30 provided in the housing 10B. In that case, the front covering 11h is regarded as an openable covering that openably covers the image forming unit 20 provided in the housing 10B.
The medium output portion 4 receives a recording medium 39 to be outputted thereto after an image is formed thereon by the image forming unit 20.
The medium output portion 4 is positioned on the upper right side with respect to the image forming unit 20.
The medium output portion 4 serves as a receiving space 40, which is provided in an upper part of the housing 10B and on the front face Ft of the housing 10B.
The medium output portion 4 has an outlet 41 in the left inner wall of the receiving space 40, and a placing surface 42 at the bottom of the receiving space 40. The recording medium 39 is to be outputted from the outlet 41 and to be placed onto the placing surface 42. The placing surface 42 forms, for example, a slope that inclines upward while extending rightward from the outlet 41.
The image forming unit 20 as one of the subunits of the functional unit 2 includes devices configured to form an image corresponding to image information on a recording medium 39.
The image forming unit 20 includes an electrophotographic imaging device configured to form an image with developer eventually on a recording medium 39.
The electrophotographic imaging device in the image forming unit 20 includes a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, and so forth (not illustrated), all of which are provided around an image carrier (not illustrated) such as a photoconductor. The image forming unit 20 further includes a fixing device provided at a position away from the image carrier. The image forming unit 20 further includes a developer supplying device, an image processor, a controller, and other relevant devices.
The transfer device may employ either a direct transfer method in which an image formed with developer on the image carrier is directly transferred to a recording medium 39, or an intermediate transfer method in which an image formed with developer on the image carrier is transferred to an intermediate transfer member and then to a recording medium 39.
The image forming unit 20 has a function of forming an image corresponding to image information received from an external device, such as an information terminal, connected to the image forming apparatus 1B, and a function of forming an image corresponding to image information acquired through the reading of a reading object by the external reading unit 60.
In the image forming unit 20, the imaging device performs a charging operation, an exposure operation corresponding to image information, a developing operation, and a transfer operation in that order on and around the image carrier. Thus, in the image forming unit 20, an image is formed with developer on the image carrier, and the image is then transferred from the image carrier to a recording medium 39. In the image forming unit 20, a fixing operation is further performed on the recording medium 39 having the image transferred thereto. Thus, the image is fixed to the recording medium 39. The recording medium 39 having the fixed image is eventually outputted to the medium output portion 4.
The medium supplying unit 30 stores recording media 39 and supplies the recording media 39 one by one to the image forming unit 20.
The medium supplying unit 30 is provided below the image forming unit 20.
The medium supplying unit 30 includes a storing member such as a tray in which the recording media 39 are stored, a feeding device that feeds out the recording media 39 one by one from the storage member, and so forth (all not illustrated).
The storage member is drawable from the inside of the housing 10B to the outside, so that recording media 39 are to be placed thereon. The storage member may be one of a plurality of storage members. The feeding device is provided for each of the storage members.
The recording medium 39 may be any of the following media in the form of a sheet having a predetermined size: plain paper, coated paper, thick paper, and the like.
In the medium supplying unit 30, a predetermined one of the recording media 39 is fed toward the image forming unit 20 in synchronization with the transfer operation performed by the image forming unit 20. The recording medium 39 that is fed out of the medium supplying unit 30 is transported to the outlet 41 at the medium output portion 4 through a part of the image forming unit 20 (a part where an image is transferred to the recording medium 39) along a medium transport path 37, which is illustrated by a one-dot chain line in
The external reading unit 60 as one of the subunits of the functional unit 2 reads a reading object on the outside of the housing 10B.
As illustrated in
The base 61 is a plate member having a top face 61a, which is flat so that the reading object is to be placed still thereon. The base 61 is attached to the upper end of the housing 10B such that the top face 61a forms the top face of the housing 10B.
The reading object to be placed on the base 61 is at least readable from above the base 61 by the reading device 65 and may be, for example, a sheet-type document having image information recorded thereon, or a three-dimensional object such as a book, a magazine, a food product, a plant, or the like.
The reading device 65 includes a reader 65a, a supporting member 67, and so forth. The reader 65a is supported by the supporting member 67 and is capable of optically reading the reading object placed on the base 61. In the reading device 65 according to the second exemplary embodiment, the supporting member 67 extends upward by a predetermined length from the rear end of the base 61 and supports the reader 65a such that the reader 65a is oriented toward the base 61 for reading.
The reader 65a is, for example, a camera including a combination of an imaging device such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) and optical members such as lenses. The camera employed as the reader 65a is also referred to as “document camera”. The reading device 65 may include an illuminator that illuminates the reading object on the base 61 when the reading object is to be read.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The portion 15A at the lower end has three kinds of slots 7A, 7B, and 7C, including two slots 7C. The slots 7A to 7C are arranged at intervals in the top-to-bottom direction. The portion 15B at the upper end has two slots 7D, which are of the same kind and are arranged at an interval in the top-to-bottom direction. The image forming apparatus 1B may have a single portion 15 having the slots 7, i.e., only one of the portion 15A at the lower end and the portion 15B at the upper end.
In the image forming apparatus 1B, as illustrated in
In the image forming apparatus 1B, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the second exemplary embodiment, more specifically, the portion 17F having no slots 7 occupies, for example, about 50% of the area 14B to be covered.
As with the case of the openable covering 12 according to the first exemplary embodiment, substantially, the openable covering 12E includes a body portion 12a and a supporting portion 12b. The body portion 12a covers the area 14B extending from the first end T1 of the housing 10B to the second end T2 of the housing 10B. The supporting portion 12b supports the body portion 12a such that the body portion 12a is rotatable in the opening and closing directions Do and Dc indicated by the arrows in
Details of the slots 7A to 7D, the portions 15A and 15B having the slots 7D and others, the openable covering 12E, and other relevant elements are substantially the same as those of the slots 7A and others, the portion 15 having the slots 7A and others, the openable covering 12, and other relevant elements according to the first exemplary embodiment.
In the image forming apparatus 1B configured as above, as illustrated in
Therefore, as illustrated in
The present disclosure is not limited to the first and second exemplary embodiments and includes the following modifications, for example.
The modifications of the first exemplary embodiment may also be applied to some of the elements according to the second exemplary embodiment such as the portion 15B having the slots 7, the portion 17F having no slots 7, and the openable covering 12E.
For example, in the image forming apparatus 1B, as illustrated in
The openable covering 12F in such a modification is provided as a single piece of covering that openably covers an area extending from the first end T1 (the upper end) of the housing 10B to the second end T2 (the lower end) of the housing 10B in the top-to-bottom direction, inclusive of portions 17G and 17H of the housing 10B, where no slots 7 are provided.
In such a modification, as illustrated in
The housing 10 is not limited to a structure, such as the housing 10A or 10B according to the first and second exemplary embodiments, having a substantially cubic outline elongated in the top-to-bottom direction and may be, for example, a housing 10 having curved side faces.
The image forming apparatus may be an image forming apparatus obtained by omitting the external reading unit 60 from the image forming apparatus 1B according to the second exemplary embodiment. In that case, the upper end of the housing 10B, on which the external reading unit 60 is provided in the second exemplary embodiment, may be covered by, for example, the top covering 11e (see
The image forming unit 20 of the image forming apparatus is not limited to an electrophotographic image forming unit that uses developer and may be an image forming unit 20 based on another image forming method (such as an inkjet method).
If the image forming unit 20 and the medium supplying unit 30 are arranged side by side in the side-to-side direction of the image forming apparatus, the openable covering forming a part of the exterior covering 11 may be designed in such a manner as to openably cover both the image forming unit 20 and the medium supplying unit 30 arranged in the side-to-side direction.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners ski11e d in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and its practical applications, thereby enabling others ski11e d in the art to understand the disclosure for various embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the disclosure be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-135286 | Aug 2021 | JP | national |
