Patent Grant
11215220
The present invention relates to a hinge device and an image forming apparatus, and more specifically to, for example, a hinge device pivotally connecting an operation panel to the body of an image forming apparatus, and an image forming apparatus including the hinge device.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-114749 discloses an example of a typical hinge device or hinge structure. The hinge structure of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-114749 is used in eyeglass frames, and includes a first bracket and a second bracket turnable relative to each other around a screw fastening body or screw member serving as a rotary shaft. The first bracket has a groove shape or U-shape, and includes first and second sleeves disposed a predetermined distance apart from each other along the axial direction, and a first arm disposed continuous with the first and second sleeves. A sleeve of the second bracket is disposed between the first and second sleeves. The hinge structure according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-114749 further includes a rotation stopper disposed between the first bracket and the head of the screw fastening body. A first engagement mechanism is disposed between the head of the screw fastening body and the rotation stopper, the first engagement mechanism retaining an engagement state even when a rotational force is applied in a specific direction. A second engagement mechanism is disposed between the rotation stopper and an engagement portion of the first bracket, the second engagement mechanism retaining an engagement state even when a rotational force is applied in a specific direction.
In the technique according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-114749, the sleeve of the second bracket is held in the groove in the first bracket. Thus, when the screw fastening body is tightened, the sliding faces are likely to come into contact with each other in an oblique state, making it difficult to appropriately bring the entire areas of the sliding faces into contact. That is, the surface contact state of the sliding surfaces is likely to vary, and it becomes difficult to appropriately set the rotational torque between the first bracket and the second bracket.
On the other hand, the hinge device is also used to turnably connect the operation panel to the body of the image forming apparatus. In such a case, the rotational torque is appropriately set by adopting a structure in which the fixed member and the pivotable member of the hinge device are disposed such that two plate-like portions are aligned in the axial direction without adopting a structure in which one of the fixed member and the pivotable member holds the other one. Also, in such a case, loosening due to co-rotation of the screw member should be prevented. However, the basic structure of the hinge device differs from that of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-114749 as described above, the technique of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-114749 cannot be used without modification.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel hinge device and a novel image forming apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hinge device and an image forming apparatus capable of appropriately preventing loosening of a screw member due to a pivoting operation of an operation panel.
A first aspect of the present invention provides a hinge device pivotably connecting an operation panel to a body of an image forming apparatus, the hinge device including a fixed member having a support plate portion and fixed to the body; a first screw member disposed non-turnably on the support plate portion; a second screw member fastened to the first screw member; a pivotable member including a panel support portion supporting the operation panel; and a movable plate portion held between the support plate portion and a bearing face of the second screw member, the pivotable member being pivotable relative to the fixed member around the first screw member or the second screw member serving as a pivot shaft; and a rotation restricting washer disposed between the movable plate portion and the bearing face of the second screw member, one of the support plate portion and the rotation restricting washer having a restricting piece extending in an axial direction of the pivot shaft, the other one of the support plate portion and the rotation restricting washer having a receiving portion that is fitted over the restricting piece to restrict turning of the rotation restricting washer relative to the support plate portion.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a rotation restricting washer is disposed between the movable plate portion and the bearing face of the second screw member. The turning of the rotation restricting washer relative to the support plate portion is restricted by fitting the receiving portion over the restricting piece. In this way, by disposing the rotation restricting washer that is non-turnable relative to the support plate portion, only the components disposed between the support plate portion and the rotation restricting washer turn when the operation panel or pivotable member pivots, thereby preventing the second screw member from rotating together with the operation panel. Thus, loosening of the second screw member relative to the first screw member can be prevented.
According to the first aspect of the invention, the rotation restricting washer is disposed to appropriately prevent loosening of the screw member due to a rotational operation of the operation panel.
According to a second aspect dependent on the first aspect of the present invention, the rotation restricting washer has an extension projecting radially outward, and the restricting piece or the receiving portion is disposed on the extension.
According to a third aspect dependent on the first or second aspect of the present invention, the movable plate portion has a cutout through which the restricting piece passes to restrict a pivoting angle of the pivotable member relative to the support plate portion. In specific, in cooperation with the cutout, the restricting piece serves also as an angle restrictor that restricts the pivot angle of the pivotable member relative to the support plate portion.
According to a fourth aspect dependent on one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the hinge device further includes a friction washer disposed between the support plate portion and the movable plate portion. The friction washer is a flat washer that determines the friction coefficient of the sliding faces between the support plate portion and the movable plate portion.
According to a fifth aspect dependent on one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the hinge device further includes at least one spring washer disposed between the movable plate portion and the bearing face of the second screw member.
According to a sixth aspect dependent on the fifth aspect of the present invention, the spring washer includes a disc spring, and the disc spring in contact with the rotation restricting washer is disposed such that a protruding face of the disc spring is in contact with the rotation restricting washer.
A seventh aspect of the present invention provides an image forming apparatus including an operation panel pivotable relative to a body of the apparatus, the body and the operation panel being connected using the hinge device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects of the present invention.
According to the aspects of the invention, loosening of the screw member due to the rotational operation of the operation panel can be appropriately prevented.
The above-described objects, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed descriptions of the following embodiments given with reference to the drawings.
With reference to
The basic configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 will now be briefly described. Note that, in this embodiment, the front-back direction or depth direction of the image forming apparatus 10 and its components is defined by determining, as a forward face or front face, a surface facing a user, that is, the surface on which the operation panel 28 is provided; and the left-right direction or transverse direction of the image forming apparatus 10 and its components is defined on the basis of the point of view of the user.
As shown in
The image former 14 includes an exposure unit, a developing unit, a photosensitive drum, a charger, an intermediate transfer belt, a transfer roller, a fixing unit, and the like. The image former 14 forms, using an electrophotographic method, images on sheets transported from a sheet feeding cassette 18 disposed below the image former 14 by a sheet feeding mechanism.
In specific, in the image former 14, the charger, the exposure unit, etc., form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to image data on the photosensitive drum, and the developing unit develops the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum with toner. The toner image on the photosensitive drum is transferred to a sheet by the intermediate transfer belt, the transfer roller, etc. The toner image transferred to the sheet is then thermally fixed by the fixing unit. Subsequently, the sheet on which the image has been formed is ejected to an in-body sheet receiving tray 20. Note that the image data for forming an image on a sheet is image data read by the image reader 16, image data sent from an external device, or any other image data.
The image reader 16 includes a housing. A document placing table formed of a transparent material is disposed on the top face of the housing. The housing accommodates a light source, multiple mirrors, an imaging lens, a line sensor, and the like. The image reader 16 exposes the sheet face with light from the light source, and guides the light reflected from the sheet face to an imaging lens via the mirrors. The imaging lens then forms an image of the reflected light on a light receiving element of the line sensor. The line sensor detects the luminance and the chromaticity of the image of the reflected light formed on the light receiving element, thereby generating image data based on the image on the sheet face. The line sensor may be a charge coupled device (CCD), a contact image sensor (CIS), or the like.
A document holding cover 22 is attached to the upper face of the housing of the image reader 16 so as to be freely opened and closed, via the hinge device or the like disposed on the back side of the housing. The document holding cover 22 includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) 26 for automatically feeding the sheets placed on a document tray 24 one sheet at a time to the image reading position of the image reader 16.
The operation panel 28 is disposed on the front side of the body 12. The operation panel 28 is also referred to as an “operating device” or an “operating unit.” The operation panel 28 has a shape of a horizontally long rectangular plate.
A touch panel display 30 and various hardware keys (operation buttons) are disposed on the top face of the operation panel 28. In this embodiment, the touch panel display 30 includes a touch panel disposed on a display. Alternatively, the touch panel display 30 may be an integrated unit of a touch panel and a display. The display is a general-purpose display, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an electroluminescent (EL) display. The touch panel is a general-purpose touch panel of an electrostatic capacitive type, a resistive film type, an electromagnetic induction type, an infrared type, or any other type.
The operation panel 28 having such a configuration is connected with the body 12 using the hinge device 50 such that the upper face of the operation panel 28 or the touch panel display 30 is pivotable between a normal state and a forward tilt state. The upper face faces substantially upward in the normal state, as illustrated in
The configuration of the hinge device 50 will now be described in detail with reference to
As illustrated in
With reference to
The support plate portion 68 supports the first screw member 56, and vertically erects from one side of the fixed plate portion 66. The support plate portion 68 has a substantially oval mounting hole 70 to which the first screw member 56 is attached. The support plate portion 68 has a flat rectangular restricting piece 72 extending in the axial direction of the first screw member 56 or the rotary shaft.
With reference to
The movable plate portion 76 extends from one side of the panel support portion 74 in a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the panel support portion 74. The movable plate portion 76 has a circular insertion hole 78 through which a shaft 82 of the first screw member 56 passes. The movable plate portion 74 is slidably held between the support plate portion 68 and a bearing face 94 of the second screw member 58. The proximal region of the movable plate portion 76 has a cutout 80 that is a through hole arcuately extending along the insertion hole 78. As described below, in cooperation with the restricting piece 72 of the fixed member 52, the cutout 80 functions as an angle restrictor that restricts the pivot angle of the pivotable member 54 relative to the support plate portion 68.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
As illustrated in
Three spring washers 64 are disposed between the movable plate portion 76 of the pivotable member 54 and the bearing face 94 of the second screw member 58. In this embodiment, one of the spring washers 64 is disposed between the movable plate portion 76 and the rotation restricting washer 60, and two of the spring washers 64 are disposed between the rotation restricting washer 60 and the bearing face 94 of the second screw member 58. The spring washers 64 are disc springs. The spring washers 64 in contact with the rotation restricting washer 60 are disposed such that the protruding faces of the spring washers 64 are in contact with the rotation restricting washer 60. Note that the number, position and type of the spring washers 64 may be appropriately modified.
A lubricant, such as grease, is applied to the sliding faces including the right-side face of the support plate portion 68 and both faces of the movable plate portion 76 for the purpose of enhancing endurance.
When the hinge device 50 including the components described above is assembled, the friction washer 62, the pivotable member 54, one of the spring washers 64, the rotation restricting washer 60, and two of the spring washers 64 are attached in this order to the shaft 82 of the first screw member 56 attached to the support plate portion 68 of the fixed member 52. At this time, the restricting piece 72 of the fixed member 52 is fitted into the receiving portion 104 of the rotation restricting washer 60 through the cutout 80 of the pivotable member 54. Then, the internal threads of the shaft 88 of the second screw member 58 and the external threads of the shaft 82 of the first screw member 56 are fastened together and tightened, to assemble the hinge device 50.
In the hinge device 50 having such a configuration, the support plate portion 68 of the fixed member 52 and the movable plate portion 76 of the pivotable member 54 are disposed such that the two plate-like portions of the members are aligned along the axial direction, instead of one of the fixed member and the pivotable member holding the other one. As a result, the entire areas of the sliding faces appropriately come into plane contact with each other. Thus, it is possible to appropriately set the rotational torque between the support plate portion 68 and the movable plate portion 76.
As clearly understood from
The restricting piece 72 of the fixed member 52 passes through the cutout 80 of the pivotable member 54 to restrict the pivot angle of the pivotable member 54 or the operation panel 28 relative to the support plate portion 68. In specific, the restricting piece 72 of the fixed member 52 serves as a rotation restrictor that prevents the co-rotation of the second screw member 58, and also as an angle restrictor that restricts the pivot angle of the pivotable member 54 relative to the support plate portion 68. Thus, the configuration of the hinge device 50 can be simplified, and the number of components thereof can be reduced, in comparison with a hinge device that includes separate components for co-rotation prevention and the angle restriction.
In this embodiment, the extension 102 is disposed on the rotation restricting washer 60, and the restricting piece 72 and the receiving portion 104 are disposed remote from the axial center of the pivot shaft. Thus, the backlash angle per tolerance range is reduced, thereby reducing backlash operation. In specific, the backlash operation that occurs during pivoting of the operation panel 28 is reduced. This enhances the operability of the operation panel 28.
The spring washers or disc springs 64 in contact with the rotation restricting washer 60 are disposed such that the protruding faces of the spring washers 64 are in contact with the rotation restricting washer 60. This reduces the friction coefficient determined between the rotation restricting washer 60 and the spring washers 64. Thus, even when the rotation restricting washer 60 slightly turns relative to the support plate portion 68 due to the tolerance of the restricting piece 72 and the receiving portion 104, the spring washers 64 absorb the turning motion, to prevent the transmission of the turning force to the second screw member 58. Thus, the second screw member 58 can be more reliably prevented from rotating together with the operation panel 28.
According to the first embodiment described above, the rotation restricting washer 60, which is non-turnable relative to the support plate portion 68, is provided. Thus, the second screw member 58 can be prevented from rotating together with the operation panel 28. Thus, loosening of the second screw member 58 relative to the first screw member 56 can be appropriately prevented.
A hinge device 50 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
In the second embodiment, a rotation restricting washer 60 includes a flat annular body 100 having an insertion hole 100a, and an extension 102 projecting radially outward from the body 100, as illustrated in
Also in the second embodiment, the same advantageous effects as those of the first embodiment are achieved, and loosening of the second screw member 58 relative to the first screw member 56 can be appropriately prevented.
A hinge device 50 according to a third embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
In the third embodiment, a first screw member 56 disposed non-turnably on a support plate portion 68 of a fixed member 52 is an external thread member having threads on its outer peripheral face at the tip portion of a shaft 82, as illustrated in
Also in the third embodiment, the same advantageous effects as those of the first embodiment are achieved, and loosening of the second screw member 58 relative to the first screw member 56 can be appropriately prevented.
Note that in the above-described embodiments, the first screw member 56 attached to the support plate portion 68 of the fixed member 52 is provided as a separate component. Alternatively, the first screw member 56 may be preliminarily integrated with the support plate portion 68. In other words, the first screw member 56 disposed non-turnably on the support plate portion 68 may be a first screw member 56 integrated with the support plate portion 68.
In the above-described embodiments, the shaft 82 of the first screw member 56 serves as a rotary shaft for pivotably supporting the pivotable member 54. Alternatively, in the case where the second screw member 58 is an external thread member, the shaft 88 of the second screw member 58 may be the pivot shaft.
Note that the image forming apparatus 10 may be a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, or the like, or a multifunction peripheral combining at least two of these, or may be a monochrome machine. The image former of the image forming apparatus 10 may be of an inkjet type.
The specific numerical values, component shapes, etc., described above are mere examples, and can be appropriately modified if required by product specifications.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2018-158173 | Aug 2018 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6666422 | Lu | Dec 2003 | B1 |
| 6671928 | Huang | Jan 2004 | B2 |
| 7644473 | Chen | Jan 2010 | B2 |
| 8046875 | Wang | Nov 2011 | B2 |
| 20030097732 | Kim | May 2003 | A1 |
| 20070174997 | Lu | Aug 2007 | A1 |
| 20080172835 | Hsu | Jul 2008 | A1 |
| 20100236023 | Wang et al. | Sep 2010 | A1 |
| 20110061197 | Shimomura | Mar 2011 | A1 |
| 20110265287 | Li | Nov 2011 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 101839277 | Sep 2010 | CN |
| 207177557 | Apr 2018 | CN |
| 2016-114749 | Jun 2016 | JP |
| 2016098749 | Jun 2016 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20200063790 A1 | Feb 2020 | US |
