Patent Application
20180052419
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the corresponding Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-161998 filed on Aug. 22, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image using developer.
In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a developer storage portion is used, wherein the developer storage portion stores developer such as toner and is attached to the image forming apparatus in a detachable manner. The image forming apparatus execute an image forming process of forming an image on a sheet by using the developer supplied from the developer storage portion. This type of image forming apparatus may be provided with a cover that is opened and closed when the developer storage portion is attached or detached.
An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes an inner cover, an outer cover, a first pressing portion, and a restricting portion. The inner cover is opened and closed for a developer storage portion storing developer to be attached or detached. The outer cover is made of resin and provided on an outer side of the inner cover, and is opened and closed in a same direction as the inner cover. The first pressing portion is provided on the outer cover and, when the outer cover is closed in a state where the inner cover is opened, comes into contact with the inner cover and presses the inner cover in a closing direction. When the inner cover is closed, the restricting portion is engaged with the inner cover at a lock position that is located on an upstream side of a predetermined closing position of the inner cover in the closing direction, and restricts opening of the inner cover.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description with reference where appropriate to the accompanying drawings. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.
The following describes embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments are an example of specific embodiments of the present disclosure and should not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure. It is noted that description may be given with reference to the front-rear direction, up-down direction, and left-right direction defined in the drawings.
As shown in
The image forming apparatus 100 is a color printer including a container storage portion 10, an image forming portion 20, and sheet feed cassettes 30. A plurality of developer storage portions 101 (see
A front cover 10A (an example of the external cover) made of resin is provided at the front of the container storage portion 10 in an openable and closable manner, and a front cover 20A is provided at the front of the image forming portion 20 in an openable and closable manner. It is noted that the image forming apparatus 100 includes an opening/closing detecting portion 10B (see
A lower part of each of the front cover 10A and the front cover 20A is pivotably supported by a pivot shaft that is parallel to the left-right direction, for example. That is, it is possible to open each of the front cover 10A and the front cover 20A by pivoting its upper part frontward. The sheet feed cassettes 30 are attached to the image forming apparatus 100 in a detachable manner. Sheets such as sheets of paper on which images are to be formed, are stored in the sheet feed cassettes 30.
The lock unit 40 is an option unit that is attached to the container storage portion 10 of the image forming apparatus 100 in a detachable manner. The lock unit 40 includes a plurality of lock devices 11 (see
Each lock device 11 is configured to switch between presence and absence of restriction applied to opening of a lock cover 111 thereof. The lock unit 40 is described in detail below. It is noted that
As shown in
The image forming units 1 to 4 are electrophotographic image forming units each of which includes a photoconductor drum (image carrier), a charging device, a developing device, a primary transfer device, and a drum cleaning device, and form an image by using the developer stored in the developer storage portions 101. The image forming units 1 to 4 are arranged in alignment along the running direction of the intermediate transfer belt 5 and constitute the image forming portion 20 of a so-called tandem type. Developer of colors Y, M, C, and K is supplied from the developer storage portions 101 to the developing devices of the image forming units 1 to 4.
The image forming apparatus 100 further includes a control portion 9 that includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and controls the image forming apparatus 100 and the image reading device 200. Specifically, the control portion 9 detects a remaining amount or used amount of developer in each of the developer storage portions 101, and when the remaining amount or used amount of developer has reached a predetermined threshold, informs the reduced remaining amount of developer as an error, on a display portion (not shown) or the like. For example, the remaining amount or used amount of developer can be detected based on a detection result of an optical sensor or a weight sensor, or a calculation result obtained based on the number of printed sheets or the printing rate. In addition, the control portion 9 that is detecting the remaining amount or used amount of developer in the developer storage portions 101 is an example of the developer detecting portion.
As described above, the control portion 9 executes a lock control process of arbitrarily switching between ability and disability for lock covers 111 of lock devices 11 to be opened, wherein the lock devices 11 and the lock covers 111 are described below. Specifically, in the lock control process, when the remaining amount of developer is detected in each of the developer storage portions 101, the control portion 9 locks lock covers 111 that correspond to developer storage portions 101 in which the remaining amount of developer is larger than the threshold, and unlocks lock covers 111 that correspond to developer storage portions 101 in which the remaining amount of developer is equal to or smaller than the threshold.
More specifically, in the first embodiment, when the opening/closing detecting portion 10B detects opening of the front cover 10A in a state where the remaining amount of developer in any of the developer storage portions 101 is equal to or smaller than the threshold, the control portion 9 unlocks a lock cover 111 that corresponds to that developer storage portion 101. At this time, among the plurality of lock covers 111, only the lock cover 111 corresponding to the developer storage portion 101 in which the remaining amount of developer is equal to or smaller than the threshold, is unlocked.
With this configuration, when the user opens the front cover 10A, among the plurality of lock covers 111, only a lock cover 111 for a developer storage portion 101 that needs to be replaced is unlocked. Accordingly, the configuration prevents one or more developer storage portions 101 in which the remaining amount of developer is larger than the threshold and that need not to be replaced, from being replaced wastefully. It is noted that the condition for unlocking the lock covers 111 is not limited to this condition.
Next, the lock unit 40 is described with reference to
As shown in
A lower part of each lock cover 111 is pivotably supported by a pivot shaft that is provided in a housing 110 (an example of the frame member) of the lock unit 40, wherein the pivot shaft is parallel to the left-right direction. That is, as is the case with the front cover 10A of the container storage portion 10, it is possible to open each of the lock covers 111 by pivoting its upper part frontward.
The lock mechanisms 112 are configured to individually restrict opening of the lock covers 111. Each of the insertion portions 113 has an opening that is used to insert and remove a corresponding developer storage portion 101 to/from the container storage portion 10, and the opening is opened and closed by the lock cover 111. That is, in each lock device 11, when the lock cover 111 is locked by the lock mechanism 112, the insertion and removal of the corresponding developer storage portion 101 to/from the container storage portion 10 is restricted by the lock cover 111.
Meanwhile, in the image forming apparatus 100, when the user needs to open a lock cover 111 for a work-target developer storage portion 101, opening the lock cover 111 takes a lot of time and effort for the user. In addition, in a case where the lock unit 40 includes a plurality of lock covers 111 corresponding to a plurality of developer storage portions 101, the user needs to identify, from among the plurality of developer storage portions 101, a lock cover 111 for a work-target developer storage portion 101 and open it. On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus 100, the time and effort of the user is reduced when he/she needs to open a lock cover 111 to attach or detach a corresponding developer storage portion 101.
As shown in
Specifically, the lock cover 111 includes an engaging portion 161 that has a shape of a letter “L” and projects from an upper part of the lock cover 111 rearward. The engaging portion 161 has an abutting surface 162 that is formed such that an angle inside the letter-L part is larger than at least 90 degrees. In addition, the engaging portion 161 has an arc-shaped tip portion 163 at an outside of a corner of the letter-L part. It is noted that the restricting portion 150 and the lock cover 111 are molded from a resin material, for example.
On the other hand, the drive source 140 of the lock mechanism 112 is a solenoid that, in response to energization, attracts a movable portion 141 in an attraction direction D21 directed inward (an example of the predetermined direction). The drive source 140 is fixed to a fixing portion 110A that projects from the housing 110 of the lock device 11 rearward. In addition, as shown in
When the lock cover 111 is closed, the restricting portion 150 restricts opening of the lock cover 111 by being engaged with the lock cover 111. The engagement of the restricting portion 150 with the lock cover 111 is released when the restricting portion 150 is driven by the drive source 140.
The restricting portion 150 is supported by the housing 110 of the lock device 11 so as to be pivotable around a pivot shaft 151, and is biased by a biasing portion 152 in a biasing direction D11 (an example of the second pivot direction). For example, the biasing portion 152 is an elastic member such as a coil spring that is inserted in the pivot shaft 151, one of opposite ends of the biasing portion 152 being engaged with the restricting portion 150, the other being engaged with the housing 110 of the lock device 11. It is noted that the biasing direction D11 is opposite to a pivot direction D22 (an example of the first pivot direction) of the restricting portion 150 when the restricting portion 150 is driven by the drive source 140, as described below.
The restricting portion 150 includes a pressing portion 153 (an example of the second pressing portion), an opening portion 154, and an engaging portion 155. The pressing portion 153, in conjunction with an operation of the drive source 140 of releasing the engagement of the restricting portion 150 with the lock cover 111, presses the engaging portion 161 of the lock cover 111 in an opening direction D31 of the lock cover 111, thereby causing the lock cover 111 to open automatically.
The opening portion 154 has an opening that is pierced by the shaft portion 143 of the movable portion 141. The diameter of the opening is larger than the outer diameter of the shaft portion 143. A linear movement of the movable portion 141 is converted to a rotational movement of the restricting portion 150 via the shaft portion 143 and the opening portion 154.
The engaging portion 155 is formed in a shape of a letter “L”. The engaging portion 155 is engaged with the engaging portion 161 of the lock cover 111 when an abutting surface 156 at its tip abuts on the abutting surface 162 of the engaging portion 161 face-to-face, and thereby restricts opening of the lock cover 111.
Specifically, the engaging portion 155 and the engaging portion 161 constitute a snap-fit. That is, when the engaging portion 161 is inserted toward the engaging portion 155, one or both of them are once bent and then restored so that they are engaged with each other and restricted from separating from each other.
In the housing 110 of each lock device 11, when the restricting portion 150 is biased by the biasing portion 152 in the biasing direction D11, the regulating portion 160 regulates the pivoting of the restricting portion 150 at a predetermined position.
In each lock device 11, as shown in
Specifically, firstly, as shown in
In this state, when the drive source 140 is driven by the control portion 9 and the movable portion 141 is attracted in an attraction direction D21, as shown in
This releases the engagement of the engaging portion 155 with the engaging portion 161, allowing the engaging portion 161 to move frontward. In addition, as the restricting portion 150 pivots, at a predetermined timing, the pressing portion 153 of the restricting portion 150 comes into contact with the tip portion 163 of the engaging portion 161.
Subsequently, as shown in
Here, the engaging portion 155, the engaging portion 161, the pressing portion 153, and the tip portion 163 are positioned and shaped such that a timing at which the engagement between the engaging portion 155 and the engaging portion 161 is released, is equal to or earlier than a timing at which the pressing portion 153 comes into contact with the tip portion 163. As a result, when the tip portion 163 of the engaging portion 161 is pressed by the pressing portion 153, the lock cover 111 is opened automatically by pivoting around the pivot shaft located at the lower part thereof (see
As shown in
As described above, in each of the lock devices 11, when the drive source 140 is driven and thereby restricting portion 150 is pivoted, the lock of the lock cover 111 is released, and in conjunction with the releasing operation, the lock cover 111 is automatically opened. This makes it possible for the user to attach or detach a target developer storage portion 101 without performing a work of opening the lock cover 111. In addition, the user can clearly and easily determine that, among the four lock covers 111 corresponding to the four developer storage portions 101, a lock cover 111 that has been opened automatically is a lock cover 111 that corresponds to a work-target developer storage portion 101.
In addition, in the image forming apparatus 100, as described above, the front cover 10A is provided on the outer side of the lock covers 111 of the lock devices 11. Each of the front cover 10A and the lock covers 111 provided on the inner side of the front cover 10A, is pivotably supported by a pivot shaft located at the lower part thereof. As a result, both the front cover 10A and the lock covers 111 can be opened and closed by pivoting in the same direction. Here, in the image forming apparatus 100, as shown in
It is noted that a pressed portion that projects from an outer surface of each lock cover 111 facing the rib 10A1 and is pressed by the rib 10A1 of the front cover 10A, may be provided on the outer surface of each lock cover 111. In addition, the first pressing portion of the present disclosure may be an inner surface of the front cover 10A.
Meanwhile, in the image forming apparatus 100, the user may try to wrench open a lock cover 111 of the developer storage portions 101 while it is in the locked state where opening of the lock cover 111 is restricted by the lock mechanism 112. On the other hand, the image forming apparatus 100 prevents the wrenching open of the lock cover 111 that would be opened and closed when the developer storage portion 101 is attached or detached, while it is in the locked state.
First, a configuration of a comparative example is as follows. That is, an extension line L2 of the abutting surface 162 and an extension line L1 of the abutting surface 156 are parallel to each other in a state where the lock cover 111 is closed, and the engaging portion 161 is engaged with the engaging portion 155. Specifically, both an angle inside the letter-L part of the abutting surface 162 of the engaging portion 161 and an angle inside the letter-L part of the abutting surface 156 of the engaging portion 155 are 90 degrees. In this case, as shown in
In contrast, according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
In each of the lock devices 11, as shown in
Meanwhile, in a case where the front cover 10A is made of resin, even when the front cover 10A is closed, the lock cover 111 pressed by the front cover 10A may not reach a closing position P1 (see
In the following, a multifunction peripheral according to a second embodiment is described with reference to
Specifically, when the lock cover 111 is closed, the restricting portion 150 is engaged with the lock cover 111 at a lock position P2 (see
Here, the closing position P1 is a support position (see
With this configuration, opening of the lock cover 111 is restricted by the restricting portion 150 even in a case where the lock cover 111 pressed by the rib 10A1 by closing of the front cover 10A does not reach the closing position P1 due to a warpage of the front cover 10A. As a result, it is possible to prevent an occurrence of the malfunction that, even when the front cover 10A is closed, opening of the lock cover 111 that is closed together with the front cover 10A, is not restricted.
In addition, the restricting portions 150 are engaged with the lock covers 111 at lock positions P2 that are different for each of the lock covers 111. Specifically, each lock position P2 is determined based on the warpage amount at a position on the front cover 10A facing the lock cover 111. This enables the distance between the closing position P1 and the lock position P2 to be set to the minimum necessary, and rattling of each lock cover 111 is restricted.
For example, each lock cover 111 is opened to be more on the outer side than the vertical direction in a state where opening of the lock cover 111 is restricted by the restricting portion 150 (see
It is noted that each lock cover 111 may be parallel to the vertical direction in the state where the opening thereof is restricted by the restricting portion 150. In addition, when each lock cover 111 is parallel to the vertical direction in the state where the opening thereof is restricted by the restricting portion 150, the outer surface of each lock cover 111 may be flush with the outer surface of the housing 110 of the lock unit 40. This prevents the outer surface of the lock cover 111 that projects from the outer surface of the housing 110 of the lock unit 40, from interrupting the user in attachment and detachment of the developer storage portion 101.
In addition, in each of the lock devices 11 according to the second embodiment, as shown in
In addition, in each of the lock devices 11, when the upper part of the lock cover 111 is pulled by the user in the wrench-open direction D41 directed frontward and the engaging portion 161 is displaced from the lock position P2 frontward, the engaging portion 155 is bent leftward, and the abutting surface 156 of the engaging portion 155 is inclined, as shown in
It is to be understood that the embodiments herein are illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds thereof are therefore intended to be embraced by the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-161998 | Aug 2016 | JP | national |
