Patent Application
20240425314
This disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile, or an integrated machine.
In an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile, or an integrated machine, in view of the ease of the retrieval of a recording material by a user, an apparatus discharging the recording material, on which an image has been formed, to a front face (front) is suggested. In this apparatus, a sheet discharge tray for loading the discharged recording material is disposed on an upper face portion of the apparatus. Further, a display with a large size display surface having the good readability for the user and with a large size button and the like having the good operability for the user are used as an operation unit, which is operated by the user. This kind of the operation unit is disposed such that an orientation of the display surface of the display is changeable by angle adjustment.
Hitherto, so as to miniaturize the apparatus, the operation unit is disposed such that a part of the operation unit overlaps the sheet discharge tray. Then, so as to simultaneously satisfy the operability of the operation unit and the accessibility to the recording material discharged to the sheet discharge tray, the operation unit is disposed above a discharge locus of the recording material so as not to allow a movable range of operation unit to intersect with the discharge locus of the recording material to the sheet discharge tray (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-217551).
Incidentally, sometimes, a curled recording material is discharged to the sheet discharge tray. When the curled recording material abuts onto the operation unit, there is the possibility that the loading capacity of the sheet discharge tray for loading the recording material is decreased due to such as an irregular orientation of the recording material loaded on the sheet discharge tray. Therefore, in the apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-217551, the operation unit is disposed in a manner greatly separated from the discharge locus so as not to allow the curled recording material to abut onto the operation unit. However, since, in such a case, the operation unit greatly projects upward from the upper face of the apparatus, it is contrary to a request for the miniaturization of the apparatus, and difficult to apply such a configuration.
In view of the problems described above, the purpose of this disclosure is to provide the image forming apparatus that, while ensuring the operability of the operation unit by the user and the accessibility to the recording material discharged to the sheet discharge tray, is capable of achieving the miniaturization of the apparatus.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form an image on a recording material, a casing accommodating the image forming unit, a sheet discharge unit including a first roller and a second roller, wherein the second roller is configured to form a nip portion to nip and convey a recording material by coming into contact with the first roller, and wherein, when viewed in an axial direction of the first roller, a straight line passing through a rotational center of the first roller and a rotational center of the second roller is defined as a first virtual straight line, a straight line orthogonally intersecting with the first virtual straight line is defined as a second virtual straight line, and the sheet discharge unit is configured to discharge a recording material, on which an image is formed by the image forming unit, obliquely upward along the second virtual straight line, a sheet supporting portion disposed at an upper portion of the casing, and including a supporting surface configured to support a recording material discharged by the sheet discharge unit, an operation unit including a display surface, and disposed above the sheet discharge unit in a vertical direction such that a part of the operation unit in a width direction intersecting with the vertical direction and a sheet discharge direction of a recording material overlaps the supporting surface when viewed in the vertical direction, a supporting unit disposed at the upper portion of the casing, and supporting the operation unit in such a manner that, in a state where the display surface is tilted with respect to a horizontal direction, an end on a lower side of the operation unit in the vertical direction is positioned below the second virtual straight line when viewed in the width direction, and a regulating portion disposed between the operation unit and the sheet supporting portion in the vertical direction. The regulating portion is disposed such that, when viewed in the vertical direction, at least a part of the regulating portion overlaps the operation unit and the supporting surface in the width direction. The regulating portion is disposed to intersect with the second virtual straight line when viewed in the width direction. The regulating portion is configured to regulate an obliquely upward movement of a recording material discharged by the sheet discharge unit.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Hereinafter, this embodiment will be described. First, using
To be noted, in this description, a side on which a user stands at the time of operating the operation unit 4 so as to operate the image forming apparatus 1 is referred to as the front face (or front), and the opposite side is referred to as the back face (or back). Further, a right side when viewed from the front face is referred to as right, and a left side when viewed from the front face is referred to as left. Further, an upper side when viewed from the front face is referred to as “upper”, and a lower side when viewed from the front face is referred to as “lower”. Therefore, in a case of the embodiment shown in
While an illustration is omitted, the casing 1A includes, for example, a left side plate and a right side plate disposed on the left and right sides so as to support each unit and a plurality of sheet metals, such as a stay coupling these left and right side plates to each other, and an outer circumference and the upper face of the casing 1A are covered by an exterior cover configuring the appearance of the image forming apparatus 1. The casing 1A includes a front cover 81 and a cassette cover 84 on the front face side as the exterior cover. As shown in
Further, the casing 1A includes side face covers 82 respectively covering the left and the right side and a back face cover 83 covering the back face. The side face covers 82 and the back face cover 83 serve as the exterior cover. The side face covers 82 are disposed on both sides in a width direction (left-right direction). Further, the casing 1A includes an upper face cover 85 and a support cover 86, both serving as the exterior cover, and these covers form the upper face (top face), serving as an upper face portion, of the casing 1A. The sheet discharge tray 51 is disposed integrally with the upper face cover 85, and the operation unit 4 is disposed on the support cover 86 via a supporting unit 90. To be noted, it is acceptable that the upper face cover 85 and the support cover 86 are disposed integrally with each other, and, further, is acceptable that the upper face cover 85, the support cover 86, and the sheet discharge tray 51 are disposed integrally with each other. To be noted, each of the covers and the sheet discharge tray 51 described above are made of resin.
Next, a configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 relating to image formation will be described using
As shown in
A process to form, for example, a full color image of four colors by the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. However, the four image forming units Pa to Pd included in the image forming apparatus 1 are substantially the same in a configuration except for differences in developing colors. Therefore, the image forming unit Pd of black will be described as a representative, and descriptions of the other image forming units Pa to Pc will be omitted herein.
The image forming unit Pd includes a photosensitive drum 10d, serving as a photosensitive member. The photosensitive drum 10d is rotatably driven in an arrow R2 direction by a drum driving motor, not shown. A charge unit 11d, a developing unit 12d, a primary transfer roller 14d, and a cleaning unit 13d are disposed around this photosensitive drum 10d.
When an image forming operation has started, at first, a surface of the rotating photosensitive drum 10d is uniformly charged by the charge unit 11d. Next, the surface of the charged photosensitive drum 10d is exposed by a laser beam Ld irradiated from an exposing unit 2 corresponding to an image signal. Thereby, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image signal is formed on the photosensitive drum 10d. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 10d is developed to the toner image with the developer stored inside of the developing unit 12d. In a case of this embodiment, one single exposing unit 2 is disposed above the image forming units Pa to Pd, and a plurality of photosensitive drums 10a to 10d are exposed only by the one single exposing unit 2. That is, the one single exposing unit 2 is shared by the image forming units Pa to Pd for exposure.
The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 10d is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 15 in a primary transfer nip portion N1d formed with the primary transfer roller 14d disposed across the intermediate transfer belt 15. At this time, a primary transfer voltage is applied from a power source, not shown, to the primary transfer roller 14d. The intermediate transfer belt 15 bears and conveys the toner image transferred from the photosensitive drum 10d. To be noted, an adhering matter such as a toner remained on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10d after the primary transfer is collected by the cleaning unit 13d.
The image forming units Pa to Pd of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black perform these operations in sequence, and superimpose the toner images of the four colors on the intermediate transfer belt 15. Thereafter, the recording material P stored in the cassette 40 is conveyed to the secondary transfer nip portion N2 in the timing synchronizing with the formation of the toner image.
The cassette 40 is disposed in the lower side of the casing 1A, and is capable of storing a large number of sheets of the recording material P. A sheet feed roller 901 feeds the recording material P from the cassette 40 toward a registration roller 902 one sheet at a time. The registration roller 902 corrects the skew of the recording material P, and conveys the recording material P to the secondary transfer nip portion N2 synchronously with the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 15. Then, in response to the application of the secondary transfer voltage from a power source, not shown, to the secondary transfer outer roller 16, the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 15 is secondarily transferred onto the recording material P.
The recording material Ponto which the toner image has been secondarily transferred is conveyed to a fixing unit 50. The fixing unit 50, while conveying the recording material P, heats and presses the recording material P, and fixes the toner image on the relevant recording material P. The recording material P on which the toner image has been fixed by the fixing unit 50 is conveyed upward (i.e., vertical conveyance), and, by being discharged toward the front face from the inside of the casing 1A to the outside by a sheet discharge unit 70, is loaded on the sheet discharge tray 51 (refer to
To be noted, in this embodiment, the image forming units Pa to Pd, the intermediate transfer unit 60, the secondary transfer outer roller 16, and the like described above are included in an image formation unit 300 which forms the toner image on the recording material P. Further, the exposing unit 2, the image formation unit 300, the fixing unit 50, the sheet feed roller 901, the registration roller 902, the sheet discharge unit 70, and the cassette 40 described above are housed inside of the casing 1A (refer to
Next, with reference to
The operation unit 4 is disposed on the casing 1A such that it is possible to variably tilt and adjust an orientation of a display surface of the display 41 vertically around an axis in the left-right direction (a width direction intersecting with the vertical direction and the sheet discharge direction of the recording material P). The operation unit 4 is disposed in a manner pivotable to an arbitrary tilt angle (for example, zero to forty degrees) with respect to the horizontal direction so as to meet a sight line height of a broad range of users, for example, from a tall user to a user sitting in a wheelchair.
In a case where the user adjusts the angle of the operation unit 4 in accordance with the sight line height within a range from the minimum tilt angle of zero degree to the maximum tilt angle of forty degrees, the user can grasp and pivot the operation unit 4. So as to allow the user to perform such an operation, as shown in
As shown in
The supporting unit 90 pivotably support the operation unit 4 by changing the angle of the display surface of the display 41 in the vertical direction between a first position (substantially horizontal position), where the angle of the display surface of the display 41 becomes the minimum tilt angle with respect to the horizontal direction, and a second position (elevated surface position), where the angle of the display surface of the display 41 becomes the maximum tilt angle with respect to the horizontal direction. To be noted, in this description, using the horizontal direction, which is zero degree, as a reference, the substantially horizontal position of the operation unit 4 includes a position where the operation unit 4 substantially tilts within five degrees from the horizontal direction (that is, −5 degrees to +5 degrees).
Next, the disposition of the operation unit 4 in the left-right direction will be described. As shown in
In this embodiment, for achieving the miniaturization of the image forming apparatus 1 in the left-right direction, as shown in
Next, the disposition of the operation unit 4 in an upper-lower direction (vertical direction) will be described by referring to a comparative example. The comparative example is shown in
So as to achieve the miniaturization of the image forming apparatus 1 in the upper-lower direction, it is desirable that the operation unit 4 is disposed as low as possible with respect to the vertical direction. However, since the projection portion 54 of the operation unit 4 overlaps the loading surface 51a of the sheet discharge tray 51 in the left-right direction as described above, in a case where the operation unit 4 is disposed in the lower position, there is the possibility that the recording material P abuts onto the operation unit 4 (in particular, the projection portion 54) at the time of discharging the recording material P to the sheet discharge tray 51. In the comparative example, the operation unit 4 is disposed in a position where the discharged recording material P does not abut onto the projection portion 54.
As shown in
However, in the comparative example, since, in a case where the recording material P is curled and discharged, the curled recording material P sometimes abuts onto the operation unit 4, so as to prevent this, the operation unit 4 is positioned in a position where the operation unit 4 is separated further upward from the second straight line 202 in comparison with a position shown in
Also in this embodiment, a part of the operation unit 4 is disposed downstream of the sheet discharge unit 70 with respect to the sheet discharge direction. Then, in this embodiment, so as to achieve the miniaturization of the image forming apparatus 1 in the upper-lower direction, as shown in
However, then, there is the possibility that, as described above, when the recording material P is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 51 by the sheet discharge unit 70, for example, the curled recording material P abuts onto the operation unit 4 (in particular, the projection portion 54). Therefore, in this embodiment, a sheet discharge guide 100, serving as a regulating portion, is disposed so as not to allow the recording material P to abut onto the operation unit 4 even if the recording material P is curled. The sheet discharge guide 100 will be described as follows.
As understood from
To be noted, as shown in
As shown in
As described above, in this embodiment, at least at the time when the operation unit 4 is positioned in the elevated surface position, the operation unit 4 is disposed such that a part of the operation unit 4 is positioned below the second straight line 202. In response to this, the sheet discharge guide 100 is disposed such that, at least at the time when the operation unit 4 is positioned in the elevated surface position, a part of the operation unit 4 is positioned above the third straight line 203. In this embodiment, whole of the operation unit 4 is positioned above the third straight line 203. That is, the first end 4a, at the time when the operation unit 4 is positioned in the elevated surface position, on the lower side of the operation unit 4 in the vertical direction is positioned above the third straight line 203, and the pivot locus drawn by the first end 4a at the time when the operation unit 4 pivots between the elevated surface position and the substantially horizontal position does not intersect with the third straight line 203. In other words, the sheet discharge guide 100 is disposed such that the movable area of the operation unit 4 does not intersect with the third straight line 203.
However, it is preferred to form the sheet discharge guide 100 such that the downstream end 100a is positioned upstream of a downstream end 4b of the operation unit 4 with respect to the sheet discharge direction. This is for a purpose of preventing the sheet discharge guide 100 from decreasing a number of sheets loadable on the sheet discharge tray 51 in a case where, similar to this embodiment, the sheet discharge tray 51 is disposed in a state where the loading surface 51a is tilted so as to position a downstream side of the loading surface 51a in the sheet discharge direction above an upstream side with respect to the vertical direction. That is, if the sheet discharge guide 100 is formed such that the downstream end 100a is positioned downstream of the downstream end 4b of the operation unit 4, a gap between the sheet discharge guide 100 and the loading surface 51a of the sheet discharge tray 51 becomes narrower toward a downstream side, and it becomes difficult to load a desired number of sheets on the sheet discharge tray 51.
To be noted, in the case of this embodiment, it is acceptable to form the sheet discharge guide 100 integrally with the upper face cover 85. For example, it is acceptable to form the sheet discharge guide 100 such that a part of the upper face cover 85 extends in the sheet discharge direction so as to, when viewed in the vertical direction, cover part of the sheet discharge tray 51 in the sheet discharge opening portion 5.
As described above, in this embodiment, the sheet discharge guide 100 is disposed to the upper face cover 85. The sheet discharge guide 100 is disposed between the operation unit 4 and the sheet discharge tray 51 with respect to the vertical direction, and formed over the whole width of the sheet discharge tray 51 with respect to the left-right direction. Further, the sheet discharge guide 100 extends from the upper face cover 85 such that the downstream end 100a is positioned downstream of the second straight line 202 with respect to the sheet discharge direction. By disposing the sheet discharge guide 100 as described above, the recording material P discharged from the sheet discharge unit 70 is, even if curled, guided to the sheet discharge tray 51 without abutting onto the operation unit 4 (in particular, the projection portion 54), but by abutting onto the sheet discharge guide 100. Therefore, without greatly separating the operation unit 4 upward so as not to allow the recording material P to abut onto the operation unit 4, it is possible to dispose the operation unit 4 more downward in the vertical direction. Thereby, while ensuring the operability of the operation unit 4 and the accessibility to the recording material P discharged to the sheet discharge tray 51 by the user, it is possible to miniaturize the apparatus.
Further, if the recording material P abuts onto the operation unit 4, there is the possibility that the loading capacity of the sheet discharge tray 51 is changed depending on the tilt angle of the operation unit 4 due to a change in a sheet discharge orientation of the recording material P. However, according to this embodiment, the sheet discharge orientation of the recording material P becomes less likely to change since the recording material P abuts onto the sheet discharge guide 100. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the loading capacity of the sheet discharge tray 51.
Next, a second embodiment will be described using
As shown in
A configuration of the sheet discharge guide 200 in the sheet discharge direction is similar to the sheet discharge guide 100 in the first embodiment described above. That is, when viewed in the left-right direction, the sheet discharge guide 200 intersects with the second straight line 202 (refer to
By disposing the sheet discharge guide 200 as described above, the recording material P discharged from the sheet discharge unit 70 is, even if curled, guided to the sheet discharge tray 51 without abutting onto the operation unit 4 (in particular, the projection portion 54), but by abutting onto the sheet discharge guide 200. Therefore, without greatly separating the operation unit 4 upward so as not to allow the recording material P to abut onto the operation unit 4, it is possible to dispose the operation unit 4 more downward in the vertical direction. Thereby, while ensuring the operability of the operation unit 4 and the accessibility to the recording material P discharged to the sheet discharge tray 51 by the user, it is possible to miniaturize the apparatus.
Further, as described above, since the sheet discharge guide 200 is disposed such that the end 200c on the left side of the sheet discharge guide 200 is positioned rightward of the end 4c on the left side of the operation unit 4, it is possible to improve the operability for the user at the time of changing the angle of the operation unit 4.
To be noted, while, in the embodiment described above, a case where the operation unit 4 is pivotable is described as an example, it is not limited to this, and this embodiment can be also applied to a case where the operation unit 4 is fixed (i.e., immovable) in the elevated surface position.
To be noted, the embodiments described above are not limited to the image forming apparatus of the electrophotographic system forming the toner image on the recording material by using the developer containing the toner and a carrier, and it is acceptable to apply the embodiments to an image forming apparatus of the other system. For example, it is possible to apply the embodiments to an image forming apparatus of such as an ink jet system which forms the image by ejecting an ink to the recording material.
By this disclosure, while ensuring the operability of the operation unit and the accessibility to the recording material discharged to the sheet discharge tray by the user, it is possible to achieve to miniaturize the apparatus by the simple configuration.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-182381, filed Nov. 9, 2021 which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-182381 | Nov 2021 | JP | national |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17979997 | Nov 2022 | US |
| Child | 18826314 | US |
