The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.
In conventional image forming apparatuses, there is known a configuration in which a drive gear train is disposed outside a main body side plate, and a drive side plate is attached to the main body side plate to cover the drive gear train from the outside so that the drive gear train is interposed between the main body side plate and the drive side plate.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-37706 discusses a hollow member for connecting a hole on the main body side plate with a hole on the drive side plate, and also discusses a configuration for guiding cables via this hollow member. This configuration enables the cable to be wired through the main body side plate and the drive side plate without interference with the drive gear train. More specifically, the configuration makes it possible to connect a circuit board provided inside the main body side plate with a circuit board provided outside the drive side plate with the shortest distance.
However, in the configuration discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-37706, the hollow member needs to be disposed while avoiding the drive gear train. In a configuration where the drive gear train is tightly arranged with no extra space, there is a concern that providing the hollow member increases the size of the apparatus. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for more compact apparatuses.
The present invention is directed to preventing an increase in size of an apparatus.
According to an aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes a first main body side plate, a second main body side plate, wherein the first and the second main body side plates are disposed so that an image forming unit configured to form an image on a recording material is interposed between the first and the second main body side plates, a drive side plate attached to the first main body side plate, a drive gear train, the drive gear train being disposed on a side opposite to a side where the image forming unit is disposed across the first main body side plate, the drive gear train being disposed between the drive side plate and the first main body side plate, and a cable guide configured to guide a cable, the cable guide being disposed between the first main body side plate and the drive side plate, wherein the drive gear train includes a rotary gear configured to rotate, and the cable guide is disposed so that the cable guide overlaps with a part of the rotary gear when viewed in a rotational axis direction of the rotary gear.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
An overview of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment will be described below with reference to
In the following description, in a case where an image forming apparatus A is installed on a horizontal surface, the height direction (vertical direction) of the image forming apparatus A is the Z direction. The direction that intersects with the Z direction and is parallel to the axial direction (main scanning direction) of a photosensitive drum 16 (described below) is the X direction. The direction intersecting with the X and Z directions is the Y direction. Desirably, the X, Y, and Z directions perpendicularly intersect with each other. For convenience, the positive and negative sides in the X direction are referred to as the right and left sides, respectively, the positive and negative sides in the Y direction are referred to as the front and back sides, respectively, and the positive and negative sides in the Z direction are referred to as the upper and lower sides, respectively.
As illustrated in
Then, in synchronization with the formation of the developer image, a recording material S placed on a cassette 3 is conveyed by a pickup roller 4, a feed roller pair 5, a conveyance roller pair 6, and a registration roller pair 7. The developer image formed on the photosensitive drum 16 is transferred to a recording material S when a transfer roller 15 provided in the apparatus body 1 is applied with a voltage. Then, the recording material S with the developer image transferred thereto is conveyed to a fixing unit 9. The fixing unit 9 applies heat and pressure to the recording material S while the recording material S is passing through the fixing unit 9 so as to fix the developer image to the recording material S. Then, the record material S with the developer image fixed thereto is discharged to a discharge tray 13 outside the apparatus via a discharge roller pair 12.
When performing two-sided printing, an image is formed on one side of the recording material S, and then the rotational direction of the discharge roller pair 12 is reversed in a state where the discharge roller pair 12 nips the recording material S, so that the recording material S is pulled back into the apparatus body 1. Then, the recording material S is conveyed to a two-sided conveying path, and then conveyed to the conveyance roller pair 6 again by two-sided conveyance roller pairs 19 and 20. Thereafter, the record material S with an image formed on one side thereof is conveyed by the registration roller pair 7 to a nip portion formed by the photosensitive drum 16 and the transfer roller 15, so that an image is formed on the other side of the recording material S.
A drive configuration of the image forming apparatus A will be specifically described below.
As illustrated in
The process cartridge 100 is supported by the main body side plates 21 and 31. The main body side plates 21 and 31 each include a guide used for attaching and detaching the process cartridge 100 to/from the apparatus body 1.
The process cartridge 100 is an example of an image forming unit for forming an image on the recording material S. According to the present embodiment, the process cartridge 100 is an image forming unit detachable from the apparatus body 1. However, the image forming unit according to the present invention does not need to be detachable from the apparatus body 1.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the region between the right-side main body side plate 21 and the left-side main body side plate 31, there may be separately provided guide members (not illustrated) for holding the cables 34 and 24 and relay substrates (not illustrated) connected with the cables 34 and 24.
The main body side plate 31 includes a side wall 31a that extends in a direction intersecting with the X direction (desirably, in a direction perpendicularly intersecting with the X direction). The main body side plate 21 includes a side wall 21a that extends in a direction intersecting with the X direction (desirably, in a direction perpendicularly intersecting with the X direction). Further, the drive side plate 23 includes an opposite wall 23a that extends in a direction intersecting with the X direction (desirably, in a direction perpendicularly intersecting with the X direction).
The side walls 31a and 21a face each other, and the side wall 21a and the opposite wall 23a face each other in the X direction. The drive side plate 23 is attached to the side wall 21a and supported by the side wall 21a. More specifically, the attachment portions 23b of the drive side plate 23 extend from the opposite wall 23a in the X direction, and the attachment portions 23b are fixed to the side wall 21a.
One ends of the rotational shafts 26 are supported by the main body side plate 21, and the other ends of the rotational shafts 26 are supported by the drive side plate 23 in the X direction. More specifically, one ends of the rotational shafts 26 are supported by the side wall 21a, and the other ends of the rotational shafts 26 are supported by the opposite wall 23a.
The cables 24 guided from the inside to the outside of the main body side plate 21 via the guide hole 28 are further guided by the cable guide 25 in the region between the main body side plate 21 and the drive side plate 23. The cable guide 25 is disposed between the drive side plate 23 and the main body side plate 21. More specifically, the cable guide 25 is disposed between the opposite wall 23a and the side wall 21a. As described in detail below, the cable guide 25 is attached to the drive side plate 23 and guides the cables 24 along the surface of the drive side plate 23.
As illustrated in
The main body side plate 21 is provided with a rotational shaft (first rotational shaft) 26 for supporting a rotary gear 29a (first rotary gear). More specifically, the drive gear train 22 is supported by the main body side plate 21. The rotational shaft 26 extends in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the main body side plate 21, i.e., in the X direction. The cable guide 25 is disposed farther on the positive side of the X direction than the rotary gear 29a, and is disposed at a position avoiding the rotational shaft 26. The size of the rotational shaft 26 in the X direction is larger than the size of the rotary gear 29a in the X direction, and the cable guide 25 is disposed in the extra space. A part of the rotary gear 29a overlaps with the cable guide 25 when viewed in the X direction.
The drive gear train 22 also includes another rotary gear 29b (second rotary gear) having a larger size in the X direction than the rotary gear 29a. When viewed in the direction perpendicularly intersecting with the X direction, a region R1 of the rotary gear 29b projected on the X axis (virtual axis) extending in the X direction partly overlaps with a region R2 of the cable guide 25 projected on the X axis. In other words, the region (R1) where the rotary gear 29b exists at least partly overlaps with the region (R2) where the cable guide 25 exists in the X direction. This can prevent an increase in size of the image forming apparatus A in the X direction. A rotational shaft 26 supporting the rotary gear 29b can be also referred to as a second rotational shaft.
As illustrated in
The cable guide 25 is disposed between the rotational shafts 26 in a direction perpendicularly intersecting with the direction of the rotational shafts 26 of the rotary gears 29. When viewed in the X direction, the cable guide 25 is disposed between the plurality of rotary gears 29 (the plurality of gears) of the drive gear train 22. When viewed in the X direction, the cable guide 25 is disposed between the plurality of rotational shafts 26. As illustrated in
According to the embodiment, the electromagnetic clutch 22a is used to change the rotational direction of the discharge roller pair 12, and the electromagnetic clutch 22b is used to switch between the drive and non-drive states of the two-sided conveyance roller pairs 19 and 20. However, control targets of the electromagnetic clutches 22a and 22b are not limited thereto. Members related to the image formation on the recording material S and the conveyance of the recording material S may be subjected to control.
In the configuration according to the present embodiment, when viewed in the direction of the rotational shafts 26 of the rotary gears 29 included in drive gear train 22 (when viewed in the X direction) as illustrated in
A configuration of the cable guide 25 will be specifically described below.
As illustrated in
The branch point 25a of the cable guide 25 is disposed between the rotational shafts 26 of the rotary gears 29 included in drive gear train 22. The cables 24 are held inside the cable guide 25 and guided not to come into contact with the drive gear train 22.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
According to the present embodiment, devising the wiring configuration of the cables around the drive gear train makes it possible to prevent an increase in size of the apparatus.
Further, in the configuration according to the present embodiment, the cables 24 and the cable guide 25 are connected with the shortest path without making a detour on the outside of the drive side plate 23. This makes it possible to minimize the sizes of the cables 24 and the cable guide 25, thus providing low-cost image forming apparatuses.
According to the present embodiment, the cable guide 25 mounted on the drive side plate 23 comes into contact with the main body side plate 21 via the protruding portions 25b1 to 25b4, whereby deformation of the main body side plate 21 and the drive side plate 23 can be prevented in a situation where a large external force is applied thereto at the time of shipment.
Although the above-described embodiment has been described based on the electrophotographic image forming apparatus A, the image forming apparatus A is not limited to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The present invention is also applicable to image forming apparatuses employing different printing methods such as ink-jet and offset printing methods.
Although, in the above-described embodiment, the cables 24 guided by the cable guide 25 are configured to transmit control signals from the CPU 33, the configuration of the cables 24 is not limited thereto. The present invention is also applicable to a configuration for guiding a power supply cable extending from a power supply board and other cables.
According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent an increase in size of an apparatus.
While the present invention has been described with reference to embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is defined by the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Applications No. 2022-178572, filed Nov. 8, 2022, and No. 2023-157460, filed Sep. 22, 2023, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2022-178572 | Nov 2022 | JP | national |
2023-157460 | Sep 2023 | JP | national |