This application is a national stage of International Application No. PCT/JP2014/063438, filed May 21, 2014, which claims the benefit of priority of Japanese Application No. 2013-175052, filed Aug. 26, 2013, in the Japanese Patent Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an image forming device.
Conventionally, an image forming device is known, in which air is inhaled into an image forming device main body by means of a cooling fan; and the inhaled air cools portions to be cooled such as an image forming portion, a power source board and the like that are housed in the device main body (e.g., see a patent document 1). In this device, a right wall portion of the image forming device main body is provided with an air inhaling opening. The air inhaling opening is connected to a duct in which cooling air flows, and the cooling fan is disposed in the duct. The image forming portion is disposed near a left wall portion in the image forming device main body and a downstream-side end portion of the duct is opened near the image forming portion. And, the image forming portion is cooled by an airflow blown out from the downstream-side end portion of the duct. On the other hand, the power source board is disposed below the duct. And, the power source board is cooled by an airflow blown out from a branch opening formed through a portion of the duct.
PLT1: JP-A-2003-316237
However, in the conventional image forming device disclosed in the above patent document 1, it is necessary to guide the air flow from the air inhaling opening formed through the right wall portion of the device main body to the image forming portion disposed near the left wall portion. Accordingly, the total length of the duct becomes long. Because of this, there is a problem that the air flow inhaled from the air inhaling opening becomes warm during a time the air flow flows in the duct; and it is impossible to efficiently cool the portions to be cooled such as the image forming portion, the power source board and the like. Besides, there is a problem that the material cost used for the duct becomes high because the total length of the duct is long.
Accordingly, it is conceivable that a cooling fan for cooling the power source board is further disposed besides the cooling fan for cooling the image forming portion. In this way, it is possible to shorten the duct length extending from each cooling fan to the portions (image forming portion, power source board) to be cooled and thereby improve cooling efficiency.
However, in this case, there is a problem that the production cost increases all the more because the number of cooling fans increases. Besides, there is also a problem that because the number of fans increases, the fan noise becomes loud.
The present disclosure has been made in light of the above points, and it is an object of the present disclosure to efficiently cool the image forming portion and the boards by means of an inexpensive structure.
An image forming device according to the present disclosure includes: a main body housing portion that houses an image forming portion which records an image onto a sheet; a board; and a cooling fan for cooling the image forming portion and the board.
And, both the board and the cooling fan are mounted on a side wall portion of the main body housing portion adjacent to the image forming portion, and the cooling fan is configured to cool the image forming portion and the board by means of an airflow generated by rotation of the cooling fan.
According to this structure, because the cooling fan is mounted on the side wall portion adjacent to the image forming portion, it is possible to remove the duct for guiding the airflow generated by the rotation of the cooling fan or to shorten the duct length. Therefore, it is possible to improve the cooling efficiency for the image forming portion. Besides, because the board is mounted on the side wall portion, it is possible remove the duct for supplying the airflow generated by the rotation of the cooling fan to the board or to shorten the duct length. Therefore, it is possible to improve the cooling efficiency for the board. Besides, according to the above structure, because it is unnecessary to increase the number of cooling fans, it is possible to curb the production cost and the fan noise.
It is preferable that the cooling fan includes a fan casing mounted on the side wall portion and an impeller that is housed in the fan casing and rotates to make the airflow flow into the casing from outside the main body housing portion, and the fan casing includes: an air inflow opening; a first blow-out opening for blowing out part of the airflow flowing into the casing from the air inflow opening to the image forming portion; and a second blow-out opening for blowing out part of the airflow flowing into the casing from the air inflow opening to the board.
According to this structure, when the impeller rotates, the airflow flows into the casing from outside the main body housing portion through the air inflow opening of the fan casing. Part of the airflow flowing into the casing is blown out from the first blow-out opening to the above image forming portion. And, the image forming portion is cooled by the blown-out airflow. Besides, part of the airflow flowing into the casing is blown out from the second blow-out opening to the above power source board. And, the power source board is cooled by the blown-out airflow.
It is preferable that the image forming portion includes a photosensitive drum that carries an electrostatic latent image; the side wall portion is located in one side in a shaft direction of the photosensitive drum in the main body housing portion; and the first blow-out opening of the fan casing is configured to blow out part of the airflow flowing into the casing from the air inflow opening to one end portion in the shaft direction of the photosensitive drum or to a portion near the one end portion.
According to this structure, the impeller rotates, whereby part of the airflow flowing into the fan casing is blown out through the first blow-out opening to the one end portion in the shaft direction of the above photosensitive drum or to the portion near the one end portion. The blown-out airflow flows from one side to the other side in the shaft direction along a surface of the photosensitive drum. Accordingly, unlike the conventional, it is possible to efficiently cool the entire image forming portion including the photosensitive drum without using the long duct.
Further, it is preferable that the one end portion in the shaft direction of the photosensitive drum is connected to a drive mechanism for driving the photosensitive drum.
According to this structure, it is possible to cool the drive mechanism for the photosensitive drum by means of the airflow that is blown out through the first blow-out opening of the fan casing to the one end portion in the shaft direction of the photosensitive drum. Therefore, it is unnecessary to additionally dispose a cooling fan for cooling the drive mechanism and dispose a long duct for guiding the airflow to the drive mechanism. Therefore, it is possible to improve the cooling efficiency and achieve the low cost.
The image forming device includes an outer cover that covers the side wall portion from outside the image forming device and is provided with an air inhaling portion. And, it is preferable that a gap is formed between the side wall portion and the outer cover; and the board and the cooling fan are mounted on a surface of the side wall portion near the outer cover.
According to this structure, an operator can gain access to the above board and the cooling fan by only removing the outer cover. Therefore, it is possible to improve maintenance characteristics of the image forming device.
It is preferable that the image forming device further includes another board for supplying a high voltage to the image forming portion; wherein the another board is mounted on the side wall portion; the cooling fan includes a fan casing mounted on the side wall portion and an impeller that is housed in the fan casing and rotates to make an airflow flow into the casing from outside the main body housing portion; and the fan casing includes: an air inflow opening; a first blow-out opening for blowing out part of the airflow flowing into the casing from the air inflow opening to the image forming portion; a second blow-out opening for blowing out part of the airflow flowing into the casing from the air inflow opening to the board; and a third blow-out opening for blowing out part of the airflow flowing into the casing from the air inflow opening to the another board.
According to this structure, it is possible to cool a high-voltage board by means of the airflow blown out from the third blow-out opening of the fan casing. Therefore, it is unnecessary to additionally dispose a cooling fan for cooling the high-voltage board and dispose a long duct for guiding the airflow to the high-voltage board. Therefore, it is possible to improve the cooling efficiency and achieve the low cost.
It is preferable that the board is a power source board and the another board is a high-voltage board.
According to this structure, it is possible to efficiently cool the high-voltage board and the power source board.
The above board is the power source board, and the image forming device further includes: the high-voltage board for supplying a high voltage to the image forming portion; a main board that controls operation of the image forming device; and an engine board that controls operation of an actuator which includes the cooling fan. And, it is preferable that the power source board, the high-voltage board, the main board, and the engine board are all mounted on the side wall portion; and the cooling fan is configured to cool the image forming portion, the power source board as the board, the high-voltage board, the main board, and the engine board by means of an airflow generated by rotation of the cooling fan.
According to this structure, it is possible to dispose the cooling fan near heat source devices (portions to be cooled) such as the boards, the image forming portion and the like that need to be cooled. Accordingly, it is unnecessary to dispose the conventional long duct for cooling each board and the image forming portion. Therefore, it is possible to improve the cooling efficiency and achieve the low cost.
The cooling fan includes a fan casing mounted on the side wall portion and an impeller that is housed in the fan casing and rotates to make an airflow flow into the casing from outside the main body housing portion, and the fan casing includes: an air inflow opening; a first blow-out opening for blowing out part of the airflow flowing into the casing from the air inflow opening to the image forming portion; a second blow-out opening for blowing out part of the airflow flowing into the casing from the air inflow opening to the power source board, the main board and the engine board; and a third blow-out opening for blowing out part of the airflow flowing into the casing from the air inflow opening to the high-voltage board. In this way, it is possible to improve the cooling efficiency for the boards, the image forming portion and the like as soon as possible.
According to the present disclosure, it is possible to efficiently cool the image forming portion ad the boards by means of an inexpensive structure.
The sheet feeding portion 10 is disposed in a lower portion in the housing 60. The sheet feeding portion 10 has a sheet feeding cassette 10a in which the sheets P are housed and a pick-up roller 10b that takes out the sheet P in the sheet feeding cassette 10a and sends the sheet P to outside the cassette. The sheet P sent out from the sheet feeding cassette 10a to outside the cassette is supplied to the image forming portion 20 via the conveyance roller pair 11.
The image forming portion 20 includes a photosensitive drum 21, a charging device 23, a light exposure device 25, a developing device 27, a transfer device 29, and a toner container (not shown). After a circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 21 is electrified by the charging device 23, laser light based on document image data (e.g., image data of document image received from an external terminal) is directed to a surface of the photosensitive drum 21 by the light exposure device 25, so that the image forming portion 20 forms an electrostatic latent image. The electrostatic latent image formed (carried) on the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 is developed as a toner image by the developing device 27. And, the image forming portion 20 uses the transfer device 29 to transfer the toner image onto the sheet P supplied from the sheet feeding portion 10 and supplies the sheet P after the transfer to the fixing portion 40.
At the fixing portion 40, the sheet P supplied from the image forming portion 20 is pressed between a fixing roller 40a and a pressure roller 40b, whereby the toner image is fixed onto the sheet P. And, the sheet P, on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing portion 40, is sent out to a downstream side by both rollers 40a, 40b. The sheet P sent out by the fixing portion 40 is delivered to the sheet delivery portion 50 via the plurality of conveyance roller pairs 12, 13. The sheet delivery portion 50 is formed by recessing an upper surface portion of the housing 60 in to a recessed shape.
The housing 60 has a frame 61 (see
As shown in
The rear sheet metal 62a is covered by the outer cover 63 from outside the printer 1. The outer cover 63 is fixed to the frame 61 by a not-shown bolt. The outer cover 63 is disposed backward from the rear sheet metal 62a a predetermined distance away from the rear sheet metal 62a. In this way, a space (gap) S having a thickness in a front-rear direction is formed between the outer cover 63 and the rear sheet metal 62a. The outer cover 63 is provided with an air inhaling opening 63f. The air inhaling opening 63f is formed through a portion of the outer cover 63 near a rear side of a cooling fan 100 (described later). The left wall portion of the housing 60 is provided with an air exhaust opening 60f for discharging air in the housing 60 to outside. The air exhaust opening 60f is formed through a front lower end portion of the left wall portion of the housing 60.
Back to
The cooling fan 100 is disposed at a position of the rear sheet metal 62a located slightly left from an extended position in the shaft center direction of the photosensitive drum 21. The cooling fan 100 is configured to cool the image forming portion 20 and each of the boards 71-73 by means of an airflow generated by rotation of the cooling fan 100. Details of the cooling fan 100 are described later.
The power source board 71 is mounted on a portion of a rear surface of the rear sheet metal 62a on the left side of the cooling fan 100. The power source board 71 supplies necessary electric power to each of devices of the printer 1 such as a heater incorporated in the fixing roller 40a, a motor for driving the photosensitive drum 21 and the like.
The engine main board 72 is mounted above the power source board 71 on the rear surface of the rear sheet metal 62a. The engine main board 72 has both a function as an engine board that controls an actuator (in detail, a drive motor for the cooling fan 100, a drive motor for a conveyance system and the like) which includes the cooling fan 100 and a function as a main board that controls operation of the image forming portion 20.
The high-voltage board 73 is mounted on a front surface of the rear sheet metal 62a. The high-voltage board 73 is located slightly above a height position of an upper end surface of the cooling fan 100. The high-voltage board 73 supplies a high voltage to the transfer device 29, the developing device 27, the photosensitive drum 21 and the like.
As shown in
The fan casing 101 has a rectangular main body casing 102 for housing the impeller 110, and a duct portion 103 integrally formed with the main body casing 102. The impeller 110 is rotatably supported on the main body casing 102 by four support portions 104 that extend outward in a radial direction from an outer circumferential portion of the impeller 110. The impeller 110 is driven to rotate by a not-shown motor.
An upper surface and lower surface of the main body casing 102 are each provided with a fixing bracket portion 105 (see
A rear wall portion 102a of the main body casing 102 is provided with a through-hole 102f (see
The duct portion 103 is connected to a front side of the main body casing 102 and penetrates the rear sheet metal 62a (see
A downstream-side opening portion 103f of the duct portion 103 is opened near one end portion in the shaft center direction of the photosensitive drum 21. And, the opening portion 103f composes a first blow-out opening 201 that blows out part of the airflow, which flows from the air inflow opening 200 into the fan casing 101, to the one end portion in the shaft center direction of the photosensitive drum 21.
The upper vertical wall portion 102b is provided with a substantially square-shaped opening portion 102s that penetrates in a thickness direction. The opening portion 102s is connected to a through-hole 62f (see
In the printer 1 composed as described above, when the cooling fan 100 is driven, air outside the printer 1 is guided into the cooling fan 100 via the air inhaling opening 63f formed through the outer cover 63 (see
As indicated by an outline arrow in
As indicated by an outline arrow in
As indicated by an outline arrow in
As described above, in the above embodiment, all the boards 71-73 are mounted on the rear sheet metal 62a adjacent to the image forming portion 20, and the cooling fan 100 is mounted on the rear sheet metal 62a. Besides, the drive mechanism 150 of the photosensitive drum 21, which is a constituent element of the image forming portion 20, is disposed near the rear sheet metal 62a. In this way, it is possible to gather and dispose the heat sources such as the boards 71-73, the image forming portion 20, the drive mechanism 150 and the like in a rear portion of the printer 1 and to dispose the cooling fan 100 at the place near the heat sources.
Accordingly, it is unnecessary to dispose a long duct to cool the heat sources such as the boards 71-73, the image forming portion 20, the drive mechanism 150 and the like. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently cool the heat sources (places to be cooled) by means of an inexpensive structure. Besides, it is also unnecessary to increase the number of cooling fans 100 to cool each board 71-73, the image forming portion and the drive mechanism 150. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the fan noise and the production cost.
Besides, in the above embodiment, the cooling fan 100, the power source board 71, and the engine main board 72 are mounted on the surface (rear side) of the rear sheet metal 62a near the outer cover 63.
Accordingly, an operator can easily gain access to the cooling fan 100, the power source board 71, and the engine main board 72 by only removing the outer cover 63. Therefore, it is possible to improve maintenance characteristics of these devices.
The present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment.
In other words, in the above embodiment, the engine board and the main board are unified as the engine main board 72. However, this is not limiting, but both boards may be separated.
In the above embodiment, as an example of the image forming device, the laser printer 1 of electro-photographic type is described. However, this is not limiting. In other words, the image forming device may be an image forming device of ink jet type, for example.
In the above embodiment, only one cooling fan 100 is disposed. However, this is not limiting, but a plurality of the cooling fans 100 may be disposed.
As described above, the present disclosure is useful for an image forming device, especially useful for an image forming device that includes: a main body housing portion which houses an image forming portion that records an image onto a sheet; a power source board; and a cooling fan for cooling the image forming portion and the power source board.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2013-175052 | Aug 2013 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2014/063438 | 5/21/2014 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2015/029510 | 3/5/2015 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6205302 | Yokota | Mar 2001 | B1 |
7558060 | Kiyosumi | Jul 2009 | B2 |
20100215393 | Sasaki | Aug 2010 | A1 |
20130107456 | Kitajima | May 2013 | A1 |
20130251385 | Mitourida | Sep 2013 | A1 |
20130259511 | Koyama | Oct 2013 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2003-316237 | Nov 2003 | JP |
2004-233452 | Aug 2004 | JP |
2005-17939 | Jan 2005 | JP |
2008-70744 | Mar 2008 | JP |
2009-122452 | Jun 2009 | JP |
2009-294621 | Dec 2009 | JP |
Entry |
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International Search Report dated Jul. 8, 2014, issued to International Application No. PCT/JP2014/063438. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20160070231 A1 | Mar 2016 | US |