This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-079515, filed on Mar. 31, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet conveying device configured to convey a sheet along a conveying path.
2. Description of Related Art
A known multi-function device and a known scanning device each comprise a sheet conveying device. The sheet conveying device is configured to convey sheets from a sheet stacking location along a conveying path such that images on the sheets are sequentially scanned.
A known sheet conveying device comprises a cover member made of resin and defining a part of a sheet conveying path, and a roller member disposed on the cover member and configured to rotate and convey a sheet along the sheet conveying path. The sheet conveying device further comprises an urging member disposed between the cover member and a shaft of the roller member. The urging member urges the roller member by contacting, at its one end, the roller member and, at its other end, the cover member, such that the roller member reliably contacts the sheet. Thus, when the roller member rotates, the roller member reliably conveys the sheet.
There has recently been a demand for compact and slim sheet conveying devices. In order to meet such a demand, it is conceivable to reduce the thickness of the cover member of the above-described sheet conveying device. In this case, however, the cover member may deform due to urging force of the urging member because one end of the urging member contacts the cover member. Because the cover member of the above-described sheet conveying device defines an outer surface of the sheet conveying device, such deformation may deteriorate the appearance of the device.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a sheet conveying device that overcomes these and other shortcomings of the related art and is configured to be slim while a cover member made of resin is prevented from deforming due to urging force of an urging member.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a sheet conveying device comprises a cover member made of resin and defining a part of a conveying path along which a sheet is conveyed, a roller member rotatably disposed on a conveying path facing side of the cover member and configured to convey the sheet along the conveying path, an urging member disposed between the cover member and a rotary shaft of the roller member and urging the roller member toward the conveying path in a state where one end of the urging member contacts the rotary shaft of the roller member, and a plate member made of metal and disposed between the cover member and the urging member. The plate member comprises a first segment extending along a surface of the conveying path facing side of the cover member and contacting an other end of the urging member, a second segment extending from an edge of the first segment in a direction toward the conveying path, and a third segment extending from an edge of the second segment in a direction different from the direction in which the second segment extends.
Other objects, features, and advantages will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.
For a more complete understanding of the invention, the needs satisfied thereby, and the features and technical advantages thereof, reference now is made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of the invention and their features and technical advantages may be understood by referring to
A sheet conveying device according to an embodiment of the invention, e.g., a sheet conveying unit 50 of a multi-function device 1, will be described in detail while referring to the drawings.
A general structure of the multifunction device 1 according to an embodiment of the invention will be described in detail while referring to the drawings.
In the following description, directions are defined when the multi-function device is disposed in an orientation in which it is intended to be used. In
As shown in
The housing 10 comprises, at the front top thereof, an operation panel 11 including operating portions, and a liquid display 13 for displaying various information.
The operation panel 11 is used to input various instructions to the multi-function device 1. A sheet cassette 12 is removably attached to the front of the housing 10. The sheet cassette 12 is configured to store therein a stack of recoding media, e.g., sheets.
As shown in
The image sensor 22 is a so-called contact image sensor (CIS) and is configured to scan an image of a document sheet placed on the contact glass 21. The image sensor 22 has a scanning range, which corresponds to a length of a short side of A4 size, in a scanning direction (i.e., a front-rear direction of the housing 10). The image sensor 22 is held by the slide shaft extending in the left-right direction of the housing 10 so as to be slidable in the left-right direction within a predetermined range (a range corresponding to the long side of A4 size). In the multi-function device 1, based on control of a motor by a controller, the image sensor 22 slides along the slide shaft and scans an image of a document sheet placed on the contact glass 21.
The controller comprises a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), and a random access memory (RAM) and controls, as a control center, various functions of the multi-function device 1. The controller is configured to execute controls desired by the user, based on inputs by the user from the operation panel 11. The controller is further configured to control the liquid display 13 to display various information based on inputs by the user from the operation panel 11 and results of computation.
A facsimile unit is configured to transmit an image of a document sheet scanned by the scanner unit 20 via a network to a recipient desired by the user. The facsimile unit is further configured to receive data via the network. The controller controls an image forming unit to output the data received by the facsimile unit onto a sheet fed from the sheet cassette 1.
The image forming unit is configured to print out input image data on a sheet fed from the sheet cassette 12, based on control by the controller. The multi-function device 1 performs a copying function by controlling the image forming unit to process image data of an image scanned by the scanner unit 20. The multi-function device 1 performs a printing function by controlling the image forming unit to process print data input via the network.
A sheet cover 30 is configured to pivot about an axis located at the rear top end of the housing 10 so as to be opened and closed. As shown in
The sheet cover 30 comprises a cover tray 31, sheet guide members 32, a sheet guide surface 33, and a sheet conveying unit 50 (i.e., an automatic document feeder (ADF)). As shown in
A surface of the cover tray 31 which becomes an outer surface of the sheet cover 31 when the cover tray 31 is in the closed position is referred to as a first surface, and a surface opposite to the first surface is referred to as a second surface. The second surface of the cover tray 31 is an inner surface of the cover tray 31 when the cover tray 31 is in the closed position.
As shown in
The sheet guide members 32 each comprise a partition plate 32A. The partition plate 32A is formed above the sheet guide surface 33 so as to be spaced by a predetermined distance from the sheet guide surface 33.
As shown in
A recess is formed below the pivot shaft of the cover tray 31 such that a pivot shaft-side end of the cover tray 31 passes a space defined by the recess. The recess allows the cover tray 31 to pivot about the pivot shaft smoothly. The recess allows the sheet guide surface 33 and the pivot shaft of the cover tray 31 to be vertically close to each other. This makes the sheet cover 30 slim.
The sheet conveying unit 50 is integrally formed with a left side portion of the sheet cover 30. The sheet conveying unit 50 is configured to sequentially feed document sheets placed on the second surface of the cover tray 31 and the sheet guide surface 33. The sheet conveying unit 50 is configured to separate the fed document sheets one by one, and to convey the separated document sheet along a conveying path R (shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The cosmetic cover D is removably attached to an outer surface of the top cover 70 (i.e., an upper surface of the sheet conveying unit 50). The cosmetic cover D is made of transparent resin and cooperates with an upper surface of the top cover 70 to hold a cosmetic sheet having a predetermined pattern. The pattern of the cosmetic sheet is visible through the cosmetic cover D. The cosmetic sheet can be replaced with a cosmetic sheet having a different pattern by removing the cosmetic cover D from the top cover 70.
As shown in
As shown in
The sheet holder 63 is disposed upstream of the conveying roller pair 61 in the sheet conveying direction and is configured to press the document sheet conveyed along the conveying path R against the contact glass 21. When the scanner unit 20 of the multi-function device 1 scans an image of the document sheet conveyed by the sheet conveying unit 50, the image sensor 22 is located below the sheet holder 63. The scanner unit 20 scans, via the contact glass 21, the image of the document sheet passing below the sheet holder 63. At this time, because the document sheet is pressed by the sheet holder 63 against the contact glass 21, the scanner unit 20 can scan the image at a high precision.
As described above, the top cover 70 is disposed at the upper portion of the sheet conveying unit 50 and is configured to pivot about the left end of the sheet conveying unit 50. The inner surface (lower surface) of the top cover 70 and the upper surface of the unit main body 60 define a part of the conveying path R. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The positioning portion 75 of the top cover 70 are opposed to a position where the driving conveying roller 62 is disposed in the unit main body 60. The positioning portion 75 comprise ribs projecting so as to define, in the top cover 70, a predetermined area that extends in the width direction of the document sheet (a front-rear direction of the multi-function device 1). The positioning portion 75 is configured to position a plate member 85, which is described later, at a predetermined position of the top cover 70.
Shaft holding portions 76, spring holding portions 77, and reinforcing ribs 78 are formed in the positioning portion 75. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Structures of the driven conveying roller 80, the plate member 85, and the coil springs 90, which are attached to the top cover 70, will be described in detail while referring to the drawings. As shown in
The driven conveying roller 80 comprises roller bodies 81 and a roller shaft 82. The roller bodies 81 contact the document sheet conveyed along the conveying path R and are formed by a cylindrical rubber or the like. The roller shaft 82 is a rotary shaft of the driven conveying roller 80 and extends in the width direction of the conveying path R. As shown in
As shown in
The plate member 85 is a plate-like member made of metal and has a first segment 86, a second segment 87, and a third segment 88. As shown in
As shown in
How to attach the driven conveying roller 80, the plate member 85, and the coil springs 90 to the top cover 70 will be described in detail while referring to the drawings. As shown in
After the plate member 85 is positioned in the positioning portion 75, the coil springs 90 are placed on the spring holding portions 77. Specifically, when the spring holding portions 77 are inserted into the coil springs 90, the coil springs 90 are positioned on the extending portions 86A of the plate member 85. As shown in
Then, in a state where the plate member 85 and the coil springs 90 are positioned in the positioning portion 75, the driven conveying roller 80 is attached to the top cover 70 via the shaft holding portions 76. As shown in
As shown in
The driven conveying roller 80 is attached to the top cover 70 such that the roller shaft 82 of the driven conveying roller 80 is held by the shaft holding portions 76 while the roller shaft 82 contacts one end of each coil spring 90 in a state where the other end of each coil spring 90 contacts the first segment 86 of the plate member 85.
The driven conveying roller 80 is attached to the top cover 70 such that the roller shaft 82 is held by the roller holding portions 76 while the roller shaft 82 contacts one end of each coil spring 90 in a state where the other end of each coil spring 90 contacts the first segment 86 of the plate member 85. When the driven conveying roller 80, the plate member 85, and the coil springs 90 are attached to the top cover 70, no extra members, such as screws, are not used. Thus, in the multi-function device 1, a worker can readily assemble, replace, and disassemble the driven conveying roller 80, the plate member 85, and the coil springs relative to the top cover 70.
As typically shown in
The plate member 85 is made of metal and comprises the first segment 86, the second segment 87, and the third segment 88. The rigidity of the plate member 85 is greater than that of the top cover 70 which is made of resin. Because the urging force of the coil springs 90 is applied to the pate member 85, the top cover 70 can be prevented from deforming. Even when the top cover 70 is made thin, the plate member 85 prevents the top cover 70 from deforming due to the urging force of the coil springs 90. Thus, the multi-function device 1 can be made compact and slim.
As shown in
The third segment 88 of the plate member 85 is disposed adjacent to and upstream, in the sheet conveying direction, of the driven conveying roller 80. In the multi-function device according to the above-described embodiment, the plate member 85 can prevent deformation of the top cover 70. Thus, the positional relation among the plate member 85, the driven conveying roller 80, and the driving conveying roller 62 can be maintained while displacement of the top cover 70 is prevented, and a stable conveyance of the document sheet can be achieved.
As typically shown in
Opposite ends of the first segment 86 of the plate member 85 in the width direction of the document sheet respectively contact the reinforcing ribs 78 that are formed in proximity of the respective side wall portions 71. Because the side wall portions 71 are formed respectively along the opposite ends in the width direction of the top cover 70 and extend toward the conveying path R, the rigidity of portions of the top cover 70 proximate to the side wall portions 71 are greater than that of the remaining portion of the top cover 70. The reinforcing ribs 78, which are formed respectively along the side wall portions 71, further increase the rigidity of the portions of the top cover 70 proximate to the side wall portions 71. Because the reinforcing ribs 78 contact the first segment 86 of the plate member 85, the urging force of the coil springs 90 can be spread to the portions of the top cover 70 having a relatively high rigidity. This can prevents deformation of the top cover due to the urging force of the coil springs 90.
Although, in the above-described embodiment, the sheet conveying device is applied to the multi-function device, the sheet conveying device may be applied to a scanning device comprising an automatic document feeder (ADF).
Although, in the above-described embodiment, the driven conveying roller 80 and the driving conveying roller 62 are configured to sandwich the document sheet and to convey the document sheet along the conveying path R, the driving conveying roller 62 should not necessarily be provided so as to oppose the driven conveying roller 80 via the conveying path R. The driven conveying roller 80 may be replaced with a smooth surface as long as the driven conveying roller 80 is urged toward the conveying path R.
While the invention has been described in connection with embodiments of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variations and modifications of the embodiments described above may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the specification or practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and the described examples are considered merely as exemplary of the invention, with the true scope of the invention being defined by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2011-079515 | Mar 2011 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
20070210512 | Sakakibara et al. | Sep 2007 | A1 |
20100244360 | Yamamoto | Sep 2010 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
H02-144363 | Jun 1990 | JP |
H07-330187 | Dec 1995 | JP |
2002-274689 | Sep 2002 | JP |
2007-238252 | Sep 2007 | JP |
2008156108 | Jul 2008 | JP |
4497751 | Jul 2010 | JP |
Entry |
---|
Translation of JP 2008-156108 A. |
Japan Patent Office, Notice of Reasons for Rejection for Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-079515 (counterpart Japanese patent application), mailed Jan. 22, 2013. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20120248681 A1 | Oct 2012 | US |