Patent Application
20200310342
This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-057212 filed Mar. 25, 2019.
The present disclosure relates to a terminal connection structure and an image forming apparatus.
In the related art, as a technology related to a terminal connection structure used in an image forming apparatus, those described in the following JP-A-2010-020219, JP-A-2011-107645, and JP-A-2017-120351 are known.
JP-A-2010-020219 describes a technology including electrode terminals provided on a substrate of a substrate member on which a storage element is installed, in which any of the electrode terminals is formed as four elongated fiat plate-shaped terminals that are arranged in parallel to a connection direction between a toner cartridge detachably attached to an image forming station of an image forming apparatus and the image forming apparatus having an electrode terminal of a connected portion electrically connected to the electrode terminal when the toner cartridge is attached to the image forming station.
JP-A-2011-107645 describes a technology including: a first protection connection terminal that can come into contact with a connection terminal between an attachable and detachable unit that has the connection terminal of a storage medium and is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus main body and the image forming apparatus that has a connection target terminal which comes into contact with and is connected to the connection terminal when the attachable and detachable unit is attached to the image forming apparatus main body; a second protection connection terminal that is electrically connected to the first protection connection terminal and can come into contact with the connection target terminal; and a protection member that has a protection member main body that supports the first protection connection terminal and the second protection connection terminal and is supported by the attachable and detachable unit in a state where the first protection connection terminal is connected to the connection terminal, and in which, in a case of being attached to the image forming apparatus main body, the second protection connection terminal is connected to the connection target terminal.
JP-A-2017-120351 describes a technology including a guide member that moves a first terminal in a direction perpendicular to a contact surface of the first terminal that is in contact with a second terminal, that is, in a direction of gradually approaching the second terminal until reaching an insertion completion position in an insertion direction when a consumable container is inserted into an accommodating section of an apparatus main body between the consumable container, such as a toner cartridge that has the first terminal of a storage member and is detachably attached to the accommodating section of the apparatus main body of an image forming apparatus and the image forming apparatus that has the second terminal which comes into contact with and is connected to the first terminal when the consumable container is mounted in the accommodating section of the apparatus main body. Regarding the first terminal, an example in which a center portion in a front-rear direction is formed by a U-shaped or V-shaped plate spring that projects to a lower side, is illustrated.
Aspects of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate to providing a terminal connection structure in which abnormal contact is less likely to occur between a connection terminal and a connection target terminal connected in an electrically conductive manner than in a structure where a connection terminal and a connection target terminal are brought into contact with each other at one point and to providing an image forming apparatus using such a terminal connection structure.
Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure address the features discussed above and/or other features not described above. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not required to address the above features, and aspects of the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not address features described above.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a terminal connection structure between a first device to be detachably attached for use and a second device having a mounting section to which the first device is to be detachably attached, the terminal connection structure including: at least one connection terminal provided in the first device; and at least one connection target terminal that is provided in the second device and comes into contact with the connection terminal in an electrically conductive manner when the first device is attached to the mounting section, one of the connection terminal and the connection target terminal having a structure including plural contact portions to be in contact with the other.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein:
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
Image Forming Apparatus
An image forming apparatus 1 is an apparatus that forms an image formed by toner as a developer on paper 9 which is an example of a recording medium by using an image forming method, such as an electrophotographic method. The image forming apparatus 1 is configured, for example, as a printer that forms an image that corresponds to image information, such as characters, figures, tables, and photographs input from an external device, such as an information terminal or an image reading device.
As illustrated in
The image forming unit 2 has a photosensitive drum 21 which is an example of a photosensitive body that rotates in a direction indicated by the arrow, and around the photosensitive drum 21, a charging device 22 that charges an image forming region on a peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 21 with a required potential; an exposure device 23 that exposes the charged image forming region of the photosensitive drum 21 based on image information to form an electrostatic latent image; a developing machine 24 that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 21 with the developer and makes the electrostatic latent image into a toner image; a transfer device 25 that transfers the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 21 onto the paper 9; and a cleaning device 26 that cleans the image forming region of the photosensitive drum 21, are disposed.
Among the members, as illustrated in
In addition, in the developing machine 24, since the developer in a housing 240 is consumed by the development and reduced, the developer is replenished from the replenishing unit 6.
The paper feeding unit 4 includes: a container 41 (not illustrated) that accommodates the paper 9 having a desired size, type, and so on in a stacked state; and a feeding device 42 that feeds the paper 9 from the container 41 one by one toward a transfer unit in the image forming unit 2. The paper 9 may be a recording medium that can be transported in the image forming apparatus 1 and can transfer and fix the toner image.
The fixing unit 5 includes: a heating roller 51 having a roll form, a belt-nip form, or the like, which rotates while being heated, and a pressing roller 52 having a roll form, a belt-nip form, or the like, which is in contact with the heating roller 51 at a required pressure to form a fixing nip, in a housing 50 provided with an introduction port and an output port (which are not illustrated) of the paper 9.
In addition, in the image forming apparatus 1, when receiving command information of a request to form an image, first, in the image forming unit 2, known processes (processes of charging, exposure, development, and transfer) in an image forming method, such as an electrophotographic method, are executed.
In other words, in the image forming unit 2, a toner image that corresponds to the image information is formed on the photosensitive drum 1, and thereafter, the toner image is transferred onto one side of the paper 9 supplied from the paper feeding unit 4. The photosensitive drum 21 after the transfer is cleaned by the cleaning device 26.
Subsequently, the paper 9 that holds the toner image transferred by the image forming unit 2 is introduced into the fixing nip in the fixing unit 5, and the toner image is fixed onto the paper 9 by fixing processing (heating and pressing) when the paper 9 passes through the fixing nip.
The paper 9 on which fixing has been completed is transported and stored, for example, in a discharging and accommodating section 12 provided on the outside of the housing 10. Accordingly, the image forming operation on one side of the paper 9 by the image forming apparatus 1 is completed.
Next, as illustrated in
The developer storage container 61 is detachably attached to a mounting section (not illustrated) of the housing 10 and used, and is configured as an example of an attaching and detaching unit.
Further, as illustrated in
In the end portion on the far side of the container main body 610, an output structure portion 613 having the output port (not illustrated) for outputting the developer from the container main body 610 and an open and close shutter (not illustrated) for opening and closing the output port, is formed. In addition, on the inside of the container main body 610, the transporting unit, such as an agitator (not illustrated) that rotates and transports the developer so as to move the developer toward the output port in the output structure portion 613 at the time of replenishment, is disposed.
The far end portion structure 611 has a structure that closes the end portion on the rear side of the container main body 610 and supports a rotating shaft of the transporting unit in a cantilever state. In addition, in the end portion structure 611, a drive connecting member 615 (
Meanwhile, the near end portion structure 612 has a structure that closes the end portion on the far side of the container main body 610 and has a function as a handle for holding the developer storage container 61 by hand at the time of attaching and detaching work.
In addition, the developer storage container 61 includes an accommodating section 617 that accommodates a storage medium 63 in which intrinsic information of the developer storage container 61 is stored in one side surface portion of the far end portion structure 611.
Here, the intrinsic information is, for example, information, such as the product number of the developer storage container 61, the type or storage amount of the developer, and the usage history. In addition, as the storage medium 63, for example, a storage medium, such as a customer replaceable unit memory (CRUM), is used.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The replenishment drive device 67 includes: a housing 671 that is also an apparatus main body; and a container holding section 672 that is disposed integrally with one side of the housing 671 and holds the developer storage container 61. Among the members, the container holding section 672 forms a part of the mounting section to which the developer storage container 61 is attached.
In the housing 671, an accommodation and transport section (not illustrated) that temporarily accommodates the developer output from the developer storage container 61 and feeds a necessary amount of developer in the transport pipe 69; a feeding member (not illustrated) that is driven to feed the developer accommodated in the accommodation and transport section to the transport pipe 69; and a drive transmission mechanism (not illustrated) that transmits the rotational power, are disposed.
Further, an electric motor 673 is attached to the housing 671. The rotational power of the electric motor 673 is transmitted to the feeding member that is in the housing 671 or the developer storage container 61 held by the container holding section 672, via the drive transmission mechanism (not illustrated). Further, as illustrated in
The container holding section 672 is formed to have a structure that holds a part on the lower portion side along the longitudinal direction of the developer storage container 61. In addition, in the container holding section 672, at the end portion that faces the housing 671, a connection passage (not illustrated) for sending the developer output from the output port of the developer storage container 61 to the accommodation and transport section of the housing 671.
In addition, as illustrated in
The connector unit 68 is disposed on the housing 10 side of the image forming apparatus 1. Further, the connector unit 68 has a substantially rectangular box-shaped support frame 681 and located to extend from the housing 671 to an end portion on one side of the container holding section 672 so that it can face the accommodating section 617 of the developer storage container 61. As illustrated in
In addition, the connector unit 68 has, at a site on the side facing the developer storage container 61 of the support frame 681, plural (four in the example) connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D that respectively come into contact with connection terminals 71A, 71B, 71C, and 71D of the storage medium 63 in the accommodating section 617 of the developer storage container 61 so that they are connected in an electrically conductive manner.
The connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D are integrated into a harness connector 688 through a circuit board 682 disposed inside the support frame 681 and then connected to a cable harness 689 through the harness connector 688. The cable harness 689 is connected to the control unit 15 in the image forming apparatus 1.
As illustrated in
In the replenishing unit 6, as illustrated in
Accordingly, the transporting unit in the developer storage container 61 is in a state where the rotational power from the replenishment drive device 67 is transmitted to be in a drivable state. In addition, the control unit 15 of the image forming apparatus 1 can communicate with the storage medium 63 of the developer storage container 61 via the cable harness 689, and is in a state of being capable of reading and writing information.
In addition, in the replenishing unit 6, the replenishment drive device 67 is driven at a necessary time in accordance with the information, such as the consumption amount of the developer (actually, toner) in the developing machine 24, predicted by the control unit 15.
Accordingly, the replenishing unit 6 feeds the developer in the developer storage container 61 by a required amount, and transports the developer through the transport pipe 69 to the developing machine 24 for replenishment. The replenished developer is input into the storage chamber in the housing 240 of the developing machine 24.
Terminal Connection Structure
In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 uses a terminal connection structure 7 formed as described below between the connection terminals 71A, 71B, 71C, and 71D in the storage medium 63 of the developer storage container 61 and the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D of the connector unit 68 in the replenishment drive device 67.
As illustrated in
Meanwhile, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The support portion 751 is elastically deformed in a direction (intruding direction) indicated by an arrow J so as to be displaced to a position that corresponds to the position of the connection terminal 71A or the like, as illustrated in
In addition, in the terminal connection structure 7, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The coil spring 761 may be a spring that is formed by spirally winding plural times a wire made of an elastically deformable metal and at least having a conductive surface. The conditions, such as the number of turns of the coil spring 761, the diameter of the turn, or the thickness of the wire, are set to any condition in accordance with the relationship between the terminals connected to each other, or the like. In addition, the coil spring 761 used may be a compression spring having plural contact portions 76 which are adjacent parts of a wire and separated from each other. Alternatively, the coil spring 761 used may be, for example, an extension spring having adjacent parts of a wire in contact with each other as long as it provides plural contacts independent from each other.
In addition, as illustrated in
Connection State by Terminal Connection Structure
In the image forming apparatus 1 using the terminal connection structure 7, when the developer storage container 61 is attached to the mounting section of the housing 10, the connection terminals 71A, 71B, 71C, and 71D in the storage medium 63 of the developer storage container 61 and the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D of the connector unit 68 in the replenishment drive device 67 are connected to each other as follows.
First, the developer storage container 61 is moved in the pushing direction indicated by the arrow E1 while being held by the container holding section 672 of the replenishing unit 6 when mounting the developer storage container 61.
At this time, when the accommodating section 617 in the developer storage container 61 is on the stage of starting to approach and face the connector unit 68 in the replenishment drive device 67, as illustrated in
In the process in which the accommodating section 617 advances while facing the connector unit 68, the four connection terminals 71A, 71B, 71C, and 71D in the storage medium 63 in the accommodating section 617 advance to be in a state of being in contact with (the contact portion 752 of the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D in the connector unit 68.
At this time, in the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D having an intruding structure, as illustrated in
Subsequently, when the developer storage container 61 is pushed to a mounting position (
When the mounting of the developer storage container 61 is completed, as illustrated in
When the connection state at this time is viewed from the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D, as illustrated in
In Exemplary Embodiment 1, as illustrated in
The contact parts of the coil spring 761 for the plural contact portions 76 are, for example, three rounded portions P1, P2 and P3, as illustrated in
In the terminal connection structure 7 used for connection, therefore, each of the four connection terminals 71A, 71B, 71C, and 71D in the storage medium 63 comes into contact with each of the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D in the connector unit 68 at the plural contact portions 76, so that abnormal contact is less likely to occur and good connection is achieved between them. In addition, this connection allows reliable contact of at least one of the plural contact portions 76 even when fine foreign matter, such as toner or dust, exists on at least one of the connection terminals 71A, 71B, 71C, and 71D and the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D or they are worn off at some points, so that abnormal contact is prevented.
In this regard, in a case where the connection terminals 71A, 71B, 71C, and 71D and the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D come into contact with each other at one point at the part at which the terminals are in contact with each other, when at least one of the terminals has the above-described fine foreign matter or the part that is worn exists, abnormal contact is more likely to occur.
Meanwhile, in a case where the terminal connection structure 7 according to Exemplary Embodiment 1 is used, abnormal contact is prevented as described above.
As a result, in the image forming apparatus 1 using the terminal connection structure 7, communication of information between the developer storage container 61 and the control unit 15 is excellently secured when the developer storage container 61 is attached, so that communication failure is less likely to occur.
In addition, in the terminal connection structure 7 according to Exemplary Embodiment 1, the plural contact portions 76 is formed of the coil spring 761, which makes it easy to form the plural contact portions 76. In addition, the circular arc-shaped portions to be in contact with the terminals can soften and reduce the impact at the time of contact with the connection terminals 71A, 71B, 71C, and 71D. Furthermore, since the elastic deformation due to the spring can be obtained, it is likely to make a state of being in contact to be slightly displaced in the up-down and left-right directions in accordance with the situation when the wire of the coil spring 761 comes into contact with the terminal.
In addition, in the connection structure 7, since the coil springs 761 of the plural contact portions 76 are disposed such that the height direction H is the direction substantially orthogonal to the moving directions E1 and E2 when attaching and detaching the developer storage container 61, the parts that are in contact are in a state of being arranged in the direction substantially orthogonal to the moving directions E1 and E2 (
Furthermore, in the connection structure 7, since the plural contact portions 76 are provided on the connection terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D of the intruding structure, compared to a case where the contact portions 76 are not provided on the terminals in the intruding structure, the impact at the time of contact with the plural contact portions 76 is reduced, the contact at the plural contact points is excellently maintained, and accordingly, the abnormal contact is prevented.
The terminal connection structure 7B according to Exemplary Embodiment 2 is a structure having the same configuration as that of the terminal connection structure 7 according to Exemplary Embodiment 1 except that plural wire parts are disposed side by side instead of the coil springs 761 for the plural contact portions 76.
As illustrated in
In addition, as illustrated in
Furthermore, the three wire parts 763A, 763B, and 763C are disposed in a state of being bent in a chevron shape as illustrated in
In addition, in the image forming apparatus 1 using the terminal connection structure 7B, when the mounting of the developer storage container 61 is completed as described in Exemplary Embodiment 1, as illustrated in
When the connection state at this time is viewed from the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D, as illustrated in
In other words, in the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D at this time, as illustrated in
The contact parts of the wire parts 763A, 763B, and 763C at this time are, for example, contact points including the three rounded parts P1, P2, and P3, as illustrated in
In the terminal connection structure 7B used for connection, therefore, each of the four connection terminals 714, 71B, 71C, and 71D in the storage medium 63 comes into contact with and is connected to each of the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D in the connector unit 68 at the plural contact portions 76, similar to the case of the terminal connection structure 7 according to Exemplary Embodiment 1, so that abnormal contact is less likely to occur and good connection is achieved between them.
Incidentally, since the plural contact portions 76 are provided on the connection target terminals 75 in (the connector unit 68 of) the mounting section on the housing 10 side of the image forming apparatus 1, compared to a case of being provided on the connection terminal 71 in the developer storage container 61, the number of the plural contact portions 76 may be small and the cost is not increased unnecessarily.
As a result, in the image forming apparatus 1 using the terminal connection structure 7B, communication of information between the developer storage container 61 and the control unit 15 is excellently secured when the developer storage container 61 is attached, similar to the case of the image forming apparatus 1 according to Exemplary Embodiment 1, so that communication failure is less likely to occur.
In addition, in the connection structure 7B, since the three wire parts 763A, 763B, and 763C that form the plural contact portions 76 are disposed so as to be in a state of facing in the direction substantially along the moving directions E1 and E2 when attaching and detaching the developer storage container 61, the parts that are in contact are in a state of being arranged in the direction substantially orthogonal to the moving directions E1 and E2 (
Furthermore, even in the connection structure 7B, since the plural contact portions 76 are provided on the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D of the intruding structure, compared to a case where the contact portions 76 are not provided on the terminals in the intruding structure, the impact at the time of coming into contact with the plural contact portions 76 is reduced, the contact at the plural contact points is excellently maintained, and accordingly, the abnormal contact is prevented.
In the terminal connection structure 7B of Exemplary Embodiment 2, instead of disposing the plural wire parts 763A, 763B, and 763C side by side, the plural contact portions 76 may be provided side by side in a projecting shape (protrusion) that extends to be long in one direction before and after a top portion of the other end portion 751b of the support portion 751 in the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D.
The terminal connection structure 7C according to Exemplary Embodiment 3 is a structure having the same configuration as that of the terminal connection structure 7 according to Exemplary Embodiment 1 except that a corrugated member is disposed instead of the coil spring 761 for the plural contact portions 76.
As illustrated in
In addition, as illustrated in
Furthermore, as illustrated in
In addition, in the image forming apparatus 1 using the terminal connection structure 7C, when the mounting of the developer storage container 61 is completed as described in Exemplary Embodiment 1, as illustrated in
When the connection state at this time is viewed from the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D, as illustrated in
In other words, in the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D at this time, as illustrated in
In addition, the contact part of the corrugated member 765 at this time are contact points (contact portions) including parts P1, P2, and P3 made of three linear shapes that correspond to the three mountain-fold portions 765A, 765B, and 765C, as illustrated in
In the terminal connection structure 7C used for connection, therefore, each of the four connection terminals 71A, 71B, 71C, and 71D in the storage medium 63 comes into contact with each of the connection target terminals 75A, 75B, 75C, and 75D at the plural contact portions 76 in the connector unit 68, similar to the case of the terminal connection structure 7 according to Exemplary Embodiment 1, so that abnormal contact is less likely to occur.
In addition, in the image forming apparatus 1 using the terminal connection structure 7C, communication of information between the developer storage container 61 and the control unit 15 is excellently secured when the developer storage container 61 is attached, similar to the case of the image forming apparatus 1 according to Exemplary Embodiment 1, so that communication failure is less likely to occur.
The disclosure is not limited to the contents shown in Exemplary Embodiments 1 to 3, and can be variously modified without departing from the scope of each disclosure described in each claim. Therefore, the disclosure also includes modification examples as shown in the following.
In the terminal connection structures 7, 7B, and 7C in Exemplary Embodiments 1 to 3, the plural contact portions 76 may be provided on the four connection terminals 71A, 71B, 71C, and 71D in the storage medium 63.
In addition, the plural contact portions 76 can also be provided on the terminal side not having the intruding structure, for example, in a case where it is possible to give characteristics that can be elastically deformed. Furthermore, the plural contact portions 76 are not limited to a case of being provided on all of the connection terminals or the connection target terminals, and may be provided, for example, at some of the terminals where connection accuracy is relatively strongly required.
In addition, the terminal connection structures 7. 7B, and 7C are not limited to the use between the connection terminals 71 of the storage medium 63 in the developer storage container 61 shown in Exemplary Embodiments 1 to 3 and the connection target terminals 75 in the connector unit on the mounting section side. As another configuration example, for example, it is also possible to use the terminal connection structure between connection terminals, such as a storage medium or a feeding system, in the attaching and detaching unit having at least a photosensitive drum 21 or an attaching and detaching unit having other configuration components, and connection target terminals in the connector unit on the mounting section side of each attaching and detaching unit.
Furthermore, the terminal connection structures 7, 7B, and 7C may also be used in apparatuses other than the image forming apparatus. In particular, the terminal connection structure may also be used for high-accuracy connection between the connection terminal in the first device, which is detachably attached, and the connection target terminal in the second device to which the first device is attached.
In addition, the image forming apparatus using the terminal connection structure 7 may be of any suitable type, and the form, the type, the image forming method, and other features thereof are not particularly limited.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-057212 | Mar 2019 | JP | national |
