JP5049511B2 - Lock device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lock device that locks a movable unit to a fixed unit and an image forming apparatus including the lock device, and more particularly to a configuration for releasing the lock of the movable unit with respect to the fixed unit.

  Conventionally, there is a lock device that locks a movable unit such as a door or a lid with respect to an apparatus main body that is a fixed unit. As such a lock device, a latch that is a fixing means is released by pressing a lock release button. Some have a so-called push button type latch release mechanism. This type of locking device is employed in electronic devices, power tools, transportation devices, image forming apparatuses, and the like.

  By the way, in a conventional image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a multifunction peripheral, a plurality of units constituting the sheet conveying unit and the image forming unit are arranged in a housing of the image forming apparatus main body. When a jammed sheet is processed, the jammed sheet is removed by opening / closing a part of the conveyance guide of the sheet conveyance unit or pulling out the unit from the housing.

  Here, the conveyance guide or each unit as a movable unit that is opened for removing such a jam sheet or the like is usually an image forming apparatus main body (casing of the image forming apparatus main body) that is a fixed unit by the lock device having the configuration described above. ) (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a lock device provided with such a conventional push button type latch release mechanism. In this lock device, an engagement portion 102 provided in a movable unit (not shown) such as a door or a lid is engaged with an engaged portion 101 provided in a fixed unit (not shown) such as an image forming apparatus main body. By doing so, the movable unit is locked.

  Here, the engaging portion 102 is provided at one end portion of the release lever 108 that can swing around the shaft 108a, and the other end portion of the release lever 108 when the lock release button 103 is pressed by the user. A pressing portion 103a for pressing 108b is provided. The pressing portion 103a is provided at the center of the lock release button main body 103b so that the lock release button 103 can move smoothly and the release lever 108 can be swung.

  6A, when the user presses the lock release button 103 in the arrow direction, the other end 108b is pressed by the pressing portion 103a, and the release lever 108 is shown in FIG. 6B. Thus, it swings in the arrow direction with the shaft 108a as a fulcrum. Here, when the release lever 108 swings in this way, the engaging portion 102 provided at one end of the release lever 108 is disengaged from the engaged portion 101, and the lock of the movable unit is released.

  In FIG. 6, reference numeral 104 denotes a frame that forms a recess on the surface of the movable unit. A sliding lever for smoothly guiding the movement of the pressing portion 103 a to the release lever is provided on the release lever side of the frame 104. A moving guide portion 105 is provided. When the lock release button 103 is pressed by the user when releasing the lock, the pressing portion 103a protrudes from the sliding guide portion 105 and presses the other end (upper end) 108b of the release lever 108. Yes.

  In FIG. 6, F is a coil spring disposed between the frame body 104 and the lock release button main body 103a for returning the lock release button 103 pushed into the frame body to the initial position. When the lock release button 103 is pushed by the user when releasing the lock, the lock release button 103 is pushed into the frame body against the coil spring F, and when the pressing operation by the user is finished, the coil spring F is initialized. It comes to return to the position.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-336344

  By the way, in such a conventional locking device and an image forming apparatus provided with the same, the release lever 108 is positioned downstream in the pressing direction from the pressing portion 103a of the lock releasing button 103 as shown in FIG.

  However, in such a configuration, in order to cause the pressing portion 103 a to protrude from the sliding guide portion 105 and swing the release lever 108, the pressing stroke of the lock release button 103 and the sliding guide portion 105 are used. Dedicated space is required.

  For this reason, the installation of the locking device requires a wide space having a lateral length indicated by L1 in FIG. 6A. When such a locking device is provided, the entire image forming apparatus is provided. There was a problem of causing an increase in size.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lock device and an image forming apparatus that can be reduced in size and space.

The present invention relates to a locking device that locks a fixed unit and a movable unit that can be opened and closed with respect to the fixed unit, the engaged portion provided in the fixed unit, and the fixed in the movable unit. A swingable release lever that is swingably provided on the unit side and has an engaging portion that engages with the engaged portion, a frame that is provided on the movable unit, and a movable body that is provided on the movable unit A lock release button main body which is provided on the frame body so as to be movable toward the release lever and is pressed, and a sliding guide provided on the frame body, which protrudes from the release lever side of the lock release button main body. A guide portion for sliding the lock release button body toward the release lever and a release lever side of the lock release button body. A lock release button having a pressing portion for pressing the release lever when the release button main body is guided and moved by the guide portion toward the release lever side, and the engaged portion has the An engagement portion provided on a release lever is engaged to lock the fixed unit and the movable unit, and the pressing portion swings the release lever by a pressing operation of the lock release button, and the engagement portion The lock is released by disengaging the engaged portion, and the rocking fulcrum of the release lever is disposed closer to the lock release button body than the protruding side end of the guide portion. It is characterized by this.

  As in the present invention, the guide portion is provided separately from the pressing portion, and the guide portion is protruded from the release lever to the downstream side in the pressing direction, thereby reducing the size and space.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a color image forming apparatus which is an example of an image forming apparatus provided with a locking device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 40 denotes a color image forming apparatus, and 40A denotes a color image forming apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as apparatus main body). The image forming unit 413, the sheet feeding unit 40B that transports the sheet S, and the toner image formed by the image forming unit 413 are transferred to the apparatus main body 40A onto the sheet S fed by the sheet feeding unit 40B. A transfer unit 40C.

  Here, the image forming unit 413 includes a yellow (Y), a magenta (M), and a cyan (C), each of which includes a photoconductor 408, an exposure device 411, a developing device 410, a primary transfer device 407, and a photoconductor cleaner 409. And a black (Bk) image forming unit. That is, the color image forming apparatus 40 according to the present embodiment is of an intermediate transfer tandem type in which four color image forming units are arranged side by side on an intermediate transfer belt described later as an image forming unit. Note that the colors formed by each image forming unit are not limited to these four colors, and the color arrangement order is not limited to this.

  Further, the sheet feeding unit 40B stores the sheet S in a form of being stacked on the lift-up device 42, and the sheet cassette 41 that is a sheet storage unit that can be pulled out, and the sheet stored in the sheet cassette 41 And sheet feeding means 43 for feeding S. Here, examples of the sheet feeding unit 43 include a system using frictional separation by a paper feed roller and the like, a system using separation adsorption by air, and the like. In this embodiment, a paper feeding system by air is used. As an example.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 to be described later, another sheet feeding cassette 41L is provided on the side of the sheet feeding cassette 41, and the two sheet feeding cassettes 41 (41R, 41L) are provided. The sheet S is selectively fed to the transfer unit 40C.

  The transfer section 40C includes an intermediate transfer belt 406 that is stretched by rollers such as a drive roller 404, a tension roller 405, and a secondary transfer inner roller 403 and is driven to be conveyed in the direction of arrow B in the drawing. .

  Here, the intermediate transfer belt 406 is to transfer the toner image formed on the photosensitive member by a predetermined pressure and an electrostatic load bias given by the primary transfer device 407. Further, an unfixed image is attracted to the sheet S by applying a predetermined pressure and an electrostatic load bias at a secondary transfer portion formed by the substantially opposed secondary transfer inner roller 403 and secondary transfer outer roller 46. Is.

  In the color image forming apparatus 40 having such a configuration, when an image is formed, first, the surface of the photoreceptor 408 is uniformly charged in advance by a charging unit (not shown). Thereafter, the exposure device 411 emits light to the photosensitive member 408 rotating in the direction of the arrow A in the drawing based on the transmitted image information signal, and this light is irradiated through the reflecting means 412 and the like as appropriate. As a result, a latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor. Note that the transfer residual toner slightly remaining on the photoconductor 408 is collected by the photoconductor cleaner 409 and is prepared for the next image formation again.

  Next, toner development is performed by the developing device 410 on the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 408 in this manner, and a toner image is formed on the photoconductor. Thereafter, a predetermined pressure and an electrostatic load bias are applied by the primary transfer device 407, and the toner image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 406.

  Note that image formation by the Y, M, C, and Bk image forming units of the image forming unit 413 is performed at the timing of superimposing on the upstream toner image primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt. As a result, a full-color toner image is finally formed on the intermediate transfer belt 406.

  Further, the sheet S is sent out from the paper feed cassette 41 by the sheet feeding means 43 in accordance with the image forming timing of the image forming unit 413, and thereafter, the sheet S passes through the transport path 44a to the registration unit 45. Be transported. After the skew correction and timing correction are performed by the registration roller 45a in the registration unit 45, the registration unit 45 is conveyed to a secondary transfer portion formed by the substantially opposed secondary transfer inner roller 403 and secondary transfer outer roller 46. The Thereafter, a full color toner image is secondarily transferred onto the sheet S by applying a predetermined pressure and an electrostatic load bias in the secondary transfer portion.

  Next, the sheet S on which the toner image is secondarily transferred in this way is conveyed to the fixing device 48 by the pre-fixing conveyance unit 47. In the fixing device 48, the toner is melted and fixed on the sheet S by applying a predetermined pressurizing force by a substantially opposed roller or belt and generally a heating effect by a heat source such as a heater.

  Next, the sheet S having a fixed image obtained in this manner is discharged as it is onto the paper discharge tray 400 by the branch conveyance device 49. When images are formed on both sides of the sheet S, the sheet is then conveyed to the reverse conveying device 401 by switching a switching flapper (not shown).

  Here, when the sheet S is conveyed to the reverse conveying apparatus 401 as described above, the sheet S is conveyed to the re-conveying path R provided in the double-sided conveying apparatus 402 by switching the leading and trailing ends by performing a switchback operation. Thereafter, the sheet is fed from the sheet re-feeding path 44b of the sheet conveying device 44 at the same timing as the sheet of the subsequent job conveyed from the sheet feeding unit 40B, and is similarly sent to the secondary transfer unit. Since the image forming process is the same as that of the first side, it is omitted.

  By the way, the color image forming apparatus 40 having such a configuration has sheet feeding cassettes 41L and 41R that can be pulled out in the front direction at the lower part of the apparatus main body, as shown in FIG. The part is covered with front covers 61 and 62 supported by a double door configuration.

  On the other hand, the uppermost sheet stored in the sheet feeding cassette 41R is separated by a sheet feeding means 43 (here, an air suction belt), and then nipped and conveyed by a pair of drawing rollers (not shown). Thereafter, the sheet is transferred to a conveyance path 44a, which is a conveyance path constituted by the conveyance guides 33 and 34 shown in FIG. 3, and a pair of conveyance rollers 35 and 36, and a registration roller 45a shown in FIG. To the secondary transfer section.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the transport guide 34 is fixed to the inner wall of an openable / closable transport unit U whose lower end is rotatably supported by a support shaft P provided in the apparatus main body 40A. When a jam occurs, the conveyance unit 44 is opened as shown in FIG. 2 to open the conveyance path 44a, and accordingly, an opening 50 that is an extraction portion appears on the side surface of the apparatus main body 40A.

  Thereby, for example, when the sheet is jammed around the conveyance roller pair 35, 36 after being pulled out by the pair of extraction rollers, the conveyance path 44a is opened by opening the conveyance unit U, and the opening portion 50 appears. Then, the jam processing can be performed by taking out the jam sheet from the opening 50.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 38 denotes a lock device for locking the transport unit U to the apparatus main body 40A. As shown in FIG. 4, the lock device 38 is an apparatus main body that is a fixed unit by engaging an engaged portion 2 provided in the transport unit U with an engaged portion 1 provided in the apparatus main body 40A. The transport unit U, which is a movable unit, is locked to 40A.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 8 denotes a release lever that can swing about the shaft 7 as a fulcrum, and an engagement portion 2 is provided at one end of the release lever 8. The release lever 8 is provided with a biasing means (not shown) that biases the release lever 8 clockwise.

  Reference numeral 6 denotes an unlock button for unlocking the transport unit U. The lock release button 6 protrudes from the lock release button body 6c and the release lever side of the lock release button body 6c, and the other end of the release lever 8 that is a pressed portion in response to a pressing operation of the lock release button 6. The pressing part 6a which presses 8b is provided.

  Further, the lock release button 6 is provided with a guide portion 6b that projects on the release lever side of the lock release button body 6c and guides the moving direction when the lock release button 6 is pressed. The guide portion 6b is provided at the center of the lock release button main body 6c so that the lock release button 3 can smoothly move and press the release lever 8.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 4 denotes a frame body that is attached to the transport unit U and forms a recess on the surface of the transport unit U. The release lever side of the frame body 4 is connected to the release lever side of the lock release button 6. A sliding guide part 5 for guiding the movement through the guide part 6b is provided. In FIG. 4, 8 c is an opening formed in the release lever 8, and the sliding guide portion 5 is disposed so as to protrude downstream from the opening 8 c in the pressing direction.

  A coil spring F is provided between the frame 4 and the lock release button main body 6c to return the lock release button 6 pushed into the frame. The lock release button 6 is pushed into the frame body while the guide portion 6b is guided by the sliding guide portion 5 and resists the coil spring F when the lock is released. Accordingly, in the state shown in FIG. 4A, when the unlock button 6 is pushed in the direction of the arrow by the user, the unlock button 6 is pressed while the guide portion 6b is guided by the sliding guide portion 5. It moves while pressing the other end 8b of the release lever 8 by the portion 6a.

  When the lock release button 6 moves in this manner, the release lever 8 swings in the direction of the arrow with the shaft 7 as a fulcrum against the urging means (not shown), and is provided at one end of the release lever 8 accordingly. The engaged portion 2 thus released is disengaged from the engaged portion 1, and the transport unit U is unlocked. When the pressing operation by the user is finished, the lock release button 6 is returned to the initial position by the coil spring F.

  With this configuration, for example, when taking out a jammed sheet, when the lock release button 6 is pressed, the transport unit U is unlocked. Thereby, after that, the conveyance unit U is opened, the opening 50 appears, and a jam sheet can be taken out from the opening 50 to perform jam processing.

  When the transport unit U is closed after the jam processing is completed, the release lever 8 is swung clockwise by the biasing force of the biasing means (not shown) after the engaging portion 2 has passed the engaged portion 1. Then, the engaging portion 2 is engaged with the engaged portion 1. Thereby, the transport unit U is locked to the apparatus main body 40A.

  By the way, in this Embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the guide part 6b and the press part 6a of the lock release button 6 are provided in the position shifted | deviated to the up-down direction, ie, another body. Further, the shaft 7 that is the swing fulcrum of the release lever 8 is disposed closer to the lock release button main body 6c than the protruding side end 6b1 of the guide portion 6b. Furthermore, the position where the other end 8b of the release lever 8 and the pressing portion 6a abut is also arranged closer to the lock release button main body 6c than the protruding end 6b1 of the guide 6b.

  Then, the sliding guide portion 5 and the pressing portion 6a are provided at such a position, and the shaft 7 of the release lever 8 is disposed closer to the lock release button main body 6c than the protruding end portion 6b1 of the guide portion 6b. Thus, the space occupied by the sliding guide portion 5 can be reduced. Further, it is possible to reduce the exclusive space for the pushing stroke of the lock release button 6. As a result, the lateral length L2 of the space required for installing the locking device shown in FIG. 4 is shorter than the length L1 shown in FIG.

  In this manner, the guide portion 6b is provided separately from the pressing portion 6a, and the sliding guide portion 5 that guides the movement of the lock release button 6 through the guide portion 6b is provided downstream from the release lever 8 in the pressing direction. By projecting, it is possible to reduce the size and space.

  In the description so far, the case where the sliding guide portion 5 is protruded from the release lever 8 to the downstream side in the pressing direction has been described. However, the guide portion 6b is directly connected to the sliding guide portion 5 via the sliding guide portion 5. You may make it protrude from the cancellation | release lever 8 in the press direction downstream.

  In the description so far, the case where the guide portion 6b (and the sliding guide portion 5) is provided in the center of the lock release button 6 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. . If the pressing portion 6a and the guide portion 6b are provided separately and the unlocking button 6 can be smoothly moved, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the guide portion 6b ( And the sliding guide portion) may be arranged at symmetrical positions.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a color image forming apparatus that is an example of an image forming apparatus including a lock device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of the color image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of the color image forming apparatus. Sectional drawing explaining the said locking device. The figure which shows the other structure of the said locking device. The figure explaining the conventional locking device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Engagement part 2 Engagement part 4 Frame body 5 Sliding guide part 6 Lock release button 6a Press part 6b Guide part 6c Lock release button main body 8 Release lever 38 Lock apparatus 40 Color image forming apparatus 40A Color image forming apparatus main body 413 Image forming unit U Conveyance unit

Claims (5)

A locking device that locks a fixed unit and a movable unit that can be opened and closed with respect to the fixed unit,
An engaged portion provided in the fixed unit;
A swingable release lever provided on the side of the fixed unit in the movable unit so as to be swingable and having an engaging portion that engages with the engaged portion;
A frame provided in the movable unit;
It said movably disposed toward said release lever to said frame member provided in the movable unit, and the lock release button body is pressed, protruding from the release lever side of the lock release button body, the frame A guide part for sliding the slide release part provided on the guide part to guide the unlock button body toward the release lever; A lock release button having a pressing portion for pressing the release lever when the button body moves while being guided by the guide portion toward the release lever side,
The engagement portion provided on the release lever is engaged with the engaged portion to lock the fixed unit and the movable unit, and the pressing portion swings the release lever by pressing the lock release button. And configured to release the lock by disengaging the engaging portion and the engaged portion,
A locking device characterized in that a rocking fulcrum of the release lever is disposed closer to the lock release button body than the protruding side end of the guide portion.   The pressed portion of the release lever with which the pressing portion abuts is upstream in the pressing direction with respect to the protruding side end of the guide portion, and the rocking fulcrum of the release lever with respect to the center of the lock release button. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the locking device is disposed on an opposite side.   The lock device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the guide portions are arranged at a center of the lock release button or at a symmetrical position with respect to the center.   The locking device according to claim 3, wherein the release lever is provided with an opening that projects the sliding guide portion from the release lever to the downstream side in the pressing direction.   An image forming apparatus comprising the locking device according to claim 1.

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