JPH05257338A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attach and detach a unit to a main body with a simple operation by providing a first sliding member guided and moved by a guide member provided vertically to a pull-out surface of the main body, providing a second sliding member which can be moved in parallel to the first sliding member and attaching the image forming unit to the second sliding member. CONSTITUTION:A fixing pin is provided at the edge of the first slide 2 since, when the image forming unit 18 is pulled out, if the second slide 3 is pulled out, the curved part of the second slide 3 abuts against the curved part of the first slide 2 and the second slide is pulled out, and, because it falls off if left as it is, further pulling out of the first slide 2 is prevented by having the fixing abutted to a stopper. The unit 18 can be unloaded by removing this stopper. Furthermore, an anchor is provided the second slide 3 against a pawl 6 so that the unit 18 can be fixed when loaded to the main body and the unit can be restrained so long as that pawl 6 is not released when loaded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and, more particularly, to an image forming apparatus characterized by an attaching / detaching mechanism of an image forming unit (hereinafter referred to as a unit) such as a photoconductor and a developing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a copying machine or the like in which a unit is detachable from the main body, the rail portion is composed of the main body side and the unit side, but the entire unit can be pulled out from the main body. To do so, either side rail must be larger than its unit length.

Therefore, as a plus amount of the withdrawal,
When the unit side rail is extended, a space is required on the rear side of the main body when the unit is set, which causes problems such as the size of the main body side being restricted and the mounting space being reduced. When the paper is extended, the rail ends project to the front, so if the paper feed tray is detachably attached to the front of the lower side of the main body, problems such as pinching your hands or injuring the ends occurred. ..

Therefore, there has been proposed a mechanism in which the rail portion is a three-stage type including a unit rail, an intermediate rail, and a main body side rail, and the intermediate rail and the unit rail are housed in the main body side rail.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, even if the lock is released and the unit is pulled out, the lock claw remains in the hole of the intermediate rail, and the lock is locked before the final pull-out position. Therefore, there is a problem that the lock release operation has to be performed again.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional device,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which the unit can be attached to and detached from the main body by a simple operation.

[0007]

The above object is to guide an original image onto a photoconductor through a lens, form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor, and develop the electrostatic latent image by a developing device. In the image forming apparatus configured to visualize the image, a guide member provided at a right angle to the drawing surface of the apparatus main body is provided with a first slide member which is moved by being guided by the guide member, and the first slide member is provided. This is achieved by providing a second slide member that can move in parallel with the member, and attaching the image forming unit to the second slide member.

[0008]

The first slide member moves parallel to the guide member, and the second slide member moves parallel to the first slide member. The unit is attached to the second slide member and can be pulled out from the main body.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a unit drawing mechanism according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same when a unit is mounted, and FIG. 3 is a main part of a unit drawing mechanism according to the second embodiment. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the same as a main portion, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a main portion of a unit drawing mechanism according to the third embodiment, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the same, FIG. 7 and FIG. It is a principal part top view which shows the operation state of a lever.

In these figures, 1 is a main body side guide,
2 is a first slide (first slide member), 3 is a second slide (second slide member), 4 is a lever, 5 is a lever fulcrum, 6 is a claw, 7 is a claw release plate, and 8 is a first slide. Bending, 9 is the second slide bending, 10 is the first slide opening,
Reference numerals 11 and 12 are second slide openings, 13 is a coupling pin for the first and second slides, 14 is a first slide stopper, 15 is a first slide side fixing pin, 16 is an anchor, 17 is a lever urging member, 18 Is a unit (fixing device).

The engagement state and action of each part will be described below.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the slide portion is composed of two sets of a first slide 2 and a second slide 3 fitted to the first slide 2, and as shown in FIG. A unit 18 is mounted on the second slide 3. First
The slide 2 is slidably fitted to the main body side guide 1. Since the main body side guide 1 is provided at a right angle to the front side door of the apparatus main body (not shown), the first slide 2,
The second slide 3 can be pulled out and stored in the main body.

When the unit 18 is pulled out, when the second slide 3 is pulled out, the second slide bend 9 in FIG. 3 corresponds to the bend 8 of the first slide 2, and the first slide 2 is pulled out this time, but if it is left as it is. Since it falls off, a fixing pin 15 is provided at the end of the first slide 2 as shown in FIG. 4, and when the fixing pin 15 hits the stopper 14, it is configured to stop further pulling out. Also, by removing the stopper 14, the unit 18 can be removed.

Further, in order to fix the unit 18 so that it can be fixed even when it is attached to the main body, as shown in FIG. , By this, the claw 6 when attached
It is held unless you cancel.

In order for the lever 4 to have the above-mentioned function,
As shown in FIG. 5, the lever 4 is stored in the main body.
The claws 6 can pass through the opening 10 of the first slide 2 and hang on the opening 11 of the second slide 3 to fix the entire unit, and when the fixing is released and pulled out, the nail 6 is in a fixed position where it is pulled out. The rear end of the first slide 2 in FIG. 6 has an opening through which the claw 6 hangs so that it can be fixed.

By the way, with the above construction alone, when the operation of pulling out the unit is performed, the lever 4 in FIG. 3 is moved to the right side (direction of arrow B) to release the fixing between the main body side guide 1 and the second slide 3, When the second slide 3 is pulled out toward you (in the direction of arrow C), the second slide bend 9 is then moved to the first position.
The first slide 2 starts to move upon hitting the slide bending 8, but since the claw 6 hangs on the second slide opening 11 through the first slide opening 10, the claw 6 hangs on the first slide opening 10 and is fixed again. An operation to release it is required. In order to solve this, a claw release plate 7 is provided on the lever 4 side, and FIG. 5 shows the positional relationship between the slides 2 and 3 and the lever 4 in a state where the unit is mounted and fixed to the main body. The claw 6 includes the main body side guide 1 and the first slide 2
The lever 4 is always urged toward the slide side by the urging member 17 to prevent the lever 4 from coming off due to an external force. When the unit 18 is pulled out, the series of operations described above is performed, but when the first slide 2 moves, the end of the opening 10 hits the slope of the pawl release plate 7, and the lever 4 is pushed further to the right. The claw 6 is not engaged.

Further, at the position where the claw 6 of the first slide 2 is engaged at a fixed position where the unit 18 is pulled out, openings 19 and 20 similar to the fixing openings 11 and 12 of the second slide 3 are provided as shown in FIG. It can be fixed with the claw 6.

The position of the lever 4 shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 7 shows a state in which the tip of the pawl releasing plate 7 is engaged with the end surface of the first slide 2, and the tip of the pawl 6 is engaged with the opening 10. It shows an unprecedented situation.

Further, when the unit 18 is mounted on the main body in a state where it has already been pulled out, the shape of the claw 6 is a square shape (see FIG.
(Indicated by the one-dot chain line), the rear end of the second slide 3 hits and stops, and it is necessary to release the fixing again. Therefore, in order to solve this, from the state where the unit 18 is pulled out, When returning to the state of being attached to the main body, the engagement of the first slide 2 and the claw 6 can be released by the operation of the second slide 3 so that the unit 18 can be placed in the state of being attached to the main body. ..

That is, the claw 6 is provided with a slope, and when the second slide 3 enters due to the mounting operation, the rear end of the claw 6 hits the slope first and rides on the claw 6 to further enter. If the tip of the pawl releasing plate 7 is in a position where it hits the second slide 3 with respect to the movement of the lever 4 (Fig. 8), it may stop there again. Is the amount of rotation from the lever fulcrum 5 in the state of hitting the side surface of the second slide 3),
The tip of the claw release plate 7 is arranged at a position where it does not engage the second slide 3.

Further, by providing each of the above-mentioned configurations and functions, the reliability can be further improved.

[0023]

According to the invention described in claim 1, the unit can be easily attached and detached without the trouble of repeating the lock releasing operation twice.

According to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to prevent the unit from falling off when it is pulled out from the main body.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the unit from falling off due to an external force (such as vibration during movement) when the unit is attached to the main body.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the above effect can be obtained only by the lever.

According to the invention of claim 5, in addition to the effect of claim 4, in particular, at the time of the operation at the time of pulling out, the lever is first released after the lever is released, but it is necessary to perform the operation again in the middle thereof. It can be prevented from occurring.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the unit is attached to the main body, the claw can be released in association with the operation thereof.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an essential part of a unit pull-out mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view when the unit is mounted.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an essential part of a unit drawing mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the relevant part.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an essential part of a unit pull-out mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an essential part thereof.

FIG. 7 is a main part plan view showing an operating state of the lever.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of relevant parts showing an operating state of the lever.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main unit side guide 2 1st slide 3 2nd slide 4 Lever 6 Claw 7 Claw release plate 17 Lever biasing member 18 Unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An original image is guided onto a photoconductor through a lens, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image by a developing device. In the image forming apparatus, a first slide member that is moved by being guided by the guide member is provided on a guide member that is provided at a right angle to a drawing surface of the apparatus body, and a first slide member that can move in parallel to the first slide member is provided. An image forming apparatus comprising a second slide member and an image forming unit attached to the second slide member. 2. The image forming unit according to claim 1, wherein the second slide member is attached to the first slide member so as not to fall off, while the first slide member is attached to the image forming unit on the second slide member. An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus is provided so as not to drop from the apparatus body at a fixed position where the sheet is pulled out. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a claw for fixing the image forming unit in a state where the image forming unit is attached to the apparatus main body is pivotally supported on the apparatus main body side. 4. The image forming unit according to claim 1, wherein the first slide member is fixed via the second slide member when the image forming unit is attached to the apparatus main body, while the image forming unit is pulled out. In the opened state, the image forming apparatus is characterized in that a claw for fixing the second slide member is pivotally provided on the apparatus body side. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the image forming unit is mounted on the apparatus main body, the engagement between the second slide member and the claw is released, and the image forming unit is pulled out, the movement is interlocked. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the engagement between the first slide member and the claw is released. 6. The third slide member according to claim 3, wherein when the image forming unit is returned from the pulled-out state to the mounted state with respect to the apparatus main body, the first slide member and the claw are separated by the second slide member. An image forming apparatus characterized in that the engagement can be released.