CN212112130U

CN212112130U - Image forming apparatus with a toner supply unit

Info

Publication number: CN212112130U
Application number: CN202020241004.XU
Authority: CN
Inventors: 冈本佳大
Original assignee: Brother Industries Ltd
Current assignee: Brother Industries Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-04
Filing date: 2020-03-03
Publication date: 2020-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 2030-03-03
Also published as: JP2023104973A; JP7283134B2; JP2020142392A

Abstract

The utility model provides an image forming apparatus, include: a housing provided with a discharge tray for supporting a sheet discharged by a discharge roller on an upper surface thereof, the housing accommodating an image forming portion that forms an image on the sheet; a discharge regulating portion provided on the discharge tray so as to protrude upward, the discharge regulating portion being capable of abutting against a discharged sheet; and a flag provided on a downstream side of the discharge restricting portion in the housing in a sheet discharging direction and located within a width of the discharge tray in a width direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction, the flag indicating a position at which an external apparatus that performs short-distance wireless communication is placed.

Description

Image forming apparatus with a toner supply unit

Technical Field

The utility model relates to an image forming apparatus.

Background

Conventionally, there is known an image forming apparatus capable of communicating with an external device such as an IC card or a smartphone by Near Field Communication (NFC). For example, in patent document 1, a configuration is disclosed in which an NFC substrate is disposed on the downstream side in the discharge direction of the discharge tray, thereby ensuring a position for placing an external device without increasing the size of the image forming apparatus.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2014-4687

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

When the NFC is mounted on the image forming apparatus as described above, it is desirable to dispose the NFC substrate on the front side of the image forming apparatus so that the user can easily perform the operation. However, since an operation panel, a discharge tray, and the like are disposed on the front side of the image forming apparatus, the position where the NFC substrate can be disposed is limited.

Even in the technique of patent document 1, since the NFC substrate is provided on the discharge tray, the discharged sheet covers and hides the position where the external device is placed, and it may be difficult for the user to see the position where the external device is placed.

An object of the utility model is to provide an image forming apparatus can see the position of placing the external equipment who carries out close range wireless communication easily.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus comprising: a housing provided with a discharge tray for supporting a sheet discharged by a discharge roller on an upper surface thereof, the housing accommodating an image forming portion that forms an image on the sheet; a discharge regulating portion provided on the discharge tray so as to protrude upward, the discharge regulating portion being capable of abutting against a discharged sheet; and a flag provided on a downstream side of the discharge restricting portion in the housing in a sheet discharging direction and located within a width of the discharge tray in a width direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction, the flag indicating a position at which an external apparatus that performs short-distance wireless communication is placed.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus including a discharge restricting portion that is provided with a rotation axis, a housing position where a head end portion of the discharge restricting portion is located on an upstream side in a sheet discharging direction with respect to the rotation axis, and a use position where the head end portion is located on a downstream side in the sheet discharging direction with respect to the rotation axis, a mark being located on the housing position where the discharge restricting portion is located on the downstream side in the sheet discharging direction, and being located on the use position where the discharge restricting portion is located directly below the mark.

Image forming apparatus, still include: a substrate for performing short-range wireless communication, the substrate being disposed at a position inside the housing opposite to the mark.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the discharge tray has a protrusion, the protrusion is provided in a central portion of the discharge tray in the width direction and protrudes upward, and the discharge restricting portion is provided in the protrusion.

Image forming apparatus, still include: a USB port provided at an end surface of the projection on a downstream side in the sheet discharging direction.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention, the USB port and the mark are provided at positions offset from each other in the width direction.

Image forming apparatus, still include: an operation panel for operating the image forming apparatus, the operation panel and the mark being disposed at positions offset from each other in the width direction.

According to the present invention, the sheet discharged to the discharge tray is restricted by the discharge restricting portion. Therefore, the short-range wireless communication mark located on the downstream side of the discharge regulating portion in the sheet discharge direction is not covered with the sheet, and the user always easily sees the mark.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a top view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a right side view of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view a-a of fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the discharge restricting portion in fig. 5 is located at the use position.

Fig. 7 is a top view of an image forming apparatus of a modification.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of C-C of fig. 7.

Detailed Description

In the following description, with reference to a state in which the image forming apparatus 1 is set to be usable as shown in fig. 1, the sheet tray 27 is drawn out to the front side and the opposite side is the rear side, and the left and right directions are defined so that the image forming apparatus 1 is viewed from the front side, and the side where the second casing 3 of the image forming apparatus 1 is located is the upper side and the side where the first casing 2 is located is the lower side, thereby defining the respective directions. In the present embodiment, the left-right direction is an example of a width direction perpendicular to the sheet discharge direction of the discharge roller 28.

[ Overall Structure of image Forming apparatus ]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is a front view thereof, fig. 3 is a plan view thereof, fig. 4 is a right side view thereof, fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a-a section of fig. 3, and fig. 6 is a view showing a state in which a discharge restricting portion 62 in fig. 5 is located at a use position. The image forming apparatus 1 is a so-called "in-vivo discharge type". The image forming apparatus 1 includes a first casing 2, a second casing 3, a foot 4, and an operation panel 5 as one example of the casing.

The first housing 2 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped cover 20 constituting an external appearance. The cover 20 has a front surface 21, a rear surface 22, a left surface 23, a right surface 24, an upper surface 25, and a bottom surface 26. An opening portion 211 for inserting and extracting the sheet tray 27 is formed in a lower portion of the front surface 21.

In the first housing 2 are housed: a sheet tray 27 for supporting a sheet before image formation; a conveying mechanism that conveys the sheet from the sheet tray 27; an image forming section that forms an image on a sheet conveyed by the conveying mechanism; a discharge mechanism that conveys the sheet from the image forming portion to the outside of the first casing 2; an NFC substrate 70; and a USB (Universal Serial Bus) board 80. A discharge roller 28 for discharging the sheet is provided at the most downstream portion in the conveying direction of the discharge mechanism.

The sheet tray 27 is slidable between a housing position (a position shown in fig. 1) where the sheet tray 27 is housed in the first housing 2 via the opening portion 211, and a pull-out position where the sheet tray 27 is pulled out forward from the first housing 2 via the opening portion 211. The structure of the image forming portion is not particularly limited, and a structure of an electrophotographic system, an ink jet system, a thermal head system, or the like can be used.

Further, a discharge tray 6 for supporting the sheet discharged by the discharge mechanism is provided on the upper surface 25 of the first casing 2. The discharge tray 6 is formed in an inclined shape that rises while being curved convexly from the rear side toward the front side on the upper surface 25 of the first casing 2. Thereby, the sheet on which the image is formed is discharged from the rear side to the front side to the discharge tray 6 by the discharge mechanism.

The discharge tray 6 has: a protrusion 61 provided at a central portion in the width direction of the discharge tray 6; and a discharge restricting portion 62 provided at the protruding portion 61. The projection 61 is a table-like member that projects upward from the other surface of the discharge tray 6 and is inclined downward toward the rear. The discharge regulating portion 62 is a substantially rectangular plate-like member, and the rear end portion thereof is rotatably supported by the protruding portion 61. The discharge regulating portion 62 swings between a storage position (a position shown in fig. 5) where the discharge regulating portion 62 is horizontally placed along the upper end portion of the protruding portion 61 and a use position (a position shown in fig. 6) where the front end portion of the discharge regulating portion 62 is lifted. When the discharge regulating portion 62 is located at the use position, the sheet discharged to the discharge tray 6 abuts against the discharge regulating portion 62, being regulated on the discharge tray 6. In the present embodiment, the rear end portion of the discharge regulating portion 62 is supported by the projection 61 via the damper rotating shaft, so that the discharge regulating portion 62 can be held at the use position when the front end portion of the discharge regulating portion 62 is lifted up to be located at the use position. The manner of holding the discharge restricting portion 62 at the use position is not limited to the damping rotation shaft, and other manners such as a self-locking switch or the like may be used.

With the above-described protruding portion 61, even when both width-direction end portions of the discharged sheet are lifted up and curled, since the width-direction central portion of the sheet is uplifted and supported, curling can be reduced. Further, in a state where the sheet is supported by the discharge tray 6, a space for taking the sheet may be formed around the projection 61 below the sheet. The protrusion 61 is not necessarily configured, and may be omitted.

Further, a power switch 29 of the image forming apparatus 1 is provided on the upper surface 25 of the first casing 2. The power switch 29 is preferably disposed on the front side of the discharge restricting portion 62 on the upper surface 25 of the first casing 2 and outside the width of the discharge tray 6 in the width direction, so as to be easily seen and operated. In the present embodiment, the power switch 29 is provided at the front right portion of the upper surface 25 of the first casing 2.

The second casing 3 is disposed above the first casing 2 and includes an original reading device 31. The document reading apparatus 31 includes: an original table 321 whose upper surface supports an original; and a housing 32, the housing 32 accommodating an image reading portion that reads an image of the original supported on the original table 321. The document reading apparatus 31 is provided above the casing 32, and includes a document pressing portion 33, and the document pressing portion 33 is swingable between a closed position covering the document table 321 and an open position opening the document table 321, with a front end portion as the other end portion, around a rotation axis disposed at a rear end portion as the one end portion. An automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) 34 for automatically feeding a document to the document table 321 is provided above the document pressing section 33.

The foot 4 has a left foot 41, a right foot 42, and a rear foot 43. The left leg 41, the right leg 42, and the rear leg 43 are disposed at the left end, the right end, and the rear end of the upper surface of the first casing 2, respectively, and lift and support the second casing 3. Thereby, the second casing 3 is disposed above the discharge tray 6 via the discharge space 63 where the sheets are discharged. Further, an opening 44 is formed on the front surface side of the image forming apparatus 1 by the left leg 41, the right leg 42, the upper surface of the first casing 2, and the lower surface of the second casing 3, and the front of the discharge space 63 is opened through the opening 44. Therefore, the user can take out the sheet discharged to the discharge tray 6 through the opening 44.

In the present embodiment, the front end surface 42A of the right leg 42 is disposed on the rear side of the front end portion 3A of the second casing 3. Thereby, the right side of the discharge space 63 is widely opened, and the sheets discharged to the discharge tray 6 are easily taken out from the right side.

The operation panel 5 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped panel, and has a length in the width direction that is equal to or less than half of the length of the second casing 3 in the width direction. The operation panel 5 is provided to protrude forward from the front end portion of the second casing 3 so that the left end portion of the operation panel 5 is flush with the left end portion of the second casing 3. The operation panel 5 has on the upper surface 51: display devices such as liquid crystal panels; and an operation tool such as a touch panel, operation buttons, and the like for operating the image forming section and the image reading section.

[NFC]

As shown in fig. 3, an NFC tag 71 is printed on the upper surface 25 of the first housing 2, and the NFC tag 71 indicates a position where an external device such as an IC card or a smart phone having an NFC function is placed. The size and shape of the NFC tag 71 are not particularly limited. Note that the NFC tag 71 may be a form other than printing, and for example, the NFC tag 71 may be configured by a light-transmitting member, and a light source such as a light-emitting diode may be disposed directly below the light-transmitting member to emit light from the tag. The user can place the external device according to the instruction of the NFC tag 71, thereby performing wireless communication between the external device and the image forming apparatus 1. The term "put" or "put" also includes a case where the external device is brought close to the NFC tag 71 so that wireless communication can be performed between the external device and the image forming apparatus 1.

The NFC tag 71 may be configured in the area B shown in fig. 3. The region B is located on the downstream side of the discharge restricting portion 62 in the sheet discharging direction in the upper surface 25 of the first casing 2, and within the width of the discharge tray 6 in the width direction. In the present embodiment, the NFC tag 71 is disposed in the right rear portion of the area B.

Since the sheet discharged to the discharge tray 6 is restricted by the discharge restricting portion 62, by disposing the NFC mark 71 on the sheet discharge direction downstream side of the discharge restricting portion 62, the NFC mark 71 is not covered with the sheet, and the user always easily sees the NFC mark 71. Further, since the NFC tag 71 is disposed on the near side as viewed from the user, it is easy for the user to place an external device on the NFC tag 71.

Further, the NFC tag 71 is preferably provided at a position shifted in the width direction from the operation panel 5. Thereby, since the NFC tag 71 is not covered by the operation panel 5, visibility of the NFC tag 71 can be ensured. In the present embodiment, since the operation panel 5 and the discharge tray 6 do not overlap in the width direction, the NFC tag 71 is offset in the width direction from the operation panel 5 regardless of where the NFC tag 71 is disposed in the region B. Even when the operation panel 5 and the discharge tray 6 overlap in the width direction due to the operation panel 5 being long in the width direction or the like, the NFC mark 71 may be arranged so as to avoid the overlapping region.

In order to achieve good wireless communication with an external device, the NFC substrate 70 is provided at a position opposing the NFC tag 71 inside the first housing 2. In the present embodiment, the NFC substrate 70 is disposed along the inside of the upper surface 25 of the cover 20 directly below the NFC tag 71. The NFC substrate 70 is a substantially rectangular plate-shaped circuit substrate, and a loop antenna 72, a communication circuit, a detection circuit, and the like are mounted thereon.

The loop antenna 72 is disposed on the upper surface of the NFC substrate 70 and located directly below the NFC tag 71. The loop antenna 72 has a function of transmitting and receiving electric waves for communication with an external device. The communication circuit has a function of performing signal processing on the transmitted and received electric waves. The detection circuit has a function of detecting the intensity of the electric wave transmitted and received by the loop antenna 72 by detecting the current flowing through the loop antenna 72.

[USB]

As shown in fig. 2, on the front surface 61A of the protruding portion 61 of the discharge tray 6, a USB port 81 for connecting a terminal of a USB device such as a USB memory or a digital camera is provided. The position of the USB port 81 on the front surface 61A is not particularly limited as long as a USB device can be connected from the front.

In the vicinity of the USB port 81 of the front surface 61A of the protruding portion 61, a USB tag 82 is printed. The USB marker 82 may be disposed only in the vicinity of the USB port 81, and may be disposed on the upper surface 25 of the cover 20 located in front of and below the USB port 81 or on the upper surface of the discharge restricting portion 62 located above the USB port 81. By seeing the USB tag 82 or the USB port 81, the user can recognize the position of the USB port 81.

As described above, by providing the USB port 81 on the front surface 61A of the protruding portion 61 of the discharge tray 6, the USB port 81 can be arranged at a position that is easy to see while effectively utilizing the empty space of the protruding portion 61.

Further, the USB port 81 and the NFC tag 71 are preferably disposed at positions offset from each other in the width direction. Thereby, the USB device inserted into the USB port 81 can be suppressed from covering the NFC tag 71, and visibility of the NFC tag 71 can be ensured even when the USB device is connected to the USB port 81. In the present embodiment, since the NFC tag 71 is disposed on the right side of the protruding portion 61, the USB port 81 and the NFC tag 71 are located at positions shifted in the width direction.

The USB board 80 is provided inside the protruding portion 61 below the discharge regulating portion 62. The USB board 80 is a substantially rectangular plate-shaped circuit board, and is mounted with a USB port 81 and a conversion circuit. The USB port 81 is disposed to protrude forward on the upper surface of the USB substrate 80. The conversion circuit is a circuit that converts the signal lines of the USB port 81 into a predetermined pitch.

[ modified examples ]

Fig. 7 is a plan view of an image forming apparatus 9 of a modification, and fig. 8 is a cross-sectional enlarged view of C-C of fig. 7. The image forming apparatus 9 of the modification differs from the image forming apparatus 1 described above in the structure of the discharge regulating portion 90 and the positions of the NFC tag 91 and the NFC substrate 92, and the other structures are the same as the image forming apparatus 1 described above. In the following description, differences of the image forming apparatus 9 of the modification from the above-described image forming apparatus 1 are mainly described, the same structures as those of the above-described image forming apparatus 1 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

The discharge regulating portion 90 is a substantially rectangular plate-like member, and a rotation shaft portion 90A provided at a base end portion is rotatably supported by the protruding portion 61. The discharge regulating portion 90 swings between a storage position (a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in fig. 8) where the head end portion of the discharge regulating portion 90 is positioned on the rear side with respect to the rotation shaft portion 90A, and a use position (a position indicated by a solid line in fig. 8) where the head end portion of the discharge regulating portion 90 is positioned on the front side with respect to the rotation shaft portion 90A. When the discharge regulating portion 90 is located at the use position, the sheet discharged to the discharge tray 6 abuts against the discharge regulating portion 90, being regulated on the discharge tray 6. The projection 61 is not necessarily configured, and may be omitted.

The NFC tag 91 is located on the front side of the discharge regulating portion 90 located in the storage position and directly below the discharge regulating portion 90 located in the use position. In the present modification, the NFC tag 91 is printed on the upper surface of the protruding portion 61. Thus, since the NFC mark 91 can be disposed close to the distal end portion of the discharge regulating portion 90, the length of the first housing 2 in the front-rear direction can be shortened while ensuring the visibility of the NFC mark 91.

The NFC substrate 92 has the same structure as the NFC substrate 70 described above, and is provided at a position facing the NFC tag 91 inside the first housing 2. In the present modification, the NFC substrate 92 is provided inside the protruding portion 61 and is located directly below the NFC tag 91.

[ Effect of the embodiment ]

The above-described image forming apparatus 1 includes a first casing 2, a discharge tray 6 for supporting a sheet discharged by a discharge roller 28 is provided on an upper surface of the first casing 2, and the first casing 2 accommodates an image forming portion that forms an image on the sheet. Further, the image forming apparatus 1 further includes a discharge restricting portion 62, the discharge restricting portion 62 being provided to project upward on the discharge tray 6, the discharge restricting portion 62 being capable of abutting the discharged sheet. Further, the image forming apparatus 1 further includes an NFC flag 71, the NFC flag 71 being provided on a downstream side of the discharge restricting portion 62 in the first housing 2 in the sheet discharging direction and being located within the width of the discharge tray 6 in a width direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction, the NFC flag 71 indicating a position where the external apparatus performing the close distance wireless communication is placed.

According to the above structure, the sheet discharged to the discharge tray 6 is restricted by the discharge restricting portion 62. Therefore, the NFC mark 71 located on the downstream side of the discharge restricting portion 62 in the sheet discharging direction is not covered with the sheet, and the user always easily sees the NFC mark 71.

In the image forming apparatus 9 of the above-described modification, the discharge regulating portion 90 is swingable between the accommodating position where the head end portion of the discharge regulating portion 90 is located on the upstream side in the sheet discharging direction with respect to the rotating shaft portion 90A and the use position where the head end portion is located on the downstream side in the sheet discharging direction with respect to the rotating shaft portion 90A. The NFC mark 91 is located on the downstream side in the sheet discharging direction with respect to the discharge regulating portion 90 located at the accommodating position, and is located directly below the discharge regulating portion 90 located at the use position.

According to the above configuration, since the NFC mark 91 can be arranged near the end portion on the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction of the discharge restricting portion 90, the length of the first housing 2 in the sheet discharging direction can be shortened while ensuring the visibility of the NFC mark 91.

In the above-described image forming apparatus 1, the NFC substrate 70 is disposed at a position opposing the NFC tag 71 inside the first housing 2.

According to the above configuration, by disposing the NFC board 70 directly below the NFC tag 71, good wireless communication can be achieved.

In the above-described image forming apparatus 1, the discharge tray 6 has the protruding portion 61, the protruding portion 61 is provided at the central portion of the discharge tray 6 in the width direction so as to protrude upward, and the discharge regulating portion 62 is provided at the protruding portion 61.

According to the above configuration, even when both width-direction end portions of the discharged sheet are tilted to curl, since the width-direction central portion of the sheet is uplifted and supported, the curl can be reduced. Further, in a state where the sheet is supported by the discharge tray 6, a space for taking the sheet may be formed around the projection below the sheet.

In the above-described image forming apparatus 1, a USB port 81 is further provided, the USB port 81 being provided at an end surface of the projection 61 on the downstream side in the sheet discharging direction.

According to the above configuration, the USB port 81 can be arranged at a position where it is easy to see while effectively utilizing the empty space of the protruding portion 61.

In the above-described image forming apparatus 1, the USB port 81 and the NFC tag 71 are disposed at positions offset from each other in the width direction.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to suppress the USB device inserted into the USB port 81 from covering the NFC tag 71, and to ensure visibility of the NFC tag 71.

In the above-described image forming apparatus 1, the operation panel 5 is further included, the operation panel 5 is used to operate the image forming apparatus 1, and the operation panel 5 and the NFC tag 71 are disposed at positions shifted from each other in the width direction.

According to the above configuration, since the NFC tag 71 is not covered by the operation panel 5, the visibility of the NFC tag 71 can be ensured.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus, characterized by comprising:

a housing provided with a discharge tray for supporting a sheet discharged by a discharge roller on an upper surface thereof, the housing accommodating an image forming portion that forms an image on the sheet;

a discharge regulating portion provided on the discharge tray so as to protrude upward, the discharge regulating portion being capable of abutting against a discharged sheet; and

a flag that is provided on a downstream side of the discharge restricting portion in the housing in a sheet discharge direction and is located within a width of the discharge tray in a width direction perpendicular to the sheet discharge direction, the flag indicating a position at which an external apparatus that performs short-distance wireless communication is placed.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge restricting portion is swingable between an accommodating position and a use position, the accommodating position being a position at which a head end portion of the discharge restricting portion is located on an upstream side in the sheet discharging direction with respect to a rotational shaft, the use position being a position at which the head end portion is located on a downstream side in the sheet discharging direction with respect to the rotational shaft,

the mark is located on a downstream side in the sheet discharging direction with respect to the discharge restricting portion located at the accommodating position, and is located directly below the discharge restricting portion located at the use position.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

a substrate for performing short-range wireless communication, the substrate being disposed at a position inside the housing opposite to the mark.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the discharge tray has a protruding portion that protrudes upward provided at a central portion of the discharge tray in the width direction,

the discharge restricting portion is provided at the protruding portion.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:

a USB port provided at an end surface of the projection on a downstream side in the sheet discharging direction.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the USB port and the mark are provided at positions offset from each other in the width direction.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

an operation panel for operating the image forming apparatus,

the operation panel and the mark are disposed at positions offset from each other in the width direction.