JPH03100571A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure safety without increasing cost or increasing cause for failure by providing shielding member for shielding the optical path of a laser beam for every opening / closing part and interlocking these with each opening / closing part. CONSTITUTION:A multiple number of shielding members 6l and 6m are provided responding to the multiple number of opening / closing parts 12 and 13, and each of these are activated interlocking with each opening / closing part 12 and 13. That is, a shutter plate 6l and 6m are provided and lined along a beam axis L inside an optical housing 6j, the shutter plate 6l and 6m are each independently interlocked with a front cover 12 and an upper unit cover 13 to shut off or release a laser beam L. Thus, there is no increase of the cost nor increase in the failure cause, and an image forming device of high safety against leaking of the laser beam L can be obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention is an image forming apparatus that forms an image by exposing a photoreceptor to laser light and writing an image on the photoreceptor. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, etc., which has a plurality of opening/closing parts from which laser light leaks to the outside.

Conventional technology In image forming devices such as copying machines that use laser light,
To prevent danger, it is necessary to have a structure that prevents laser light from leaking outside. For this reason, in conventional devices, an electrical control B that detects the opening/closing part of a cover etc. with an opening/closing switch and stops the DC output from the power supply or shuts off the drive circuit of the laser light source, or shields the optical path with a shielding member. Mechanical controls 4B (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61165775) for preventing exposure light from leaking to the outside are used in boat fishing.

In this case, in these conventional devices, only one cover or the like is detected to be opened or closed.

However, depending on the configuration of the image forming apparatus, there are often multiple covers that must be opened and closed to remove jammed paper and perform various types of maintenance and inspections performed by the user. Although it is possible to install an open/close detection switch in the switch, this increases the cost due to the increase in the number of switches used and the complexity of the control circuit.
Failure factors will increase.

Further, there is a problem that sufficient safety cannot be ensured by simply providing one laser beam blocking mechanism for a plurality of covers.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and even when there are multiple opening/closing parts, there is no increase in cost or failure factors, and there is no problem with leakage of laser light. The objective is to provide an image forming apparatus with high safety.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an image forming apparatus that forms an image by exposing a photoreceptor to a laser beam and writing an image on the photoreceptor. An image forming apparatus having a plurality of opening/closing parts from which light leaks to the outside includes a plurality of shielding members for blocking laser light, each of the shielding members interlocking with each of the opening/closing parts, and When any one of the opening/closing parts is opened, the shielding member corresponding to the opening/closing part blocks the laser beam, and when any of the opening/closing parts is closed, the shielding member corresponding to the opening/closing part releases the shielding of the laser beam. shall be.

According to the present invention, a plurality of shielding members corresponding to a plurality of opening/closing parts are provided, and each of these shielding members is operated in conjunction with each opening/closing part, so the mechanism is simple, does not increase cost, and does not require a complicated structure. No control is required, and furthermore, as long as either opening/closing section is open, the laser light is blocked by the shielding member interlocking with the opening/closing section, so safety is ensured.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the overall structure of a laser beam printer as an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

First, the overall structure of the printer will be explained with reference to this figure.

The recording paper 2 in the paper feeding force cent is fed from the paper feeding device 1 in the direction of the arrow, and is conveyed to the drum-shaped photoreceptor 4 with timing set by the registration rollers 3. The photoreceptor 4 is rotationally driven in a counterclockwise direction, the surface of which is charged by the charger 5, and irradiated with laser light from the laser optical system 6 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 4. .

When this latent image passes through the developing device 7, it is made visible by toner. This visible image is transferred to the recording paper 2 conveyed to the photoreceptor 4 by the transfer/separation charger 8, and after the transfer, the recording paper 2 that is in close contact with the photoreceptor 4 is electrostatically separated. Thereafter, the recording paper 2 is conveyed to the fixing device 9, where the visible image on the recording paper 2 is fixed by the fixing device, and the recording paper 2 is discharged to the discharge section 1O in the direction of arrow B. On the other hand, residual toner is removed from the photoreceptor 4 after the visible image has been transferred by a cleaning device 11 having a cleaning blade, and the removed toner is collected into the cleaning device 11 .

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the laser optical system 6.

The laser light emitted by the laser diode (LD) in the laser light blocking mechanism (LD unit) 6a is
The collimating lens and aperture (not shown) in the unit 6a shape the beam into a parallel light beam,
It is ejected from a.

The emitted laser beam is further shaped by the first cylinder lens 6b and then reflected by the first mirror 6C.
The light enters the polygon scanner 6d.

The laser beam deflected here is converged while being subjected to fθ correction by the fθ lens 6e, and is emitted to the outside via the second mirror 6f.
g, the surface tilt of the polygon scanner 6d is corrected and the photoreceptor 4 is exposed. Also, a part of the convergent light is transmitted to the second mirror 6f.
synchronous sensor 6 via a synchronous mirror 6h provided in front of
1 and is used to time the start of writing for each scan.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an optical path portion of laser light emitted within the LD unit 6a of the laser optical system 6 in FIG.

In this embodiment, as an example of a shielding member that shields the laser beam, shutter plates 62 and 6m are provided in the optical housing 6j side by side along the optical axis.

The shirt shirt plates 61 and 6m are rotatably supported approximately in the center by a shaft 6o, and have driven parts 6V and 6W at one end, and light shielding parts 6N- and 6M and an elastic part 6L at the other end.
and 6u.

The shirt cover plate 6m is interlocked with a front cover 12 of a laser beam printer shown in FIG. 4, which is an example of a plurality of opening/closing parts. That is, a rib 6S is attached to the front cover 12 as shown in FIG. 5, and the front cover 12 is moved from the closed state shown in FIG.
When it is in the open state shown in the figure, the rib 6S that was pushing down one end side of the actuator 69 attached to the printer body
The push-down caused by the
The other end of the actuator 69, which had been pushing up the driven part 6W of the shaft 6W, lowers, the driven part 6W becomes free, and the shirt plate 6m is urged by the elastic part 6u and rotates counterclockwise around the shaft 60. The light shielding portion 6M enters the optical path of the laser beam and blocks the laser beam.

When the front cover 12 is closed, the rib 6S is connected to the actuator 6q.
By pushing down one end of the shank plate 6m and performing an operation opposite to the above, the shank plate 6m opens the optical path of the laser beam.

The shirt top plate 61 is a second
It is interlocked with the upper unit cover 13 shown in FIGS.

The upper unit cover 13 is opened by rotating counterclockwise about the rotation fulcrum 13a on the left end side in FIG. It can be carried out.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a mechanism for interlocking the upper unit cover 13 and the shirt shirt plate 6i. A rib 6x is attached to the upper unit cover 13, and when the cover is closed, the rib 6x pushes down one end side of the actuator 6p via an arm 6r rotatably attached to the main body, and the shutter plate shown in FIG. 61 is pushed up, the shirt cover plate 62 is rotated clockwise about the shaft 60 against the elastic force of the elastic portion 6L, and the optical path of the laser beam is opened.

FIG. 8 shows a state in which the upper unit cover 13 is open. In this case, the rib 6x releases the push-down of one end of the actuator 6p via the arm 6r, so that the shutter plate 61! , the driven portion 6v becomes free, and the shirt flap plate 62
is biased by the elastic portion 6L and rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 60, and the light shielding portion 6L blocks the laser beam.

In Fig. 4, reference numeral 14 indicates the operation unit cover 15 is the upper cover right, and 16 indicates the main body base front cover 17 the rear cover.
Reference numeral 18 indicates the front of the right side cover, and 19 indicates the rear of the right side cover, but since laser light will not leak to the outside even if these covers are opened, these covers are not interlocked with the shielding member.

As described above, if the shirt flap plates 62 and 6m are independently linked to the front cover 12 and the upper unit cover 13, the laser light can be reliably blocked or released with a simple mechanism, and furthermore, if either of the When the cover is open, laser light is blocked, ensuring safety.

Effects As described above, according to the present invention, when a plurality of opening/closing parts are provided for maintenance such as processing of jammed paper or unit replacement, a shielding member for blocking the optical path of a laser beam required by safety standards can be obtained. By providing as many opening/closing parts as there are opening/closing parts and linking them with each opening/closing part, if any of the opening/closing parts is open, the optical path of the laser beam is reliably blocked, so no special control is required. With its simple structure, safety can be ensured without increasing costs, costs, or failure factors.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of its laser optical system, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus. FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views of a portion of the front cover, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective views of a portion of the upper unit cover. ...Photoconductor ...Laser optical system 2.6m ...Shutter plate (shielding member) p, 6q...
...Actuator r...Arm s, 6x...Rib 2...Front cover (opening/closing part) 3...Upper unit cover (opening/closing part)...Laser beam φ; ηHayuichisotomagin6i'D2 3 Snow chart chart chart chart

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An image forming apparatus that exposes a photoreceptor to laser light to write an image on the photoreceptor to form an image, the apparatus comprising a plurality of opening/closing parts that leak laser light to the outside when opened. The image forming apparatus includes a plurality of shielding members that block laser light, each of the shielding members interlocking with each of the opening/closing parts, and when any of the opening/closing parts is opened, the corresponding one of the opening/closing parts An image forming apparatus characterized in that a shielding member shields laser light, and when any of the opening/closing parts is closed, the shielding member corresponding to the opening/closing part releases the shielding of the laser light.