IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS
An image forming apparatus includes: a main body; a sheet transporting unit provided to a side portion of the main body; and a noise source provided inside of the main body with a rotation portion, wherein the sheet transporting unit includes a plate having a plurality of holes, and an opposing member having a surface opposing the plate, and wherein the noise source, the plate, and the opposing member are disposed in the stated order from inside of the main body to outside of the main body.
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This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-033847 filed Feb. 17, 2009.
BACKGROUND Technical FieldThe present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.
SUMMARYAccording to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, including: a main body; a sheet transporting unit provided to a side portion of the main body; and a noise source provided inside of the main body with a rotation portion, wherein the sheet transporting unit includes a plate having a plurality of holes, and an opposing member having a surface opposing the plate, and wherein the noise source, the plate, and the opposing member are disposed in the stated order from inside of the main body to outside of the main body.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein:
Now, an exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A description is first given of the entire configuration of an image forming apparatus of this exemplary embodiment. In
In the lower portion of the main body 10, a sheet feed section 40 is disposed. In
In
A fixing section 60 is disposed above the transfer section 30. The toner image completed with the secondary transfer onto the paper sheet P is fixed thereto by the heat and pressure coming from a fixing roller 61 of the fixing section 60. Above the fixing section 60, a sheet ejection roller 53 is disposed, which ejects the paper sheet P through with fixing onto a sheet ejection tray 54. Note here that a reference numeral 55 in
Next, a reference numeral 70 in
On the downstream side of the sheet reversing rollers 71a, a reversing chute (plate) 72 is provided opposite to an opposing reversing chute (opposing member) 73. At the center portion between these chutes 72 and 73 in the direction of conveying the sheet and the end portion on the downstream side, a pairs of transporting rollers 71b and another pair of transporting rollers 71c are respectively disposed. The pair of sheet reversing rollers 71a and either pair of transporting rollers 71b or 71c is all driving rollers, and the other pair of transporting rollers 71b or 71c is driven rollers. Such driving rollers are rotated by a sheet reversing motor 74.
The paper sheet P conveyed by the transporting rollers 71c is directed to the transfer section 30 after going through a sheet guide 71d. At this point in time, as to the paper sheet P, the surface opposite to the surface already completed with image formation is facing the transfer section 30, and onto the surface, a toner image is secondary-transferred. The toner image as a result of the secondary transfer onto the paper sheet P is then fixed to the paper sheet P by the heat and pressure coming from the fixing roller 61 of the fixing section 60. The paper sheet P is then ejected onto the sheet ejection tray 54 by the ejection roller 53.
2. Configuration of Noise-Proof MechanismAs shown in
As shown in
The paper sheets P housed in the tray cassette 41 are picked up one by one by the feed roller 42, and are then each forwarded to the transfer section 30 by the registration roller 51 for secondary transfer. The paper sheet P is then directed to the fixing section 60 for fixing of a toner image thereonto, and is then ejected to the sheet ejection tray 54 by the ejection roller 53. This is the operation for image formation onto one surface of the paper sheet P. For image formation onto both surfaces of the paper sheet P, the sheet ejection roller 53 is rotated in the reverse direction after feeding the paper sheet P to some point on the way. The paper sheet P is then directed onto the sheet guide 56 due to the high degree of elasticity thereof, and then is conveyed toward the sheet reversing rollers 71a. The paper sheet P is then conveyed between the holed reversing chute 72 and the opposing reversing chute 73 by the sheet reversing rollers 71a and the transporting rollers 71b and 71c. After being conveyed as such, the paper sheet P reaches the transfer section 30 after going through the sheet guide 71d, and then is subjected to secondary transfer and fixing similarly to the above before ejection onto the sheet ejection tray 54.
For two-sided image formation, the sheet reversing motor 74 starts rotating. When the sheet reversing motor 74 is a stepping motor, for example, the rotation shaft thereof is of discrete rotation in the high-frequency range, thereby resulting in a high-frequency noise. The concern of such a sheet reversing motor 74 is that the noise thereof is easily leaked to the outside as is disposed in the unit of the sheet reversing/transporting mechanism 70 located closer to the edge of the image forming apparatus A.
In this exemplary embodiment, the noise generated by the sheet reversing motor 74 goes through the holes 76 formed to the holed reversing chute 72, and then is directed to a space between the holed reversing chute 72 and the opposing reversing chute 73. In this space, a resonance is produced, but the noise is reduced as is absorbed in a plurality of holes 76 formed in the holed reversing chute 72. Moreover, because such a resonance space is not closed, some air flow is produced therein, thereby being able to prevent any increase of temperature and occurrence of condensation.
Especially in the above exemplary embodiment, the noise-proof mechanism is configured by the existing components, i.e., the sheet reversing chutes, and one of the chutes is formed with a plurality of holes 76. There is thus no more need to additionally provide any new component such as noise-absorbing member, thereby being able to reduce with effectiveness any noise to be generated therein with no device complexity and no size increase. Note that the noise generating source includes not only the sheet reversing motor 74, but also the registration motor 52 and the condensation prevention fan 55. The noise to be generated by such components can be also reduced by the noise-proof mechanism described above.
4. Modified Example 1. First Modified ExampleAlso in such a modified example, the same effects as those in the exemplary embodiment described above can be achieved, i.e., this modified example can achieve the noise-proof effects while preventing any increase of temperature and occurrence of condensation. Moreover, since the existing configuration is utilized, i.e., a plurality of ribs 78 is provided to the inner surface of the external cover 77, there is also no need to additionally provide any new component. Accordingly, the device is not complicated and not increased in size, thereby being able to reduce with good effectiveness any noise to be generated inside.
2. Second Modified ExampleIn a second modified example, various parameters are set to satisfy the following Expressions 3 and 4, where f denotes the frequency of a noise generated by the sheet reversing motor 74, d denotes the diameter of each of the holes 76 formed in the holed reversing chute 72, a and b respectively denote the center-to-center distance between any adjacent holes 76 in the horizontal and vertical directions, h denotes the thickness of the holed reversing chute 72, and g denotes the distance between the holed reversing chute 72 and the opposing reversing chute 73 from one surface to the surface opposing thereto.
The above Expression 3 is about requirements for attenuating noise in the frequency range of f with most effectiveness. In this modified example, by setting the parameters described above in accordance with the frequency range of a noise to be generated by the noise source, the resulting noise-proof effects can be enhanced to maximum.
3. Third Modified ExampleA space A is formed between the vertical plate portion 80a of the holed reversing chute 80 and the vertical plate portion 81a of the opposing reversing chute 81, and a space B is formed between each of the tilted plate portion 80b and the horizontal plate portion 80c and each of the tilted plate portion 81b and the horizontal plate portion 81c. The space B is smaller than the space A. That is, the parameter “g” in the Expression 2 corresponds to the spaces A and B, and thus the portion with the space A is lower in frequency than the portion with the space B. As such, in this modified example, the portion with the space A absorbs any noise in the low frequency range, and the portion with the space B absorbs any noise in the high frequency range. Therefore, even when the sheet reversing motor 74 is set to two values of rotation frequency for high-speed operation and normal operation, the resulting noise-proof effects remain high with the both operation speeds. What is better, any possible noise leakage can be prevented with good effectiveness because these chutes, i.e., the holed reversing chute 80 and the opposing reversing chute 81, are enclosing around the sheet reversing motor 74.
5. Fifth Modified ExampleIn this modified example, because the space Cis set in accordance with the rated operation speed of the image forming apparatus A, with the normal operation, the noise-proof effects can be enhanced to maximum at the portion with the space C. When the operation speed is slowed down due to some reasons, the other portion not including the portion with the space C can satisfactorily enhance the noise-proof effects. That is, in this modified example, because the parameter “g” in the Expression 2 shows a sequential change, even if the noise frequency is reduced due to the unexpected reduction of the operation speed, the noise-proof effects remain high. Note that, in this modified example, the space between the holed reversing chute 82 and the opposing reversing chute 83 may be so set as to be gradually reduced in the direction of moving away from each other, i.e., from the center portion in the vertical direction.
6. Sixth Modified ExampleIn this modified example, alternatively, the paper sheet P to be conveyed may be guided by the ribs 85 to reduce any possible resistance during transporting. Herein, the ribs 85 may be provided to the opposing reversing chute.
7. Seventh Modified ExampleIn this modified example, since the paper sheet P contacts with the beveling R of each of the holes 88, the contact becomes smooth, thereby reducing the resistance.
9. Ninth Modified ExampleIn such a modified example, a lattice-like louver 103 (not shown) is formed on the left side surface of the main body, and the air is ejected from the apertures of the lattice-like louver. As a result, any noise to be generated in the main body 10 is also leaked from the apertures. For solving such a problem, in this modified example, the external sheet feed tray 100 is provided with a noise-proof mechanism. That is, in the tray body 101, a plate 101a on the side of the main body 10 is formed with a plurality of holes, and the auxiliary tray 102 serves as an opposing component. In the state of
Note that, in the state of
While the invention has been described in detail, it is understood that numerous other modifications and variations can be devised. For example, in the third modified example of
The invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as copier, printer, facsimile device, and a multi-function device serving all of these.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention has 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 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.
Claims
1. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a main body;
- a sheet transporting unit provided to a side portion of the main body; and
- a noise source provided inside of the main body with a rotation portion,
- wherein the sheet transporting unit includes a plate having a plurality of holes, and an opposing member having a surface opposing the plate, and
- wherein the noise source, the plate, and the opposing member are disposed in the stated order from inside of the main body to outside of the main body.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
- the opposing member guides transporting of a sheet with the plate.
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
- the opposing member is a housing of the sheet transporting unit.
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein expression 1 and expression 2 below are satisfied, where f denotes a frequency of noise generated by the noise source, d denotes a diameter of each of the holes formed in the plate, a denotes a center-to-center distance of the holes which are next to each other in a horizontal direction, b denotes a center-to-center distance of the holes which are next to each other in a vertical direction, h denotes a thickness of the plate, and g denotes a distance between the surface of the opposing member opposing the plate and a surface of the plate opposing the opposing member. f = C 2 π β ( h + ( π / 4 ) ) g ( expression 1 ) β = π ( d / 2 ) 2 ab ( expression 2 )
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plate has a plurality of holes varying in diameter.
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plate is disposed to enclose the noise source, and a plurality of different distances between the surface of the opposing member opposing the plate and the surface of the plate opposing the opposing member are set for each portion of the plate.
7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the distance between the surface of the opposing member opposing the plate and the surface of the plate opposing the opposing member is set based on the expression 1 and expression 2 at an intermediate portion of the plate in a direction along a transporting direction of the sheet, and the distance is gradually increased or decreased with a distance from the intermediate portion in the direction along the transporting direction of the sheet.
8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a surface of the plate has a plurality of ribs protruding to a side of a sheet and extending along a transporting direction of the sheet, and the holes are formed between the ribs.
9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the holes are each shaped to extend in a transporting direction of a sheet.
10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the holes are each formed by burring to punch the plate from a side of the opposing member to form a beveling with a cross section of arc on an edge portion on the side of the opposing member.
11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a porous member is formed on the surface of the opposing member opposing the plate.
12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the housing covers the sheet transporting member, and the housing is capable of opening and closing by hinging one side of the housing with the sheet transporting unit.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 17, 2009
Publication Date: Aug 19, 2010
Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD. (Tokyo)
Inventors: Kouichi KUMETA (Ebina-shi), Masahiro MORI (Ebina-shi), Satoshi FUKADA (Ebina-shi), Go KONDO (Kawasaki-shi), Shinji MASAKI (Ebina-shi), Masashi IKEDA (Ebina-shi)
Application Number: 12/620,259
International Classification: B65H 5/00 (20060101);