Electric appliance

An electric appliance includes an appliance main body, a recess, and a power switch. The recess is arranged in a side surface of the appliance main body, and has a front surface-side inclined surface which is inclined to the side surface and which points to the rear surface side of the appliance main body. The power switch is arranged on the front surface-side inclined surface not to protrude out beyond the side surface.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the corresponding Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-229427 filed on Nov. 25, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to electric appliances such as image forming apparatuses, like copiers, printers, and facsimile machines, scanners, air purifiers, and personal computers. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to electric appliances provided with a power switch in a side surface.

For example, in a conventional electric appliance such as an image forming apparatus, a power switch is arranged in a front surface of the appliance main body from the perspective of operability and visibility.

A conventional image forming apparatus (electric appliance) is known in which a recess having an inclined surface which points to a front surface side is arranged in a side surface of the appliance main body, and a power switch is arranged on the inclined surface. In this image forming apparatus, the power switch is arranged inside the recess in the side surface of the appliance main body, and it is thus possible to reduce erroneous operation of the power switch by a user to some degree.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electric appliance includes an appliance main body, a recess, and a power switch. The recess is arranged in a side surface of the appliance main body, and has a front inclined surface which is inclined with respect to the side surface and which points to the rear surface side of the appliance main body. The power switch is arranged on the front inclined surface so as not to protrude out beyond the side surface.

Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the description of embodiments given below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

First Embodiment

FIG. 1is an exterior perspective view of an image forming apparatus100according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 1, the image forming apparatus (electric appliance)100is a digital multifunction peripheral of a so-called internal sheet discharge type, and is composed roughly of a body housing1and an upper housing2arranged thereon.

In the upper housing2, an image reading portion is provided for reading an image of a document as an electrical signal. In the body housing1, various mechanisms as will be described later are provided for transferring an image to a sheet based on the electrical signal of the document image which has been read. On the top surface of the upper housing2, a document transport device3is arranged for separating and transporting one document sheet after another to the image reading portion. An operation panel4is arranged so as to protrude frontward of the image forming apparatus100from the front surface of the upper housing2.

The body housing1is composed of a lower housing1aand a coupling housing1bwhich is arranged above the lower housing1aalong a rear part and which is coupled to the upper housing2. In the lower housing1a, there are arranged a sheet feed portion, an image forming portion for forming a toner image on a sheet, a fixing device for fixing a toner image on a sheet, etc. (none of these is illustrated). On the other hand, in the coupling housing1b, there is arranged a sheet discharge portion5for transporting a sheet which has been subjected to fixing to discharge the sheet out of the body housing1.

In front of the coupling housing1bright under the upper housing2, there is formed an internal sheet discharge space6widely open to the front. In the internal sheet discharge space6, a sheet discharge tray7is arranged for receiving and stacking sheets discharged from the sheet discharge portion5of the coupling housing1b.

The lower housing1ahas a front surface10, a right side surface11and a left side surface which are arranged on the right and left, respectively, as seen from in front of the image forming apparatus100, and a rear surface. Inside the image forming apparatus100, an exhaust fan (unillustrated) is arranged for exhausting air warmed by the heat radiated from the fixing device, etc. to the outside, and the air is exhausted out through an exhaust duct (unillustrated) arranged on the left side surface of the lower housing1a.

In a part of the right side surface11near the front surface10, a recess12is arranged. As shown inFIG. 2, the recess12is composed of a front surface-side inclined surface12awhich is inclined with respect to the right side surface11and which points to the rear surface side (rear side) of the main body of the image forming apparatus100, a rear surface-side inclined surface12bwhich is inclined with respect to the right side surface11and which points to the front surface10-side, a top surface12c, and a bottom surface12d.

On the front surface-side inclined surface12a, a power switch13is arranged for turning on and off the image forming apparatus100. The power switch13is arranged so as not to protrude out beyond the right side surface11.

As shown inFIG. 3, the power switch13is arranged at such a position that a user can operate (turn on/off) it with the user's middle finger while keeping the thumb on the front surface10. Specifically, the distance L from the front surface10to a rear end part (the part farthest from the front surface10) of the power switch13is set at 10 cm or less.

As shown inFIG. 4, the top surface12cis formed horizontal, while the bottom surface12dis formed so as to descend outward.

In this embodiment, as described above, in the right side surface11, the recess12is arranged that has the front surface-side inclined surface12awhich is inclined with respect to the right side surface11and which points to the rear surface side, and the power switch13is arranged on the front surface-side inclined surface12aso as not to protrude out beyond the right side surface11. This helps adequately prevent the power switch13from being seen by a user, and thus helps adequately reduce erroneous operation of the power switch13by a user. This does not pose a problem because an administrator and the like of the image forming apparatus100know where the power switch13is.

As a result of the power switch13being arranged on the front surface-side inclined surface12a, as compared with a case, for example, where a power switch201is arranged on an inclined surface pointing to the front surface side as shown inFIG. 7, it is possible to reduce the distance from the front surface10to the power switch13. This permits a user's finger to reach the power switch13easily, and thus eliminates the need to put the hand deep into a gap between the right side surface11and a wall opposite it. Thus, even when the gap is narrow, it is possible to alleviate degradation of the operability of the power switch13.

As a result of the power switch13being arranged on the front surface-side inclined surface12a, when the power switch13is operated, the power switch13is operated with the back of the hand held upright as shown inFIG. 3(with the palm pointing in the horizontal direction). Thus, even when the gap between the right side surface11and a wall opposite it is narrow (about five cm), it is possible to alleviate degradation of the operability of the power switch13. For example, in a case where a power switch201is arranged on an inclined surface pointing to the front surface side as shown inFIG. 7, although it is easier to operate the power switch201with the back of the hand held horizontal (with the palm pointing in the down direction), it is difficult to put the hand into the gap between a side surface and a wall opposite it; this results in degraded operability of the power switch201.

As described above, the power switch13is arranged at such a position that a user can operate it with the user's middle finger while keeping the thumb on the front surface10. Thus, the power switch13can be operated with such a movement as to hold it between the thumb and the middle or another finger as shown inFIG. 3, and this makes it possible to further improve the operability of the power switch13.

As described above, the recess12has the bottom surface12dwhich descends outward. This helps prevent dust from collecting on the bottom surface12dof the recess12, and thus helps prevent the hand from being soiled with dust during operation of the power switch13.

Second Embodiment

In a second embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown inFIG. 5, on the right side surface11near the recess12, there are provided an indication S1that indicates the presence of the power switch13, and an indication S2that indicates the On/Off positions of the power switch13. The indications S1and S2are arranged on the right side surface11between the recess12and the front surface10.

Otherwise, the structure in the second embodiment is similar to that in the previously-described first embodiment.

In this embodiment, as described above, near the recess12, the indication S1that indicates the presence of the power switch13is provided. Thus, it is possible to know where the power switch13is.

As described above, near the recess12, the indication S2that indicates the On/Off positions of the power switch13is provided. Thus, it is possible to turn on and off the power switch13easily.

Otherwise, the effects of the second embodiment are similar to those of the previously-described first embodiment.

It should be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are in every aspect illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is defined not by the description of embodiments given above but by the appended claims, and encompasses many modifications and variations made in the sense and scope equivalent to those of the claims.

For example, although an example has been dealt with in which the present disclosure is applied to a digital multifunction peripheral, this is not meant as any limitation. Needless to say, the present disclosure is applicable to image forming apparatuses such as monochrome printers, color printers, color multifunction peripherals, facsimile machines, etc. The present disclosure is applicable not only to image forming apparatuses but also to electric appliances such as scanners, air purifiers, personal computers, etc.

For another example, in the above-described second embodiment, although an example has been dealt with in which the indications S1and S2are provided on the right side surface11near the recess12, this is in no way meant to limit the present disclosure. For example, as in the image forming apparatus100according to a modified example of the present disclosure shown inFIG. 6, indications S1and S2may be provided on the front surface10near the recess12. With this configuration, it is possible to know where the power switch13is, and to turn it on and off easily, even from in front of the image forming apparatus100.

The technical scope of the present disclosure encompasses any structure obtained by combining together different features from the above-described embodiments and modified examples as necessary.