Patent Publication Number: US-7722184-B2

Title: Indicator mounting structure and image forming apparatus including the same

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a structure for mounting an emblem-like or similar indicator marked with desired information to the body of an apparatus and a copier, printer, facsimile apparatus, image forming apparatus or similar apparatus including the same. 
   2. Description of the Background Art 
   It is a common practice with, e.g., a copier or similar image forming apparatus to mount an indicator representative of the company&#39;s name, trademark, popular name or similar information on the front of the apparatus body. Today, the front of the apparatus body, which is conspicuous in appearance, is required not only to simply display necessary information relating to the apparatus, but also to have attractive appearance. Various schemes for meeting such requirements have been proposed in the past. This is also true with a system including a copier or similar image forming apparatus, a sheet feeder, a finisher and other units, as distinguished from a copier constructed as a single unit. 
   Although conventional indicators representative of the company&#39;s name, trademark, popular name or similar information have been improved in design themselves, some problems are still left unsolved as to the entire appearance inclusive of the apparatus body and adaptability to, e.g., the replacement of the type of the apparatus. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the present invention to provide an indicator mounting structure not only showing necessary information but also having attractive appearance and desirable replaceability and a copier, printer, facsimile apparatus or similar image forming apparatus including the same. 
   In a structure for mounting an indicator representative of desired information to the body of an apparatus of the present invention, the indicator is made up of a sheet marked with the information in such a manner as to be visible from the outside of the indicator and a transparent cover covering at least the information such that the information is visible from the outside. The sheet and cover are removably mounted to the body of the apparatus. 
   An apparatus including the above indicator mounting structure is also disclosed. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is an isometric view showing an apparatus embodying the present invention and implemented as a color image forming apparatus by way of example; 
       FIG. 2  is a section showing the apparatus of the illustrative embodiment; 
       FIG. 3A  is an enlarged external view showing an image forming apparatus to which an indicator mounting structure also embodying the present invention is mounted; 
       FIG. 3B  is an exploded perspective view of the indicator mounting structure shown in  FIG. 3A ; 
       FIG. 4  is a sectional side elevation of the indicator mounting structure shown in  FIG. 3B ; and 
       FIG. 5  is a sectional side elevation showing part of a chamfered outer edge included in a cover that forms part of an indicator. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   A preferred embodiment of the structure for mounting an indicator in accordance with the present invention will be described hereinafter. While the illustrative embodiment is applied to a control panel included in an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus is only a specific form of an apparatus to which the present invention is applicable. 
     FIGS. 1 and 2  show a color image forming apparatus to which the illustrative embodiment is applied in an external view and a section, respectively. The color image forming apparatus is a so-called multifunction machine selectively operable as a copier, a facsimile apparatus, a scanner, a document server box or the like, as will be described more specifically later. As shown, the color image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body or frame  1  including a scanning unit  11  for reading a document, an image forming section  12  for forming images, an ADF (Automatic Document Feeder)  13 , a document stack tray  14  for stacking documents sequentially delivered from the ADF  13 , a sheet feeding section  19  including sheet cassettes  15  through  18 , and a print tray  20  for stacking sheets or prints. 
   In operation, the operator of the color image forming apparatus sets desired documents, not shown, on a document feed tray  21  included in the ADF  13  and then operates the control panel  10 , e.g., pushes a start key  30  positioned on the control panel  10 . In response, a pickup roller  22  also included in the ADF  13  is rotated to pay out the top document from the document feed tray  21 . The document thus paid out is conveyed by a belt  23  to a glass platen  2  mounted on the top of the scanning unit  11  and stopped on the glass platen  2 . The scanning unit  11  includes a reading device  24  positioned between the image forming section  12  and the glass platen  2  for reading the document stopped on the glass platen  2 . 
   The scanning unit  11  includes a light source for illuminating the document positioned on the glass platen  2 , optics for focusing the resulting reflection from the document, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor or similar image sensor on which the above reflection is focused. After the scanning unit  11  has read the document image, the document is conveyed from the glass platen  2  to the document stack tray  14 . 
   In the image forming section  12 , a plurality of image forming stations  26  are arranged side by side above an endless, intermediate image transfer belt  25 . Each image forming station  26  includes a photoconductive drum  27  which is a specific form of an image carrier. Arranged around the photoconductive drum (simply drum hereinafter)  27  are a charger for uniformly charging the surface of the drum  27 , an exposing device for scanning the charged surface of the drum  27  with a laser beam to thereby form a latent image, a developing device for developing the latent image with toner, and a cleaning device for removing toner left on the drum  27  after image transfer. 
   Yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (BK) are assigned to, e.g., the leftmost image forming station  26  to the rightmost image forming station  26 , as viewed in  FIG. 2 . While the intermediate image transfer belt (simply belt hereinafter)  25  is in rotation, a yellow (Y) toner image is formed first and then transferred to the intermediate image transfer belt  25 . Subsequently, a magenta (M) toner image is formed and then transferred to the belt  25  over the yellow toner image. This is followed by forming a cyan (C) toner image and transferring it to the belt  25  and then forming a black (BK) toner image and transferring it to the belt  25 , completing a four-color or full-color toner image. The full-color toner image is then transferred from the belt  25  to a sheet fed from the sheet feeding section  19  by an image transferring device  28 . After the toner image thus transferred to the sheet has been fixed by a fixing device  29 , the sheet or print is driven out to the print tray  20 . The apparatus additionally includes a duplex printing section although not shown specifically. 
   As shown in  FIG. 3A , the indicator mounting structure of the illustrative embodiment includes an emblem-like or similar indicator  60  positioned at substantially the center of a front panel  50 , which forms part of the apparatus body  1 . The indicator  60  shows desired information relating to the image forming apparatus. 
   The indicator  60  includes a sheet  61  on which desired information readable from the outside is printed or otherwise marked. A cover  62  covers the sheet  61  from the outside of the apparatus body  1  while pressing it against the apparatus body  1 . The cover  62  is formed of a transparent or a semitransparent material to allow the information provided on the sheet  61  to be seen therethrough and is removable from the front panel  50 , as will be described more specifically later. 
   Assuming first that the apparatus body  1  is held in a horizontal position, the front panel  50 , forming part of the apparatus body  1 , thus forms a bent surface bent in the horizontal direction via the position where the indicator  60  is located. Of course, the bent surface does not have to be entirely bent in the direction of thickness of the front panel  50 , i.e., in the front-and-back direction, but should only be bent when seen from the outside. In  FIG. 3   b , the bent surface has an apex x. 
   More specifically, the bent surface of the front panel  50  is made up of at least two surfaces. In the illustrative embodiment, the bent surface is made up of two surfaces  51  and  52  by way of example. In any case, at least one of the surfaces constituting the bent surface is angled upward relative to a vertical plane on the assumption that the apparatus body  1  is held in a horizontal position. In the illustrative embodiment, the lower surface  51  is angled slightly downward relative to a vertical plane such that a line perpendicular to the lower surface  51  is angled downward relative to a horizontal plane while the upper surface  52  is angled obliquely upward such that a line perpendicular to the upper surface  52  is angled obliquely upward relative to a horizontal plane. 
   A recess  53 , open to the outside, is formed in the front panel  50 . After the sheet  61  has been positioned in the recess  53 , the cover  62  is mounted to the apparatus body  1  in such a manner as to cover the sheet  61 . The bottom wall of the recess  53  is also formed with a bend which is, of course, continuous with the bend of the bent surface forming part of the front panel  50 , as illustrated. A small hole  54  is formed in the bottom of the recess  53  to allow, e.g., a pin to be inserted therein from the back of the hole  54 , i.e., from the inside of the apparatus body  1  for pushing the sheet  61  and cover  62  out of the recess  53 . 
   The outer surface of the cover  62  is also implemented as a bent surface having an apex X corresponding in configuration to the apex x. The difference is that the cover  62  is entirely bent, inclusive of the outer surface, in the direction of thickness. More specifically, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the inner surface of the cover  62  is also implemented as a bent surface. While the sheet  61  is shown as being bent and also provided with the same apex X as the cover  62 , the bend of the sheet  61  is formed by the cover  62  that presses the sheet  61  against the bottom of the recess  53 . Of course, the bend of the sheet  61  may be formed beforehand, if desired. In any case, particular information may be, e.g., printed on each of the two portions of the sheet  61  above and below the apex X, respectively. In the illustrative embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 3 , a mark  63  representative of a company&#39;s name and a mark  64  representative of the popular name or the type of the image forming apparatus are, e.g., printed on the upper portion and lower portion of the sheet  61 , respectively. The sheet  61  may be formed of either one of a transparent and a semitransparent material. 
   The upper mark  63  of the sheet  61 , facing the upper surface  52  of the front panel  50  when the sheet  61  is mounted, can be easily seen and therefore attracts attention not only of a person standing in front of the apparatus body  1  but also persons around the apparatus body  1 . Although the lower mark  64  is less conspicuous than the upper mark  63 , the upper mark  63 , standing conspicuous to persons around the apparatus body  1 , allows even the lower mark  64  to draw attention. This allows a person to easily see the presence of two different kinds of information on the sheet  61 , realizing effective indication. 
   Further, a concavity  55  is formed in the portion of the upper edge of the recess  53  slightly close to one end while a projection  65  is formed on the upper edge of the cover  62  corresponding in position to the concavity  55 . The concavity  55  and projection  65  are mated together to mount the upper portion of the cover  62  to the apparatus body  1 . Also, three holes  56 , which may be bottomed or not, each are formed from the lower edge of the recess  53  to the portion of the bottom contiguous therewith although only two holes  56  are shown in  FIG. 3B . Three projections  66 , corresponding in position to the holes  56 , protrude from the lower edge of the cover  62 . The projections  66  are mated with the holes  56  when the cover  62  is mounted to the recess  53  of the apparatus body  1 . 
   The bottomed or non-bottom holes  56 , extended from the lower edge to the bottom of the recess  53  each, are advantageous over holes not extended to the bottom of the recess  53  in that they are provided with a large area each. This allows the size of each projection  66  of the cover  62  to be also increased for thereby promoting easy mounting and dismounting of the cover  62  from the recess  66 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 5 , in the illustrative embodiment, the outer edges  67  of the cover  62  all are chamfered. A series of experiments showed that the chamfered outer edges  67  rendered the projections  66  fitted in the holes  56  inconspicuous or practically invisible from the outside in cooperation with the material of the cover  62 , e.g., PC or similar transparent or semitransparent plastic, contributing a great deal to the improvement of appearance of the apparatus. It is to be noted that the bend stated earlier is extended to the outer edges  67  and ridges positioned on the inside of the edges  67 . 
   In summary, it will be seen that the present invention provides an indicator mounting structure providing an apparatus on which it is mounted with attractive appearance and allowing an indicator to be easily mounted to or dismounted from the apparatus and an image forming apparatus or similar apparatus including the same. 
   Various modifications will become possible for those skilled in the art after receiving the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the scope thereof.