Patent Publication Number: US-2022236682-A1

Title: Image-forming apparatus

Description:
The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2021-009362, filed Jan. 25, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to an image-forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image-forming apparatus that accommodates a removable consumption article. 
     2. Related Art 
     A laser-color copier, which is a type of image-forming apparatus, accommodates a toner unit as a consumption article. In the related art laser-color printer disclosed in JP-A-2012-018385, a door that is a part of the body can be opened and closed, and it is necessary to open the door when the toner unit is detached and attached. This door is a part of the exterior of the body and is colored in the same color as the other parts. 
     In the above-described related art image-forming apparatus, since the door constitutes a part of the exterior, the door is colored in the same color as other parts of the exterior. Therefore, an inexperienced user will not know the location of the door for replacing the consumption article. That is, there is a problem that a user will not know the location for attachment and detachment of the consumption article. 
     The present disclosure provides an image-forming apparatus wherein a consumption article can be easily attached and detached. 
     SUMMARY 
     An image-forming apparatus according to the present disclosure includes the following configuration: in a body having a predetermined housing, an image-reading unit configured to read a document placed on a document placement surface; an image-forming unit configured to form, on a predetermined sheet, an image read by the image-reading unit; a discharge portion configured to discharge the sheet on which the image was formed by the image-forming unit; and a discharge tray on which the sheet discharged from the discharge portion is placed, wherein an intra-apparatus-discharge space is formed in the body in between the image-reading unit and the image-forming unit; the housing includes therein a consumption article mounting portion in which a consumption article used by the image-forming unit is mounted; and at least a portion of a surface of the housing at a region of the consumption article mounting portion has a light-transmissive property. 
     In the above-described configuration, when the image-reading unit reads the document placed on the document placement surface, the image-forming unit forms the image read by the image-reading unit on a predetermined sheet, and the discharge portion discharges the sheet on which the image was formed by the image-forming unit and places the sheet on the discharge tray. In addition, an intra-apparatus-discharge space is formed in the body in between the image-reading unit and the image-forming unit, the housing includes therein a consumption article mounting portion in which a consumption article used by the image-forming unit is mounted, and at least a portion of a surface of the housing at a region of the consumption article mounting portion has the light-transmissive property. 
     Therefore, when the consumption article is consumed and needs to be replenished, the operator can visually check a part of the region of the consumption article mounting portion in the housing from the outside of the body through the portion of the surface that has the light-transmissive property. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an external appearance of an image-forming apparatus. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an external appearance of the image-forming apparatus in a state in which a door is opened. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating the main configuration of the image-forming apparatus. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an external appearance of an image-forming apparatus according to a modification. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an external appearance of an image-forming apparatus according to a modification. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an external appearance of an image-forming apparatus according to a modification. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of an external appearance of an image-forming apparatus according to a modification. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of an external appearance of an image-forming apparatus according to a modification. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an image-forming apparatus, and  FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing an external appearance of the image forming apparatus in a state where a door is opened. 
     In  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the image-forming apparatus  10  includes a body  12  having a substantially prismatic housing  11  having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view. Within the body  12  are provided an image-reading unit  13  for reading a document placed on a document placement surface  13   a  positioned at the upper part of the housing  11 , an image-forming unit  14  that is disposed below the image-reading unit  13  and that is for forming on a predetermined sheet an image read by the image-reading unit  13 , a discharge portion  15  for discharging the sheet on which the image was formed by the image-forming unit  14 , and a discharge tray  16  on which is placed the sheet discharged from the discharge portion  15 . Note that in this embodiment, an automatic document feeder (ADF)  13   b  is attached as a part of the image-reading unit  13 , and the document placement surface  13   a  is located below the ADF  13   b.    
     The housing  11  of the body  12  is positioned below the image-reading unit  13  and is formed with an intra-apparatus-discharge space  17  opening forward and leftward. Except for the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17 , the body  12  has the housing  11  vertically continuous on the rear and right sides of the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17 . The housing  11  overall is colored in a white-based bright color, and a wall surface  17   a  forming the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17  is generally colored in a dark color. However, a portion of the image-reading unit  13  of the housing  11 , such as the document placement surface  13   a  on which the document is placed and the location of the ADF  13   b  where a document is discharged, is also darkly colored. 
     Of the wall surface  17   a , an upper-wall surface  17   a   1  (ceiling portion) is formed horizontally, a right-wall surface  17   a   2  is formed vertically, and a lower-wall surface  17   a   3  (bottom portion) is a sloping surface inclining leftward and declining rightward. 
     Since the image-forming unit  14  is accommodated in the body  12  below the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17 , the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17  is formed in the body  12  in between the image-reading unit  13  and the image-forming unit  14 . In this way, the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17  is formed in the body  12  in between the image-reading unit  13  and the image-forming unit  14 , although there may be a portion on the rear side and the right side where the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17  does not exist between the image-reading unit  13  and the image-forming unit  14 . 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic view showing the main configuration of the image-forming apparatus. 
       FIG. 3  shows a portion below the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17 , and the discharge tray  16  is formed at the bottom surface of the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17 . The discharge tray  16  is formed so as to be a sloping surface inclining leftward and declining rightward. As described above, the wall surface  17   a  forming the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17  is colored in a substantially dark color, and of the wall surface  17   a , the upper portion (ceiling portion) is formed horizontally, the right wall surface is formed vertically, and the lower portion (bottom portion) is a sloping surface inclining leftward and declining rightward. Note that an operation panel  12   a  is formed in the body  12  to the right of the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17  so as to protrude forward. The operation panel  12   a  is overall colored in a dark color, and a predetermined operation switch, a display, and the like are arranged on its operation part. 
     A sheet discharge port  15   a  of the discharge portion  15  is formed at the right side of the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17 , and the discharge portion  15  discharges a sheet on which an image was formed by the image-forming unit  14 , which is disposed below the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17 , through the sheet discharge port  15   a  and onto the discharge tray  16 . 
     The discharge portion  15  constitutes a part of a transport unit  18 , which includes a conveyor belt, a roller, and the like. The transport unit  18  transports a paper sheet from one of several levels of paper cassettes  19 , which are arranged in the lower part of the body  12 , to the image-forming unit  14  and discharges the paper sheet formed with a image. A part of the transport unit  18  is a mechanism for drawing the paper sheet out from the paper cassette  19 , conveying the paper sheet in the image-forming unit  14 , and discharging the paper sheet in the discharge portion  15 . The transport unit  18  in the present embodiment handles all transport, but may be mechanisms that function separately at each stage. 
     In the image-forming apparatus  10 , paper sheet transport is performed at the right side portion inside the body  12 , and in this process, an image is formed on the paper sheet by the inkjet image-forming unit  14 , and a space is formed at the left side of the image-forming unit  14  below the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17 . In this space is provided a consumption article mounting portion  20  of the image-forming apparatus  10 . In the consumption article mounting portion  20 , ink cartridges  21  are stored in the upper part, an ink-supply unit  22  is disposed below, and a waste-liquid box  23  is disposed in the vicinity thereof. The predetermined colors of ink contained in the ink cartridges  21  are supplied to the head of the image-forming unit  14  through the ink-supply unit  22  and used to form an image. In addition, waste liquid discharged at the time of head cleaning, which is performed at a predetermined timing, is collected in the waste-liquid box  23 . The ink cartridges  21  and the ink-supply unit  22  are collectively referred to as an ink-supply portion, and the waste-liquid box  23  is also referred to as a waste-liquid container. 
     The ink cartridges  21  are stored in the body  12  below the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17  and to the left of the image-forming unit  14 , and the ink cartridges  21  need to be detachable for consumption article replacement when the colored ink is depleted. Therefore, a door  11   a  for opening up the consumption article mounting portion  20  to the outside is formed at the front surface of the housing  11 . The door  11   a  is formed in a rectangular shape in a front view, is pivotably supported at the upper end and the lower end on the right side, and can be opened and closed with the left end drawing an arc. Therefore, the door  11   a  is also referred to as an openable cover. The door  11   a  overall is colored in the same white-based bright color as the housing  11 , but includes a transparent portion  11   b  formed to be transparent at a partial region of the ink cartridges  21 . That is, at least a portion of a surface in the door  11   a , which configures the housing  11 , at the region of the consumption article mounting portion  20  is provided with the transparent portion  11   b , which is formed to be transparent. An outer edge portion of the transparent area in the transparent portion  11   b  is formed in a dark color. 
     In this way, the image-forming unit  14  is supplied with ink from the ink cartridges  21  and the ink-supply unit  22 , which are an ink-supply portion, and forms an image on a paper sheet (sheet). The ink-supply portion corresponds to a consumption article. Further, a waste-liquid container, which is the waste-liquid box  23 , for recovering waste liquid discharged from the image-forming unit  14  is provided, and this waste-liquid container also corresponds to a consumption article. 
     Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be explained. 
     Normally, when the image-forming apparatus  10  reads a document placed on the document placement surface  13   a  of the image-reading unit  13 , the image-forming unit  14  forms an image read by the image-reading unit  13  on a predetermined sheet, and the discharge portion  15  discharges the sheet on which the image was formed by the image-forming unit  14  and places the sheet on the discharge tray  16  of the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17 . 
     When an image is formed by the image-forming unit  14 , the colored ink is supplied from the ink cartridge  21  of the ink-supply portion and is consumed. The ink cartridges  21  are arranged in the consumption article mounting portion, and the transparent portion  11   b  is formed in the door  11   a  in correspondence with a portion of the region of this consumption article mounting portion. Therefore, when it becomes necessary to replace an ink cartridge  21 , which is a consumption article, the operator, when looking at the body  12 , can visually check the ink cartridge  21  inside through the transparent portion  11   b . Therefore, the consumption article mounting portion can be easily visually checked, and an ink cartridge  21  can be taken out by opening the door  11   a , and replaced with a new ink cartridge  21 . An outer edge of the transparent portion  11   b  is colored dark, and the boundary between the ink cartridge  21  and the housing  11  is a dark-colored region. This results in a dark-colored region arranged between the brightly colored housing  11  and the outer peripheral surface of the ink cartridges  21 , which produces a calming appearance and enables improvement of the overall balance by adjusting the width of the dark-colored region. Note that the ink cartridges  21  may have transparent or translucent cases that enable a user to know the remaining amount of the colored inks inside. 
     The image-forming apparatus  10  of the above-described embodiment is provided with several levels of the paper cassettes  19  in the lower portion, and has a height that facilitates work when installed on the floor of an office. Of course, the present embodiment is not limited to such a configuration. 
       FIG. 4  is an external perspective view of an image-forming apparatus according to a modification. 
     An image-forming apparatus  110  according to this modification is provided with a body  112  having a substantially prismatic housing  111  that is shorter in the height direction than is the image-forming apparatus  10  of the above-described embodiment, an image-reading unit  113  located in the upper part, an image-forming unit  114  that is disposed below the image-reading unit  113  and that is for forming on a predetermined sheet an image read by the image-reading unit  113 , a discharge portion  115  for discharging the sheet on which the image was formed by the image-forming unit  114 , and a discharge tray  116  on which is placed the sheet discharged from the discharge portion  115 . 
     The discharge tray  116  is located within an intra-apparatus-discharge space  117  formed between the image-reading unit  113  and the image-forming unit  114 . A consumption article mounting portion below the intra-apparatus-discharge space  117  is formed between the image-reading unit  113  and the image-forming unit  114  in the body  112 . A front surface portion of the housing  111  is a door  111   a  which can be opened and closed as a whole, and when the door  111   a  is opened, an internal consumption article mounting portion is exposed to the outside. A transparent portion  111   b  is formed at a location in a portion of the door  111   a  corresponding to a portion of the region of the consumption article mounting portion. To be more specific, the transparent portion  111   b  is formed so as to face a side surface portion of ink cartridges  121  accommodated in the consumption article mounting portion. 
     Thus, when it is necessary to replace an ink cartridge  121 , which is a consumption article, the storage position of the ink cartridge  121  can be directly visually checked through the transparent portion  111   b  of the door  111   a , and the operator will not be confused during the replacement operation about where the ink cartridge  121  is located in the body  112 . Further, the ink cartridges  121 , which constitute the ink-supply portion, themselves are transparent vessels, so the remaining amount of the ink can be visually checked through the transparent portion  111   b.    
     It should be noted that the body  112  overall is colored in a white-based bright color, and a document placement surface  113   a , the intra-apparatus-discharge space  117 , and the peripheral portion of the transparent portion  111   b  are colored in a dark color. 
     In the above-described embodiment, the transparent portion is provided at a position facing the ink cartridges. However, what is included in the consumption article mounting portion is not limited to ink cartridges. 
       FIG. 5  is an external perspective view of an image-forming apparatus according to a modification. 
     In the case of this image-forming apparatus  210 , a transparent portion  211   b  is formed at a different location than in the image-forming apparatus  10  shown in  FIG. 1 . The transparent portion  211   b  is formed at a position facing a mount region of a sub tank  222  of the ink-supply portion included in the consumption article mounting portion. Although the ink cartridges (not shown) are what are detachable, the installation location of the sub tank  222 , which is coupled to the ink-supply portion, can be seen through the transparent portion  211   b , and thus an operator can visually confirm that a consumption article mounting portion is in that area. If the position of the consumption article mounting portion can be visually confirmed, the corresponding door  211   a  can be easily specified, and it becomes easy to perform the exchange work of an ink cartridge by opening and closing the door  211   a.    
     In the above-described embodiment, the wall surface  17   a  forming the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17  is dark colored, but from the viewpoint of design, the dark portion may be extended to include the intra-apparatus-discharge space  17  and its periphery. 
       FIGS. 6 and 7  are external perspective views of an image-forming apparatus according to modifications. 
     In the image-forming apparatus  310  shown in  FIG. 6 , a dark color portion is formed continuous from an intra-apparatus-discharge space  317  into the consumption article mounting portion directly below. In this case, a transparent portion  311   b  is formed of a smoke-tinted transparent plate, and is a design continuous as a dark-colored region from directly below the intra-apparatus-discharge space  317 , while enabling visual confirmation of the inside to understand the position of the consumption article mounting portion. 
     Since a waste-liquid container  323  is also included in the consumption article mounting portion, a further transparent portion  311   b   1  may be provided in a door  311   a  at a position corresponding to the waste-liquid container  323 . 
     Also in an image-forming apparatus  410  shown in  FIG. 7 , a dark color portion is formed continuous from an intra-apparatus-discharge space  417  into the consumption article mounting portion directly below, and a transparent portion  411   b  is formed of a smoke-tinted transparent plate, and is a design as a dark color region continuous from the intra-apparatus-discharge space  417 . 
     In addition, to correspond with the design in which the transparent portion  411   b  inclines downward to the right, the dark color portion inclines upward to the right from the lowest end to form a left/right symmetrical design. The balance in design is good. Also, in this case also, the inside can be visually checked through the transparent portion  411   b , and the position of the consumption article mounting portion can be easily understood. 
       FIG. 8  is an external perspective view of an image-forming apparatus according to a modification. In the image-forming apparatus  510  of this modification, a transparent portion  511   b  corresponds to a portion corresponding to the ink-flow path. The ink-flow path easily brings to mind the consumption article mounting portion, and informs an operator that the consumption article mounting portion is somewhere around the ink-flow path  524 , so that the attachment/detachment work can be performed more easily. 
     In the above-described embodiment, since the transparent portion is provided, the consumption article mounting portion can be visually checked from the outside. However, to make it easier to visually check, a light-emitting unit may be disposed inside the housing, so that by emitting light from inside, light is emitted from the inside to the outside. 
     As an example, a light-emitting element such as a light emitting diode (LED) is arranged at the far side of the ink cartridge  21  so as to emit light from the back of the ink cartridge  21  toward the transparent portion  11   b . Similarly, light may be emitted from the far side of the sub tank  222 , which is an ink-supply portion, toward the transparent portion  211   b . Further, in the same way, a light-emitting element such as an LED may be arranged on the far side of the waste-liquid box  23  or the ink-flow path  524  so as to emit light toward the transparent portion  11   b ,  511   b  from behind the waste-liquid box  23  or the ink-flow path  524 . 
     Needless to say, this disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the following are disclosed as embodiments in the present disclosure:
         the combinations of mutually replaceable members, configurations, and the like disclosed in the above embodiments may be suitably changed and applied;   although not disclosed in the above-described embodiments, members, configurations, and the like disclosed in the above embodiments may be suitably replaced with members, configurations, and the like that are known in the art and that can mutually replace them, or the combinations thereof may be changed, and applied; and   although not disclosed in the above-described embodiments, a person skilled in the art may, based on known techniques and the like, suitably replace members, configurations, and the like disclosed in the above-described embodiments with members, configurations, and the like that can be assumed to be substitutes, or may modify and apply combinations thereof.