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EP-4738016-A1 - IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

EP4738016A1EP 4738016 A1EP4738016 A1EP 4738016A1EP-4738016-A1

Abstract

Provided is an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium and includes: a fixer that includes a housing, in which an opening is formed, and fixes the image formed on the recording medium; a wind blower that blows wind in the housing; and a guide that guides the wind blowing out from the opening such that the wind is diffused in the image forming apparatus.

Inventors

  • UMENO, HIDEYUKI

Assignees

  • KONICA MINOLTA, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20250915

Claims (11)

  1. An image forming apparatus (1) that forms an image on a recording medium (S), the image forming apparatus (1) comprising: a fixer (60) that includes a housing (65) and fixes the image formed on the recording medium (S), the housing (65) being a housing (65) in which an opening (66) is formed; a wind blower (70) that blows wind in the housing (65); and a guide (80) that guides the wind blowing out from the opening (66) such that the wind is not diffused in the image forming apparatus (1).
  2. The image forming apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein the guide (80) includes a shielding member (81) that at least partially shields the opening (66).
  3. The image forming apparatus (1) according to claim 2, wherein: the guide (80) further includes a discharger (82) that is provided on a lateral side of the housing (65) in the image forming apparatus (1) and discharges the wind in the image forming apparatus (1), and the shielding member (81) is disposed so as to shield a portion including an end of the opening (66) opposite to the discharger (82) with respect to the housing (65) and so as not to shield a portion including an end of the opening (66) on a side of the discharger (82) with respect to the housing (65).
  4. The image forming apparatus (1) according to claim 3, wherein the opening (66) is provided on a side surface of the housing (65) on a downstream side in a conveyance direction of the recording medium (S).
  5. The image forming apparatus (1) according to claim 4, wherein: the opening (66) is provided at a connection portion between an opener (66A) and the housing (65), the opener (66A) being capable of opening the housing (65), and the shielding member (81) is constituted by a sheet-shaped member deformable as the opener (66A) opens.
  6. The image forming apparatus (1) according to claim 2, wherein: the opening (66) is provided on a side surface of the housing (65) on an upstream side in a conveyance direction of the recording medium (S), and the shielding member (81) is disposed so as to shield the opening (66) entirely.
  7. The image forming apparatus (1) according to claim 1, further comprising a driving unit (90) that drives the image forming apparatus (1), wherein the fixer (60) is disposed at a position adjacent to the driving unit (90), further includes a cover (83) that covers at least a portion of the housing (65), the portion including a portion of the opening (66), and the cover (83) includes a vent (83A) that opens on a side opposite to the driving unit (90) with respect to the housing (65).
  8. The image forming apparatus (1) according to claim 3, wherein the discharger (82) includes a sucker (821), a box (822), and a collector (823), the sucker (821) sucking air in the image forming apparatus (1), the box (822) causing the air sucked by the sucker (821) to be retained, the collector (823) being provided in the box (822) and collecting fine particles included in the air in the box (822).
  9. The image forming apparatus (1) according to claim 8, wherein the collector (823) is configured to be detachable from the box (822).
  10. The image forming apparatus (1) according to claim 8, wherein the collector (823) is disposed at a position where the air in the box (822) is dischargeable to an outside of the image forming apparatus (1).
  11. The image forming apparatus (1) according to claim 8, wherein the collector (823) is disposed, in the box (822), at a position corresponding to an image forming unit (41) inside the image forming apparatus (1), the position being a position where the collector (823) is capable of releasing the air in the box (822).

Description

BACKGROUND 1. Technological Field The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus is provided with a fixing apparatus that heat-fixes an image (toner image) onto a recording medium. It is known that such a fixing apparatus is provided with a wind blowing apparatus. For example, Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open No. 2006-17922 discloses a configuration in which an exhaust route for discharging heat, which is emitted from a heat generating source, to the outside of an apparatus body is provided. SUMMARY Incidentally, the housing of the fixing apparatus (fixer) may include a gap (opening), for example, at an openable and closable cover portion for jam processing, at a joint portion of a plurality of sheet metal members, or the like. In this case, wind from a wind blowing apparatus (wind blower) may blow out from the opening, and consequently there is a risk that the wind blowing out from the opening will be diffused over the entire apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of suppressing diffusion of wind blowing out from an opening of a fixer over an entire apparatus. In order to achieve at least one of the above-described objects, an image forming apparatus reflecting one aspect of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium. The image forming apparatus includes: a fixer that includes a housing, in which an opening is formed, and fixes an image formed on the recording medium;a wind blower that blows wind in the housing; anda guide that guides the wind blowing out from the opening such that the wind is not diffused in the image forming apparatus. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features provided by one or more embodiments of the invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the appended drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention: Fig. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a main part of a control system of the image forming apparatus;Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a wind blower;Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an opener of a housing is opened;Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a guide;Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration in which the position of an opening is different;Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the guide according to a variation; andFig. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the guide according to a variation. Detailed Description of Embodiments Hereinafter, one or more embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a main part of a control system of the image forming apparatus 1. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 is a color image forming apparatus of an intermediate transfer method using an electrophotographic process. That is, the image forming apparatus 1 primary-transfers toner images of colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) formed on photosensitive drums 413 onto an intermediate transfer belt 421, superimposes the toner images of the four colors on one another on the intermediate transfer belt 421, and then secondary-transfers the resultant image onto a sheet S fed out from sheet feed tray units 51a to 51c to form an image. Further, the image forming apparatus 1 adopts a tandem-system in which the photosensitive drums 413 corresponding to the four colors of Y, M, C, and K are arranged in series in the travel direction of the intermediate transfer belt 421, and the toner images of the respective colors are sequentially transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 421 by a single procedure. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an image reader 10, an operation display 20, an image processor 30, an image former 40, a sheet conveyor 50, a fixer 60, and a controller 101. The controller 101 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 102, a read only memory (ROM) 103, a random access memory (RAM) 104, and the like. The CPU 102 reads a program corresponding to the processing content from the ROM 103, develops the program in the RAM 104, and performs centralized control of the operation of each block and t