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US 12,066,766 B2Granted
Image forming apparatus including duct structure that supports light emitting elements for exposing a photoconductor
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsRyoichi Kawasumi, Takehiro Ishidate, Hiroki Takano
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes: a rotatable photoconductor; an exposure portion including a substrate on which a plurality of chips each including a plurality of light emitting portions that emit light for exposing the photoconductor is mounted, and a support portion configured to support the substrate; a fan configured to generate an airflow for cooling the exposure portion; and a duct configured to communicate with the fan and to communicate with the support portion to guide the airflow generated by the fan to the substrate.
Claims11
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a rotatable photoconductor;
- an exposure portion including a substrate on which a plurality of chips, each including a plurality of light emitting portions configured to emit light for exposing the photoconductor, are mounted, and a support portion configured to support the substrate;
- a fan configured to generate an airflow for cooling the exposure portion;
- and
- a duct configured to communicate with the fan and to communicate with the support portion to guide the airflow generated by the fan to the substrate,
- wherein the exposure portion is movable between an exposure position where the photoconductor is exposed and a retracted position where the photoconductor is retracted from the exposure position,
- wherein the duct includes a duct portion communicating with the fan, and an elevating duct that integrally supports the exposure portion and moves relative to the duct portion between the exposure position and the retracted position integrally with the exposure portion, and
- wherein, in a state where the exposure portion is located at the exposure position, a gap between the elevating duct and the duct portion is sealed by a seal member so that the elevating duct and the duct portion communicate with each other.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.