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US 12,363,236 B2Granted
Image forming apparatus including antenna in cover
AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsRyoichi Matsushima, Hirofumi Kondo, Yasuhiro Kato, Masayoshi Hayashi, Masato Sueyasu, Reiko Toyama
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus that utilizes a communication device is disclosed. A communication unit of a housing which corresponds to an antenna portion is provided at a position at which the communication unit can be seen without obstruction from the upper side. A communication device such as a smartphone can be brought close to or into contact with the communication unit readily. Accordingly, wireless communication between the antenna portion and the communication device can be established.
Claims10
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a feed tray configured to hold a sheet, the feed tray configured to move in forward and backward directions;
- an image forming portion configured to form an image on the sheet from the feed tray;
- a discharge tray;
- a discharge port configured to discharge the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming portion in a discharge direction along with the forward and backward directions;
- an antenna configured to communicate using NFC (Near Field Communication) type communication;
- and
- a housing including the discharge tray and configured to accommodate the image forming portion and the antenna,
- wherein the antenna is positioned below a communication region of an upper surface of the housing and faces upward toward the communication region of the upper surface of the housing, the communication region being displaced with respect to the discharge tray in a width direction that is perpendicular to the discharging direction and an up-down direction, and the communication region being provided downstream of the discharge port in the discharging direction.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.