Image forming apparatus
AssigneeKYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
InventorsKeiju Ishida, Takehiro Sato, Sachio Izumichi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A main body includes a first opening and a second opening. A first cover member is capable of opening and closing the first opening. A second cover member is capable of opening and closing the second opening. At least a part of a fixing device can be drawn out from the main body via the second opening. A latch mechanism latches the second cover member at a closing position. A release mechanism is arranged at a position that can be accessed from the first opening in the main body and releases the latch of the second cover member by the latch mechanism upon receiving an external force.
Claims5
An image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a main body including a first opening and a second opening formed in a direction different from that of the first opening;
- a sheet conveying path which is arranged in the main body and passes through a specific position inside the first opening;
- a first cover member which is capable of opening and closing the first opening and is opened to thus open a part of the sheet conveying path;
- a second cover member which is capable of opening and closing the second opening;
- a fixing device which is arranged at the specific position in the main body, includes a heater and a fixing member which is heated by the heater and also heats a toner image formed on a sheet that passes through the specific position, and at least a part of which can be drawn out from the main body via the second opening;
- a restriction portion which is arranged in the main body and restricts a movement toward the first opening of the fixing device;
- a latch mechanism which latches the second cover member at a closing position;
- a release mechanism which is arranged at a position that can be accessed from the first opening in the main body and releases the latch of the second cover member by the latch mechanism upon receiving an external force;
- and
- an access limitation portion which protrudes toward the restriction portion at an edge of the first opening, wherein
- the latch mechanism includes an elastic latch portion which can be elastically deformed from a latching shape for latching the second cover member to a releasing shape for releasing the latch of the second cover member,
- the release mechanism includes a movable member which is arranged in a region more apart from the first opening than a region between the restriction portion and the access limitation portion, and biases the elastic latch portion when the movable member moves from a first position to a second position upon receiving the external force, the second position being more apart from the first opening than the first position, to thus cause the elastic latch portion to be deformed from the latching shape to the releasing shape,
- the restriction portion restricts the movement of the movable member toward an opposite side of a side of the first position from the second position, and
- the access limitation portion limits a size of an access path from the first opening to a region on an opposite side of a side of the second position with respect to the movable member in the main body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.