Image forming apparatus and operating device

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• a lower housing having an interior space;
• an image forming section disposed in the interior space and configured to form an image on a sheet;
• a discharge section disposed on an upper surface of the lower housing and configured to receive the sheet discharged;
• an upper housing disposed above the discharge section in spaced relation with the discharge section;
• and
• an operating section projecting forward from the upper housing, wherein the operating section includes
• an input section configured to receive input of image forming information, and
• a display section disposed adjacent to the input section and configured to display the image forming information thereon,
• the display section includes a rotating shaft on a front edge side of the display section,
• a position of the display section is switchable between a first position and a second position,
• the first position is where the display section is flush with the input section,
• the second position is where the display section is tilted forward more than the input section, by turning the display section on the rotating shaft on the front edge side of the display section as a pivot to raise a rear edge side of the display section upward from the first position,
• the image forming apparatus further comprising a moving mechanism section configured to move the display section between the first position and the second position,
• the moving mechanism section includes a push button disposed at a position corresponding to the rear edge side in one of edge portions of the display section, the edge portions being opposed in a right-and-left direction of the display section,
• the right-and-left direction is perpendicular to an up-and-down direction and a front-to-rear direction of the operating section,
• the push button is spaced from the rotating shaft in the font-to-rear direction,
• in response to a force pushing the push button, the display section is allowed to be moved between the first position and the second position,
• in response to release of the force pushing the push button, the display section is locked in either the first position or the second position,
• the display section has a rectangular shape with a prescribed width in the right-and-left direction,
• the moving mechanism section further includes a pair of lock sections, one of the lock sections being disposed in the one edge portion and another of the lock sections being disposed in another edge portion of the display section opposed in the right-and-left direction,
• in response to the release of the force pushing the push button, the pair of lock sections locks the display section to the upper housing in either the first position or the second position,
• the display section includes
• a frame section having a rectangular shape, and
• a display panel disposed in the frame section and configured to display the image forming information thereon,
• the push button is exposed from the frame section at the one edge portion of the display section and configured to be pushed in a pushing direction from the one edge portion toward the other edge portion of the display section in the right-and-left direction,
• the moving mechanism section includes
• a moving member attached to an inside of the frame section at the rear edge side of the display section,
• the push button is connected to one end side of the moving member in the right-and-left direction,
• the moving member includes a spring anchoring portion disposed on the other end side of the moving member in the right-and-left direction,
• the moving mechanism further includes
• a biasing spring disposed in compression between the spring anchoring portion of the moving member and the frame section and configured to bias the push button via the moving member in a biasing direction that is opposite to the pushing direction,
• a pair of guide pins being part of the lock sections and disposed in spaced relation with each other in the right-and-left direction, and
• a guide plate secured to the upper housing,
• the guide pins each project from the moving member toward rear in a direction perpendicular to the pushing direction,
• the guide plate includes a pair of guide grooves being part of the lock sections and configured to receive the pair of guide pins therethrough so as to allow the pair of guide pins movable, and
• in response to upward pulling of the push button, the pushing button and the frame section of the display section becomes turnable integrally upward about the rotating shaft as a pivot via the moving member.

An operating device disposed to project forward from an upper housing of an image forming apparatus, the operating device comprising:

• an input section configured to receive input of image forming information;
• a display section disposed adjacent to the input section and configured to display the image forming information thereon;
• and
• an opening opening upward in a rear edge portion of the operating device, wherein
• the display section includes a frame section,
• the frame section includes a first side wall, a second side wall, a pair of rotating shafts, and a rear wall,
• the rear wall connects a rear edge of the first side wall and a rear edge of the second side wall in a right-and-left direction,
• the right-and-left direction is perpendicular to an up-and-down direction and a front-to-rear direction of the operating device,
• the rotating shafts project from respective front edge portions of the first and second side walls in the right-and-left direction,
• the second side wall has a cutaway portion in a rear edge portion of the second side wall,
• a position of the display section is switchable between a first position and a second position,
• the first position is where the display section is flush with the input section,
• the second position is where the display section is tilted forward more than the input section, by turning the display section on the rotating shaft on the front edge side of the display section as pivots to raise a rear edge side of the display section upward from the first position,
• the operating device further comprising a moving mechanism section configured to move the display section between the first position and the second position,
• the moving mechanism section includes
• a moving member attached inside the frame section of the display section, and
• a push button disposed at a position corresponding to the rear edge side in one of edge portions of the display section, the edge potions being opposed in the right-and-left direction of the display section, the push button being spaced one of the pair of rotating shafts in the front-to-rear direction, the push button being inserted through the cutaway portion of the second side wall to be exposed from the frame section and accommodated in the opening,
• in response to upward pulling of the push button, the push button and the frame section of the display section become rotatable integrally upward about the respective rotating shafts as pivots via the moving section,
• the push button includes
• a push portion configured to be pushed or held by a user, and
• a base end portion connected to the moving member,
• the push portion is exposed from the opening and extends upward from the base end portion in the opening,
• in response to a force pushing the push button, the display section is allowed to be moved between the first position and the second position, and
• in response to release of the force pushing the push button, the display section is locked in either the first position or the second position.