IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS THAT INDICATES OPERATING STATUS USING LUMINOUS BODY

摘要

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming section, a body housing, a protruding housing, a light diffusing portion, a light source, a light guide path, and a control unit. The image forming section performs image formation on a sheet. The body housing is formed by a box body with a top surface, and contains the image forming section. The protruding housing is located on the top surface, and has a top portion protruding upwardly above the top surface. The light diffusing portion is located in or near the top portion of the protruding housing. The light source is located inside the body housing or the protruding housing, and emits light. The light guide path guides light emitted by the light source to the light diffusing portion. The control unit controls illumination of the light source based on the information related to the image formation.

主权项

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an image forming section configured to perform image formation on a sheet; a body housing formed by a box body with a top surface, a back side surface and a front side surface and configured to contain the image forming section; a protruding housing located on the top surface and having a top portion protruding upwardly above the top surface; a light diffusing portion disposed in the protruding housing; a light source located inside the body housing or the protruding housing and configured to emit light; a light guide configured to guide light emitted by the light source to the light diffusing portion; and a control unit configured to control illumination of the light source depending on a state of the image forming apparatus, wherein the light diffusing portion is formed by a transparent member having a light diffusing surface for diffusing the light outwardly, the protruding housing includes an upward slope raising to the top portion in a first direction which extends from the front side surface toward the back side surface, a downward slope falling from the top surface in the first direction, and a groove, the groove formed by a recessed part of the top portion, the groove extends in the first direction over the downward slope from the upward slope, the light diffusing portion is positioned inside the groove and has a mountain-like cross-sectional shape with a peak in the first direction, and the light diffusing portion includes a first surface facing the front side surface which is one inclined surface of the mountain-like shape and a second surface facing the back side surface which is another inclined surface of the mountain-like shape.