1. A steering apparatus comprising:
a column pipe;
an outer column including an embracing main body portion that allows the column pipe to freely move in a front-rear direction and fixes the column pipe, and clamping portions that extend and contract the embracing main body portion in a diametric direction;
a fixing bracket having a fixing side portion that holds widthwise opposite sides of the outer column in a sandwiching manner;
a stopper bracket including an telescopic slot secured to the column pipe and positioned on a front side and an impact absorbing slot positioned on a rear side and having a collapse portion that absorbs an impact at a time of a secondary collision, the telescopic slot and the impact absorbing slot being contiguously formed along an axial direction; and
a clamper having a bolt shaft inserted through the clamping portions, the fixing side portion, and the stopper bracket and collapsing the collapse portion,
wherein the stopper bracket is disposed between the clamping portions and is separated from the clamping portions when the outer column is clamped using the clamper.
2. The steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collapse portion of the stopper bracket is formed as a partitioning projecting piece positioned between the telescopic slot and the impact absorbing slot, and the partitioning projecting piece is bent by a collision with the bolt shaft at the time of a secondary collision.
3. The steering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stopper bracket comprises a first hanging plate-like portion and a second hanging plate-like portion extending along an axial direction of the column pipe and disposed at a predetermined distance in the diametric direction, the telescopic slot, the impact absorbing slot, and the collapse portion are formed in the first hanging plate-like portion, and a slot through which the bolt shaft is freely inserted and is relatively movable is formed in the second hanging plate-like portion.
4. The steering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stopper bracket comprises a first hanging plate-like portion and a second hanging plate-like portion extending along an axial direction of the column pipe and disposed at a predetermined distance in the diametric direction, the telescopic slot, the impact absorbing slot, and the partitioning projecting piece are formed in each of the first and second hanging plate-like portions, and the partitioning projecting pieces of the first and second hanging plate-like portions are positioned differently from each other in a front-rear direction.
5. The steering apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the partitioning projecting piece of the first hanging plate-like portions differs in height wise dimension from the partitioning projecting piece of the second hanging plate-like portion.
6. The steering apparatus according to claim 4, wherein substantially circular cutout-like groove portions are formed at a vehicle body front-side end portion of the telescopic slot and near a vehicle body front-side root of the partitioning projecting piece, a circular base portion of a cushioning member formed of both the base portion and a tail portion extending outward from the base portion is fitted in each of the cutout-like groove portions, and the tail portion comes into abutting contact with the partitioning projecting piece side along the partitioning projecting piece side.
7. The steering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein substantially circular cutout-like groove portions are formed at a vehicle body front-side end portion of the telescopic slot and near a vehicle body front-side root of the partitioning projecting piece, a circular base portion of a cushioning member formed of both the base portion and a tail portion extending outward from the base portion is fitted in each of the cutout-like groove portions, and the tail portion comes into abutting contact with the partitioning projecting piece side along the partitioning projecting piece side.
8. The steering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stopper bracket comprises one hanging plate-like portion extending along the axial direction of the column pipe, and the telescopic slot, the impact absorbing slot, and the collapse portion are formed in the hanging plate-like portion.
9. The steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collapse portion of the stopper bracket is formed by setting a vertical width dimension of the impact absorbing slot to be smaller than a diameter of the bolt shaft.
10. The steering apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the stopper bracket comprises a first hanging plate-like portion and a second hanging plate-like portion extending along an axial direction of the column pipe and disposed at a predetermined distance in the diametric direction, the telescopic slot, the impact absorbing slot, and the collapse portion are formed in the first hanging plate-like portion, and a slot through which the bolt shaft is freely inserted and is relatively movable is formed in the second hanging plate-like portion.
11. The steering apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the stopper bracket comprises one hanging plate-like portion extending along the axial direction of the column pipe, and the telescopic slot, the impact absorbing slot, and the collapse portion are formed in the hanging plate-like portion.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a belt unit having a frame, and at least three rollers supported by the frame, and an intermediate transfer belt supported on the exterior surface of the three rollers, and wherein the intermediate transfer belt includes a horizontal belt section;
a plurality of image forming units arranged opposite the horizontal belt section of the intermediate transfer belt for overlaying images of different colors to form an overlay image; and
a transfer device for transferring the overlay image formed on the intermediate transfer belt onto a sheet;
wherein the belt unit is supported so as to be removable from the image forming apparatus in a direction perpendicular to the roller shafts and parallel to horizontal belt section.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the belt unit has belt cleaner in contact with the belt on the upstream side of the image forming unit on a extreme upstream side in belt travel direction, and the belt cleaner is integratedly formed with the belt unit so as to be removable together.
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein top of the image forming apparatus is provided with a discharge tray for ejecting sheets bearing a transferred overlay image, wherein the discharge tray is inclined upward in direction of the sheet ejection, and the intermediate transfer belt has an inclined belt section parallel to the discharge tray.
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the image forming unit comprises an optical system unit for forming an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive member, and a photosensitive member unit removable from the image forming apparatus body and having at least a photosensitive member and a developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member, wherein the direction of removal of the belt unit is perpendicular to the removal direction of the photosensitive member unit.
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4,
wherein the photosensitive member unit is removed in a frontward of the image forming apparatus body.
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5,
wherein the photosensitive member unit is provided with a cleaning device for cleaning the optical system unit when the photosensitive member unit is removed.
7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5,
further comprises a sensor of a registration sensor or toner density sensor is provided medially to the transfer section and the photosensitive member unit on the uppermost upstream side in the direction of belt travel, and a cleaning unit for cleaning the sensors when the photosensitive member unit is removed is provided in the photosensitive member unit.
8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5,
wherein the photosensitive member unit is approximately square in shape when viewed from the direction of removal of the photosensitive member unit.
9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the transfer device is arranged opposite the roller through the belt near the image forming unit on the farthest downstream side in the direction of belt travel, and the belt unit is removable in a direction separating the belt unit from the transfer device.
10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9,
wherein the belt unit is removable in a retraction direction from both the transfer section and the image forming unit.
11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
further comprises a suction device for suctioning ozone generated by a discharger of the image forming unit is provided below the image forming unit.
12. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a belt unit having a frame, and at least three rollers supported by the frame, and an intermediate transfer belt supported on the exterior surface of the three rollers, and wherein the intermediate transfer belt includes a horizontal belt section;
a plurality of image forming units arranged opposite the horizontal belt section of the intermediate transfer belt for overlaying images of different colors to form an overlay image;
a transfer device for transferring the overlay image formed on the intermediate transfer belt onto a sheet; and
a body frame for containing the belt unit and the image forming units and having a first vertical frame in which an opening is formed to remove the belt unit in first direction and a second vertical frame in which an opening is formed to remove the image forming units in second direction.
13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12,
wherein the first vertical frame is arranged as a side frame and the second vertical frame is arranged as a front frame.