ADF Control Unit for Document Jam Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image reading apparatuses face challenges in efficiently handling and processing folded or crumpled documents, leading to potential jamming and stacking failures due to difficulties in aligning and conveying such documents, especially when dealing with large numbers.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus includes a document tray, detection unit, sheet feeding unit, conveyance unit, reading unit, sheet discharge unit, and a control unit that operates in multiple modes to manage document feeding and discharge, stopping the feeding process when a predetermined number of sheets is reached or continuing feeding regardless of detection results, ensuring efficient handling of documents with varying sizes and orientations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the sheet feeding unit continuously feeds documents in the ADF, then the productivity of document reading is improved, but folded or crumpled documents may cause stacking failure or jamming on the sheet discharge tray
Solution Approach 1:
The detection unit continuously monitors the document tray for document presence and provides feedback to the control unit. When no document is detected, the control unit stops the sheet feeding unit to prevent jamming. This feedback mechanism allows continuous operation while preventing errors, resolving the contradiction between productivity and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the feeding operation based on real-time detection results. The control unit switches between feeding and stopping states according to whether documents are present on the tray, enabling the system to adapt to varying document conditions and maintain both high productivity and reliability.
2Reliability
If the sheet feeding unit stops feeding when a predetermined number of sheets is reached, then document stacking reliability is improved, but continuous processing efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit implements periodic feeding cycles where the sheet feeding unit operates for a predetermined number of sheets, then pauses to allow proper stacking on the discharge tray. This periodic action pattern ensures reliable stacking while maintaining overall processing efficiency by automatically resuming after each cycle completes.
Data Source
AI summary
An image reading apparatus controls a sheet feeding unit such that in a reading job in which a plurality of documents on a document tray is continuously fed, continuous feeding of the documents is stopped in response to changing of a detection state in which a document is detected on the document tray to a non-detection state in which no document is detected on the document tray. The control unit executes a first mode in which the sheet feeding unit stops the continuous feeding of the documents in a case where the number of documents having been discharged continuously in the reading job has reached a predetermined number of sheets, regardless of a detection result of the detection unit, and a second mode which continues the continuous feeding of the documents regardless of the number of documents having been discharged continuously.