Pivoting Cover and Guide Member Engagement Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses face challenges with the engagement of rear covers and guide members, which can lead to damage and are laborious to operate, due to the need for bending during the engagement process.
Innovation Solution
The design includes a guide member and a cover with spaced centers of pivotal movement, featuring a first and second engaging portion that are guided by an engagement guiding portion to easily interlock without requiring significant bending, allowing for a more straightforward and damage-reduced assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the rear cover and guide member are engaged by bending one of them, then the engagement is achieved, but the risk of damage increases and the process becomes laborious
Solution Approach 1:
An engagement guiding portion is introduced as an intermediary element between the first engaging portion (on the guide member) and the second engaging portion (on the rear cover). This guiding portion ensures proper alignment and facilitates automatic engagement without requiring the user to bend either component, thereby resolving the contradiction between engagement reliability and ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement guiding portion performs preliminary alignment action before the actual engagement occurs. By pre-positioning the first and second engaging portions correctly relative to each other, the system eliminates the need for bending operations during the engagement process, making the operation easier while maintaining reliable engagement
2Ease of operation
If the center of pivotal movement of the cover is spaced apart from the center of pivotal movement of the guide member, then the engagement is facilitated, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pivotal movement system is segmented into two independent centers - one for the guide member and another for the rear cover. This segmentation allows each component to pivot independently around its own center, enabling the engagement guiding portion to effectively align the engaging portions without requiring complex interconnected pivotal mechanisms, thus facilitating easier engagement while managing structural complexity
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, an image forming unit, a guide member, and a cover. The guide member is configured to be pivotable with respect to the apparatus body and is configured to guide the sheet along a transporting path. The cover is configured to be pivotable with respect to the apparatus body and is configured to open and close at least a part of the transporting path. The guide member includes a first engaging portion and the cover includes a second engaging portion which engages the first engaging portion of the guide member. One of the guide member and the cover includes an engagement guiding portion which guides one of the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion toward the other one of the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion, such that the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion engages with each other.