Medium Discharging Tray Protrusion and Stopper Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
In image reading apparatuses with automatic document feeders, small media such as cards tend to enter the accommodating space of the medium receiving tray or get bounced back into the device due to the tray's design, leading to inefficiencies in discharge and potential damage.
Innovation Solution
The medium discharging device incorporates a base tray with a first protrusion portion and a main extending unit featuring a second protrusion portion that overlap in the thickness direction, along with a stopper mechanism that can switch between regulating and accommodated postures to prevent media from entering the tray's accommodating space, ensuring reliable discharge and preventing jumping out.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a multistage discharged paper accommodating tray with sub tray is used to extend the medium receiving face, then the receiving capacity and adaptability for different media sizes are improved, but the risk of small media entering the accommodating space or bouncing back increases
Solution Approach 1:
A stopper member is introduced as an intermediary element between the discharged medium and the accommodating space. The stopper member physically blocks the path that small media would otherwise take to enter the accommodating space or bounce back, while not interfering with the normal discharging and accommodating functions of the tray system.
Solution Approach 2:
The stopper member is positioned in advance to prevent the harmful action of media entering the accommodating space before it can occur. By having the stopper member already in place at the critical location, the system proactively prevents the bouncing back and entering problems rather than reacting to them after they occur.
2Ease of operation
If the medium receiving face is inclined upward toward the free end side to facilitate discharge, then the ease of discharge is improved, but small-sized media tend to return to the base tray side and enter the accommodating space
Solution Approach 1:
The stopper member serves as a mediator that counteracts the harmful effect of the upward inclination. While the inclination facilitates the forward motion of media during discharge, the stopper member positioned at the free end prevents media from reversing direction and returning to the base tray, thus maintaining both ease of discharge and reliability.
3Reliability
If a stopper is provided at the tip end to prevent jumping out of medium, then the containment of media is improved, but the discharged medium comes into contact with the stopper and is bounced back into the device
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful bouncing function is extracted and eliminated by repositioning the stopper function to a different location. Instead of having the stopper at the tip end where it causes bouncing, the stopper member is positioned at the free end of the sub tray, separating the containment function from the harmful contact point and eliminating the bouncing problem while maintaining media containment.
Data Source
AI summary
A medium discharging device includes a discharging unit which discharges a medium; and a medium receiving tray which receives the medium discharged by the discharging unit, and is switched between an extended state and an accommodated state, in which the medium receiving tray is provided with a base tray, a main extending unit that is accommodated or extended, and at least one sub-extending unit that is accommodated or extended, and in which the base tray forms an accommodating space for accommodating at least the one sub-extending unit, and is provided with a first protrusion portion protruding toward the accommodating space.