Paper Ejection Tray Ribs Guide Paper to Prevent Buckling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing paper ejection tray assemblies face issues with paper buckling and push-off during ejection, leading to jams, and previous solutions either increase the size of the tray, reduce stacking capacity, or interfere with image reading processes.
Innovation Solution
A paper ejection tray assembly with a tray body and a pair of ribs that project from the stacking surface, featuring inclined surfaces to guide ejected paper and prevent buckling, along with a slide tray part and flap part that reduce friction and contact area to prevent push-off.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the landing angle is made smaller to prevent paper buckling, then paper buckling is prevented, but the inclination angle of the paper ejection tray assembly becomes smaller, causing stacked paper to be misaligned and requiring a stopper that increases the size of the assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The paper ejection tray assembly is segmented into multiple functional components: a tray body for stacking paper, a pair of ribs for guiding and supporting paper during ejection, a slide tray part for reducing friction, and a flap part for controlling paper movement. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently without requiring the entire assembly to be oversized.
Solution Approach 2:
The slide tray part is designed to slide relative to the tray body, dynamically adjusting its position to reduce friction between the paper and the tray surface during ejection. This dynamic mechanism allows the tray to adapt to different paper ejection scenarios without requiring a fixed stopper that increases assembly size.
2Force
If the height from the ejection slot to the paper ejection tray assembly is lowered to reduce load, then the load is reduced, but the maximum stacked capacity of paper is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The paper ejection tray assembly utilizes the width dimension by introducing a pair of ribs that extend across the tray. These ribs provide structural support and paper guidance in the width direction, allowing the tray to maintain a lower height (reducing landing load) while still achieving adequate paper stacking capacity through optimized use of horizontal space.
3Reliability
If paper eject rollers are used to stiffen paper in the longitudinal direction, then paper buckling is prevented, but the push-off force increases, causing stacked paper to be pushed and fall to the floor
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly stiffening the entire paper sheet with rollers along the ejection path, the invention applies localized support through a pair of ribs positioned strategically on the tray body. These ribs provide stiffness and guidance only where needed during the critical ejection phase, reducing unnecessary push-off force on the stacked paper while still preventing buckling of the ejected paper.
Solution Approach 2:
The pair of ribs act as intermediaries between the ejected paper and the tray body, providing gentle guidance and support during paper ejection. This intermediary mechanism reduces direct friction and push-off forces compared to using rollers, while still effectively preventing paper buckling through localized structural support.
4Reliability
If a stopper is provided at the end of the paper ejection tray assembly to prevent push-off and fall-off, then push-off and fall-off are prevented, but the size of the paper ejection tray assembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The slide tray part is designed to slide dynamically along the tray body during paper ejection, automatically adjusting its position to minimize friction and prevent paper push-off. This dynamic mechanism replaces the need for a static stopper, maintaining paper security without increasing the overall assembly size.
Solution Approach 2:
The pair of ribs and slide tray part work together to automatically guide and secure the ejected paper during the ejection process. The ribs provide structural guidance while the slide tray part adjusts to paper thickness and ejection force, creating a self-regulating system that prevents push-off without requiring additional stopper components.
Data Source
AI summary
A paper ejection tray assembly for ejecting paper in an ejecting direction in an image reading device includes a tray body including a stacking surface for stacking an ejected paper, and a pair of movable ribs which are arranged a predetermined distance apart from each other in a direction perpendicular to the ejection direction of the paper and which project out from the stacking surface of the tray body at least when paper is ejected from an ejection slot, the pair of ribs respectively have first inclined surfaces with heights from the stacking surface gradually becoming higher from the downstream side toward the upstream side of the ejection direction of the paper so as to guide the paper ejected from the ejection slot.