Extended Bottom Plate Support for Sheet Feeding Parallelism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet feeding devices face challenges in maintaining the parallelism of extended bottom plates during vertical movement, leading to potential sheet feed failures such as paper jams, especially when accommodating long sheets.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a sheet feeding device with an extended bottom plate supported by a casing and a support mechanism, where the support is fixed to the upstream end of the extended bottom plate and slides along a reinforcement member within the casing, maintaining the parallelism of the extended bottom plate during vertical movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If an extended bottom plate is attached protruding outward from the sheet feeding device to accommodate long sheets, then the adaptability for different sheet sizes is improved, but the extended bottom plate may warp or incline due to lack of support
Solution Approach 1:
A support member is introduced as an intermediary element between the extended bottom plate and the casing. This support member extends from the inner wall of the casing to contact the extended bottom plate, providing necessary support without being directly attached to the plate itself, thus preventing warping while maintaining adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The support member extends in the sheet conveyance direction (horizontal dimension) from the casing wall to reach the extended bottom plate, providing support from a different spatial dimension rather than from below, which effectively prevents warping and inclination
2Stability of the object's composition
If a support is used to support the extended bottom plate from below, then the stability of the extended bottom plate is improved, but the support may cause deflection of the side face of the sheet feeding device
Solution Approach 1:
The support member acts as an intermediary that transfers the load from the extended bottom plate to the casing's inner wall, rather than having the support directly contact the side face. This prevents deflection of the side face while maintaining support functionality
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of supporting the extended bottom plate from below (vertical dimension), the support member extends horizontally from the side wall of the casing to contact the plate, providing support from a different dimension that avoids causing deflection of the side face
3Adaptability or versatility
If the extended bottom plate is made longer to accommodate long sheets, then the adaptability for different sheet sizes is improved, but the parallelism of the extended bottom plate during vertical movement deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The support member serves as a mediator that maintains the parallelism of the extended bottom plate during vertical movement by providing continuous support from the casing wall, preventing the plate from tilting or losing parallelism even when extended for long sheets
Data Source
AI summary
A sheet feeding device includes a sheet tray, an extended bottom plate, a casing, and a support. The sheet tray includes a bottom plate and feeds a sheet placed on the bottom plate, toward an image forming apparatus. The extended bottom plate extends outward from the sheet feeding device and is coupled to an upstream end of the bottom plate of the sheet tray in a sheet conveyance direction in which the sheet is conveyed. The casing is attached to a side face of the sheet feeding device to cover the extended bottom plate. The support is disposed between an inner wall face of the casing and the extended bottom plate to support a weight load of the extended bottom plate.