Image Forming Cover Unit with Rotating Dust Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image forming apparatuses with protruding sheet stacking trays face issues of dust attachment leading to conveyance failures and image defects, particularly when using sheets of normal size, as existing dust covers either increase installation area or fail to prevent dust entry through openings.
Innovation Solution
A cover unit with a first and second cover portion that rotates about a shaft to open and close an opening, ensuring the exterior surface faces outward in the closed position, preventing dust attachment and entry, while allowing sheets of varying sizes to be stacked without increasing the apparatus' footprint.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a dust cover is installed to cover the sheet on the stacking tray, then dust attachment is prevented, but the installation area of the main body increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a rotatable second cover portion that can dynamically change its orientation between facing inward (open state) and facing outward (closed state). This dynamic configuration allows the dust cover to adapt to different sheet sizes while maintaining a compact footprint, preventing dust attachment without permanently increasing the installation area.
Solution Approach 2:
The dust cover is divided into a first cover portion and a second cover portion that can be independently positioned. The second cover portion can rotate to different orientations, creating segmented functional zones that accommodate both normal and large size sheets while maintaining dust protection and compact dimensions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If an opening portion is provided on the sheet rear end side of the dust cover to accommodate large size sheets, then large size sheets can be stacked, but dust enters through the opening portion in normal size sheet usage
Solution Approach 1:
The second cover portion is designed to rotatably change orientation based on sheet size. When normal size sheets are used, the second cover portion rotates to face outward, closing the opening and preventing dust entry. When large size sheets are used, it rotates to face inward, opening the passage for proper sheet accommodation. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between versatility and dust protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The opening portion is not a fixed structure but a dynamically controllable aperture whose state (open/closed) changes based on local requirements (sheet size). The second cover portion provides localized dust protection at the opening area while allowing the rest of the cover structure to maintain its compact form.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the second cover portion faces inward in the open state, then large size sheets can be accommodated, but the exterior surface should face outward in the closed state to maintain compact appearance
Solution Approach 1:
The second cover portion's orientation is dynamically controlled: it faces inward (open state) to accommodate large size sheets and faces outward (closed state) to maintain a compact appearance. This dynamic reconfiguration allows the same structure to satisfy both functional and aesthetic requirements under different operating conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes a stacking tray on which a sheet is stacked, a cover unit, and an apparatus main body having an image forming unit. The cover unit forms a sheet storage portion storing the sheet between the cover unit and the stacking tray, and covering the sheet stacked on the stacking tray. The cover unit includes a first cover portion attached to a second cover portion that rotates about a rotating shaft at a position on a sheet rear end side in a sheet conveying direction to open and close an opening that leads to the sheet storage portion. An exterior surface of the second cover portion faces outside the sheet storage portion when the second cover portion is closed to close the opening and faces up in a vertical direction when the second cover portion is in an open state where the opening is open.