Displaceable Media Guide for Deformation-Free Image Reading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image reading apparatuses risk deforming media due to contact with the placement surface when the medium is placed while sliding on a support in the second state.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a first guide that is displaceable between a housed and supporting position, inclining downward from upstream to downstream in the conveyance direction to guide the medium above or flush with the placement section's upstream end, preventing contact with the surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the support is made displaceable between housed and supporting positions, then the device can accommodate medium placement, but the medium may contact the placement surface end portion causing deformation
Solution Approach 1:
A guide member is introduced as an intermediary component between the medium and the placement surface. The guide member has a guide surface that directs the medium along a controlled path, preventing direct contact between the medium and the potentially harmful end portion of the placement surface, thus avoiding deformation while facilitating placement
2Productivity
If the first guide is positioned to support the medium, then medium conveyance is enabled, but the guide must be displaceable adding device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member is designed with dynamic positioning capability, allowing it to be displaced between a housed position (when no medium is present) and a supporting position (when medium needs to be conveyed). This dynamic adjustment enables the guide to perform its function only when needed, maintaining productivity while managing complexity through conditional activation
Data Source
AI summary
An image reading apparatus includes an enclosure; a placement section having a placement surface at which a medium is placed; a conveyer configured to convey the medium; a first guide that is displaceable between a first state and a second state, the first state being a state in which the first quide is located at a housed position where the first quide is housed in the enclosure above the placement section, the second state being a state in which the first quide is located at a supporting position where the first guide supports the medium; and an image reader configured to read an image from the medium conveyed by the conveyer, and the first guide in the second state inclines downward in a conveyance direction, and guides the conveyed medium to a position above an upstream end of the placement section or a position flush with the upstream end of the placement section.