Medium Feeding Device Optical Transport Disorder Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medium feeding devices in image reading and recording apparatuses face challenges in accurately detecting transport disorders, such as jamming, due to decreased friction between rollers and sheets, leading to potential device failure.
Innovation Solution
A medium feeding device equipped with an imaging unit that captures the medium tip end portion from the downstream side of the nipping position, allowing for accurate determination of transport disorders by evaluating the state of the boundary between the medium transport path and the tip end using image data, and a determining unit that sets a rectangular region to assess the boundary length and angle, along with brightness thresholds to detect skewing and jamming.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a driven roller is used to detect jamming by rotation detection, then jamming can be detected, but false detection occurs when friction decreases due to aging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical rotation detection system with an optical imaging system. Instead of using a driven roller with rotary encoder to detect jamming, the invention uses an imaging unit to capture images of the medium tip end portion and determines transport disorders by analyzing the boundary state between the path member and medium tip end in the captured images. This substitution eliminates the friction dependency issue while maintaining detection capability.
2Reliability
If friction between driven roller and sheet decreases due to aging, then the driven roller may stop, but this causes erroneous jamming detection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical friction-based detection system with an optical imaging-based system. The imaging unit captures images and the determining unit analyzes the boundary state between the path member and medium tip end, eliminating dependency on friction forces and driven roller rotation. This approach maintains detection reliability without being affected by aging-related friction degradation.
3Measurement precision
If image processing is used to detect transport disorder, then detection accuracy improves, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by defining a specific determining region in the captured image that focuses only on the boundary area between the path member and medium tip end. This segmentation approach allows the determining unit to concentrate processing resources on the critical boundary state analysis, improving detection precision while controlling processing complexity through targeted region analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
A medium feeding device includes an imaging unit which images a medium tip end portion from a position of facing a face of the medium on a downstream side of a nipping position of the medium using a feeding unit and a separating unit; and a determining unit which determines whether or not there is transport disorder by evaluating a state of a boundary between a path member which forms a medium transport path and a medium tip end from image data obtained by the imaging unit, in which the determining unit sets a rectangular determining region including at least a part of the boundary with respect to the image data, and determines whether or not there is transport disorder based on a length of a boundary in the determining region.