Bottom-Feeding Medium Separation via Friction Abutting Member
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medium feeding devices, such as those described in Japanese Patent No. 4820314, face challenges in reliably separating sheets from the bottommost position, leading to insufficient separation performance, especially when sheets are fed sequentially from the bottom instead of the top, and bank separating systems are not easily applicable to these configurations.
Innovation Solution
A medium feeding device with a feeding roller that contacts and rotates the bottommost sheet, a separator that nips the sheet, an abutting member with a friction surface that restricts sheet advancement, and a biasing member to adjust the friction surface's coefficient of friction, allowing for reliable separation and preventing obstruction by being switchable between closed and open postures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a bank separating system with a ramp is provided upstream of the separator, then the number of sheets advancing to the main separator is reduced, but the system cannot be applied to feeding devices that feed sheets from the bottommost sheet
Solution Approach 1:
The abutting member is configured to abut against the leading edge of sheets in a bottom-feeding configuration, which is the opposite of the traditional top-feeding ramp approach. This inversion allows the separation mechanism to be adapted to feeders that supply sheets from the bottommost position rather than the topmost position.
Solution Approach 2:
The abutting member acts as an intermediary element between the sheet stack and the separator. It provides a friction surface that contacts the leading edge of sheets, creating an intermediate separation mechanism that works effectively with bottom-feeding configurations where traditional ramps cannot be applied.
2Reliability
If the abutting member is biased toward the closed posture to restrict sheet advancement, then separation performance is improved, but the feeding path may be obstructed when not needed
Solution Approach 1:
The abutting member is designed to be movable between a closed posture (where it contacts the leading edge of sheets to provide separation) and an open posture (where it retracts to allow free feeding). The biasing member provides a restoring force that automatically returns the abutting member to the closed posture when not actively feeding, ensuring separation performance is maintained while allowing unobstructed feeding when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The biasing member pre-applies a force to keep the abutting member in the closed posture, anticipating the need for separation. This preliminary action ensures that the friction surface is ready to contact and separate sheets before feeding occurs, while the movable nature of the abutting member allows it to automatically open when sheets need to pass through without obstruction.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively restricts the number of sheets advancing to the separating position, ensuring reliable separation and reducing costs by simplifying the device configuration and allowing easy adjustment of separation capacity through friction surface adjustments.
Implementation Method 1
an abutting member that ... includes a friction surface at a position where the abutting member abuts against the leading edge
Data Source
AI summary
A medium feeding device including a medium mounting portion where media are mounted; a feeding roller that feeds the media from the medium mounting portion by contacting a bottommost sheet of the media mounted in the medium mounting portion, and rotating; a separator that separates a sheet of the media by nipping the sheet between the feeding roller and the separator; an abutting member that is provided above the feeding roller, is switchable between a closed posture that blocks a feeding path of the media upstream of the separator and an open posture that opens the feeding path, abuts against a leading edge of the media mounted in the medium mounting portion, and includes a friction surface at a position where the abutting member abuts against the leading edge; and a biasing member that biases the abutting member toward the closed posture.