Movable Sheet Discharge Tray for Image Scanner

The sheet discharge tray is designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing it to automatically adjust its position. When documents are discharged, the tray moves downstream to accommodate them, and when documents are removed, it moves upstream to maintain a compact profile. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by providing stability during discharge while minimizing protrusion at other times.

The movable sheet discharge tray is configured to nest within or alongside the main body of the image-reading device when not in use. The tray can be retracted into a space within the device housing, allowing the projection function to be integrated without increasing the overall device footprint, thus resolving the contradiction between stability and compactness.

The sheet discharge tray is designed with vertical movement capability, allowing it to adjust its height position dynamically. During document discharge, the tray can move to an optimal position for stability, while during storage or non-use periods, it retracts to a lower position that maintains a compact overall device height, thus resolving the contradiction between discharge stability and device compactness.

Instead of resolving the height contradiction by adjusting vertical position only, the invention utilizes horizontal movement and three-dimensional space utilization. The movable tray can shift in multiple directions and utilize available space within the device housing, allowing stability to be achieved through spatial optimization rather than simply increasing device height.