Pivoting Tray Mechanism for Reliable Sheet Positioning
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet storing devices in printers fail to reliably position and retain trays in fixed positions, leading to incorrect feed roller placement and potential damage during sheet feeding.
Innovation Solution
A sheet storing device with a tray that can pivot between two positions, linked to a container via a pivoting mechanism, ensuring accurate positioning and retention, allowing the feed roller to correctly feed sheets of different sizes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the second tray is made slidable on the first tray to allow flexible positioning, then the adaptability of the sheet storing device is improved, but the reliability of tray positioning deteriorates causing incorrect feed roller placement and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The tray is designed to be movable between different positions (first position and second position) along the first direction, allowing dynamic adjustment. The linking unit enables this movement while maintaining controlled positioning, resolving the contradiction between flexibility and reliability by making the system dynamically adjustable yet reliably positionable.
Solution Approach 2:
The linking unit acts as an intermediary mechanism between the first tray and the second tray. It connects the two trays and enables controlled movement of the second tray relative to the first tray, providing both the flexibility needed for position adjustment and the reliability needed for accurate positioning through its structured connection.
2Reliability
If the second tray is made fixed to ensure stable positioning, then the reliability of tray positioning is improved, but the adaptability of the sheet storing device deteriorates limiting sheet size options
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses dynamic positioning where the second tray can be placed in specific positions (first position for standard size, second position for larger size) based on the sheet being used. This provides reliability at each positioned state while maintaining adaptability across different configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The second tray is designed to serve multiple functions by accommodating different sheet sizes through its ability to occupy different positions. The same tray structure handles both standard size sheets (when in first position) and larger size sheets (when in second position), providing universal functionality.
3Manufacturing precision
If the feed roller is positioned close to the second tray to improve sheet feeding accuracy, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional positioning mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The linking unit serves as an intermediary that connects the second tray to the first tray, enabling the second tray to move to positions close to the feed roller while maintaining a simple overall structure. This intermediary mechanism provides the necessary positioning capability without requiring complex independent positioning systems for each tray.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning functionality is merged into the linking unit that connects the two trays. Rather than having separate positioning mechanisms for each tray, the linking unit's movement capability is used to position the second tray accurately relative to the feed roller, reducing overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A sheet storing device includes a container including a first holding surface configured to hold a first sheet thereon, and a tray positioned at an upper side of the container. The tray includes a second holding surface configured to hold a second sheet thereon. The tray is configured to selectively move between a first position and a second position downstream from the first position in a first direction. The sheet storing device further includes a positioning unit configured to selectively position the tray in one of the first position and the second position, and a linking unit configured to link the tray to the container and to pivot about a particular pivot axis which extends in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and parallel to the first holding surface of the container. The linking unit pivots to selectively move the tray between the first position and the second position.