Printer Output Tray Structure to Prevent Paper Jamming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printing apparatuses with retractable trays face issues of deteriorated appearance quality due to exposed guide units and potential discharge failures from protruding tray surfaces, which can lead to paper-jamming.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a protruding portion on the tray's supporting surface and a convex portion that guides the discharged medium away from the protruding portion, ensuring the guide unit is hidden and preventing contact during discharge.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the tray surface protrudes in the width direction to cover the guide unit, then the appearance quality is improved, but the recording medium may contact the protruding portion causing discharge failure
Solution Approach 1:
The tray surface is segmented into different functional zones: a protruding portion for aesthetic purposes and a convex portion for functional guidance. This segmentation allows the protruding portion to improve appearance while the convex portion ensures proper medium discharge by guiding it away from the protruding area.
Solution Approach 2:
The convex portion acts as an intermediary element between the protruding portion and the discharged recording medium. It guides the medium along a path that avoids contact with the protruding portion, thus preventing discharge failures while maintaining the aesthetic benefit of the protruding design.
2Ease of operation
If the guide unit is exposed between the outer cover and tray, then the tray can be properly guided, but the appearance quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The guide unit is nested within the tray structure, specifically positioned within the recessed area surrounded by the protruding portion. This nesting allows the guide unit to remain functional for tray guidance while being hidden from external view, improving appearance quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide function is extracted from a traditional exposed configuration and integrated into the tray's internal structure. The guide unit is taken out from the external space between the cover and tray and repositioned within the tray's recessed area, maintaining functionality while improving aesthetics.
Data Source
AI summary
A printing apparatus includes a discharge unit and a tray. The discharge unit discharges a recording medium printed by a print unit in a first direction. The tray includes a supporting surface that supports the recording medium discharged from the discharge unit, a protruding portion that forms part of the supporting surface and that protrudes in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and a convex portion that is provided on the supporting surface and that protrudes upward from the supporting surface. The convex portion is formed on an inner side of the protruding portion in the second direction and overlaps the protruding portion in the first direction.