Rotating Cover and Regulating Wall for Compact Toner Cartridge Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge is to design an image forming apparatus that allows for compact opening and closing of the opening and closing member without hindering the attachment and detachment of the cartridge and interfering with the apparatus main body, while accommodating the increased size of the cartridge due to higher toner capacity and reduced installation space.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus features a rotatable opening and closing member with a supported portion that moves between positions, a discharging roller for sheet discharge, and a regulating wall to manage sheet positioning, allowing for compact operation without increasing the apparatus main body height or rotational angle, ensuring smooth cartridge attachment and detachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the cartridge size is increased to accommodate higher toner capacity, then the toner storage capacity is improved, but the apparatus size and installation space requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The image forming apparatus is divided into a cartridge unit and an apparatus main body. The cartridge, which contains the toner, is made detachable and can be replaced independently. This segmentation allows the toner capacity to be increased in the cartridge without necessarily increasing the size of the apparatus main body, as the cartridge can be optimized separately for capacity while the main body maintains a compact design.
2Ease of operation
If the opening and closing member is designed to rotate through a large angle to expose the opening portion, then the accessibility for cartridge attachment and detachment is improved, but the apparatus height and complexity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The opening and closing member is designed to rotate between a closed position (covering the opening portion) and an open position (exposing the opening portion). This dynamic mechanism allows the apparatus to maintain a compact height when closed while providing full accessibility when opened, resolving the contradiction between compact size and ease of operation.
3Volume of stationary object
If the opening and closing member is made compact to reduce apparatus height, then the installation space is improved, but the ability to accommodate cartridge attachment and detachment processes worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The opening and closing member rotates in a dimensional space that allows it to sweep from a compact closed position to an open position that exposes the cartridge access area. This rotational movement in three-dimensional space enables the apparatus to maintain a compact footprint while providing full access to the cartridge during the attachment and detachment processes.
Data Source
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AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus main body to which a cartridge is detachably attached. The apparatus main body includes a frame having an opening portion through which the cartridge is attached to the apparatus main body; an opening and closing member supported by the frame rotatably between an open position in which the opening portion is exposed and a closed position in which the opening portion is covered with the opening and closing member and having a stacking surface on which a sheet is to be stacked; a discharging roller discharging the sheet in a discharging direction onto the stacking surface; and a regulating wall which is movably attached to the opening and closing member and extends from the stacking surface toward the discharging roller in a direction intersecting the discharging direction to regulate an upstream edge of the sheet in the discharging direction.