Sheet Accumulation Apparatus with Movable Stopper for Tabbed Sheets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sheet accumulation apparatuses face challenges in uniformly loading and aligning mixed sheets, including tabbed and standard sheets, leading to incorrect posture and complex finishing operations, resulting in potential binding errors and page order deviations.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus employs a sheet front end regulating member with movable stopper members and a tabbed sheet discriminating member to adjust the position of sheets based on the presence of tabs, ensuring tabs project towards the front, allowing for uniform alignment and storage of mixed sheets without user re-alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If tabbed sheets are discharged together with standard sheets from the sheet outlet, then the sheets can be mixed and accumulated on the tray, but the tabbed parts collide against the stopper member and are regulated in position, causing the sheets to be loaded incorrectly or not at all
Solution Approach 1:
The stopper member is made movable in the sheet discharging direction, allowing its position to be dynamically adjusted based on sheet type. When a tabbed sheet is detected, the stopper member moves to a second position that accommodates the tab, preventing collision and incorrect loading while maintaining proper alignment for standard sheets at the first position
Solution Approach 2:
A tabbed sheet discriminating member detects the presence of tabs on discharged sheets and provides feedback to the control means, which then controls the stopper member position accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures the stopper member is positioned correctly for each sheet type, preventing loading errors
2Manufacturing precision
If the stopper member is positioned to match standardized sheets, then standard sheets can be loaded correctly, but tabbed sheets collide against the stopper member and cannot be loaded in correct posture
Solution Approach 1:
The stopper member transitions from a fixed position to a movable one, enabling it to adapt between two positions: the first position for standard sheets and the second position for tabbed sheets. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to maintain alignment accuracy for standard sheets while accommodating tabbed sheets without collision
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the stopper member's movement range are assigned different functions: the first position region handles standard sheets with precise alignment, while the second position region handles tabbed sheets by accommodating their tabs. This local differentiation allows the single stopper member to serve multiple sheet types effectively
3Manufacturing precision
If tabbed sheets are formed separately and inserted into accumulated sheets, then correct posture can be achieved, but the finishing operation becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the tabbed sheet handling process with the standard sheet accumulation process by using a single tray and a unified stopper member positioning system. Tabbed sheets are discharged and accumulated in the same tray as standard sheets, with the stopper member automatically adjusting its position to accommodate tabs, eliminating the need for separate finishing operations
Solution Approach 2:
The stopper member automatically adjusts its position based on feedback from the tabbed sheet discriminating member, enabling the system to self-regulate the loading process for different sheet types without requiring external intervention or complex manual finishing operations
Data Source
AI summary
The invention is to provide a sheet accumulation apparatus enabling to uniformly load tabbed sheets into a train of sheets for load and store the sheets on a tray. The sheet accumulation apparatus has a sheet outlet for successively discharging the sheets, a tray means for loading to hold the sheets thereon, a sheet carrier means for discharging the sheets from the sheet outlet to the side of a downstream, a sheet front end regulating means for colliding the sheets sent by the sheet carrier means against the regulating means at the sheet front ends and regulating them, and a sheet rear regulating means disposed to the tray means for regulating the positions of the sheets from the sheet outlet at the sheet rear ends. The sheet front end regulating means comprises (1) stopper member movable back and forth in the sheet carrying direction; or (2) stopper means of two or more disposed back and forth in the sheet carrying direction and selectively facing the sheet front end regulating means; or (3) stopper means movable in a direction traversing with carrying along the sheet head ends; a shift means for driving the stopper means; and a control means for controlling the shift means.