Sheet Cassette Swingable Rear Guide for Skew Prevention
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet cassettes struggle to prevent rotation and skew feeding of sheets with varying sizes, leading to image deterioration and jamming when inserted, as the number of ribs for rotation prevention is limited by the size of the sheets supported.
Innovation Solution
A sheet cassette with a swingable rear guide member that adjusts to multiple regulating positions to accommodate different sheet sizes, ensuring proper alignment and preventing rotation during insertion, combined with side guides that move in association to maintain sheet width alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the number of ribs for rotation prevention is increased to support more sheet sizes, then the sheet cassette can accommodate more sheet sizes, but the device complexity increases and the structure becomes more complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The back guide is made swingable rather than fixed, allowing it to dynamically adjust its position. The back guide can swing between a first position for A3 sheets and a second position for 11x17 inch sheets, enabling one component to serve multiple functions that would otherwise require multiple fixed components.
Solution Approach 2:
The swingable back guide serves multiple functions by accommodating different sheet sizes at different positions. A single back guide structure performs the rotation prevention function for both A3 and 11x17 inch sheets, making the system more universal and reducing the number of components needed.
2Device complexity
If the sheet cassette structure is simplified with fewer ribs, then the device complexity is reduced, but sheets may rotate during insertion causing skew feeding
Solution Approach 1:
The swingable back guide can dynamically adjust to the appropriate position based on the sheet size being inserted. When A3 sheets are inserted, the back guide swings to the first position; when 11x17 inch sheets are inserted, it swings to the second position, ensuring reliable alignment for each sheet size without requiring multiple fixed guides.
Solution Approach 2:
The back guide is pre-positioned at the appropriate angle and location before sheet insertion. The swingable mechanism allows the back guide to be preliminarily adjusted to match the specific sheet size, preventing rotation during insertion and ensuring proper alignment from the start.
3Adaptability or versatility
If sheets of wider sizes are supported, then the adaptability of the sheet cassette is improved, but the number of rotation prevention ribs cannot be increased accordingly due to space constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The swingable back guide provides a dynamic solution that adapts to different sheet widths without requiring additional ribs. By swinging to different positions, the same physical structure can effectively prevent rotation for both narrower A3 sheets and wider 11x17 inch sheets, accommodating a broader range of sizes without increasing structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of adding more ribs in the horizontal dimension, the solution moves to another dimension by making the back guide swingable. This angular/dimensional adjustment allows the back guide to effectively span multiple sheet size requirements without physically expanding the structure horizontally.
Data Source
AI summary
A sheet cassette, which can accommodate sheets of different sizes and can detachably attachable in a width direction orthogonal to a sheet conveyance direction, includes side guides for regulating the positions of the accommodated sheets in a width direction and a rear regulation guide for regulating an edge of a sheet in the width direction in the vicinity of the rear edge of the sheet on a back side of the sheet cassette in a mounting direction, and the rear regulation guide is swingably disposed and regulates a position of the sheet by swinging a plurality of regulating surfaces corresponding to the sheets of the different sizes and moving to regulating positions.