Sheet Discharge Guide with Holder-Integrated Retraction Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sheet discharging devices are prone to breakage due to the risk of the sensing portion breaking when the protruding member moves, as the sensing portion is often in direct contact with surrounding components.
Innovation Solution
The sensing portion is integrated into the supporting holder, preventing it from touching other components during the movement of the protruding member, thereby reducing the risk of breakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the sensing portion is disposed separately from the supporting holder, then the sensing portion can be positioned to detect the retraction position, but the sensing portion is prone to breakage by touching surrounding components during movement
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing portion is integrated into the supporting holder as a unified structure. The holder serves dual functions: mechanically supporting the protruding member and housing the sensing portion. This merging eliminates the need for separate mounting structures and reduces the number of discrete components, thereby improving reliability while simplifying the overall device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting holder acts as an intermediary structure that protects the sensing portion from direct contact with surrounding components. By positioning the sensing portion within the holder, the holder serves as a protective mediator that prevents breakage while still allowing the sensing portion to detect the retraction position through the holder's structure.
2Reliability
If the sensing portion is integrated into the supporting holder, then the risk of breakage is reduced, but the holder structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing portion is integrated into the supporting holder as a unified structure. The holder serves dual functions: mechanically supporting the protruding member and housing the sensing portion. This merging eliminates the need for separate mounting structures and reduces the number of discrete components, thereby improving reliability while simplifying the overall device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting holder is designed to perform multiple functions: mechanical support for the protruding member, positioning of the sensing portion, and protection of the sensing portion from damage. By making the holder multi-functional, the patent avoids adding separate structures for each function, thus improving reliability without significantly increasing structural complexity.
3Ease of operation
If the protruding member moves between protrusion and retraction positions, then sheet guiding function is achieved, but the sensing portion may contact surrounding components and break
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting holder acts as an intermediary structure that protects the sensing portion from direct contact with surrounding components. By positioning the sensing portion within the holder, the holder serves as a protective mediator that prevents breakage while still allowing the sensing portion to detect the retraction position through the holder's structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensing portion is extracted from the moving assembly and fixed within the supporting holder. While the protruding member moves to guide sheets, the sensing portion remains stationary within the holder, extracting it from the harmful movement path and surrounding components that could cause breakage.
Data Source
AI summary
A protruding member is supported so as to be reciprocatable between a protrusion position and a retraction position. The protrusion position is where the protruding member protrudes from a discharge port to above a stacking tray and brings, into contact with its top surface, the leading edge of a sheet discharged by a pair of discharging rollers to guide it in the discharging direction. The retraction position is where the protruding member is retracted from above the stacking tray. A moving mechanism has a supporting holder movably holding the protruding member and makes the held protruding member move between the protrusion position and the retraction position. A sensing portion sensing whether the protruding member is in the retraction position is disposed in the supporting holder.