Sheet Ejection Tray with Guide Member for Detection Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
In sheet ejection devices with a V-shaped sheet receiving tray, gaps can form between stacked sheets and the tray, leading to incorrect detection by sensors, causing the tray to malfunction and resulting in erroneous stacking and potential paper jams.
Innovation Solution
A sheet ejection device with a vertically movable tray and a detector that uses a reference position to adjust the tray's downward movement based on sheet detection, preventing continuous stacking by moving the tray downward only when sheets are detected at the reference height, and stopping the ejection operation if detection fails.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a V-shaped sheet receiving tray is used to accommodate stacked sheets, then the tray can hold more sheets and provide stable stacking, but gaps may form between small-sized thick sheets and the tray bottom, causing detection errors
Solution Approach 1:
A guide member is introduced as an intermediary component between the V-shaped tray and the sheets. This guide member extends downward from the tray bottom into the gap area, ensuring that even small-sized thick sheets make contact with the detection sensor by providing a physical pathway that eliminates the detection blind spot created by the V-shape geometry
Solution Approach 2:
The solution adds a vertical dimension element (the guide member extending downward) to address the gap problem. By projecting the tray structure downward into the gap region, the system creates a new spatial dimension for sheet contact, ensuring detection accuracy without changing the horizontal V-shaped configuration that enables high sheet capacity
2Extent of automation
If the sheet receiving tray is moved downward based on sensor detection at the V-shape bottom, then the tray can automatically adjust to stacked sheet height, but detection failures due to gaps cause erroneous stacking and paper jams
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member serves as a reliable intermediary that ensures consistent sheet-to-sensor contact regardless of sheet size or stacking variations. This mechanical guarantee eliminates detection failures that would otherwise cause the automated system to malfunction, thereby maintaining both automation and reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The guide member is pre-positioned to extend into the potential gap area before sheets are stacked. This preliminary structural arrangement ensures that when sheets are placed on the tray, they are guided to make contact with the sensor area, preventing detection errors before they can occur during the automated stacking process
3Adaptability or versatility
If small-sized thick sheets are stacked on the V-shaped tray, then the tray can accommodate diverse sheet types, but the sheets do not follow the V-shape and gaps form, leading to detection failures
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member acts as a universal intermediary that works with various sheet types including small-sized thick sheets. By providing a physical extension into the gap region, it ensures that sheets of different dimensions and thicknesses all make contact with the sensor area, maintaining detection accuracy across diverse sheet types without requiring different tray configurations
Data Source
AI summary
A sheet ejection device includes a sheet receiving tray provided with a sheet stack plane, a detector for detecting ejected sheets at a reference position, and a controller. Both side end of the sheet stack plane is made higher than a center thereof when viewed along a sheet ejection direction. The reference position functions as a reference for a height level of a center of an uppermost surface of stacked sheets on the sheet stack plane. During a sheet ejection operation, the controller moves the tray downward by a preset height level every ejection of a preset number of sheets until the detector detects sheets, and then newly starts to move the tray downward by the preset height level every ejection of the preset number of sheets from a time when the detector detects sheets. According to the device, sheets can be prevented from being stacked on the tray erroneously.