Sheet Feeder Regulating Portion Alignment for Retry Success
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image processing apparatuses face challenges in reliably retrying sheet feeding operations when the initial feeding attempt fails, as the mechanism to release the sheet from a conveyance guide may not always succeed, leading to potential jamming and reduced feeding success rates.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus incorporates a sheet feeder with a movable regulating portion that can switch between a retreating and an abutting position, allowing the feeding control unit to retry the feeding operation by moving the regulating portion to the abutting position after an initial failure determination, ensuring the sheet is properly aligned and fed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the regulating portion is kept at the retreating position during feeding operations, then the sheet can be fed smoothly without obstruction, but the sheet may not be properly aligned and feeding reliability decreases when initial feeding fails
Solution Approach 1:
The regulating portion is designed to be movable between a retreating position (for normal feeding) and an abutting position (for alignment during retry). The driving mechanism enables dynamic repositioning based on feeding status, allowing the system to adapt its configuration according to whether the sheet needs to be fed normally or realigned after a failed attempt.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the sheet sensor to detect whether the sheet has been successfully fed. When feeding fails (sensor does not detect sheet within predetermined period), the determination processing unit triggers the feeding control unit to move the regulating portion to the abutting position for realignment. This feedback loop enables automatic adjustment based on feeding success or failure.
2Reliability
If the regulating portion moves to the abutting position to realign the sheet, then feeding reliability improves, but the feeding direction may be obstructed and additional complexity is introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The feeding process is segmented into two distinct phases: normal feeding phase where the regulating portion is at the retreating position, and retry alignment phase where it moves to the abutting position. This segmentation allows each phase to be optimized independently - smooth feeding during normal operation and precise alignment during retry, without interference between the two functions.
Solution Approach 2:
Before attempting a feeding retry, the system preliminarily moves the regulating portion to the abutting position to realign the sheet and ensure proper positioning. This preliminary action prevents misalignment during the retry operation, increasing the likelihood of successful feeding without needing complex realignment during the actual feeding attempt.
3Reliability
If the sheet platen is moved down to release the sheet from conveyance guide, then feeding retry succeeds more often, but the mechanism complexity increases and time is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the alignment function from the sheet platen movement mechanism and concentrates it in the regulating portion. Instead of moving the entire sheet platen up and down to realign sheets, only the regulating portion moves to the abutting position to apply localized pressure and alignment force. This extraction reduces the scale of movement and associated time loss while maintaining the alignment effect.
Data Source
AI summary
A sheet feeder includes a sheet platen, a pickup roller, a feeding roller, a regulating portion, a driving mechanism, a feeding control unit, a sheet sensor, and a determination processing unit. The feeding control unit executes a feeding operation by rotationally driving the pickup roller and the feeding roller in a state where the regulating portion is located at a retreating position. The sheet sensor is located at a downstream side in the feeding direction of the feeding roller. The determination processing unit determines whether the sheet feeding has succeeded or not based on a signal from the sheet sensor. After a start of the feeding operation, when the determination processing unit determines that the sheet feeding has failed, the feeding control unit once moves the regulating portion located at the retreating position to the abutting position and then executes the feeding operation again.