Sheet Feeder Cover and Separator Layout for Compact Paper Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses face challenges in reducing machine size while maintaining efficient sheet feeding performance, particularly in devices like copiers, where conveyors are often reduced in size, leading to inefficiencies in sheet handling.
Innovation Solution
A sheet feeding device with a cover, pickup roller, feed roller, separator, and guide, featuring a pivotable cover and a swingably supported receiving base with a swing shaft, which allows for compact storage and efficient sheet separation and conveyance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the conveyor size is reduced to save space, then the machine size is reduced, but the sheet feeding efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is designed to be pivotable between an open state for sheet feeding and a closed state for compact storage. The receiving base is swingably supported to allow dynamic adjustment of the separator position, enabling the system to adapt between feeding mode and storage mode, thus maintaining both compact size and feeding efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The cover pivots about a pivot shaft that is oblique to the sheet feeding direction, utilizing a different spatial dimension for the opening/closing motion. This allows the cover to swing in a direction that does not interfere with the sheet feeding path, enabling compact storage without compromising feeding efficiency
2Volume of moving object
If the cover is made pivotable to enable compact storage, then the machine size is reduced, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cover and receiving base are merged into an integrated assembly where the receiving base is swingably supported by the cover. This integration allows both components to move together as a unit, reducing the number of independent mechanisms and simplifying the overall structure while maintaining compact storage capability
Solution Approach 2:
The cover serves multiple functions: it acts as a protective cover, a support structure for the pickup roller, and a mounting structure for the swingably supported receiving base. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, thereby reducing structural complexity
3Device complexity
If the separator position is fixed, then the structure is simplified, but the sheet separation performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The separator is made movable by swinging the receiving base about a swing shaft, allowing the separator position to be dynamically adjusted. This enables optimal separation performance by allowing the separator to move with the sheet stack height, while the swing mechanism remains relatively simple
Data Source
AI summary
A sheet feeding device includes a cover, a pickup roller, a feed roller, a separator, a guide, and a receiving base. The cover includes a stacking portion on which sheets are stacked and a pivot shaft about which the cover is pivotable to open and close a body of the sheet feeding device. The pickup roller abuts against an upper face of a sheet of the sheets and feeds the sheet. The feed roller abuts against the upper face of the sheet fed from the pickup roller and feeds the sheet. The separator faces the feed roller to separate the sheet from the sheets. The guide guides the sheet fed from the feed roller. The receiving base holds the separator and includes a swing shaft swingably supported by the guide. When viewed from an axial direction of the swing shaft, the swing shaft overlaps with the cover opened.