Sheet Feeding Tray Contact Unit Overlap Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet feeding apparatuses face challenges in securely transporting recording media of varying sizes and basis weights, particularly in ensuring stable contact and air blowing mechanisms to prevent failure during the pulling and feeding process.
Innovation Solution
The sheet feeding apparatus incorporates a tray with a contact unit that overlaps a transport unit when viewed in the pulling direction, featuring a first contact portion, a second contact portion, an overlapping portion, and an urging mechanism to ensure proper alignment and contact with the recording medium, along with air-blowing devices to manage sheet separation and feeding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the contact unit is disposed to overlap the transport unit when viewed in the pulling direction, then the tray can be pulled out without interfering with the transport device, but the contact stability between the contact portion and the recording medium may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The contact unit is positioned to overlap the transport unit when viewed in the pulling direction (depth direction), utilizing spatial arrangement in multiple dimensions to achieve both tray pull-out capability and contact stability. The first contact portion is spaced from the transport unit while the second contact portion overlaps it, creating a three-dimensional configuration that resolves the contradiction between operational ease and contact reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact unit is divided into a first contact portion and a second contact portion, each serving different functions. The first contact portion contacts the upstream end portion of the recording medium and is spaced from the transport unit, while the second contact portion overlaps the transport unit and contacts the end portion, creating segmented contact zones that simultaneously enable tray pull-out and maintain contact stability.
2Ease of operation
If the first contact portion is spaced from the transport unit, then the tray can be pulled out smoothly, but the contact force and reliability may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The contact unit is segmented into two portions with different spatial relationships to the transport unit. The first contact portion is spaced from the transport unit to allow smooth tray pull-out, while the second contact portion overlaps the transport unit to provide reliable contact force, distributing the functional requirements across separate segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacing and overlapping relationships are established in the depth direction (pulling direction), utilizing dimensional arrangement to differentiate between the first and second contact portions. This spatial differentiation in three-dimensional space allows both smooth tray operation and reliable contact force to coexist.
3Reliability
If the second contact portion overlaps the transport unit, then contact reliability is improved, but the tray pull-out operation may be interfered with
Solution Approach 1:
The contact unit is divided into two portions with different spatial arrangements. The second contact portion overlaps the transport unit to ensure contact reliability, while the first contact portion is spaced from it to prevent interference with tray pull-out, distributing the functional requirements across segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The overlapping relationship of the second contact portion with the transport unit is established in the depth direction, utilizing three-dimensional spatial arrangement. This dimensional positioning allows the second contact portion to overlap for reliability while the first contact portion remains spaced for smooth operation.
4Reliability
If the contact surfaces are positioned to contact both upstream and end portions of the recording medium, then transport stability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The contact unit is segmented into a first contact portion and a second contact portion, each with its own contact surface positioned at different locations. This segmentation allows stable transport by contacting both the upstream end portion and the end portion of the recording medium, while the modular segmented structure keeps the device complexity manageable.
Data Source
AI summary
A sheet feeding apparatus includes a tray that stores a recording medium in a closed state in which the tray is placed in an apparatus body, the tray being capable of being pulled out from the apparatus body in a predetermined pulling direction; a transport unit that is provided on the apparatus body and that transports the recording medium in a direction crossing the pulling direction when the tray is in the closed state; a first contact portion provided on the tray and having a contact surface spaced from the transport unit when viewed in the pulling direction, the first contact portion being located upstream of the transport unit in the pulling direction and the contact surface being in contact with an upstream end portion of the recording medium stored in the tray in the pulling direction when the tray is in the closed state; a second contact portion disposed at a position that is upstream of the transport unit in the pulling direction and at which the second contact portion overlaps the transport unit when viewed in the pulling direction, the second contact portion having a contact surface that is in contact with the end portion when the tray is in the closed state; a first overlapping portion provided on the first contact portion and disposed downstream of the second contact portion in the pulling direction, the first overlapping portion overlapping the second contact portion when viewed in the pulling direction; and an urging portion that urges the second contact portion downstream in the pulling direction so that the second contact portion abuts against the first overlapping portion when the tray is in the closed state.