Image Forming Apparatus Tray Control Delay Accumulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In image forming apparatuses, the automatic opening of the sheet discharge tray during recovery operations can lead to unintended opening, causing delays and reducing throughput, as existing solutions require multiple delay accumulation operations which prolong user waiting time.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus includes a control unit that determines if a delay accumulation operation is necessary, performing it during recovery operations to ensure the sheet discharge tray only opens when necessary, thereby minimizing waiting time and maintaining high throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the sheet discharge tray is configured to automatically open during sheet discharge, then sheet jam prevention is improved, but unintended opening during recovery operations occurs causing throughput degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs delay accumulation operations in advance during recovery operations to prevent unintended tray opening. By accumulating delay amounts during the recovery operation (when the sheet discharge roller rotates in the sheet discharge direction), the system ensures that the tray will not open inadvertently, thus maintaining throughput while preventing sheet jams during actual discharge operations.
2Reliability
If delay accumulation operations are performed multiple times during recovery operation, then unintended tray opening is prevented, but user waiting time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs a single delay accumulation operation during the recovery operation rather than multiple separate operations. By accumulating the delay amount once during the recovery operation when the roller rotates in the sheet discharge direction, the system achieves sufficient prevention of unintended opening without requiring multiple operations, thus minimizing user waiting time while maintaining reliability.
3Device complexity
If the sheet discharge roller and recovery unit share the same drive source, then device complexity is reduced, but control precision for preventing unintended opening deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit monitors the rotation direction of the sheet discharge roller and dynamically adjusts control based on the operation state. When the roller rotates in the sheet discharge direction during recovery operations, the control unit performs delay accumulation operations to prevent unintended opening. This feedback-based control maintains precision despite the simplified shared drive system.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided an image forming apparatus in which a waiting time is small and the throughput is not degraded. Therefore it is determined whether or not a delay accumulation operation is necessary at the time of performing a cap closing operation or a wiping operation. If necessary, the delay accumulation operation is performed.