BACKGROUND
Printers, copiers, scanners, and other such media handling devices may include media storage trays (or more simply “storage trays”) for holding a volume of media (e.g., print media such as paper). In some instances, a storage tray within a media handling device (e.g., a printer, copier, scanner, etc.) may be able to receive a variety of media sizes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Various examples will be described below referring to the following figures:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a media handling device including a media storage tray and a media stop according to some examples;
FIG. 2 is a top view of the media storage tray and the media stop of FIG. 1 according to some examples;
FIG. 3 is a schematic, partial top view of the storage tray and the media stop of FIG. 1 according to some examples;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along section A-A in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the media stop of FIG. 1 according to some examples;
FIG. 6 is a top view of the media stop of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the media stop of FIG. 5;
FIGS. 8-10 are perspective views of examples of a stop wall of the media stop of FIG. 5;
FIG. 11 is a schematic, partial top view of the storage tray and the media stop of FIG. 1 according to some examples;
FIG. 12 is a top view of the storage tray and the media stop of FIG. 1 with the media stop in a first orientation; and
FIG. 13 is a top view of the storage tray and the media stop of FIG. 1 with the media stop in a second orientation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the figures, certain features and components disclosed herein may be shown exaggerated in scale or in somewhat schematic form, and some details of certain elements may not be shown in the interest of clarity and conciseness. In some of the figures, in order to improve clarity and conciseness, a component or an aspect of a component may be omitted.
In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to. . . . ” Also, the term “couple” or “couples” is intended to be broad enough to encompass both indirect and direct connections. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct connection or through an indirect connection via other devices, components, and connections. In addition, as used herein, the terms “axial” and “axially” generally refer to positions along or parallel to a central or longitudinal axis (e.g., central axis of a body or a port), while the terms “lateral” and “laterally” generally refer to positions located or spaced to the side of the central or longitudinal axis.
As used herein, including in the claims, the word “or” is used in an inclusive manner. For example, “A or B” means any of the following: “A” alone, “B” alone, or both “A” and “B.” In addition, when used herein including the claims, the word “generally” or “substantially” means within a range of plus or minus 10% of the stated value. As used herein, the terms “downstream” and “upstream” are used to refer to the arrangement of components and features within a printer or scanning device with respect to the “flow” of media through the printer or scanning device during operations. Thus, if a first component of such a device receives media after it is output from a second component of the device during operations, then the first component may be said to be “downstream” of the second component and the second component may be said to be “upstream” of the first component.
As used herein, a “media handling device,” refers to any device that holds or stores media for printing or copying operations. For instance, the term “media handling device,” includes printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines, and combinations thereof. As used herein, “media” refers to any medium or substrate that may have images, data, text, etc., printed or deposited thereon. The term specifically includes paper, but may also include a variety of other substrates including, textiles, polymers, composite materials, etc.
As previously described, a storage tray for a media handling device may be able to hold a variety of different media sizes. To accommodate differently sized media, a media stop (or a plurality of media stops) may be moved along the storage tray to a plurality of positions associated with predetermined sizes of media. However, the number of such available predetermined media sizes (and associated positions of the media stop) may be limited by the size, arrangement and orientation of the storage tray and the media stop. In addition, many media handling devices may be designed to occupy as small a space as possible so as to enhance the usability and versatility thereof. Accordingly, examples disclosed herein include media stops, for media trays of a media handling device that are to be selectively transitioned between different orientations along the storage tray so as to accommodate a larger number of stop positions (and thus media sizes) within the storage tray.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a media handling device 10 is shown. In the example of FIG. 1, media handling device 10 is a printer that includes an outer housing 12 (or more simply “housing”), a media storage tray 20 (or more simply “storage tray 20”), and an outlet tray 14. During operations, media handling device 10 is to print or otherwise deposit printing substance (e.g., ink, toner, etc.) on media to form an image, text, etc., thereon. Any suitable type of printing technique may be used within by media handling device 10, such as, for instance thermal InkJet printing, piezo-electric ink printing, dry electro-photographic laser printing, wet electro-photographic laser printing, dot-matrix impact printing, etc. Generally speaking storage tray 20 may receive a volume of media (e.g., a stack of paper) therein that may be progressively fed into the media handling device 10 for printing operations. Following the printing operations, the media (with images, text, etc., printed thereon) may be deposited in outlet tray 14.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, and as is best shown in FIG. 2, storage tray 20 includes a longitudinal axis 15, a first or inner end 20a, and a second or outer end 20b opposite inner end 20a. Inner end 20a is disposed within and generally occluded by housing 12 and outer end 20b is extended from housing 12. In addition, storage tray 20 includes a first or inner portion 26 extending from inner end 20a, and a second or outer portion 24 coupled to and extending axially from inner portion 26 to outer end 20b. Inner portion 26 may be disposed (partially or entirely) within housing 12 and outer portion 24 may extend outward from inner portion 26 along axis 15 away from housing 12. Inner portion 26 includes a first end 26a that is coincident with inner end 20a of storage tray 20, and a second end 26b opposite first end 26a. Outer portion 24 includes a first end 24a and a second end 24b that are coincident with outer end 20b of storage tray 20 and opposite first end 24a.
A support surface 22 is defined along both the inner portion 26 and outer portion 24 (that is some of the support surface 22 is defined by inner portion 26 and the rest of support surface 22 is defined by outer portion 24). Support surface 22 is to support a volume (e.g., a stack) of media thereon during operations. Specifically, a user may load or deposit a volume of media onto support surface 22 of storage tray 20, such that the media may then be progressively drawn into media handling device 10 for subsequent printing operations as previously described above. During these operations, the media may be drawn into media handling device 10 generally along axis 15 such that axis 15 may also define a media feed path or direction into media handling device 10 for media deposited within storage tray 20.
In addition, outer portion 24 may be removable (or decoupled) from inner portion 26 during operations. Any suitable readily disengageable connection(s) may be established between first end 24a of outer portion 24 and second end 26b of inner portion 26 so as to facilitate the removability of outer portion 24 from inner portion 26 during operations. For instance, in some examples, outer portion 24 may include a pair of hooks (not shown) generally disposed at first end 24a that engage about a pair of projections or pins (not shown) generally disposed at second end 26b of inner portion 26. Thus, during operations, a user may rotate outer portion 24 relative to inner portion 26 to allow the hooks (not shown) on outer portion 24 to release or decouple from the pins (not shown) on inner portion 26 (in some examples, outer portion 24 may not be rotated to decouple outer portion 24 from inner portion 26 as described above).
In some examples, storage tray 20 may be entirely removable from media handling device 10. For instance, in some examples storage tray 20 may be slid out from housing 12 so as to expose the support surface 22 when media is to be loaded thereon. Thus, the specific arrangement of storage tray 20 shown in the figures is merely one possible implementation of the storage tray 20 in various examples.
Referring still to FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of parallel tracks 30 may extend axially along support surface 22, across both the inner portion 26 and outer portion 24 of storage tray 20. In addition, a pair of grooves 32 may be also extend into support surface 22 that also extend axially across both portions 24, 26 of storage tray 20. In some examples, grooves 32 are defined (e.g., totally or partially defined) by tracks 30 such that both grooves 32 and tracks 30 are parallel to one another along support surface 22 of storage tray 20 (thus, tracks 30 and grooves 32 extend axially across support surface 22 with respect to axis 15). The tracks 30 and grooves 32 may extend along both the inner portion 26 and the outer portion 24 of storage tray 20. Thus, a first length or section of tracks 30 and grooves 32 may be disposed along inner section 26 and a second length or section of tracks 30 and grooves 32 may be disposed along outer section 24. When outer portion 24 is coupled to inner portion 26 as shown, the section of tracks 30 and grooves 32 disposed along outer portion 24 is axially aligned with the section of tracks 30 and grooves 32 disposed along inner portion 26. In addition, as best shown in FIG. 2, tracks 30 each include a wall 35 disposed at or proximate to outer end 20b of storage tray 20 (and thus also second end 24b of outer portion 24).
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, an example schematic top view and cross-sectional view, respectively, of storage tray 20 (e.g., of outer portion 24) is shown. The pair of tracks 30 and the pair of grooves 32 are disposed on radially opposite sides of axis 15. Specifically, tracks 30 are radially outside of the grooves 32 with respect to axis 15. In addition, as best shown in FIG. 4, tracks 30 each include a first or vertical member 31 and a second or lateral member 33 extending perpendicularly from vertical member 31. The lateral member 33 may extend perpendicularly away from axis 15 in a generally radial direction. Further, each groove 32 may be partially defined by a corresponding one of the tracks 30. Specifically, the vertical member 31 of each track 30 may form a first wall of a corresponding one of the grooves 32. Accordingly, vertical member 31 may also be referred to herein as a wall 31. Each groove 32 may also include a second wall 34 that is opposite the wall 31 of the corresponding track 30.
As best shown in FIG. 3, lateral members 33 of tracks 30 may include a plurality of notches or recesses 36 formed therein. Recesses 36 may be axially spaced along tracks 30 so as to correspond with pre-determined media sizes that may be disposed on support surface 22 of storage tray 20. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the recesses 36 on one of the tracks 30 may not be aligned (e.g., in a radial direction) with the recesses 36 on the other track 30, such that the recesses 36 on one of the tracks 30 may correspond with a first sub-set of predetermined media sizes, and the recesses 36 on the other of the tracks 30 may correspond with a second sub-set of predetermined media sizes.
Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, a media stop 100 is slidably coupled to tracks 30 and grooves 32 of support surface 22. As will be described in more detail below, during operations, media stop 100 may be axially traversed along support surface 22 with respect to axis 15 (e.g., across both outer portion 24 and inner portion 26) so as to adjust a size of media that may be inserted or placed on support surface 22. Without being limited to this or any other theory, the media stop 100 may function to properly position or align the stack of media within storage tray 20 such that media handling device 10 may reliably feed the media from the storage tray 20 into housing 12 during operations as previously described above. Thus, media stop 100 may have a plurality of pre-determined positions along storage tray 20 that correspond with a plurality of media sizes that may be inserted within storage tray 20. Further details of the structure of examples of media stop 100 are now described in more detail below.
Referring now to FIGS. 5-7, media stop 100 may include a central or longitudinal axis 105, a base 102, and a media stop wall 150 extending from base 102. When media stop 100 is slidably coupled to tracks 30, as described in more detail below, the axis 105 may generally be parallel and radially offset from axis 15 of storage tray 20. Generally speaking, during operations, base 102 may slidingly engage with tracks 30 on support surface 22 and stop wall 150 may engage with media disposed on support surface 22 (see e.g., FIGS. 1 and 2).
Base 102 includes a first end 102a, a second end 102b axially opposite first end 102a, a top side 104, and a bottom side 106 opposite top side 104. Base 102 may be generally rectangular in shape in some examples (see e.g., FIGS. 4 and 5); however base 102 may be include a variety of shapes in other examples (e.g., trapezoidal, oval, triangular, etc.).
A pair of L-shaped track engagement members 110 extend from bottom side 106 that define a pair of slots 112. As will be described in more detail below, the slots 112 are to receive lateral members 33 of tracks 30 therein so as to facilitate sliding engagement between base 102 and tracks 30 during operations (see e.g., FIG. 4). As best shown in FIG. 11, one of the track engagement members 110 includes a registration member 114. Referring briefly now to FIGS. 3 and 7, as will be described in more detail below, registration member 114 may be selectively engaged within one of the recesses 36 as media stop 100 is traversed along tracks 30 so as to accommodate difference sizes of media within storage tray 20 during operations.
Referring again to FIGS. 5-7, a plurality of projections extend from bottom side 106 of base 102 that are to be inserted within grooves 32 of support surface 22 when lateral members 33 of tracks 30 are received within slots 112 of track engagement members 110 during operations (see e.g., FIG. 4). In particular, a pair of projections 120a, 120b extends from bottom side 106 of base at second end 102b. In some examples, each projection 120a, 120b extends axially past first end 102a. Projections 120a, 120b may comprise any suitable shape or size so as to engage within grooves 32 of support surface 22 during operations. In addition, projections 120a, 120b may be differently shaped in some examples based on a desired amount of friction between projections 120a, 120b and walls 31, 34 of grooves 32 (see e.g., FIG. 4) during operations. For instance, in the example of FIGS. 5-7, a first of the projections 120a is more elongated in the axial direction with respect to central axis 105 than a second of the projections 120b. Further, base 102 also includes a pair of parallel ribs 122 extending from bottom side 106. Ribs 122 may be axially spaced from the first projection 120a and may engage within one of the grooves 32 during operations as previously described for projections 120a, 120b (again, see e.g., FIG. 4). As will be described in more detail below, projections 120a, 120b and ribs 122 may engage with grooves 32 so as to prevent misalignment or wobble between media stop 100 and tracks 30 of storage tray 20 during operations.
A viewing window 108 extends through top side 104 and bottom side 106 of base 102. In this example, the viewing window 108 is more proximate the second end 102b than the first end 102a. As will be described in more detail below, window 108 may allow a user to see a selected media size marking on support surface 22 corresponding with a current position of media stop 100 within storage tray 20. In addition, in some examples, window 108 may be engaged by a user to slide media stop 100 along tracks 30 during operations. Without being limited to this or any other theory, by placing viewing window 108 closer to second end 102b than first end 102a of base 102, different markings such as markings on the support surface 22 may be visible through window 108 depending on the specific orientation of media stop 100 (e.g., such as the first orientation and second orientation as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 and discussed in more detail below).
In addition, a pair of projections or blocks 124 extends from bottom side 106 of base 102 at first end 102a. As will be described in more detail below, blocks 124 may prevent media from sliding between media stop 100 and support surface 22 (see e.g., FIG. 2) during operations.
Referring still to FIGS. 5-7, stop wall 150 extends from top side 104 of base 102 at first end 102a. Stop wall 150 includes a first or front side 152 that is coincident with first end 102a of base 102, and a second or back side 154 that is opposite front side 152. As will be described in more detail below, during operations stop wall 150 (e.g., either front side 152 or back side 154) may engage with media disposed on support surface 22 of storage tray 20. Stop wall 150 may be any suitable shape or size. For instance, in this example, stop wall 150 is generally trapezoidal in shape; however, other shapes and designs are contemplated (e.g., rectangular, arcuate, etc.).
Reference is now briefly made to FIGS. 8-10 wherein different examples of stop wall 150 are shown. In some examples, a recess or aperture 156 may be formed in stop wall 150 that extends between front side 152 and back side 154 (see e.g., recess 156 in FIGS. 8-10). In addition, in some of these examples, a recessed wall 158 (see e.g., FIG. 8) and/or a plurality of ribs 159 (see e.g., FIG. 9) may extend within the aperture 156 so as to provide a structure that a user may grip to slide media stop 100 along the tracks 30 of storage tray 20 during operations. Further, in some examples no wall or ribs (e.g., wall 158, ribs 159) extend within aperture 156 (see e.g., FIG. 10).
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 11, during operations, media stop 100 may be slidingly disposed on tracks 30 on support surface 22 of storage tray 20. In particular, as best shown in FIG. 11, lateral members 33 of tracks 30 are slidingly received within slots 112 of track engagement members 110 such that media stop 100 may be traversed axially along support surface 22 via tracks 30 with respect to axis 15. In addition, the pair of projections 120a, 120b and the ribs 122 may be inserted within the grooves 32. Specifically, the first projection 120a and the ribs 122 may be inserted within one of the grooves, while the second projection 120b is inserted within the other of the grooves 32. Thus, as media stop 100 is moved along tracks 30, the projections 120a, 120b and ribs 122 may sliding engage with the walls 31, 34 of the corresponding grooves 32 so as to prevent media stop 100 from wobbling or rotating relative to tracks 30 and grooves 32 during operations. In addition, the blocks 124 may also be inserted within the grooves 32 so as to prevent media that is being inserted between base 102 and support surface 22, such as, when media is inserted or installed within storage tray 20.
As may be appreciated from FIG. 2, the outward movement of the media stop 100 along tracks 30 (that is movement of media top 100 along tracks 30 toward outer end 20b of storage tray 20) may be limited by walls 35. Specifically, during operations, media stop 100 may be traversed toward outer end 20b until media stop 100 (e.g., track engagement assemblies 110 shown in FIG. 11) engages with walls 35. As a result of this engagement, the media stop 100 may be prevented from being slid off (and thus separated from) the tracks 30 at the outer end 20b of storage trays 20.
Further, as is also best shown in FIG. 11, as media stop 100 is slidingly traversed along tracks 30, registration member 114 on one of the track engagement members 110 may align and engage with recesses 36 at each position of media stop 100 along support surface 22 that corresponds with a predetermined media size. The resiliency of the material forming registration member 114 (which may comprise a polymer material in some examples) along with the shape of registration member 114 and recess 36 allow registration member 114 to disengage from recesses 36 when a sufficient axially directed force (e.g., axial with respect to axis 15 of storage tray 20) is imparted to media stop 100. Thus, a user may feel a click or pop when the media stop 100 is placed at a position corresponding with a pre-determined media size that may be supported on support surface 22 during operations.
As best shown in FIG. 2, support surface 22 may include a plurality of markings 109 corresponding to positions of media stop 100 that may allow for certain types or sizes of media to be installed within storage tray 20. The markings 109 may be disposed adjacent (or to one side of) the media stop 100 and/or may be disposed in the general path of media stop 100 such that they are visible by a user through the window 108.
Referring now to FIGS. 12 and 13, during operations, media stop 100 may be movably disposed on track 30 in a first orientation (shown in FIG. 12) and a second orientation (shown in FIG. 13). In the first orientation (FIG. 12), the first end 102a of media stop 100 is more proximate the outer end 20b of storage tray 20 than the second end 102b. Conversely, in the second orientation (FIG. 13), the second end 102b of media stop 100 is more proximate outer end 20b of storage tray 20 than the first end 102a. Accordingly, the base 102 of media stop 100 is flipped or rotated relative to the support surface 22 of storage tray 20 to transition media stop 100 between the first and second orientations such that the second orientation of FIG. 13 is rotationally opposite the first orientation of FIG. 12. By selectively switching the media stop 100 between the first orientation (FIG. 12) and the second orientation (FIG. 13), the number of available positions of stop wall 150 along support surface 22 may be increased. As a result, the number of media sizes that may be accommodated on support surface 22 via adjustments of media stop 100 may also be increased.
Specifically, in some examples when media stop 100 is in the first orientation (FIG. 12), the media stop 100 may be placed in positions to accommodate larger sizes of media within storage tray 20 (e.g., letter, A4, legal, etc.). Conversely, when media stop 100 is in the second orientation (FIG. 13), the media stop 100 may be placed in positions to accommodate smaller sizes of media within storage tray 20 (e.g., A6, etc.). In addition, when the media stop 100 is in the first orientation (FIG. 12), media (not shown) may be placed on support surface 22 axially between back side 154 of stop wall 150 and inner end 20a of storage tray 20. Conversely, when media stop 100 is in the second orientation (FIG. 13), media (not shown) may be placed on support surface 22 axially between front side 152 of stop wall 150 and inner end 20a of storage tray 20.
Referring now to FIGS. 11-13, when media stop 100 is transitioned between the first orientation and the second orientation (see e.g., FIGS. 12 and 13, respectively), the registration member 114 may be selectively engaged with recesses 36 formed in a corresponding one of the tracks 30. Specifically, when media stop 100 is in the first orientation (FIG. 12), the registration member 114 may be selectively engaged with recesses 36 formed in one of the tracks 30 as media stop 100 is traversed axially along support surface 22 with respect to axis 15. Conversely, when media stop 100 is in the second orientation (FIG. 13), the registration member 114 may be selectively engaged with recesses 36 formed in the other of the tracks 30 as media stop 100 is traversed axially along support surface 22 with respect to axis 15. Thus, because the registration member 114 is disposed along one of the track engagement members 110, the recesses 36 on one of tracks 30 may be engaged by the registration member 114 when the media stop 100 is in the first orientation (FIG. 12), and the recesses 36 on the other of the tracks 30 may be engaged by the registration member 114 when the media stop 100 is in the second orientation (FIG. 13). Accordingly, the recesses 36 in one of the tracks 30 may be positioned and spaced so as to correspond with positions of media stop 100 along tracks 30 for a first subset of predetermined media sizes when the media stop 100 is in the first orientation (e.g., larger media sizes such as, for instance, letter, A4, legal, etc.), and the recesses in the other of the tracks 30 may be positioned and spaced so as to correspond with positions of media stop 100 along tracks 30 for a second subset of predetermined media sizes when the media top 100 is in the second orientation (e.g., smaller media sizes such as, for instance A6, etc.).
Referring again to FIGS. 12 and 13, in some examples, transitioning of the media stop 100 between the first orientation (FIG. 12) and the second orientation (FIG. 13) may be generally accomplished by first disengaging the inner portion 26 and outer portion 24 of storage tray 20 in the manner described above. Thereafter, the media stop 100 may be disengaged from the tracks 30, rotated, and then re-engaged with the tracks 30 in the opposite orientation (e.g., first orientation to second orientation, or second orientation to first orientation).
Specifically, to transition the media stop 100 from the first orientation (FIG. 12) to the second orientation (FIG. 13), the first end 24a of outer portion 24 of storage tray 20 is disengaged from the second end 26b of inner portion 26 in the manner previously described above. Thereafter, the media stop 100 may be slid along the tracks 30 toward the corresponding disengaged end 24a, 26b such that the media stop 100 may be slid off and disengaged from tracks 30. For instance, if media stop 100 is slidingly coupled to the inner portion 26 when portions 24, 26 are disengaged as previously described, the media stop 100 may be traversed (e.g., slid) along inner portion 26 toward second end 26b to disengage media stop 100 from tracks 30. Conversely, if media stop 100 is slidingly coupled to the outer portion 24 when portions 24, 26 are disengaged as previously described, the media stop 100 may be traversed (e.g., slid) along outer portion 24 toward first end 24a to disengage media stop 100 from tracks 30. Regardless, once media stop 100 is disengaged from tracks 30, it may be rotated and re-engaged with the track 30 (e.g., either at second end 26b of inner portion 26 or first end 24a of outer portion 24 as previously described) such that the media stop 100 is now in the second position. Thereafter, the outer portion 24 may be reengaged with the inner portion 26 such that media stop 100 may be traversed along support surface 22 to a position corresponding with a selected media size and the appropriately sized media may be inserted within storage tray 20. The transitioning of the media stop 100 from the second orientation (FIG. 13) to the first orientation (FIG. 12) may be generally the same as the operations described above, except that when the media stop 100 is rotated (following disengagement from the tracks 30 as previously described), the orientation of the media stop 100 is different from that described above.
In addition, because media stop 100 may be movably disposed on either inner portion 26 or outer portion 24 of storage tray 20, as described above, the media stop 100 may be sized and arranged such that outer portion 24 may be disengaged from inner portion 26 as described above with the media stop 100 still coupled to outer portion 24. In particular, in some examples, an axial length of media stop 100 (e.g., a length of media stop 100 along axis 105) may be less than a length of outer portion 24 of storage tray 20 along axis 15, between ends 24a, 24b. As a result, media stop 100 may be selectively positioned entirely on outer portion 24 when outer portion 24 is disengaged from inner portion 26.
As described above, examples disclosed herein include media stops for media trays of a media handling device that are to be selectively transitioned between different orientations along the storage tray so as to accommodate a larger number of stop positions (and thus media sizes) within the storage tray (e.g., media stop 100 and storage tray 20). As a result, through use of the examples disclosed herein, a storage tray of a media handling device may be able to accommodate a relatively large number of media sizes, without necessarily increasing a size of the storage tray more generally.
The above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles and various examples of the present disclosure. Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.
Patent Application
20220106138
