This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Ser. No. 105140640, filed Dec. 8, 2016, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates in general to a sheet ejection device, and more particularly to a multi-stage sheet ejection device capable of adjusting tray level.
In response to the users' requirements of scanners which are getting higher and higher, the scanners supporting various degrees of hardness, dimensions or quantities of scan documents are provided. Besides, in order to make office service machines (such as copiers, fax machines, scanners or multi-function machines) more convenient to use, most office service machines are equipped with a complicated sheet feeding mechanism whose sheet ejection tray or sheet output device mostly has only one single mode. When the exit position of a scan sheet is too far away from the position of the sheet ejection tray, the scan sheet may be warped or curled up after being ejected, such that the fluency of document output will be affected, and to the worse, faults such as paper jam may occur.
The present invention is directed to a multi-stage sheet ejection device equipped with a level adjusting structure for the tray in response to user's requirements.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a multi-stage sheet ejection device including a tray and a level adjusting structure is provided. The level adjusting structure includes a body and a sliding element. The body has a plurality of stages arranged on a vertical surface of the body in order. The sliding element is disposed on the body and horizontally movable with respect to the vertical surface of the body. Through the movement of the sliding element, the tray can be controlled to move on the vertical surface stage by stage and be supported on one of the stages in sequence.
The above and other aspects of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiment(s). The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The multi-stage sheet ejection device of the present embodiment can be disposed in an electronic device, such as a scanner, a printer, a multi-function machine or other device with similar functions. Let the scanner be taken for example. The tray of the multi-stage sheet ejection device can carry any types of sheets, such as papers, computer forms, name cards and photos. Moreover, after the sheets are fed to a scanner from a sheet feeding tray, the sheets are scanned, outputted and stacked on a sheet ejection tray in sequence. The level of the sheet ejection tray can be adjusted according to the quantity and weight of the sheets. For example, the level of the sheet ejection tray can be adjusted manually or electrically. Particularly, when the exit position of a sheet is too far away from the position of the sheet ejection tray, the sheet may be warped or curled up after being ejected. Therefore, if the level of the sheet ejection tray can be adjusted according to the stacking situation of the sheets, the stacking level of the sheets can be increased and the scan quantity of the sheets can be increased accordingly. Meanwhile, during the scan process, whether the stacking level of the sheets is too high or too low can be detected, such that a suitable level of the sheet ejection tray can be determined, and the users' needs can be satisfied.
In the present embodiment, the level of the sheet ejection tray or other tray with similar function (not limited to the sheet ejection tray) is adjusted to meet the users' requirements, and detailed descriptions are disclosed below with accompanying drawings. Furthermore, descriptions of the embodiments are for exemplification purpose only, not for limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
Refer to
Refer to
In an embodiment, the level adjusting structure 120 includes a set of elastic elements 123 disposed on the body 121 and contacting the sliding elements 122. The set of elastic elements 123 provides a restoring force enabling the two sliding elements 122 to move in the horizontal direction, such that each sliding element 122 can generate a suitable movement and maintain at a predetermined position (such as a to-be-triggered position). Therefore, during the level adjusting process of the tray 110 (referring to
Through the movement of the tray 110 by the user (as indicated in
For example, the level adjusting structure 120 includes a set of electrical power driving elements (the set of electrical power driving elements, although not illustrated, can be realized by linear movement elements or rotation elements driven by a motor) disposed on the body 121. The set of electrical power driving elements provides a restoring force enabling the two sliding elements 122 to move in a horizontal direction, and actively provides a force for pushing the tray 110 or a torque for rotating the tray 110 (the same effect that the user lifts and rotates the terminal end of the tray 110 by a suitable angle), such that the two sliding elements 122 can generate suitable movements and the tray 110 is moved along with the movements of the two sliding elements 122. Therefore, during the level adjusting process of the tray 110 (referring to
Refer to
Furthermore, the tray 110 has two support rods 111 respectively extended into the chute 125 and contacting the sliding elements 122 within the body 121 and vertically movable within the chute 125. The support rods 111 can be controlled by the sliding elements 122 to be supported on the first support surface 1221 or the second support surface 1222 or hit the first block surface 1223 or the second block surface 1224. Besides, each sliding element 122 has a first trigger 1225 and a second trigger 1226, which are disposed at the first stage position 1241 and the second stage position 1242 respectively. When the support rods 111 hit the first block surface 1223 or the second block surface 1224 and make the sliding elements 122 slide, the first trigger 1225 and the second trigger 1226 are horizontally moved to a to-be-triggered position. When the tray 110 is supported at the first stage position 1241, the first trigger 1225 is triggered by the tray 110 to be horizontally moved to a triggered position (as indicated in
Refer to
Detailed descriptions of the actuation between the support rods 111 and the sliding element 122 are disclosed below. As indicated in
Through the first support surface 1221, the user can confirm that the tray 110 has been moved to the height H1 of the first stage position 1241. However, during the triggering process of the sliding elements 122, the first support surface 1221 is pushed to create a sufficient space for the support rods 111. Refer to
According to the multi-stage sheet ejection device disclosed in above embodiments of the invention, the level of the tray can be adjusted according to the quantity and weight of the sheets. For example, the level of the tray can be located at the first stage position, the second stage position or the third stage position. Therefore, the level of the tray can be controlled through the movements of the sliding elements and manual operations of a user, such that the tray can be moved on the vertical surface of the body stage by stage at suitable time points and be supported on one of the stages in sequence. Or, during the level adjusting process of the tray, the level of the tray can be automatically controlled through the movements of the sliding elements and an electrical operation without using any manual operations, such that the tray can be moved on the vertical surface of the body stage by stage at suitable time points and be supported on one of the stages in sequence. The multi-stage sheet ejection device of the invention provides convenient operation to quickly adjust the level of the tray. The multi-stage sheet ejection device of the invention is not limited to scanners or multi-function machines, and can be used in any machine or structure in which the level of the tray needs to be adjusted to satisfy users' needs.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment(s), it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
105140640 A | Dec 2016 | TW | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3879032 | Shirahase | Apr 1975 | A |
4671505 | Hidaka | Jun 1987 | A |
5175583 | Noh | Dec 1992 | A |
7121543 | Fujioka | Oct 2006 | B2 |
8326209 | Fan | Dec 2012 | B2 |
8496248 | Fan | Jul 2013 | B2 |
8833759 | Fan Chiang | Sep 2014 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
104555545 | Apr 2015 | CN |
201113160 | Apr 2011 | TW |
Entry |
---|
Taiwan Patent Office, “Office Action” dated Jun. 30, 2017, Taiwan. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20180162675 A1 | Jun 2018 | US |