This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-216138, filed on Nov. 2, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments discussed in the present specification relates to a paper ejection tray assembly which stacks ejected paper.
In a paper ejection tray assembly which is attached to an image reading apparatus or image copying apparatus etc., the phenomenon of paper being ejected from the ejection slot, then the front end part of the paper not being able to advance over a stacking surface of the paper ejection tray assembly or the stacked paper and therefore being bent, i.e., so-called buckling, occurred, and a paper eject jam (paper jam) sometimes occurred. Further, at the time of paper ejection, sometimes not only did the ejected paper buckle, but also the force by which the ejected paper was ejected and the friction between sheets of paper caused stacked paper to be pushed and the paper to fall to the floor.
To prevent buckling of paper at the time of ejection, in the past (1) the landing angle when the paper landed on the paper ejection tray assembly was made smaller, (2) the height from the ejection slot to the paper ejection tray assembly was made smaller, (3) in the ejection slot, paper eject rollers etc. were used to stiffen the paper in the longitudinal direction (paper ejection direction), and other attempts have been made. However, if, like in (1), making the landing angle smaller to an extent where buckling does not occur, the inclination angle of the paper ejection tray assembly also became smaller, so the stacked paper was not aligned at the rear ends and a stopper became necessary at the back end of the paper ejection tray assembly. For this reason, the length of the paper ejection tray assembly became greater than the length of the paper, the paper ejection tray assembly became larger, and the user was consequently inconvenienced. Further, if, like in (2), lowering the height from the ejection slot to the paper ejection tray assembly, the load when the paper landed on the paper ejection tray assembly became smaller, but there was the problem that the maximum stacked capacity of the paper was reduced compared with the past. Further, if, like in (3), using paper eject rollers for stiffening, if the ejection slot and the image reading position were close, the stiffening given at the ejection slot also had an effect on the reading of the image, so a large stiffness could not be given. Further, due to stiffening, the push-off force at the time of ejection increased, so there was the problem that the factors pushing off paper stacked on the paper ejection tray assembly increased.
As the method for prevent push-off and fall-off of the stacked paper, attempts have been made such as providing a stopper at the end of the paper ejection tray assembly and physically stopping the paper which is pushed off or increasing the angle at which the paper ejection tray assembly is set (increasing the inclination angle). However, with each method, push-off and consequent fall-off are prevented, but providing a stopper increases the size of the paper ejection tray assembly and inconveniences the user. Further, when increasing the setting angle, the friction when the ejected paper passes over the stacked paper also increases, so there was the possibility of the paper buckling.
Further, as art for stacking the ejected paper, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-327204A discloses forming a cutaway part in a sheet stacking surface which stacks the sheets, providing a movable sheet receiver which can move up and down in this cutaway part, and allowing the movable sheet receiver to descend due to its own weight in accordance with the increase of the number of sheets which are ejected to the sheet stack table so that even curled sheets can be smoothly stacked without reducing the maximum sheet stacking capacity. However, in the art which is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-327204A, the paper could not be given sufficient stiffness and paper eject jams could occur.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-179259A discloses an image forming apparatus in which, when pulling out a slide tray part, a rib-shaped projection is pushed upward for the purpose of preventing an ejected sheet from falling off from a paper ejection tray and enabling stacking to a suitable position at all times. The stacked paper is pushed upward by the rib-shaped projection, but the stacked paper could be pushed off due to friction with the ejected paper.
It is still desired to provide a paper ejection tray assembly which prevents buckling and push-off of the paper.
A paper ejection tray assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention is a paper ejection tray assembly for ejecting paper in an ejecting direction in an image reading device, which system is comprised of a tray body including a stacking surface for stacking an ejected paper, and a slide tray part which is pulled out from the tray body by a force; and a flap part which moves to an inclined position by the force when the slide tray part is pulled out. A height of the flap part from the stacking surface, at the inclined position gradually becomes higher from an upstream side toward a downstream side of the ejection direction to guide an ejected paper.
Below, a paper ejection tray assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained while referring to the figures. In the following embodiments, the same or similar components will be shown with common reference notations. To facilitate understanding, these figures are suitably changed in scale. Further, please note the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and that it extends to inventions which are described in the claims and their equivalents.
The image reading apparatus 1 is comprised of the reading apparatus body 10 which conveys a document (below, called “paper 40”) while reading the image, a paper feed system 30 which continuously feeds a plurality of sheets of paper 40 to the reading apparatus body 10, an ejection slot 11 which ejects the paper 40 which is read by the reading apparatus body 10, and a paper ejection tray assembly 20 which stacks the plurality of sheets of paper 40 which were ejected from the ejection slot 11. Further, the illustrated image reading apparatus 1 of the embodiment is configured to be able to be made more compact by folding up the paper ejection tray assembly 20 when not in use.
The image reading apparatus 1 in which the paper ejection tray assembly 20 is attached is one example. So long as an apparatus which ejects paper from an ejection slot 11, the apparatus to which the paper ejection tray assembly 20 is attached may be an ink jet printer or other printing apparatus or an image copying apparatus. The paper eject mechanism of the reading apparatus body 10 of the image reading apparatus 1 and the paper feed mechanism of the paper feed system 30 can be replaced with conventional mechanisms, so detailed explanations will be omitted.
The paper ejection tray assembly 20 is configured so as to be supported by arms 204 which are connected to the reading apparatus body and so as to be provided under the ejection slot 11 of the reading apparatus body 10 which ejects the paper 40, in an ejection direction of the paper 40 (arrow Y-direction of
Further, the projecting pair of ribs 210a, 210b respectively have first inclined surfaces 211 which gradually become higher in heights from stacking surface 201a from the downstream side to the upstream side of the ejection direction of the paper 40 so as to guide the paper 40 which is ejected from the ejection slot 11. Further, the pair of ribs 210a, 210b respectively have second inclined surfaces 212 which gradually become higher in heights from the stacking surface 201a from the upstream side to the downstream side of the ejection direction of the paper. The pair of ribs 210a, 210b are formed so that the angle α between the first inclined surfaces 211 and second inclined surfaces 212 become 90 degrees or more, that is, an obtuse angle.
The pair of ribs 210a, 210b are arranged so that the paper 40 which is ejected from the ejection slot 11 lands on the first inclined surfaces 211 of the pair of ribs 210a, 210b when ejected as shown in
The angle α between the first inclined surfaces 211 and the second inclined surfaces 212 is an obtuse angle, so, for example, even if the front end of the ejected paper 40 curls downward, it does not catch on the top parts 214 of the ribs and can be pushed back to the first inclined surface 211 sides to thereby enable buckling to be prevented. If the angle α is smaller than 90 degrees, if the front end of the paper curls downward, it will descend along the second inclined surfaces 212 and buckling may occur.
Further, the pair of ribs 210a, 210b are, as shown in
Further, the pair of ribs 210a, 210b are arranged along the paper ejection direction (arrow Y-direction of
Further, the pair of ribs 210a, 210b have two side surfaces 213 which are arranged inclined to the left and right of the first inclined surfaces 211. By the two side surface 213 being inclined as shown in
The pair of ribs 210a, 210b are respectively configured to be able to be stored in the tray body 201.
As shown in
The coil spring 217 which supports the rib 210a is one example of the elastic member. The coil spring 217 may also be rubber. Further, at the left and right of the bottom part of the rib 210a, stoppers 216 which abut against the tray body 201 are provided, so the rib 210a will not rise up from the tray body 201 even if the rib 210a is biased upward by the coil spring 217.
Note that, the rib 210a shown in the figure is provided with the rotary shaft 207 (pivot point) at the downstream side in the paper ejection direction, but it may also be provided with the rotary shaft 207 at the upstream side. Providing the rotary shaft 207 at the downstream side like in the illustrated embodiment is preferable since the rib 210a which easily receives the load from the stacked paper 40 easily descends.
The height H by which the rib 210a projects out from the stacking surface 201a is preferably 5 mm or more so as to sufficiently stiffen the paper 40. The height H of the rib 210a is limited in accordance with the thickness of the tray body 201 considering the fact that the rib 210a is stored in the tray body 201.
Further, the angle β of inclination of the first inclined surface 211 or the rib 210a with respect to the stacking surface 201a (see
Next, returning to
The paper ejection tray assembly 20 of the present embodiment further has a slide tray part 202 which is provided to be able to be pulled out at the downstream side of the tray body 201 in the paper ejection direction and a flap part 220 which moves to an inclined position linked with the operation of the slide tray part 202 being pulled out from the tray body 201.
The flap part 220 is arranged at a downstream side of the ejection direction of the paper 40 (arrow Y-direction) via a flat part 208 of the stacking surface 201a which has a predetermined width D with respect to the pair of ribs 210a, 210b.
The slide tray part 202 is comprised of a first slide part 202a which slides out from the tray body 201 and a second slide part 202b which slides out from the first slide part 202a. At the end part of the second slide part 202b at the downstream side, a handle 205 is provided. The user can pull the handle 205 to pull out the slide tray part 202 from the tray body 201 by a force.
The flap part 220 of the tray body 201 moves to the inclined position linked with the slide tray part 202 by the force when the slide tray part 202 is pulled out. The flap part 220 is arranged so that, at the inclined position, the height of the flap part 220 from the stacking surface 201a gradually becomes higher from the upstream side toward the downstream side of the ejection direction of the paper as shown in
Due to the presence of the flap part 220 which inclines at the stacking surface 201a, as shown in
The flap part 220 is a plate-shaped member such as shown in
Further, the height H2 from the stacking surface of the end part of the downstream side of the flap part 220 at the inclined position is preferably 10 mm to 40 mm, while the inclination angle β2 of the flap part 220 (see
Regarding the position where the flap part 220 is set, when A3 size paper is covered, the length L from the ejection slot 11 to the upstream side end part of the flap part 220 (see
As shown in
As shown in
The paper ejection tray assembly 21 can be provided with a pair of ribs 210a, 210b so as to stiffen the ejected paper 40. Further, the pair of ribs 210a, 210b respectively have first inclined surfaces 211 which guide the ejected paper 40, so the landing angle when the paper 40 lands on the paper ejection tray assembly becomes smaller. For this reason, buckling of the paper 40 becomes harder to occur and in turn paper eject jams can be prevented.
The paper ejection tray assembly 22 is provided at the stacking surface 201a with the flap part 220 which moves to an inclined position. Due to this, the ejected paper 40 is lifted up by the flap part 220. The paper 40 which rides over the flap part 220 is raised up once in the air, then lands on the slide tray part 202. At this time, the contact area with the stacked paper is reduced by the area of the paper raised up in the air. Since the contact area is reduced, the frictional force between the stacked paper and the ejected paper is also reduced, so the stacked paper does not move due to paper ejection and push-off can be reduced.
Note that, in the paper ejection tray assembly 20 of the embodiment shown in
According to the paper ejection tray assembly, by providing the flap part where the height from the stacking surface gradually becomes higher from the upstream side toward the downstream side of the ejection direction of the paper so as to guide the ejected paper, the ejected paper is lifted up by the flap part. Further, since rising up once in the air, the paper which rides over the flap part is reduced in contact area with the stacked paper by exactly the area of the paper which rises up. The frictional force between the stacked paper and the ejected paper is also reduced, so the stacked paper does not move due to the ejected paper and push-off can be lightened.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2015-216138 | Nov 2015 | JP | national |