SHEET CONVEYOR DEVICE AND IMAGE RECORDING DEVICE

• US 20150091241A1
• Filed: 03/27/2014
• Published: 04/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: WAKAKUSA, Keisuke
• Granted Patent: US 9,315,348 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 271/9.07
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 1/04 adapted to support articles substantially horizontally, e.g. for separation from top of pile
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 1/28 compartmented to receive piles side-by-side
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2402/441 movable for facilitating access to area inside the housing, e.g. pivoting or sliding
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2402/60 Coupling, adapter or locking means
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2403/41 Rack-and-pinion, cogwheel in cog railway
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2405/324 between operative position and non operative position
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2407/21 Manual feeding
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2511/10 Size; Dimensions
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2801/39 Scanning
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 3/44 Simultaneously, alternately, or selectively separating articles from two or more piles
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 3/446 alternatively, i.e. according to a fixed sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 21/1638 directed to paper handling or jam treatment
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2221/1687 using opening shell type machines, e.g. pivoting assemblies
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2221/169 Structural door designs

Abstract

A sheet conveyor device includes a first housing having a sheet conveyance path. A second housing is pivotably disposed above the first housing and movable between a first position at which the second housing is adjacent to an upper side of the first housing and a second position at which the second housing is angled relative to the upper side of the first housing. A sheet support member is connected to the first housing and has a sheet inlet communicating with the conveyance path. An interlock mechanism is pivotable about a second rotational axis that is parallel to the first rotational axis in response to movement of the second housing between the first position and the second position to move a cover between a first state and a second state.

Claims

1. A sheet conveyor device comprising:

a first housing having a sheet conveyance path;

a second housing pivotably disposed above the first housing and movable between a first position at which the second housing is adjacent to an upper side of the first housing and a second position at which the second housing is angled relative to the upper side of the first housing;

a sheet support member connected to the first housing, the sheet support member having a sheet inlet communicating with the conveyance path;

a cover disposed on the sheet support member to pivot about a first rotational axis between a first state and a second state; and

an interlock mechanism pivotable about a second rotational axis that is parallel to the first rotational axis in response to movement of the second housing between the first position and the second position to move the cover between the first state and the second state.

2. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein the interlock mechanism comprises a contact portion movable in a first direction where the contact portion comes into contact with the cover and in a second direction where the contact portion moves away from the cover, wherein the contact portion changes the cover from the first state to the second state by moving while the contact portion is in contact with the cover having the first state, and

wherein the interlock mechanism is further configured to:

move the contact portion in the first direction in synchronization with movement of the second housing from the first position to the second position; and

move the contact portion in the second direction in synchronization with the movement of the second housing from the second position to the first position.

3. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein the second housing pivots about a third rotational axis parallel to the first and second pivot axes, and wherein a distal end of the cover is located between the third rotational axis and an upper side of the second housing when the cover is in the first state.

4. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet support member is disposed on a first side surface of the first housing.

5. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 2, wherein the first housing further comprises a scanner unit comprising a platen configured to support a document, wherein the scanner unit is configured to read an image from the document supported by the platen, and

wherein the second housing includes a document cover configured to cover the platen.

6. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 5, wherein the contact portion is slidable between a protrude position at which the contact portion protrudes from an upper surface of the sheet support member and a retracted position at which the contact portion is retracted in the upper surface of the sheet support member.

7. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 6, wherein:

the contact portion is disposed at a first side of the sheet support member;

the document cover comprises an automatic document feeder configured to feed a document to the platen that defines a first plane;

the automatic document feeder comprises a document tray configured to pivot between a first position wherein the document tray defines a second plane generally parallel to the first plane, and a second position where the document tray protrudes from the document cover;

a rotational shaft of the document tray extends a direction orthogonal to the first rotational axis, and

in the second position, the document tray is situated adjacent a second side of the sheet support member opposite the first side of the sheet support member.

8. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein:

the sheet support member further comprises a sheet support plate;

the support plate is movable between a standing position at which the support plate stands generally parallel to a side surface of the first housing and an angled position relative to the side surface of the first housing, and

the cover is disposed at the support plate.

9. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein a distal end of the cover is located lower than an upper surface of the second housing when the cover is in the first state.

10. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 2, wherein the interlock mechanism further comprises:

a pivot member configured to pivot on the second rotational axis when contacted by the second housing as the second housing pivots from the first position to the second position;

a contact member comprising the contact portion and slidably connected to the sheet support member, and

a rack and pinion mechanism configured to convert the pivoting of the pivot member into the sliding of the contact member in response to movement of the second housing.

11. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 2, wherein the interlock mechanism further comprises:

a pivot member configured to pivot on the second rotational axis when contacted by the second housing as the second housing pivots from the first position to the second position; and

the pivot member includes the contact portion.

12. A sheet conveyor device comprising:

a first housing having a sheet conveyance path;

a second housing disposed above the first housing and pivotable about a first rotational axis between a first position and a second position, the second housing having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, the second surface being adjacent the first housing when the second housing is in the first position;

a sheet support member connected to the first housing, the sheet support member having a sheet inlet communicating with the conveyance path;

a cover disposed on the sheet support member and situated below the first surface of the second housing, the cover being movable between a first state and a second state; and

an interlock mechanism contacting the second housing and the cover to move the cover between the first state and the second state in response to movement of the second housing between the first position and the second position.

13. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 12, wherein the cover is laterally spaced from an end surface the second housing.

14. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 12, wherein the cover does not overlap the second housing.

15. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 12, wherein:

the cover is disposed on the sheet support member to pivot about a first rotational axis between the first state and the second state; and

the interlock mechanism is pivotable about a second rotational axis that is parallel to the first rotational axis in response to movement of the second housing between the first position and the second position to move the cover between the first state and the second state.

16. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 12, wherein the interlock mechanism further comprises:

a pivot member configured to pivot on the second rotational axis when contacted by the second housing as the second housing pivots from the first position to the second position;

a contact member having a contact portion and slidably connected to the sheet support member, and

a rack and pinion mechanism configured to convert the pivoting of the pivot member into the sliding of the contact member in response to movement of the second housing such that the contact portion is movable in a first direction where the contact portion comes into contact with the cover to move the cover from the first state to the second state in response to the second housing moving from the first position to the second position, and in a second direction where the contact portion moves away from the cover to move the cover from the second state to the first state in response to the second housing moving from the second position to the first position.

17. The sheet conveyor device according to claim 12, wherein the interlock mechanism further comprises:

a pivot member configured to pivot when contacted by the second housing as the second housing pivots between the first position to the second position, such that the pivot member pivots in a first direction and contacts the cover to move the cover from the first state to the second state in response to the second housing moving from the first position to the second position, and in a second direction where the pivot member moves away from the cover to move the cover from the second state to the first state in response to the second housing moving from the second position to the first position.

18. An image recording device comprising:

a first housing having a conveyance path;

a recording portion disposed along the conveyance path to record an image on a sheet in the conveyance path;

a second housing pivotably disposed above the first housing and movable between a first position at which the second housing is adjacent to an upper side of the first housing and a second position at which the second housing is angled relative to the upper side of the first housing;

a sheet support member connected to the first housing, the sheet support member having a sheet inlet communicating with the conveyance path;

a cover disposed on the sheet support member to pivot about a first rotational axis between a first state and a second state; and

an interlock mechanism pivotable about a second rotational axis that is parallel to the first rotational axis in response to movement of the second housing between the first position and the second position to move the cover between the first state and the second state.

19. The image recording device according to claim 18, further comprising a scanner unit disposed in the first housing.