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US-12623880-B2 - Medium conveying apparatus

US12623880B2US 12623880 B2US12623880 B2US 12623880B2US-12623880-B2

Abstract

A medium conveying apparatus includes an apparatus body in which a conveying path is formed, a media tray supported by the apparatus body, an ejection tray supported by the apparatus body, a conveyor to convey a medium placed on the media tray along the conveying path and place the medium on the ejection tray, a first mechanism including a gear, and a second mechanism including a gear. The first mechanism swings the ejection tray from a deployed position where the ejection tray is deployed to a stored position where the ejection tray is stored in the apparatus body, and stops swinging of the ejection tray at a midway position between the deployed position and the stored position. The second mechanism retracts the ejection tray when the swinging of the ejection tray is stopped.

Inventors

  • Norifumi Tonami
  • Sota MATSUURA

Assignees

  • PFU LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20241210

Claims (7)

  1. 1 . A medium conveying apparatus comprising: an apparatus body in which a conveying path is formed; a media tray supported by the apparatus body; an ejection tray supported by the apparatus body; a conveyor to convey a medium placed on the media tray along the conveying path and place the medium on the ejection tray; a first mechanism including a gear to swing the ejection tray from a deployed position where the ejection tray is deployed to a stored position where the ejection tray is stored in the apparatus body, wherein the first mechanism stops swinging of the ejection tray at a midway position between the deployed position and the stored position; and a second mechanism including a gear to retract the ejection tray when the swinging of the ejection tray is stopped.
  2. 2 . The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the ejection tray includes: an ejection tray body swingably supported by the apparatus body; and an extension movably supported by the ejection tray body, the conveyor places the medium on the ejection tray when the ejection tray body is positioned at the deployed position and the extension is positioned at an extended position, the ejection tray body is positioned at the stored position when the ejection tray is stored in the apparatus body, the ejection tray is formed such that a protruding portion of the medium protruding from the ejection tray contacts the media tray when the ejection tray body is positioned at the midway position between the deployed position and the stored position, the first mechanism stops swinging of the ejection tray body when the ejection tray body is positioned at the midway position, and the second mechanism retracts the extension toward a retracted position when the ejection tray body is positioned at the midway position.
  3. 3 . The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the first mechanism includes: a stopper swingably supported by the apparatus body; a stopper releaser fixed to the extension; and a biasing spring to apply a force for swinging the stopper toward a retaining position, the stopper releaser contacts the stopper to swing the stopper toward a releasing position when the extension moves toward the retracted position, the ejection tray body contacts the stopper and is secured to the apparatus body to be prevented from swinging toward the stored position when the ejection tray body is positioned at the midway position and the stopper is positioned at the retaining position, and the ejection tray body is released from the stopper and swings toward the stored position when the stopper is positioned at the releasing position.
  4. 4 . The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the ejection tray includes an ejection-tray placement surface to face the ejected medium, and a plane along which the ejection-tray placement surface lies intersects with the media tray when the ejection tray body is positioned at the midway position.
  5. 5 . The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the ejection tray includes: an ejection-tray placement surface to face the ejected medium; and a projection projecting from the ejection-tray placement surface, and the projection curves the ejected medium such that the protruding portion of the ejected medium intersects with a plane along which the ejection-tray placement surface lies.
  6. 6 . The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the ejection tray includes an ejection-tray placement surface to face the ejected medium, the media tray includes: a media tray body including a media-tray placement surface to face the medium; and a projection projecting from the media-tray placement surface, and a plane along which the ejection-tray placement surface lies intersects with the projection when the ejection tray body is at the midway position.
  7. 7 . The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the media tray body is swingably supported by the apparatus body; the conveyor conveys the medium along the conveying path when the media tray body is positioned at a media-tray deployed position, and the apparatus body includes a recess in which the projection fits when the media tray body is positioned at a media-tray stored position different from the media-tray deployed position.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/JP2022/024504, filed on Jun. 20, 2022, in the Japan Patent Office, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to a medium conveying apparatus. Medium conveying apparatuses including an ejection tray that is automatically extended and retracted are known. In such a medium conveying apparatus, relatively large media can be appropriately placed on the ejection tray when the ejection tray is extended. Further, the ejection tray can be stored in the apparatus body even when the apparatus body is relatively small by retracting the ejection tray. In such cases, the medium conveying apparatus can be stored in a small space. SUMMARY The medium conveying apparatus according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes an apparatus body in which a conveying path is formed, a media tray supported by the apparatus body, an ejection tray supported by the apparatus body, a conveyor to convey a medium placed on the media tray along the conveying path and place the medium on the ejection tray, a first mechanism including a gear, and a second mechanism including a gear. The first mechanism swings the ejection tray from a deployed position where the ejection tray is deployed to a stored position where the ejection tray is stored in the apparatus body, and stops swinging of the ejection tray at a midway position between the deployed position and the stored position. The second mechanism retracts the ejection tray when the swinging of the ejection tray is stopped. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more complete appreciation of embodiments of the present disclosure and many of the attendant advantages and features thereof can be readily obtained and understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a side view of an image reading apparatus including a medium conveying apparatus according to a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment when a media tray is properly deployed and an ejection tray is properly deployed; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment when the media tray is properly deployed and the ejection tray is properly stored; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment when the media tray and the ejection tray are properly stored; FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of an ejection-tray deploying-storing mechanism according to the first embodiment; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the ejection tray and an ejection-tray stopping mechanism of the ejection-tray deploying-storing mechanism illustrated in FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the ejection-tray stopping mechanism illustrated in FIG. 6 when an ejection tray body is positioned at a midway position between a deployed position and a stored position; FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the ejection tray and the ejection-tray stopping mechanism illustrated in FIG. 6 when the first ejection-tray extension is at a first extension-tray extension midway position; FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the ejection-tray stopping mechanism when the first ejection-tray extension is at the first extension-tray extension midway position as illustrated in FIG. 8; FIG. 10 is a side view of the image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment when the ejection tray body is at the midway position; FIG. 11 is a transition diagram depicting an operation of the image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment and the behavior of a medium viewed from the side; FIG. 12 is a transition diagram depicting an operation of the image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment and the behavior of the medium viewed from the side when the ejection tray is stored; FIG. 13 is a transition diagram depicting an operation of a medium conveying apparatus according to a comparative example viewed from the side; FIG. 14 is a side view of the medium conveying apparatus according to the comparative example; FIG. 15 is a side view of an image reading apparatus including a medium conveying apparatus according to a second embodiment; FIG. 16 is a transition diagram depicting an operation of the medium conveying apparatus according to the second embodiment and the behavior of a medium viewed from the side when the ejection tray is stored; FIG. 17 is a side view of an image reading apparatus including a medium conveying apparatus according to a third embodiment; FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a medium conveying apparatus body of the medium conveying apparatus according to the third embodiment; FIG. 19 is a perspective cross-sectional view of the medium conveying apparatus body according to the third embodiment in which the m