Removable media tray having a high latching force and a low opening force

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9745154-B1
Application number	US-201615052997-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Feb 25, 2016
Priority date	Feb 25, 2016
Publication date	Aug 29, 2017
Grant date	Aug 29, 2017

Abstract

A removable media tray assembly for an image forming device according to one embodiment includes a media tray having a bottom surface and a front wall extending upward from the bottom surface. A bottom surface defines a media storage location for storing a stack of media sheets. The assembly includes a housing having an opening therein to receive the media tray. A magnet and a plate provide a latching force FL greater than a pick motor stall force keeping the media tray in a closed position during media picking. A handle assembly including a finger bar and a pivoting link is mounted to the front wall. With the media tray being held closed by the latching force, a user-supplied actuation force FA that is less than 22.2 N applied to the finger bar, pivots the link which acts as a force multiplier providing a release force exceeding the latching force.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A removable media tray assembly for providing media to an imaging device, the removable media tray assembly comprising:
a housing having an opening therein to receive a removable media tray and a release surface;
the removable media tray having:
a bottom surface for holding media to be fed to the imaging device;
a front wall extending upward from the bottom surface, the front wall having an inner surface and an outer surface having a mount and;

a magnet mounted to one of the housing and the inner surface of the front wall adjacent to the housing opening and a ferromagnetic plate aligned with the magnet and mounted to other of the housing and inner surface of the front wall;
a handle pivotable between a first position and a second position, the handle including:
a finger bar transversely extending across a portion of the outer surface of the front wall; and,
a link depending from the finger bar and having a free end adjacent to the release surface, the link pivotally mounted to the mount, the link having a first arm portion extending between the mount and the finger bar and a second arm portion extending from the mount to the free end of the link, the first arm portion having a vertical height H 1 and the second arm portion having a vertical height H 2 ,

wherein, with the removable media tray received into the housing and the magnet and plate in abutment providing a latching force FL holding the removable media tray in a closed position and which is greater than a stall force of a media feeding motor used to feed the media from the removable media tray, a user-supplied actuation force FA applied to the finger bar pivots the handle toward the second position and the link pivots about the mount with the free end of the link applying a release force FR to the release surface thereby opening the removable media tray and moving the plate and magnet apart where FA≦22.2 N, FL>FA, and FR>FL.

2. The removable media tray assembly of claim 1 further comprising a biasing member attached to the handle for biasing the handle in the first position.

3. The removable media tray assembly of claim 1 wherein FR=FA(H 1 /H 2 ) and a ratio of H 1 :H 2 is in the range of approximately 3:1 to 3.8:1.

4. A removable media tray assembly for providing media to an imaging device, the removable media tray assembly comprising:
a housing having an opening therein to receive are movable media tray, the housing having:
a release surface; and,
a magnet mounted adjacent the opening;

the removable media tray having:
a bottom surface for holding media to be fed to the imaging device;
a front wall extending upward from the bottom surface, the front wall having an inner surface having a ferromagnetic plate aligned with the magnet and an outer surface having a mount:
and,
a handle pivotable between a first position and a second position, the handle including:
a finger bar transversely extending across a portion of the outer surface of the front wall; and,
a link depending from the finger bar and having a free end adjacent to the release surface, the link pivotally mounted to the mount, the link having a first arm portion extending between the mount and the finger bar and a second arm portion extending from the mount to the free end of the link, the first arm portion having a vertical height H 1 and the second arm portion having a vertical height H 2 ;

a biasing member attached to the handle for biasing the handle in the first position,

wherein, with the removable media tray received into the housing and the magnet and plate in abutment providing a latching force FL holding the removable media tray in a closed position where FL is greater than a pick force applied the media during feeding to the imaging device, a user-supplied actuation force FA applied to the finger bar pivots the handle toward the second position, the link pivots about the mount applying a release force FR to the release surface opening the removable media tray and moving the removable media tray away from the magnet where 18 N≦FA≦22.2 N, FR=FA(H 1 /H 2 ) and FR>FL.

5. The removable media tray assembly of claim 4 , wherein the mount further comprises a cylindrical boss extending from the front surface of the front wall and the link has an opening therein sized to closely receive the boss.

6. The removable media tray assembly of claim 4 wherein the link pivots through an arc of about four degrees.

7. The removable media tray assembly of claim 4 wherein the finger bar has a recess for receiving a fingertip of a user.

8. The removable media tray assembly of claim 4 wherein:
the magnet comprises a first and a second magnet positioned on the housing adjacent to a left and a right side of the opening;
the latch plate further comprises a first and a second latch plate mounted on the inner surface of the front wall opposite the first and the second magnet, respectively;
the release surface further comprises a first and a second release surface each positioned adjacent to one of a top and a bottom of the opening and the left and right side of the opening, respectively;
the mount further comprises a first and a second mount positioned on the outer surface of the front wall in an aligned, spaced apart relationship; and,
the link further comprises a first and second link depending from the finger bar, the first and second links pivotally mounted to the first and second mounts, respectively, with the free end of the first and second links positioned adjacent to the first and second release surfaces, respectively,
wherein, with the removable media tray received into the housing and the first and second magnets in abutment with the first and second latch plates, respectively, providing a first and a second latching force FL 1 , FL 2 , respectively, holding the removable media tray in a closed position and with a user-supplied actuation force FA applied to the finger bar to pivot the handle toward the second position, the first and second links pivot about the first and second mounts, respectively, to apply a first and a second release force FR 1 , FR 2 , to the first and second release surfaces, respectively, to open the tray and move the tray away from the first and second magnets where FR 1 +FR 2 >FL 1 +FL 2 .

9. The removable tray assembly of claim 8 wherein FL 1 is substantially equal to FL 2 and FR 1 is substantially equal to FR 2 .

10. The removable tray assembly of claim 8 wherein FL is not equal to FL 2 and FR 1 is greater than FL 1 and FR 2 is greater than FL 2 .

11. A removable media tray assembly for providing media to an imaging device, the removable media tray assembly comprising:
a housing having an opening therein to receive are movable media tray, the housing having:
a release surface; and,
a magnet mounted adjacent the opening;

the removable media tray having:
a bottom surface for holding media to be fed to the imaging device;
a front wall extending upward from the bottom surface, the front wall having an inner surface having a ferromagnetic plate aligned with the magnet and an outer surface having an upper mount and a lower mount vertically spaced apart thereon;
and,
a handle including a first member and a second member pivotally mounted to the first and second mounts respectively, the first and second members each pivotable between a first position and a second position, respectively;
the first member having a first end, a second end and a pivot member depending from the first end thereof, the first member having a first arm portion extending between the pivot member and the upper mount and having a vertical height H 1 and a second arm portion extending between the upper mount and th

Assignees

• Lexmark Int Inc
• Lexmark Int Inc

Inventors

• Lawrence Michael William
• Fichter Dustin Daniel
• Mcfarland Neal Douglas
• Mitchell Stacey Vaughan
• Alagos Angel Macuha
• Baena Jr Douglas Andagan
• Limosnero Pat Marlon Cartagena

Classifications

• B65H2555/42

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B65H1/266 Primary

  Support fully or partially removable from the handling machine, e.g. cassette, drawer (B65H1/027 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B41J11/58

  Supply holders for sheets or fan-folded webs, e.g. shelves, tables, scrolls, pile holders · CPC title

• B65H1/04

  adapted to support articles substantially horizontally, e.g. for separation from top of pile · CPC title

• B65H2405/121

  Locking means · CPC title