Patent Publication Number: US-10773910-B2

Title: Tray drawer and multi-function printer using the same

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 105144217, filed Dec. 30, 2016, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates in general to a tray drawer and a multi-function printer using the same, and more particularly to a tray drawer having a handle and a multi-function printer using the same. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     Conventional multi-function printer includes a tray drawer for carrying sheets. The multi-function printer can take the sheet within the tray drawer for transferring an image to the sheet. When the sheets within the tray drawer run out, the tray drawer may be pulled out and supplied with sheets. In general, the tray drawer is engaged with a main body of the multi-function printer by an engagement mechanism. However, space of the tray drawer is narrow or is insufficient. Thus, it results in the high difficulty in design and high cost if the engagement mechanism is too complicated. 
     Thus, how to design a simple engagement mechanism is one of the goals for one of ordinary skill in the art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is to provide a tray drawer and a multi-function printer using the same capable of resolving the above problem. 
     An embodiment of the present invention is to provide a tray drawer. The tray drawer includes a tray body, a handle and an elastic element. The handle is connected to the tray body and includes a handle portion and a first engagement portion. The first engagement portion is connected to the handle portion, wherein when the tray body is at a lock state, the first engagement projects from a first position-limit portion. The elastic element connects the first engagement portion to the tray body. There is no relative motion between the first engagement portion and the handle portion. 
     An embodiment of the present invention is to provide a multi-function printer. The multi-function printer includes a tray drawer and a main body. The tray drawer includes a tray body, a handle and an elastic element. The handle is connected to the tray body and includes a handle portion and a first engagement portion. The first engagement portion is connected to the handle portion, wherein when the tray body is at a lock state, the first engagement projects from a first position-limit portion. The elastic element connects the first engagement portion to the tray body. There is no relative motion between the first engagement portion and the handle portion. The main body includes a second engagement portion. When the tray body is at the lock state, the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are engaged with each other. 
     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. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a multi-function printer according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the multi-function printer of  FIG. 1  along a direction  2 - 2 ′; and 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of the main body and the tray drawer at an unlock state. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     To make the characteristics, contents, advantages, and effects of the invention more apparent and easier to understand, the invention is disclosed with accompanying drawings, and is described by way of embodiments. A number of drawings are used in the embodiments for describing the specification. However, these drawings are schematic only, and do not necessarily reflect the actual scales and disposition relationships of the components of the implementations of the invention. Therefore, the scales and disposition relationships of the accompanying drawings should not be interpreted as actual scales and disposition relationships, and are not restrictive of actual implementations of the invention. 
     Advantages, characteristics and technical methods of the invention are disclosed with reference to exemplary embodiments and accompanying drawings to make the invention more apparent and easier to understand. Furthermore, the invention may be implemented in different forms, and is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below. Conversely, for anyone who is skilled in the technology field of the invention, the disclosed embodiments thoroughly and completely express the scope of the invention, and the invention will define only the appended claims. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a multi-function printer  100  according to an embodiment of the invention,  FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the multi-function printer  100  of  FIG. 1  along a direction  2 - 2 ′, and  FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of the main body  110  and the tray drawer  120  at an unlock state. 
     The multi-function printer  100  has functions of the photocopying, printing, scanning, facsimile, etc. As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the multi-function printer  100  includes a main body  110  and at least one tray drawer  120 . The tray drawer  120  is slidably connected to the main body  110  for transforming into a close state or an open state. To avoid the complicated schematic diagram,  FIGS. 2 and 3  only show a portion of the main body  110  and a portion of the tray drawer  120 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the tray drawer  120  and the main body  110  engage with each other to be at a lock state for preventing the tray drawer  120  from being easy to be detached from the main body  110 . The main body  110  includes a second engagement portion  111 . The tray drawer  120  includes a tray body  121 , a handle  122  and an elastic element  123 . The tray body  121  includes an upper plate  1211  having a first position-limit portion  1211   a  (broken line as shown in  FIG. 3 ). In the present embodiment, the first position-limit portion  1211   a  is an opening, but the invention is not limited thereto. When the first position-limit portion  1211   a  is the opening, the opening substantially faces a direction vertical to the ground. The handle  122  includes a handle portion  1221 , a first engagement portion  1222  and a linkage  1223 , wherein the first engagement portion  1222  connects with the handle portion  1221  by the linkage  1223 . When the tray body  121  is at the lock state, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the first engagement portion  1222  projects from the first position-limit portion  1211   a  of the tray body  121  for engaging with the second engagement portion  111  of the main body  110 , such that the tray drawer  120  and the main body  110  engage with each other. As a result, it can prevent the tray drawer  120  from being easy to be detached from the main body  110 . In addition, at least one portion of the second engagement portion  111  of the main body  110  also may located at the first position-limit portion  1211   a , but the invention is not limited thereto. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the upper plate  1211  has a portion adjacent to the first position-limit portion  1211   a , and the portion may block the handle  122  from over-rotating. In other words, when the handle  122  rotates to touch the upper plate  1211 , the handle  122  is blocked by the upper plate  1211 . At this time, the first engagement portion  1222  of the handle  122  engages with the second engagement portion  111  of the main body  110 . 
     In an embodiment, the first engagement portion  1222  of the handle  122  and the second engagement portion  111  of the main body  110  are both protrusions, wherein the first engagement portion  1222  and the second engagement portion  111  are staggered in an open direction D1, and the first engagement portion  1222  is more far away from the handle portion  1221  than the second engagement portion  111 . As a result, as shown in  FIG. 2 , when the first engagement portion  1222  and the second engagement portion  111  engage with each other, the second engagement portion  111  may block the first engagement portion  1222  from moving in the open direction D1, and accordingly it can prevent the tray drawer  120  from being easy to be detached from the main body  110  in the open direction D1. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the elastic element  123  connects the first engagement portion  1222  to the tray body  121 . When the handle  122  rotates to make the elastic element  123  transform, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the elastic element  123  stores the elastic potential energy. As a result, when the handle  122  of  FIG. 3  is released, the elastic element  123  releases the elastic potential energy, such that the handle  122  automatically returns back the unlock state, as shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the handle  122  further includes a second position-limit portion  1226  connecting to the linkage  1223  and disposed opposite to the first engagement portion  1222 . The elastic element  123  has an end surrounding the second position-limit portion  1226 , such that the end may be restricted by the second position-limit portion  1226 . As a result, it can prevent the elastic element  123  from being easy to be detached from the handle  122 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , there is no relative motion between the first engagement portion  1222  and the handle portion  1221 , that is, the first engagement portion  1222  is fixed to the handle portion  1221 . In the present embodiment, the first engagement portion  1222  and the handle portion  1221  are connected by the linkage  1223 . The linkage  1223  extends, for example, in single straight direction, that is, the linkage  1223  is a straight bar, but the invention is not limited thereto. In addition, the linkage  1223  fixedly connects the first engagement portion  1222  to the handle portion  1221 . The linkage  1223 , the first engagement portion  1222  and the handle portion  1221  are integrated into one piece, and thus there is no relative motion between the first engagement portion  1222  and the handle portion  1221 . In an embodiment, the linkage  1223 , the first engagement portion  1222  and the handle portion  1221  may be formed by way of integrally formed manufacture process, for example, the injection molding. In another embodiment, the linkage  1223 , the first engagement portion  1222  and the handle portion  1221  may individually formed and then combined together. In addition, due to the length of the linkage  1223  being short, a distance between the handle portion  1221  and the first engagement portion  1222  is also short. 
     In addition, the handle portion  1221  includes a front plate  1224  and a rear plate  1225 . The front plate  1224  and the rear plate  1225  provide a handling space SP therebetween, and the handle  122 , and accordingly it can allow hand to enter handling space SP to easily hold the front plate  1224  for operating the handle portion  1221 . The linkage  1223  connects the first engagement portion  1222  to the rear plate  1225 . In the present embodiment, the linkage  1223  may directly extend to the first engagement portion  1222  from the rear plate  1225  in a close direction D2 of the tray body  121 . In other words, there is no other element between the rear plate  1225  and the first engagement portion  1222  except for the linkage  1223 , but the invention is not limited thereto. 
     In addition, the handle  122  is pivotally connected to the tray body  121  for rotating with respect to the tray body  121 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , when the tray body  12  is supplied with the sheets, the handle  122  may be operated to rotate for lifting the lock state of the tray drawer  120  and the main body  110  to be the unlock state, as shown in  FIG. 3 . At the unlock state, the first engagement portion  1222  of the handle  122  is detached from the first position-limit portion  1211   a  of the tray body  121  and detached from the second engagement portion  111  of the main body  110 . As a result, the tray drawer  120  may be pulled out in the open direction D1 for being easy to be supplied with the sheets. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the front plate  1224  of the handle portion  1221  has a bottom end  1227  extending away from the first engagement portion  1222  or extending in the open direction D1. When the tray body  121  is at the lock state, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the bottom end  1227  of the front plate  1224  does not project from the front surface  121   f  of the tray body  121 , and accordingly it can beautify the appearance of the multi-function printer  100  and prevent the bottom end  1227  from interfering with the component outside the multi-function printer  100 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , when the handle portion  1221  is cocked to rotate and make the tray body  121  be the unlock state, the bottom end  1227  of the front plate  1224  projects from the front surface  121   f  of the tray body  121 . 
     As described above, the tray drawer of the present embodiment includes the tray body, the handle and the elastic element. The handle has a small volume, and accordingly it can simplify the design of the tray drawer and reduce the manufacture cost. In an embodiment, the handle includes the handle portion and the first engagement portion, wherein there is no relative motion between the handle portion and the first engagement portion. For example, the handle portion and the first engagement portion are integrated into one piece. In another embodiment, the handle further includes the linkage, wherein the linkage fixedly connects the handle portion to the first engagement portion, and there is no relative motion among the linkage, the handle portion and the first engagement portion. For example, the linkage, the handle portion and the first engagement portion are integrated into one piece. 
     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 invention 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.