Alignment Plate Angle Adjustment for Duplex Print Registration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses face challenges in accurately aligning images on both faces of a recording sheet during duplex printing, particularly when the printed materials are bound into a book, due to issues like transverse shift and skew with respect to the transport direction.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus incorporates a skew correction mechanism with an alignment plate and an inclination angle adjustment mechanism, along with a detection device and control system to calculate and adjust the alignment angle, ensuring precise image placement on both sides of the sheet.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If duplex printing is performed without skew correction, then the printing process is simple and fast, but the image alignment between front and back faces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The skew correction mechanism performs preliminary correction of the recording sheet's skew angle before the sheet enters the image forming device. The alignment plate is positioned upstream to preemptively align the sheet, ensuring that subsequent printing operations occur on properly oriented material, thus preventing misalignment between front and back faces.
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment plate serves as an intermediary component between the sheet feeding device and the image forming device. It mediates the skew correction process by providing a reference surface that the recording sheet contacts, thereby passively correcting the sheet's orientation without requiring complex active control mechanisms.
2Manufacturing precision
If the inclination angle of the alignment plate is adjusted to correct skew, then the transverse shift is reduced, but the detection and calculation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The detection device captures the position of corners on the recording sheet, and the control device calculates the deviation from the ideal position. This feedback information is used to determine the appropriate inclination angle adjustment for the alignment plate, creating a closed-loop system that continuously optimizes sheet alignment based on actual measured conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical skew correction mechanisms with a detection-and-calculation-based system. Instead of using multiple sensors and complex mechanical adjustments, the system uses corner detection combined with mathematical calculation to determine the required alignment plate inclination angle, simplifying the overall system while maintaining precision.
3Productivity
If manual adjustment of the alignment plate is required, then the device complexity is reduced, but the operation time and productivity decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically detecting the skew of the recording sheet and calculating the required inclination angle adjustment. The control device autonomously determines the correction parameters without requiring manual intervention, enabling the system to adapt to varying sheet conditions while maintaining high productivity.
Data Source
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AI summary
An image forming apparatus (1) includes a skew correction mechanism (15A,15B) having an alignment plate (151) extending parallel to a transport direction of a recording sheet, and configured to correct a skew of the recording sheet with respect to the transport direction, by pressing a side of the recording sheet extending along the transport direction, against the alignment plate (151), an inclination angle adjustment mechanism (21) that enables manual adjustment of the inclination angle of the alignment plate (151) with respect to the transport direction, a calculator (101) that calculates a distance between the leading edge corner and the trailing edge corner in the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction, detected by the detection device (16), as a deviation amount of the recording sheet, and calculates an adjustment amount of the inclination angle that reduces the deviation amount, and a controller (100) that notifies the adjustment amount of the inclination angle calculated by the calculator (101), to a user.