Angled Groove Rotating Body for Cleaning Blade Durability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrophotographic image forming apparatuses face challenges in durability, particularly with the endless belt and cleaning blade, which affect the quality and longevity of the apparatus.
Innovation Solution
A rotating body with angled grooves on its surface, oriented between 0° and 90°, is used in the image forming apparatus to reduce friction and stabilize the sliding contact between the cleaning blade and the belt, enhancing durability by preventing blade curl and squeak, and improving cleanability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cleaning blade makes contact with the endless belt to clean the toner image, then cleaning performance is improved, but the blade curls and squeaks due to friction, reducing durability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating grooves at specific locations and orientations on the belt surface. These grooves are positioned to interact with the cleaning blade contact points, providing localized friction reduction exactly where the blade makes contact, while leaving other areas of the belt unchanged for their intended functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of the belt surface by introducing grooves with specific geometric parameters (orientation angle θ between 0° and 90°, depth of 0.1-2.0 μm, spacing of 0.1-100 μm). This modifies the surface topology to reduce friction and prevent stick-slip motion between the blade and belt.
2Reliability
If the endless belt surface is made smooth with Rz ≤ 0.2 μm and specularity ≥ 100 to improve cleaning performance, then cleaning efficiency is improved, but the durability of the belt and blade deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The grooves create localized regions of reduced friction precisely at the blade contact zones, while the overall surface maintains the required smoothness (Rz ≤ 0.2 μm) for cleaning performance. This spatial differentiation allows simultaneous optimization of both cleaning efficiency and durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The grooves introduce curved surface features that modify the contact mechanics between the blade and belt. The curved geometry of the grooves helps distribute contact pressure and reduce stick-slip motion, improving durability without compromising the overall surface smoothness.
3Reliability
If the cleaning blade applies pressure to the belt to ensure thorough cleaning, then cleaning performance is improved, but friction increases causing blade curl and squeak
Solution Approach 1:
The grooves change the friction parameter by creating a lower-friction surface topology. This allows the cleaning blade to maintain effective cleaning pressure while experiencing reduced friction resistance, preventing blade curl and squeak even under necessary cleaning loads.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The angled grooves on the rotating body reduce friction and prevent stick-slip motion, leading to improved durability by preventing blade curl and squeak, and enhancing the reliability of the image forming apparatus by reducing cleaning failures and maintaining image quality.
Implementation Method 1
The one or more grooves are oriented at an angle θ to a longitudinal direction of the rotating body. The angle θ is greater than 0° and less than 90°... the angled grooves on the rotating body reduce friction and prevent stick-slip motion
Data Source
AI summary
A rotating body for use in an image forming apparatus has an outer surface in which one or more grooves are formed. The one or more grooves are oriented at an angle greater than 0° and less than 90° with respect to a longitudinal direction of the rotating body.