U-Shaped Support Member for Belt Guide Position Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image heating apparatuses with a heat source inside a stay face instability in belt guide position due to thermal expansion, affecting sheet conveyance and image quality, as the contact between the belt guide member and the fixing belt is either weak at cold start or overly strong at high temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A fixing apparatus with a cylindrical belt, a nip plate, and a supporting member forming a U-shaped cross-section, where the belt guide member is supported by specific surfaces of the supporting member's legs, allowing precise positioning and reduced thermal expansion impact, ensuring stable belt guide position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the belt guide member is positioned to contact the inner surface of the belt in the vicinity of the nip forming member, then the sheet conveyance and image quality are stabilized, but the belt guide position becomes unstable due to thermal expansion of the stay or belt guide member
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting member is divided into multiple legs (first leg, second leg, third leg) that are spatially separated and independently support the belt guide member at different locations. This segmentation allows the belt guide member to be supported at multiple discrete points, distributing the thermal expansion effects and preventing uniform positional drift that would occur with a single support structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from supporting the belt guide member at a single location to supporting it at multiple locations in three-dimensional space. The legs are arranged at different positions and heights, creating a spatial support framework that constrains the belt guide member's position in multiple dimensions, thereby compensating for thermal expansion in any single dimension.
2Manufacturing precision
If the belt guide member contacts the inner surface of the belt, then the belt track is defined, but the contact strength varies with temperature causing unstable sheet conveyance
Solution Approach 1:
Different legs of the supporting member are positioned to support the belt guide member at different locations, allowing each support point to locally compensate for thermal expansion in its specific region. The legs can be made of different materials or have different geometries to address local thermal conditions, ensuring that the belt guide position remains stable across the entire structure despite temperature variations.
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 solution stabilizes the belt guide position, maintaining consistent sheet conveyance and image quality by minimizing the effects of thermal expansion and ensuring proper contact between the belt guide member and the fixing belt across temperature variations.
Implementation Method 1
a supporting member supporting the nip plate along a longitudinal direction of the nip plate, the supporting member having a cross section in a shape of U perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the nip plate
Implementation Method 2
a guide member disposed on an upstream side of the nip plate in a recording material conveying direction in the nip portion and including a guide portion configured to contact the inner surface of the belt
Implementation Method 3
a roller configured to form a nip portion through the belt in conjunction with the nip plate, wherein the recording material on which the image is formed is heated while being conveyed through the nip portion
Data Source
AI summary
A fixing apparatus that fixes an image onto a recording material includes: a belt; a nip plate contacting an inner surface of the belt; a roller configured to form a nip portion with the nip plate; a supporting member supporting the nip plate, the supporting member having a cross section in a shape of U, and supporting, with two legs, a surface of the nip plate opposite to a surface contacting the belt; and a guide member disposed on an upstream side of the nip plate and including a guide portion, wherein the recording material on which the image is formed is heated while being conveyed through the nip portion, and the image is fixed onto the recording material, and the guide member is supported by a first surface and a second surface of an upstream side leg among the two legs of the supporting member.