Belt Unit Guide Engagement and Regulating Gap for Meandering Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image forming apparatuses fail to effectively prevent meandering and deviated running of belts, leading to potential damage due to continuous loading and disengagement issues between guide ribs and rollers, and the movement of detachable trays affects the belt's alignment.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves a belt unit with a roller, first and second guides, and a regulating portion, where the guides are engaged with an engagement depth in the radial direction, and the regulating portion provides a gap that gradually decreases toward the center, ensuring the guide rib remains engaged with the annular stepped guide portion, preventing disengagement and damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a cleaning blade applies uniform pressing force to the entire width of the belt, then the guide rib is prevented from separating from the groove, but once the belt starts deviating due to meandering, the deviation continues and the belt may be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The pressing force is not applied uniformly across the entire belt width, but is concentrated at specific locations (edges and center) where guide ribs are most likely to disengage. This localized pressing approach prevents guide rib separation while avoiding continuous damage to the belt that would result from uniform pressing across the entire width.
Solution Approach 2:
The cleaning blade is divided into multiple pressing portions that independently apply force to different sections of the belt. This segmentation allows selective pressing at critical locations (edge portions and center portion) rather than applying uniform force across the entire belt, thereby preventing both guide rib separation and belt damage.
2Ease of operation
If the detachable tray is moved relative to the belt, then accessibility and maintenance are improved, but the distance between the roller member and belt changes, causing disengagement of the abutting rib from the annular groove
Solution Approach 1:
The pressing portions are designed to dynamically adjust their pressing force based on the relative position of the detachable tray. When the tray moves and changes the distance between the roller member and belt, the pressing portions automatically modulate their force to maintain continuous engagement of the guide rib with the groove, preventing disengagement while allowing tray movability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where the position of the detachable tray and the engagement state of the guide rib are continuously monitored. Based on this feedback, the pressing force is automatically adjusted to maintain proper engagement, ensuring reliability even when the tray is moved for accessibility or maintenance purposes.
3Manufacturing precision
If the guide rib is engaged with the groove to prevent meandering, then belt alignment is improved, but when disengagement occurs, the belt runs on the outer peripheral surface of the roller causing instability
Solution Approach 1:
The pressing portions are positioned and configured to apply preventive pressing force before guide rib disengagement can occur. By anticipating potential disengagement and applying force in advance at critical locations, the system maintains continuous engagement and prevents the belt from running on the outer peripheral surface of the roller, thereby ensuring both alignment precision and running stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A belt unit includes a roller, a belt, a first guide, a second guide and a regulating portion. The first guide is provided on a surface of the roller. The first guide is in a form of one of a convex shape and a concave shape. The belt is looped taut around the rollers, and has a second guide in a form of one of a concave shape and a convex shape. The first guide and the second guide are engaged with each other with an engagement depth in the radial direction. The regulating portion confronts the outer belt surface and provides a gap between the regulating portion and the outer belt surface, the gap being smaller than the engagement depth.