Beveled Skive Finger Tip for Fuser Media Stripping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrographic printing systems face issues with release fluid contamination, leading to undesirable image artifacts and differential gloss when stripping media from fuser rollers, particularly in duplex printing modes.
Innovation Solution
A fuser apparatus with a stripping mechanism featuring elongated, thin, flexible skive fingers having beveled tips and a mounting mechanism that maintains a controlled tip gap, directing release agents away from the receiver media and preventing their transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a contact skive is used to strip media from the pressure roller, then the media can be effectively stripped, but release fluid accumulates on the skive surface and transfers to subsequent media, causing image artifacts
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful function of the skive tip contacting the media surface by positioning it away from the media. The skive finger is bent back so its tip does not contact the media, removing the source of release fluid transfer to media while maintaining the stripping function through alternative contact points on the skive finger body.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary mechanism - the bent skive finger configuration - that mediates between the need for effective media stripping and the need to prevent release fluid transfer. The skive finger body contacts the media for stripping while the retracted tip prevents contamination, acting as an intermediary solution between conflicting requirements.
2Reliability
If the skive tip contacts the media surface for stripping, then effective separation is achieved, but release fluid on the skive transfers to the media causing differential gloss and artifacts
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the skive finger into distinct functional zones: the body portion contacts the media for reliable stripping, while the tip portion is retracted and does not contact the media. This segmentation allows each part to perform its specific function without causing harm - the body provides stripping reliability while the retracted tip prevents release fluid transfer.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the sharp tip contact the media for stripping, the invention inverts the approach by having the skive finger body contact the media while the tip is bent back away from the media surface. This inversion of the expected contact geometry solves the contamination problem while maintaining stripping effectiveness.
3Strength
If release fluid is applied to the fuser surface to prevent toner adhesion, then toner release is improved, but fluid transfers to media causing image density variations and artifacts
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the source of artifact formation by retracting the skive tip from media contact. This removes the transmission path for release fluid from the fuser surface to the media, preventing image artifacts while maintaining the necessary release fluid application for proper toner release.
Data Source
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AI summary
A fuser apparatus (60) includes first (62) and second (64) rollers in nip (66) relation to transport a receiver member (42) therebetween. A stripping mechanism (300) includes a skive assembly having an elongated, thin, flexible skive finger (312), wherein a tip (344) of the skive finger is beveled with first and second bevel surfaces (340, 341) with respective sweep angles forming a sharp edge (342) along an upper surface of the skive finger. A mounting mechanism (314) positions the skive finger in operative relation to the first roller with a bottom surface of the skive finger contacting the surface of the first roller at a contact point (347) spaced apart from the tip of the skive finger such that the sharp edge along the first surface of the skive finger is spaced apart from the surface of the first roller by a distance (D) of between 50 and 120 microns.