Conveyor Sheet Switching Mechanism for Jam Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conveyors in printing systems face failures due to sheet issues like floating, wrinkles, or breaks, leading to stoppage and ejection of subsequent sheets, which disrupts the printing process and reduces productivity.
Innovation Solution
A conveyor system with a first and second conveyance path, a switching mechanism, and detectors to switch the sheet direction when a failure is detected, allowing for controlled ejection of faulty sheets to a purge tray and preventing jams, thereby maintaining continuous operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the conveyor stops conveyance when a sheet failure is detected, then the printing quality and reliability are improved, but the productivity is reduced due to stoppage
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyance path is divided into multiple segments with independent control. When a sheet failure is detected, only the affected segment stops conveyance while other segments continue operating, allowing localized stoppage rather than system-wide stoppage.
Solution Approach 2:
A switch mechanism acts as an intermediary to redirect sheets. When a failure is detected, the switch redirects the problematic sheet to a purge tray while allowing normal sheets to continue through the first conveyance path, maintaining overall system productivity.
2Reliability
If subsequent sheets are ejected to a purge tray when a conveyance failure occurs, then the reliability is improved by preventing jams, but the device complexity increases due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The switch serves as an intermediary component that redirects sheets based on failure detection. This single intermediary element handles the purification function by directing problematic sheets to the purge tray while allowing normal sheets to proceed, avoiding the need for complex purification mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a purge mechanism that discards sheets with conveyance failures to a separate tray. This allows the main conveyance system to continue operating with clean sheets while failed sheets are removed and collected, maintaining reliability without requiring complex recovery mechanisms.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the conveyor stops and ejects subsequent sheets, then the harmful factors are reduced by preventing jams, but the loss of time increases due to stoppage and ejection operations
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyance system is segmented into independent controllable sections. When a failure is detected in one segment, only that segment stops while others continue operating, minimizing the time loss to a localized area rather than the entire system.
Solution Approach 2:
The switch mechanism enables rapid redirection of sheets. When a failure is detected, the switch quickly redirects the problematic sheet to the purge tray, allowing the system to skip the stoppage-ejection cycle for normal sheets and maintain continuous flow, reducing overall time loss.
Data Source
AI summary
A conveyor includes a first conveyance path along which a sheet is conveyed in a first direction, a second conveyance path along which the sheet is conveyed in a second direction different from the first direction, a switching part configured to switch a conveyance direction of the sheet between the first direction and the second direction, a sheet detector configured to detect the sheet at the switching part, a conveyance system driver configured to convey and stop the sheet, and circuitry configured to control the conveyance system driver to stop conveyance of the sheet in a predetermined condition, control the sheet detector to detect the sheet at the switching part, and control the switching part to switch the conveyance direction of the sheet from the first direction to the second direction when the sheet detector does not detect the sheet at the switching part.