Automatic Cutting Device Fins Prevent Jamming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automatic cutting devices face issues with the free edge of the printed support slipping under the sliding surface downstream of the cutting units, leading to potential jamming during the cutting process, especially when transitioning between sliding planes.
Innovation Solution
An automatic cutting device with an array of elastically constrained fins that can move between closed and open configurations to occupy the space between sliding planes, allowing the printed support to be securely transferred from one plane to another and preventing jamming, while longitudinal cutting units can be positioned dynamically to accommodate various printed support sizes and types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the free edge of the printed support is allowed to pass freely between sliding planes, then the cutting operation can proceed quickly, but the support may slip under the sliding surface causing jamming
Solution Approach 1:
A guide element is introduced as an intermediary component between the sliding planes to prevent the printed support from slipping under the sliding surface. The guide element extends from the first sliding plane to the second sliding plane, creating a physical barrier that guides the support edge without impeding the cutting operation, thus maintaining both productivity and reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The guide element is positioned in a vertical dimension extending between the two sliding planes, rather than horizontally along the sliding surface. This three-dimensional positioning allows the guide element to occupy the space where the support edge might otherwise slip, preventing jamming while allowing the cutting operation to proceed uninterrupted
2Device complexity
If the longitudinal cutting units are fixed in predetermined positions, then the device structure is simplified, but the device cannot accommodate various image sizes and support types
Solution Approach 1:
The longitudinal cutting units are made dynamically positionable along the first sliding plane rather than being fixed in predetermined positions. This allows the cutting units to be adjusted to different locations to accommodate various image sizes and support types, while the overall device structure remains relatively simple through the use of adjustable mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting device is designed with universal cutting units that can be positioned at different locations along the sliding plane to handle various image sizes and support types. This multi-functional capability allows a single device to perform multiple cutting configurations without requiring separate specialized devices for each image size
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 ensures smooth and jam-free cutting operations by maintaining the support's stability across sliding planes, enabling efficient cutting of printed supports of different weights and sizes without slipping, and allowing for flexible positioning of longitudinal cutting units to achieve precise trimming.
Implementation Method 1
an array of fins (14), elastically constrained in a comb
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The present disclosure provides an automatic cutting device for printed supports which allows to compensate for the space created between the sliding planes, so as to always sustain the support to be cut and allow it to pass from one sliding plane to another and reach the relative unloading rollers avoiding jam at the device outlet. This result is achieved by means of an array of fins supported at the second sliding plane, configured to move from a closed configuration, in which all the fins protrude from the second sliding plane towards the first sliding plane and occupy the transverse cutting zone, to an open configuration in which they leave the transverse cutting area free so as to allow undisturbed movement of the cutting unit. This array of fins in closed configuration sustains the printed support cut in the passage from the first sliding plane to the second sliding plane.