Drive Coupler Pocket Design for High Torque Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drive couplers and gears in image forming devices face challenges in handling high torque loads while being compact and cost-effective, with existing designs often compromising on strength and ease of manufacture due to space constraints and the need for secure mounting and connection to rotating components.
Innovation Solution
A rotatable drive coupler with a cross pin and a shaft, where the cross pin is positioned orthogonally and removably positioned in a pocket of the drive coupler, allowing for efficient transfer of rotational force and secure attachment, and a design with circumferentially spaced lugs and a pocket structure that facilitates torque transfer and alignment, enabling the handling of high torque loads while maintaining compactness and ease of manufacture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the drive coupler is made larger to handle high torque loads, then the torque handling capability is improved, but the device size increases which violates space constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The drive coupler incorporates a pocket structure that receives and nests the cross pin and shaft assembly within its body, allowing the coupling mechanism to be compact while maintaining sufficient torque handling capability through the nested arrangement of components
Solution Approach 2:
The drive coupler employs a composite structure combining the coupler body with integrated pocket features, creating a unified component that achieves high strength-to-volume ratio by optimizing the distribution of material throughout the coupler geometry
2Ease of manufacture
If the drive coupler design is simplified to reduce manufacturing cost, then ease of manufacture is improved, but the reliability of torque transfer may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The drive coupler is segmented into functional zones including the pocket structure that separately receives the cross pin and shaft, allowing each component to be manufactured independently using simple processes while ensuring reliable torque transfer through the modular assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The cross pin serves as an intermediary element that mediates the torque transfer between the shaft and the drive coupler body, enabling reliable power transmission while keeping the overall design simple and easy to manufacture
3Volume of moving object
If the drive coupler is made compact to meet space constraints, then device compactness is improved, but the ability to securely mount and connect rotating components deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pocket structure nested within the drive coupler body provides a secure receptacle for the cross pin and shaft assembly, ensuring reliable mounting and connection of rotating components within a compact overall footprint
Solution Approach 2:
The pocket structure utilizes three-dimensional space efficiently by creating a recessed volume within the coupler body, allowing secure component mounting without increasing the external dimensions of the drive coupler
Data Source
AI summary
A replaceable unit for an image forming device according to one example embodiment includes a housing having a reservoir for storing toner. The replaceable unit includes a rotatable drive coupler and a rotatable shaft that has a cross pin on an axial end of the shaft, generally orthogonal to the shaft. At least a portion of the drive coupler is exposed on an exterior of the housing and unobstructed to receive rotational force when the replaceable unit is installed in the image forming device. A pocket is formed in a first axial side of the drive coupler. The axial end of the shaft and the cross pin are removably positioned in the pocket such that upon rotating the drive coupler in an operative direction rotational force is transferred from surfaces of the drive coupler forming the pocket to the cross pin causing the shaft to rotate with the drive coupler.