Dual-Motor Lamination Roller Pressure Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing laminating machines often apply non-uniform pressure due to misalignment of rollers, leading to imperfect lamination, especially when handling small-width supports, as the upper roller does not extend strictly parallel to the lower roller, resulting in suboptimal lamination results.

Innovation Solution

The machine incorporates a pair of independent motors with motion transmission elements, each associated with a potentiometer to record and balance pressures at the ends of the upper roller, ensuring uniform compression by adjusting the relative position and spacing between the rollers, regardless of support thickness, width, or positioning.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Device complexity

If a single motor is used to rotate the upper roller, then the device complexity is reduced, but the pressure uniformity across the roller surface deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemotor configurationVSAvoidpressure uniformity
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSStress or pressure

Solution Approach 1:

The single motor is divided into two independent motors, each controlling one end of the upper roller. This segmentation allows independent adjustment of each roller end to achieve uniform pressure distribution across the entire roller surface, resolving the pressure uniformity issue while accepting increased device complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Each end of the upper roller is equipped with an independent motor and position sensor, allowing local adjustment and control. This enables different pressure conditions at different locations along the roller to be optimized independently, ensuring uniform pressure distribution across the roller surface.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Ease of operation

If the upper roller is adjusted to be non-parallel to the lower roller, then the ease of operation is improved, but the manufacturing precision of the lamination deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveroller adjustmentVSAvoidlamination quality
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The upper roller is made dynamically adjustable through independent motor control at each end, allowing the roller to be tilted or positioned at different angles relative to the lower roller. This dynamic adjustment capability enables easy operation while maintaining parallelism and lamination quality through electronic control and feedback from position sensors.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

Position sensors are installed at each end of the upper roller to detect the relative position and parallelism with the lower roller. This feedback information is used by the control system to automatically adjust the roller positions, ensuring parallelism is maintained during operation while allowing easy adjustment when needed.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Manufacturing precision

If manual calibration is performed to balance roller pressure, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the loss of time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepressure balancingVSAvoidcalibration time
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs automatic pressure balancing through electronic control of the independent motors based on feedback from position sensors. This self-service capability eliminates the need for manual calibration operations, achieving both pressure balancing and time savings by automating what was previously a manual process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

Manual mechanical calibration is replaced with an electronic control system that uses position sensors and independent motors to automatically balance the roller pressure. This substitution of mechanical manual adjustment with electronic automation achieves the same precision while eliminating the time loss associated with manual calibration.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

4Adaptability or versatility

If the roller width is significantly larger than the support width, then the adaptability to different support sizes is improved, but the pressure uniformity on small-width supports deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesupport size rangeVSAvoidpressure uniformity on narrow supports
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSStress or pressure

Solution Approach 1:

The roller control is segmented into two independently controlled ends, each with its own motor and position sensor. This allows the roller to be dynamically adjusted to match the width of the support being laminated, concentrating the active rolling surface on the support width and ensuring uniform pressure distribution even when the support is much narrower than the roller.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The upper roller is made dynamically adjustable through independent motor control at each end, allowing the roller effective width to be matched to the support width. This dynamic adjustment ensures that pressure is uniformly distributed only over the area where the support contacts the roller, maintaining pressure uniformity for small-width supports while preserving adaptability to various support sizes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP2300227B1Machine for pasting a substrate, particularly for document plasticizing, by lamination
Publication Date: 2015.08.12 KALA
  • EP2300227B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2300227B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP2300227B1 patent drawingFigure 4~7

AI summary

The present invention relates to a machine for pasting a substrate, particularly for plasticizing a document, by lamination, which includes a frame (1) between two vertical members (10, 11) from which extend two generally horizontal, rotatable laminating rollers (4, 5), namely a lower driving roller (4) and an upper following roller (5), the rotation of which is ensured by the contact and/or compression against said lower roller (4) or said substrate, said upper roller (5) being provided with a moving means for moving in translation along a vertical direction to adjust, as required, the distance thereof from the lower roller (4); and characterized in that said moving means includes a pair of motors, each one being rigidly connected therebetween, particularly via motion transmission elements, to one end of said roller, and in that each of the motors (6) operates independently from one another, and in that it comprises a means for recording the relative position of each end of said upper roller (5) when the latter is placed in basic contact with the lower roller, and in that the pressure between the rollers (4, 5) is balanced near the respective ends thereof.