Elastic Roller Grooves and Silicone Coating for Linerless Label Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional elastic rollers used in thermal printers for linerless labels face issues with adhesive sticking, leading to paper jams and requiring frequent maintenance, and struggle to provide both non-stick and necessary frictional forces for stable transferring and printing, especially when handling labels with or without liners.
Innovation Solution
An elastic roller design featuring a rubber hardness of 30 to 80 degrees, a tear strength of 25 N/mm or more, and a silicone resin coating with specific thickness and hardness, combined with internal grooves and a varying diameter, to achieve optimal non-stick and gripping properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If a conventional elastic roller made of silicone rubber or rubber impregnated with silicone oil is used to transfer linerless labels, then the roller can provide necessary frictional force for transferring and printing, but adhesive sticking occurs leading to paper jams and frequent maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The roller surface is segmented into multiple circumferential grooves that divide the contact surface into separate regions. This segmentation reduces the total contact area between the adhesive layer and roller surface, preventing adhesive from forming continuous bonds that cause sticking and paper jams, while still providing sufficient frictional force in the groove regions for reliable label transfer and printing.
Solution Approach 2:
The roller incorporates a porous elastic body material that allows adhesive to penetrate into the porous structure rather than forming surface bonds. The porous architecture provides numerous small contact points that reduce overall adhesive sticking while maintaining necessary frictional force for label handling, preventing both sticking and slippage issues.
2Reliability
If grooves are formed on the roller surface to reduce contact area and prevent sticking, then adhesive sticking is reduced, but the frictional force becomes insufficient for stable transferring and printing
Solution Approach 1:
The roller design implements local quality by creating grooves with specific geometric parameters (depth, width, spacing) that optimize the distribution of contact areas. The grooves are positioned and dimensioned to provide sufficient frictional force in contact regions while maintaining low sticking in groove regions, achieving both requirements simultaneously through localized surface modification.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the roller surface by forming grooves with controlled depth, width, and circumferential spacing. These parameter adjustments create an optimal balance where the reduced contact area prevents sticking while the remaining contact regions provide adequate frictional force for stable label transfer and printing operations.
3Force
If the roller is made softer to increase frictional force for stable transferring, then gripping force improves, but the roller becomes more susceptible to adhesive sticking and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The roller employs a composite structure combining a porous elastic body material with specific mechanical properties (hardness and tear strength) that provide both sufficient grip force and wear resistance. The porous structure reduces adhesive sticking while the material composition maintains durability, achieving a balance between softness for gripping and hardness for wear resistance that homogeneous materials cannot provide.
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 elastic roller effectively prevents adhesive sticking, ensures stable transferring and printing of both linerless and labeled materials, and offers necessary frictional force while maintaining durability and wear resistance.
Implementation Method 1
The elastic roller is configured to transfer a belt-shaped member while the belt-shaped member is in contact with the elastic member
Implementation Method 2
the coating layer is made of silicone resin, and has a thickness of 10 to 100 μm. The silicone resin has hardness of 20 degrees or less
Data Source
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AI summary
An elastic roller includes: a roller shaft; and an elastic member. The elastic roller includes an inner layer side elastic member, and a coating layer. The inner layer side elastic member has a rubber hardness of 30 to 80 degrees that is measured by a durometer type A in accordance with the standard of JIS K 6253. The inner layer side elastic member has a tear strength of 25 N/mm or more that is measured using an unnicked angle-shaped test piece in accordance with JIS K 6252. The coating layer is made of silicone resin, and has a thickness of 10 to 100 µm. The silicone resin has hardness of 20 degrees or less that is measured using a spring-based Asker C type in accordance with SRIS 0101 standard. The inner layer side elastic member has a plurality of internal grooves along a circumferential direction. Each of the internal grooves has a width of 25 to 1,300 µm, and has a depth of 25 to 500 µm. Each of the internal grooves has a V-shaped in cross section and has a groove angle of 50 to 120 degrees.