Endless Belt Air Flow Support for Image Recording Apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image recording apparatuses with suction belts are large due to the need for a suction mechanism, and replacing them with belts without suction holes leads to slipping issues and variable nozzle-to-medium distances.
Innovation Solution
An image recording apparatus featuring an endless belt with a support structure and air flow generators to maintain precise contact and alignment between the recording head and medium, using air flow to stabilize the conveying surface and prevent slipping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a suction belt with through-holes is used to prevent medium slipping, then the medium can be reliably conveyed, but the apparatus becomes large-sized due to the required suction mechanism space
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the suction mechanism from the apparatus by using a conveying belt without suction holes. The medium is conveyed relying on friction between the belt surface and medium, rather than suction force, thereby removing the large-sized suction mechanism and its associated space requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the pneumatic suction mechanism with a mechanical friction-based conveying system. The conveying belt relies on surface friction to transport the medium, substituting the complex suction system with a simpler mechanical contact approach.
2Volume of stationary object
If a conveying belt without suction holes is used to reduce apparatus size, then the apparatus becomes compact, but the belt slips with respect to the medium
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by creating a protruding conveying surface on the belt that locally increases friction and contact pressure with the medium. This localized structural feature enhances grip without requiring suction holes, allowing compact design while preventing slipping.
Solution Approach 2:
The conveying surface of the belt is designed to protrude from the printing stage surface, creating a curved or elevated contact interface. This geometric modification increases the contact area and friction between belt and medium, preventing slipping while maintaining compact apparatus dimensions.
3Reliability
If the conveying surface protrudes from the printing stage to prevent slipping, then belt-medium contact is improved, but the distance between nozzles and medium becomes dispersed and varied
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the belt structure into a base layer and a protruding conveying surface layer. The protruding portion is specifically designed to provide friction contact while the base layer maintains a stable, consistent position relative to the printing stage, ensuring uniform nozzle-to-medium distance.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention resolves the contradiction by operating in another dimension - the protruding conveying surface provides friction contact in the vertical dimension while the horizontal position and nozzle-to-medium distance remain consistent and controlled by the base layer structure.
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
This configuration minimizes the dispersion of the distance between the recording unit and the medium, ensuring stable and precise image recording while maintaining a compact apparatus design.
Implementation Method 1
an air flow generator configured to generate an air flow allowed to flow along the conveying direction in the space between the pair of support walls
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided an image recording apparatus including: an endless belt which extends in a conveying direction and which has a conveying surface configured to convey a medium; a driver configured to rotate the endless belt along the conveying direction; a support which is aligned with the endless belt in an orthogonal direction being parallel to the conveying surface and orthogonal to the conveying direction, the support having a pair of support walls extending in the conveying direction, and arranged at an interval in the orthogonal direction so as to define between each other a space opened in an orientation in which the conveying surface faces; an air flow generator configured to generate an air flow allowed to flow along the conveying direction in the space between the support walls; and a recorder configured to record an image on the medium supported by the endless belt and the support.