Feed Roller Periodic Contact for Image Quality
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing feed apparatuses face issues with foreign matter adhesion from rubber rollers to sheets, leading to image quality deterioration and oblique sheet movement due to uneven roller contact and warping, which are not adequately addressed by reducing abutment force or using a rotationally movable member.
Innovation Solution
A feeding apparatus with a swingable member and regulating sections that alternately position the feed roller to abut and separate from the sheet, utilizing a torque limiter and compression coil spring to maintain contact and prevent warping, ensuring reduced foreign matter adhesion and controlled sheet movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the feed roller always abuts against the sheet, then the sheet can be reliably fed, but foreign matter adheres to the sheet causing image quality deterioration
Solution Approach 1:
The feed roller is designed to periodically abut against and separate from the sheet during rotation. During the feeding phase, the feed roller abuts against the sheet to provide reliable feeding. During the non-feeding phase, the feed roller separates from the sheet to prevent foreign matter adhesion. This periodic contact pattern resolves the contradiction between reliable feeding and preventing contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The feed roller's contact state with the sheet is made dynamic rather than static. Through the rotationally movable member and torque limiter mechanism, the feed roller transitions between contacting and separating from the sheet based on operational requirements. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to maintain feeding reliability when needed while preventing foreign matter adhesion during other phases.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the abutment force is decreased, then foreign matter adhesion is reduced, but the feed roller cannot reliably feed the sheet
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of maintaining constant low abutment force, the system uses periodic high abutment force during feeding phases and zero abutment force during separation phases. This periodic action pattern achieves both reliable feeding (when high force is applied) and reduced foreign matter adhesion (when separation occurs), resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the feed roller is lifted up and separated from the sheet, then foreign matter adhesion is avoided, but the sheet feeding function is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The feed roller operates in periodic cycles of contact and separation. During the feeding phase, the feed roller contacts the sheet to perform the feeding function. During the non-feeding phase, it separates to avoid foreign matter adhesion. This periodic operation maintains productivity when needed while preventing contamination during other times.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the feed roller's contact state based on operational requirements. The rotationally movable member and torque limiter enable the feed roller to transition between engaged and disengaged states, providing the feeding function when required while preventing foreign matter adhesion during other phases.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If a rotationally movable member is used to lift the feed roller, then foreign matter adhesion is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rotationally movable member serves multiple functions: it lifts the feed roller to prevent foreign matter adhesion, transmits rotational motion from the drive source, and controls the feed roller's contact state. By making this single component multi-functional, the patent reduces the need for additional separate mechanisms, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving the desired foreign matter prevention.
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 effectively reduces foreign matter adhesion and maintains sheet position, preventing image quality deterioration and oblique movement by alternately positioning the feed roller, thus enhancing the feeding mechanism's reliability and accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
a compression coil spring arranged at the swingable member to swing the feed roller in a swingable direction
Implementation Method 2
a torque limiter comprising a friction member and a compression coil spring
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a feed apparatus including a support unit, a feed roller, a swingable arm to support the feed roller, a guide unit, a movable member movable to a retracted position and a protruding position at which the movable member can abut against the sheet supported by the support unit, a driving source, driving transmission units; and a contact-separating mechanism to move the feed roller to a separated position and an abutment position at which the feed roller abuts against the sheet supported by the support unit. In a state in which the movable member is the protruding position and the feed roller is the separated position, a time required to start feeding of the sheet by the feed roller moved from the separated position to the abutment position is longer than a time required to shift the movable member from the protruding position to the retracted position.