Fixing Roller Dynamics and Air Cooling for Continuous Paper
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrographic image forming apparatuses face issues with paper damage and waste during image formation on continuous paper, particularly due to uneven heating and separation of heating rollers, which leads to burn and deformation of normal and artificial paper.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus with a conveyance section, blowing section, and pressure-contact separation section that controls the heating of fixing members and air blowing to minimize waste and heat damage, by separating the fixing members after image formation and adjusting air blowing based on temperature detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the heating roller is separated by a sufficient distance to prevent paper damage, then paper burn and deformation are prevented, but the apparatus size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heating roller is designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing it to dynamically adjust its position. During image formation, the heating roller contacts the paper for effective heating. After image formation, the heating roller automatically moves away from the paper by gravitational force, creating sufficient separation distance to prevent paper damage without requiring a large fixed gap that would increase apparatus size.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces complex mechanical separation mechanisms with a simple gravitational-based automatic separation system. The heating roller's weight and the gravitational force acting on it provide the separation force needed to move the heating roller away from the paper after image formation, eliminating the need for additional motors, actuators, or complex mechanical structures that would increase apparatus size.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the continuous paper is conveyed at a low speed during heating temperature increase, then paper damage is reduced, but the portion having no image formed becomes longer and more waste is generated
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary heating of the fixing member before paper conveyance begins. The temperature control unit starts heating the fixing member in advance, and the heating roller is positioned to contact the paper only when the predetermined temperature is reached. This preliminary action ensures that heating and paper conveyance are synchronized, preventing paper damage during temperature ramp-up while minimizing the length of non-image portions that would be wasted.
Solution Approach 2:
The temperature control unit continuously monitors the fixing member's temperature and provides feedback control. When the predetermined temperature is reached, the controller stops heating and coordinates the heating roller contact with paper conveyance. This feedback mechanism ensures optimal timing between temperature stabilization and image formation, reducing both paper damage and wasted non-image portions.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a large separation distance is maintained for the heating roller, then paper deformation is prevented, but the cooling time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heating roller automatically moves to a separated position after image formation using gravitational force, creating sufficient distance for effective cooling. This dynamic separation ensures that the heating roller is far enough from the paper to prevent deformation while minimizing the separation distance compared to fixed systems, thereby reducing cooling time without compromising paper protection.
4Productivity
If the heating roller contacts the continuous paper during temperature increase, then image formation can proceed, but burn and deformation are generated on the paper
Solution Approach 1:
The temperature control unit performs preliminary heating of the fixing member before paper conveyance and image formation begin. The heating roller is positioned to contact the paper only after the predetermined temperature is reached, ensuring that image formation proceeds continuously without interruption while preventing paper burn and deformation by avoiding contact during the temperature increase phase.
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 solution reduces the wasted portion without images and minimizes heat-induced damage to continuous paper by efficiently cooling the fixing members and controlling paper conveyance, thereby shortening cooling time and preventing paper deformation.
Implementation Method 1
a blowing section which blows air to the heated fixing member
Implementation Method 2
a fixing temperature controlling section which controls a heating element that heats the fixing member to a predetermined temperature
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus that performs image formation on continuous paper having a toner image formed thereon by making the continuous paper pass through a nip section to fix the toner image to the continuous paper, the nip section being formed by heating at least one of a pair of fixing members and pressure-contacting the fixing members with each other, the apparatus including: a conveyance section which conveys the continuous paper; a blowing section which blows air to the heated fixing member; a pressure-contact separation section which switches the pair of fixing members between a pressure-contacted state and a separated state; and a control section which, after the image formation is finished, stops heating of the fixing member, separates the pair of fixing members with the pressure-contact separation section and blows the air to the heated fixing member with the blowing section.