Flexible Developer Conveyor Fatigue Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In downsized electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, the flexible agitation sheets used to convey developer experience high fatigue due to repeated bending and releasing, leading to increased wear and noise.
Innovation Solution
A developing apparatus with a support member and a flexible sheet that includes a first distance between the rotation axis and the sheet edge, where the lid has a corner portion extending beyond an imaginary circle centered on the rotation axis, allowing the sheet to maintain contact and reduce bending, thus minimizing fatigue and noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the developer container is downsized, then the apparatus size is reduced, but the agitation sheet experiences increased fatigue due to greater bending amplitude
Solution Approach 1:
A support member is introduced as an intermediary structure between the agitation sheet and the container wall. This support member provides additional reinforcement at critical locations, allowing the agitation sheet to maintain its function while experiencing reduced bending stress, thus resolving the contradiction between container size reduction and sheet durability
Solution Approach 2:
The support member is strategically positioned at specific locations within the container where the agitation sheet experiences maximum bending stress. This localized reinforcement approach maintains overall container compactness while providing targeted support to reduce fatigue in the most critical areas
2Ease of operation
If the agitation sheet is made more flexible to improve developer conveyance, then the sheet can better conform to the container shape, but the sheet experiences increased fatigue during repeated bending
Solution Approach 1:
The support member acts as a mediator that allows the flexible agitation sheet to maintain its conformability and conveyance efficiency while providing the necessary structural support to reduce bending fatigue, enabling the sheet to be more flexible without sacrificing durability
3Stability of the object's composition
If the agitation sheet is allowed to release completely from the container wall, then the sheet returns to its original shape, but this generates release noise
Solution Approach 1:
The support member serves as an intermediary contact point that guides the agitation sheet during its release motion, preventing the sheet from making abrupt contact with the container wall and thereby reducing the generation of release noise while still allowing shape recovery
Data Source
AI summary
A developing apparatus includes a developer conveyance member including a rotatably supported flexible sheet having a first distance between its rotation axis and an edge of the flexible sheet in a state where the flexible sheet is unbent. A lid of a developing container includes a corner portion that extends a storage space outward of an imaginary circle with a radius of the first distance centered on the rotational axis, and a contact portion which protrudes from an inner surface of the corner portion to an inner side of the imaginary circle and with which the flexible sheet contacts while the conveyance member is being rotated. The contact portion has a distal edge shaped such that a distance between the distal edge and the rotation axis increases toward a downstream side in a rotation direction of the conveyance member as viewed in the direction along the rotation axis.