Image Forming Apparatus Drive Mounting With Front-Side Harness Access
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses face challenges in facilitating the efficient attachment and removal of driving units, particularly due to the complexity of accessing and identifying harnesses and fastening members from the rear side, which complicates maintenance operations.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus is designed with a rear frame allowing front-side access for driving units, featuring harnesses that extend vertically and are supported by clips at the front, enabling easy visual identification and attachment/removal, and fastening members that can be accessed from the front for easy manipulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the driving unit is fixed to the rear portion of the rear frame, then the structural stability is improved, but the ease of operation for attachment and removal deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the fastening system into modular clips that can be independently accessed from the front side. The clips are segmented from the main rear frame structure, allowing the driving unit to be attached and removed without disturbing the entire rear frame assembly, thus maintaining structural stability while improving operational ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces clips as intermediary fastening elements between the driving unit and the rear frame. These clips serve as mediators that can be operated from the front side, eliminating the need to access the rear portion for attachment and removal operations, thereby resolving the contradiction between structural stability and ease of operation.
2Reliability
If the harness extends through the rear frame, then the connection reliability is improved, but the visual identification from front side deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the spatial arrangement of the harness by routing it to extend vertically at the front side rather than horizontally through the rear frame. This dimensional change allows the harness to maintain its connection function while becoming visually accessible and identifiable from the front side, resolving the contradiction between connection reliability and visual identification.
3Device complexity
If the substrate assembly is integrated with the rear frame, then the device complexity is reduced, but the ease of repair deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the substrate assembly from the rear frame by providing independent access paths. The harness can be disconnected from the substrate assembly without requiring removal of the entire substrate assembly or rear frame, enabling localized repairs while maintaining overall system integration and minimizing complexity.
4Strength
If the fastening member is accessed from the rear side, then the attachment strength is improved, but the productivity for maintenance operations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional fastening approach by providing access to the fastening clips from the front side rather than the rear side. This inversion allows maintenance personnel to perform attachment and removal operations from the more accessible front side, significantly improving productivity while maintaining adequate attachment strength through the clip design.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes a rear frame disposed on a rear side in a housing, the housing allowing access to a component on a front side in the housing, a driving unit that is attached to a front side of the rear frame to drive a toner cartridge, and a substrate assembly that is disposed on a rear side of the rear frame, and connected to the driving unit with a harness.