Image Heating Apparatus Belt Steering Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image heating apparatuses face challenges in maintaining the stability and contact state of an endless belt with a rotatable heating member, particularly when handling thick paper, leading to reduced productivity due to heat quantity requirements and difficulties in maintaining parallelism between supporting rollers.
Innovation Solution
An image heating apparatus with a steering mechanism that adjusts the steering angle θ between the belt unit and the fixing roller, allowing controlled lateral shift of the externally heating belt to maintain contact stability and heat conduction, while using a cylindrical type holding mechanism to distribute pressure evenly across the belt.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If an externally heating belt is used to maintain fixing roller temperature, then heat conduction efficiency is improved, but travelling stability of the belt deteriorates due to difficulty in maintaining parallelism between supporting rollers
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the previously static supporting rollers dynamic by enabling one roller to tilt relative to the other. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to adapt to belt position variations and maintain both temperature conduction and travelling stability simultaneously, resolving the contradiction between fixed parallelism requirements and belt stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameter of the supporting rollers from a fixed parallel configuration to an adjustable configuration where one roller can tilt. This parameter change allows the system to optimize both heat conduction contact and belt travelling stability, eliminating the trade-off between these two requirements.
2Reliability
If one supporting roller is inclined to control belt lateral shift, then belt position stability is improved, but contact between belt and fixing roller is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs a dynamic tilting mechanism that allows the supporting roller to adjust its angle. This enables the system to achieve belt position stability through controlled inclination while simultaneously maintaining adequate contact with the fixing roller for effective heat conduction, as the roller can tilt to the optimal angle rather than being fixed.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention performs preliminary adjustment of the supporting roller angle to optimize both belt positioning and contact. By pre-setting the appropriate tilt angle, the system ensures that the belt remains stable laterally while maintaining sufficient contact area with the fixing roller for effective heating, preventing the loss of contact that would occur with excessive inclination.
3Use of energy by moving object
If fixing speed is decreased to handle thick paper, then heat quantity requirement is reduced, but productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the conventional internal heating system with an externally applied heating belt system. This substitution enables more efficient heat transfer directly to the fixing roller surface, allowing high-speed fixing of thick paper without excessive heat quantity requirements, thus maintaining both energy efficiency and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an externally heating belt as an intermediary between the heat source and the fixing roller. This intermediary enables controlled and efficient heat transfer to the fixing roller, allowing high fixing speeds for thick paper while managing heat quantity requirements, thereby resolving the contradiction between speed and energy consumption.
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 improves the traveling stability of the endless belt and ensures uniform heat distribution across the fixing roller, enhancing the fixing quality and preventing defects like uneven gloss, thereby maintaining high productivity without lowering fixing speed.
Implementation Method 1
an externally heating belt (endless belt) rotatably stretched two supporting rollers... a type using an externally heating belt... to maintain an outer surface temperature of the fixing roller
Data Source
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AI summary
An image heating apparatus includes: a rotatable heating member; a belt unit including an endless belt and first and second supporting members; a detector; a rotating mechanism; and a displacing mechanism for permitting displacement, with rotation of the belt unit by the rotating mechanism, of the first supporting member in a direction of equalizing forces urging the belt toward the rotatable heating member by the first supporting member at widthwise ends of the belt, and for permitting displacement, with rotation of the belt unit by the rotating mechanism, of the second supporting member in a direction of equalizing forces urging the belt toward the rotatable heating member by the second supporting member at the widthwise ends of the belt.