Helical Blade Transporting Member for Developer Stirring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing transporting members in image forming apparatuses face a trade-off between effectively transporting and stirring developers, where increasing one ability often decreases the other, leading to suboptimal performance in both tasks.
Innovation Solution
A transporting member with a rotating shaft and helical blades, featuring gaps and upstream sections with varying inclination angles, allows for efficient transportation and stirring of developers by regulating their movement through a combination of inclined surfaces and cuts, enabling simultaneous high transport and stirring capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the ability to stir the transport object is increased, then the stirring capability is improved, but the ability to transport the transport object is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The helical blade is divided into different sections with different inclination angles. The upstream section has a smaller inclination angle to reduce resistance and facilitate movement, while the downstream section has a larger inclination angle to enhance stirring capability. This local differentiation allows the blade to simultaneously achieve both transport and stirring functions effectively.
2Productivity
If the ability to transport the transport object is increased, then the transport capability is improved, but the ability to stir the transport object is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The helical blade is divided into different sections with different inclination angles. The upstream section has a smaller inclination angle to reduce resistance and facilitate movement, while the downstream section has a larger inclination angle to enhance stirring capability. This local differentiation allows the blade to simultaneously achieve both transport and stirring functions effectively.
3Productivity
If gaps are added to enable movement in the axial direction, then transport capability is improved, but structural integrity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The helical blade is segmented into multiple sections along its length, with gaps positioned at specific locations. These gaps allow developer material to pass through axially, improving transport capability. The blade maintains structural integrity through its continuous helical structure in each section and the strategic placement of gaps that do not compromise overall strength.
Data Source
AI summary
A transporting member includes a rotating shaft and plural helical blades that helically extend around the rotating shaft and that transport a transport object in a direction of the rotating shaft as the rotating shaft rotates, each helical blade including a downstream side surface at a downstream side in a transporting direction and an upstream side surface at a side opposite to the downstream side surface. A portion of at least one of the helical blades has a gap that enables the transport object to move in the direction of the rotating shaft, and the at least one of the helical blades includes an upstream section that extends upstream in a rotating-shaft rotation direction, in which the rotating shaft rotates, from the gap. The upstream section includes a portion in which an inclination angle of the downstream side surface is less than an inclination angle of the upstream side surface.