Image Reading Transport Path Narrowing to Reduce Cockling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cockling of recording materials during low-speed transport downstream of the image reading position leads to unstable behavior and reduced image reading accuracy.
Innovation Solution
An image reading apparatus with a transport path that narrows in thickness direction at a specific location, featuring a width less than upstream and downstream widths, to stabilize recording material behavior and enhance reading accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the transport path width is constant, then the structure is simple, but cockling occurs and image reading accuracy is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The transport path width is made non-uniform by narrowing it at the downstream side of the image reading position. This local modification creates a specific zone with reduced width that stabilizes the recording material during transport, preventing cockling without requiring complex modifications throughout the entire transport system.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the transport speed is low, then energy consumption is reduced, but cockling occurs and material behavior becomes unstable
Solution Approach 1:
A narrowed section is created at a specific location in the transport path (downstream of the image reading position) to provide localized stabilization. This allows low-speed transport to maintain stability in the critical reading zone without requiring high speed throughout the entire transport path, thus conserving energy while preventing cockling.
Data Source
AI summary
An image reading apparatus including: a transport path along which a recording material is transported from an upstream location toward a downstream location; and an image reader that reads an image formed on a portion of the recording material in the transport path, the portion being positioned at a specific location on the transport path. A width of the transport path in a thickness direction of the recording material transported along the transport path at the specific location is less than an upstream width and/or less than a downstream width, the upstream width being a width of the transport path at a location upstream of the specific location, the downstream width being a width of the transport path at a location downstream of the specific location.