Medium Discharge Roller Structure to Prevent Lubricant Staining
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medium discharge devices suffer from lubricant staining issues due to lubricant transfer from roller shafts to discharge assisting members, which can soil the medium, especially when the discharge assisting member is made of an elastic material.
Innovation Solution
The use of a discharge driven roller with a shaft hole and quick-drying lubricant between the inner and outer peripheral surfaces of the shaft, along with a discharge assisting member that rotates integrally with the driven roller and has a larger diameter, prevents lubricant transfer and staining.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a discharge assisting member made of elastic material is used to surely remove the rear end of the medium from between the roller pair, then the medium discharge reliability is improved, but the discharge assisting member absorbs lubricant and stains the medium
Solution Approach 1:
A seal member is introduced as an intermediary component between the discharge assisting member and the driven roller shaft. This seal member prevents direct contact between the lubricant on the shaft and the discharge assisting member, thereby blocking the transfer path of the harmful lubricant while allowing the discharge assisting member to maintain its elastic material properties for reliable medium removal
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful effect of lubricant transfer is isolated by extracting the lubricant-containing region (driven roller shaft area) from the discharge assisting member area through the seal member. This separation allows the discharge assisting member to function reliably without being contaminated by the lubricant necessary for shaft operation
2Ease of operation
If a protrusion with larger diameter than the roller is used as discharge assisting member, then the rear end of the medium can be fed in discharge direction, but the protrusion absorbs lubricant and sticks to the medium
Solution Approach 1:
The seal member acts as a mediator that allows the protrusion to maintain its larger diameter for effective medium feeding while preventing lubricant from reaching the protrusion surface, thus eliminating the staining problem without compromising the feeding function
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 configuration effectively suppresses lubricant adherence to the medium, ensuring clean discharge and maintaining the quality of discharged materials.
Implementation Method 1
a quick-drying lubricant is used between the inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole and the outer peripheral surface of the driven roller shaft
Implementation Method 2
quick-drying lubricant is used between the inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole and the outer peripheral surface of the driven roller shaft
Data Source
AI summary
A medium discharge device includes a discharge drive roller configured to contact a first surface of a medium, a discharge driven roller that is configured to contact a second surface of the medium and nip the medium between itself and the discharge drive roller, a driven roller shaft, and a discharge assisting member configured to contact the second surface of the medium to be discharged, that has a larger diameter than the discharge driven roller, and that rotates integrally with the discharge driven roller. The discharge driven roller has a shaft hole through which the driven roller shaft passes, an inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole and an outer peripheral surface of the driven roller shaft slide with rotation of the discharge driven roller, and a quick-drying lubricant is used between the inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole and the outer peripheral surface of the driven roller shaft.