Medium Transport Device Nip Pressure Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medium transport devices face challenges in transporting media with different thicknesses without causing wrinkles, particularly thin media, as they require complex adjustments and increased component count, making it difficult to implement in smaller or less expensive models, and often compromise on thick paper transport performance.
Innovation Solution
A medium transport device with a pressure contact force adjustment unit that allows for real-time adjustment of nip pressure during transport, using a drive source from a rotation drive unit that does not provide transport driving force, enabling simultaneous transport of media with varying thicknesses without stopping, and incorporating a nip pressure adjustment mechanism with a variable unit and drive transmission unit to adjust pressure contact force based on medium type.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a pressure contact force adjustment unit is added to adjust nip pressure for different media thicknesses, then transport performance for both thin and thick media is improved, but device complexity and component count increase
Solution Approach 1:
The drive source of the other rotation drive unit is made to serve dual purposes: driving its own rotation drive unit and driving the pressure contact force adjustment unit. This multi-functionality allows the system to adjust nip pressure for different media thicknesses without adding external dedicated adjustment mechanisms, thereby improving adaptability while avoiding increased device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the function of the pressure contact force adjustment unit with the drive source of the other rotation drive unit. By combining these functions into a single integrated system rather than separate components, the patent achieves media thickness adaptability without proportionally increasing device complexity
2Device complexity
If the drive source of one rotation drive unit is used to drive the pressure contact force adjustment unit, then the number of components is reduced, but the reliability of transport operation may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
A gear mechanism is introduced as an intermediary between the drive source and the pressure contact force adjustment unit. This gear mechanism acts as a mediator that transmits and transforms the rotational motion from the drive source into the appropriate motion for adjusting the pressure contact force, thereby maintaining reliability while using shared drive sources
Solution Approach 2:
The drive transmission system is segmented into distinct functional components: the drive source, the gear mechanism, and the pressure contact force adjustment unit. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and facilitates maintenance, thereby maintaining system reliability even with reduced component count at the system level
Data Source
AI summary
A medium transport device includes: a first transport unit that is provided in a first transport path, and nips and transports a medium by a pair of rotating bodies; a second transport unit that is provided in a second transport path different from the first transport path, and nips and transports a medium by a pair of rotating bodies; a first rotation drive unit that rotationally drives the pair of rotating bodies of the first transport unit; a second rotation drive unit that rotationally drives the pair of rotating bodies of the second transport unit; and a pressure contact force adjustment unit that is provided in at least one of the first transport unit or the second transport unit, and adjusts a pressure contact force of the pair of rotating bodies. When one of the first transport unit or the second transport unit nips and transports the medium, the pressure contact force adjustment unit adjusts the pressure contact force of the one transport unit that nips and transports the medium by utilizing a drive source of a rotation drive unit that provides no driving force for transporting the medium to the first transport unit or the second transport unit.