Movable Supporting Member for Transfer Belt Vibration Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image forming apparatuses face issues with improper transfer of toner images onto recording materials with low smoothness and high stiffness, due to excess or deficiency of transfer bias, especially when the supporting member's position is changeable, leading to defects like white voids and scattering.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus with a movable supporting member that adjusts its position to optimize the penetration amount into the intermediary transfer belt, coupled with a controller that determines optimal transfer biases based on sensor detections during test modes, ensuring consistent and proper toner transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a supporting member is provided to hold the attitude of the intermediary transfer belt from the inner peripheral surface side, then vibration and waving of the intermediary transfer belt are suppressed and electric discharge on the upstream side of the secondary transfer nip is reduced, but the toner image may be disturbed due to abnormal electric discharge when recording material enters or exits the secondary transfer nip
Solution Approach 1:
A movable supporting member is introduced as an intermediary element between the intermediary transfer belt and the recording material. This supporting member can be moved between a first position (contacting the inner peripheral surface of the intermediary transfer belt) and a second position (recessed from the inner peripheral surface), allowing it to mediate the interaction between the belt and recording material during critical transfer moments.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting member is made movable between two positions rather than being fixed. The moving mechanism allows the supporting member to dynamically adjust its position: contacting the intermediary transfer belt during normal operation to suppress vibration, and recessing when recording material enters or exits the secondary transfer nip to prevent abnormal electric discharge and toner image disturbance.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the supporting member is positioned to contact the intermediary transfer belt, then the attitude of the intermediary transfer belt is stabilized, but excess or deficiency of transfer bias occurs when the supporting member position is changeable, leading to improper toner transfer
Solution Approach 1:
A detection device is provided to detect the position of the supporting member, and a control device adjusts the transfer bias based on the detected position. This feedback mechanism ensures that the transfer bias is optimized for each supporting member position, preventing improper toner transfer while maintaining belt attitude stability.
3Reliability
If a movable supporting member with position adjustment is provided, then both vibration suppression and abnormal electric discharge prevention are achieved, but the device complexity increases due to moving mechanism and position detection systems
Solution Approach 1:
The movable supporting member serves multiple functions: it suppresses vibration and waving of the intermediary transfer belt during normal operation, prevents abnormal electric discharge when recording material enters or exits the secondary transfer nip, and its position can be adjusted to optimize transfer bias. This multi-functional design consolidates several requirements into a single component system.
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
The solution effectively suppresses improper transfers and improves image quality by adjusting transfer biases according to the supporting member's position, reducing defects like white voids and scattering on both thick and low-smoothness papers.
Implementation Method 1
a voltage source (22) for applying a transfer bias, for transfer of the toner image, to the outer roller (2) or the inner roller (15)
Implementation Method 2
a supporting member (3) contactable to an inner peripheral surface of the belt (1) on a side upstream of the inner roller (15) and downstream of the upstream roller (14)
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes a belt, an outer roller, stretching rollers including an inner roller and an upstream roller, a voltage source, a supporting member, a moving mechanism, a sensor, and a controller. On the basis of a first detection result of the sensor acquired under application of a test bias in a state in which the supporting member is disposed at a first position, the controller determines a first transfer bias to be applied to the outer roller or the inner roller during an operation in a first mode. On the basis of a second detection result of the sensor acquired under application of the test bias in the state in which the supporting member is disposed at a second position, the controller determines a second transfer bias to be applied to the outer roller or the inner roller during an operation in a second mode.