Printer Paper Feed Rollers Prevent Bending in Curved Path
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printing apparatuses experience bending issues when manually feeding paper sheets through a curved path due to the paper's low stiffness as it abuts against rollers in a curved state, leading to potential misalignment and printing errors.
Innovation Solution
A printing apparatus design where the paper feed path includes rollers that nip and rotate the paper before it enters the curved section, maintaining a flat state and preventing bending, along with an inclined medium placement surface for easy feeding and edge guides to prevent skewing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the paper sheet is fed through the curved transfer guide portion, then the paper sheet can be inverted and fed to the printing unit, but the paper sheet becomes bent due to low stiffness in curved state
Solution Approach 1:
The pair of rollers performs preliminary action by nipping and rotating the paper sheet before it enters the curved transfer guide portion. This preliminary nipping action maintains the paper sheet in a flat state at the critical point where it would otherwise begin to bend, preventing the curvature issue before it occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical state parameter of the paper sheet by applying nipping force through the rollers. This transforms the paper from a free-state (prone to bending) to a constrained state (maintained flat), altering its mechanical properties temporarily to prevent the harmful curvature during the feeding process.
2Manufacturing precision
If the pair of rollers nips the paper sheet from both front and rear sides, then the paper sheet is fed accurately without bending, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pair of rollers serves multiple functions simultaneously: it nips the paper sheet to prevent bending, rotates to provide feeding motion, and maintains the paper in a flat state throughout the process. By consolidating these functions into a single roller mechanism, the invention achieves high feeding accuracy without proportionally increasing device complexity.
3Device complexity
If the paper sheet abuts against the rollers in a curved state, then the feeding process is simplified, but the paper sheet bending increases leading to misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The rollers apply preliminary anti-action by nipping the paper sheet in opposition to the tendency to bend. This counteracting force is applied at the point where the paper would otherwise abut against the rollers in a curved state, preventing the bending before it can cause misalignment or feeding errors.
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 bending of the paper as it is fed through the curved path, ensuring accurate alignment and reducing the likelihood of printing errors, while also facilitating easy paper feeding and maintaining the internal visibility of the apparatus.
Implementation Method 1
a pair of rollers that are provided at the upstream of the curved portion in the feed path and that feed the medium toward the printing unit via the feed path by rotating while nipping the medium fed from the paper feed port from both front and rear sides
Data Source
AI summary
A printing apparatus includes a printing unit that performs printing on a medium, an apparatus main body that houses the printing unit therein and that has outer surfaces including an upper surface and a front surface that adjoiningly intersects the upper surface, a paper feed port that is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body and that enables the medium to be fed into the apparatus main body, a feed path that is guiding the medium fed from the paper feed port toward the printing unit and that has a curved portion for inverting the medium during the guiding, a pair of rollers that are provided at the upstream of the curved portion and that feed the medium toward the printing unit via the feed path by rotating while nipping the medium fed from the paper feed port from both front and rear sides.