Printer Gap Adjustment Unit With Cam And Buffer Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing recording apparatuses face challenges in maintaining consistent image quality due to varying medium thickness, as changes in the paper gap affect the recording head's position, potentially leading to image deterioration and loud sounds during gap adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A recording apparatus with a gap adjustment unit that includes a sliding member, a cam member with a stepped portion, and a buffer unit to control the carriage's displacement speed, reducing sound generation by decelerating the carriage during downward displacement and maintaining image quality across different medium thicknesses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the gap adjustment member is slid to adjust the paper gap according to medium thickness, then image quality is maintained, but loud sounds are generated due to rapid carriage displacement
Solution Approach 1:
A buffer unit is introduced between the carriage and the gap adjustment member to cushion the carriage's downward movement. The buffer unit includes a buffer member that elastically deforms to absorb impact energy, preventing direct transmission of the carriage's self-weight impact to the gap adjustment member and reducing loud sounds during gap adjustment operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The buffer unit acts as an intermediary element between the carriage and the gap adjustment member. This intermediary component mediates the interaction by providing elastic cushioning during the carriage's downward displacement, allowing the gap adjustment function to proceed while eliminating the harmful loud noise effect.
2Speed
If the carriage is rapidly displaced during gap adjustment, then adjustment speed is improved, but loud sounds are generated due to impact
Solution Approach 1:
The buffer unit is positioned to engage before the carriage completes its downward movement. The buffer member is designed to elastically deform during the final phase of carriage displacement, cushioning the impact and reducing loud sounds while allowing rapid adjustment to occur throughout most of the movement range.
Data Source
AI summary
A printer includes a gap adjustment unit that displaces a carriage in a Z-axis direction in which a gap changes. The gap adjustment unit has a sliding member that moves in a width direction integrally with the carriage, and a cam member that is interposed between the carriage and the sliding member and has a stepped portion in which a maintenance surface that maintains a position of the carriage in the Z-axis direction and an adjustment surface that changes the position of the carriage in the Z-axis direction are alternately arranged in the width direction. The gap adjustment unit is configured such that the cam member slides in the width direction with respect to the carriage and the sliding member to change the gap. The gap adjustment unit includes a buffer unit that decreases a displacement speed of the carriage in the Z-axis direction when the gap is reduced.