Printer Roller Drive Gear Plate for Stable Film Feeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing printers and digital cameras with integrated roller drive mechanisms suffer from gear position variations due to reaction forces, leading to film feeding inaccuracies and developer spreading unevenness, which deteriorate image quality.
Innovation Solution
The printer and digital camera design incorporates a gear plate separate from the cover member, fixed to the device housing, pivotally supporting the transport and spreading rollers' shafts, with the gear train components disposed on opposite sides of the gear plate to minimize reaction force interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If gears are pivotally supported by the cover member, then the roller drive mechanism can be compactly arranged, but the cover member bends due to reaction forces causing gear position variation
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure for the rollers is segmented into two independent parts: the cover member and the gear plate. The gear plate is separately provided and fixed to the device housing, while the cover member only covers the roller drive mechanism. This segmentation prevents the cover member from bearing reaction forces that would cause bending and gear position variation.
Solution Approach 2:
The gear plate acts as an intermediary component between the device housing and the rollers. It provides a stable mounting surface for the rollers by being fixed to the device housing, thereby isolating the cover member from mechanical loads and reaction forces generated during operation.
2Device complexity
If the cover member supports the rollers, then the structure is simplified, but film feeding accuracy and developer spreading uniformity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The support function is separated from the cover member and assigned to the gear plate. The gear plate is specifically designed to support the transport roller and spreading roller, while the cover member's function is limited to protection and coverage. This functional segmentation ensures that the support structure maintains precision without the interference of the cover member's structural constraints.
3Volume of moving object
If gears are arranged on one side of the gear plate, then the structure is compact, but reaction forces cause gear position variation
Solution Approach 1:
The gear trains are arranged asymmetrically on opposite sides of the gear plate. This asymmetric distribution of gears on both sides of the gear plate creates a balanced structure that counteracts reaction forces, preventing the gear plate from deforming and maintaining gear position stability during operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A printer unit includes a device housing including a transport roller and a spreading roller, a roller drive mechanism that is attached to the device housing and includes a drive transmission gear train that drives the transport roller and the spreading roller, and a cover member that covers the roller drive mechanism. The roller drive mechanism includes a gear plate separate from the cover member. The gear plate is fixed to the device housing at two locations and is formed in a plate shape that pivotally supports at least one of rotational shafts of the drive transmission gear train.