Printing Apparatus Roller Rotation Control for Media Damage
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Printing apparatuses often cause damage to media due to slippage of registration rollers, especially when handling varying grammage and coverage rates, leading to potential buckling and skewing issues during printing.
Innovation Solution
A printing apparatus with a controller that performs rotation control by rotating the feeding rollers prior to the toothed roller, ensuring synchronized rotation and minimizing slippage, particularly for thick media or high coverage rates, using a clutch to manage the driving force and employing a switchback mechanism for two-sided printing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the registration roller is driven after being stopped, then the printing process can continue, but the roller may slip against the medium causing damage
Solution Approach 1:
The feeding roller is rotated in advance before the toothed roller (registration roller) is driven, preparing the medium and roller interface to prevent slippage when the registration roller starts rotating. This preliminary rotation ensures proper engagement and eliminates harmful slippage during the transition from stopped to moving state.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the rotation timing of different rollers based on real-time conditions. The controller coordinates the feeding roller to rotate before the toothed roller, creating a dynamic sequence that adapts to the medium's grammage and printing conditions, preventing slippage while maintaining productivity.
2Device complexity
If the feeding roller and toothed roller rotate at the same time, then the system is simpler to control, but the medium may buckle or skew due to uncoordinated forces
Solution Approach 1:
The feeding roller performs preliminary rotation before the toothed roller engages, preparing the medium for accurate positioning. This sequential approach, while adding control steps, ensures the medium is properly fed and positioned before the registration roller applies its gripping force, preventing buckling and skewing.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller monitors the rotation states of both rollers and coordinates their operation based on detected conditions such as medium grammage. This feedback mechanism allows the system to adjust the rotation sequence dynamically, maintaining positioning accuracy without requiring overly complex mechanical structures.
3Measurement precision
If the registration roller is made to collide with the medium to stop transport, then positioning is achieved, but slippage occurs when the roller is subsequently driven
Solution Approach 1:
Before the toothed roller is driven after collision-based positioning, the feeding roller is rotated in advance to prepare the interface. This preliminary rotation ensures that when the toothed roller subsequently engages the medium, proper grip is established without slippage, maintaining both positioning accuracy and grip consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters such as rotation timing and speed based on medium characteristics. After the collision-based positioning, the controller adjusts the rotation sequence and speed of the feeding and toothed rollers according to the medium's grammage, ensuring reliable grip without slippage while maintaining positioning precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A printing apparatus includes a print section configured to perform printing on a medium, a supply path configured to supply the medium toward the print section, a feeding roller configured to feed the medium along the supply path from an upstream side to a downstream side in a transport direction, a toothed roller provided on the downstream side of the feeding roller in the transport direction, a drive source configured to rotate the feeding roller and the toothed roller, and a controller configured to control driving of the drive source. The controller performs rotation control for rotating the feed roller prior to the rotation of the toothed roller with which the medium has collided. The controller performs the rotation control when the controller determines that the grammage of the medium is greater than or equal to a threshold value.