Compact Recording Apparatus Cam and Linear Scale Layout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing recording apparatuses face challenges in reducing size due to the space occupied by components like cams, gap adjusting units, and linear scales, which hinder miniaturization efforts, especially in ink jet printers where the cam's size and the belt's overlap with the carriage increase the apparatus's dimensions.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a carriage with overlapping components in the moving direction, a cam that does not project beyond the carriage, and a linear scale positioned to overlap with the driving belt, allowing for a more compact configuration by optimizing the layout and positioning of these elements to minimize size without compromising functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a cam is provided at an end portion of the guiding shaft to adjust the gap, then the gap between the medium and recording head can be adjusted, but the width of the apparatus increases due to the region occupied by the cam
Solution Approach 1:
The cam is merged with the guiding shaft by providing it at an end portion of the guiding shaft, combining two components into one integrated structure. This eliminates the need for separate cam mounting space and reduces the overall apparatus width while maintaining gap adjustment functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The cam is nested within the spatial envelope of the guiding shaft structure, utilizing the existing structural space rather than adding external protrusions. This allows the cam to function within the confines of the guiding shaft's footprint, preventing apparatus width increase.
2Length of stationary object
If the size of the apparatus is reduced in the height direction, then a compact form factor is achieved, but the carriage rotation amount increases and requires more space
Solution Approach 1:
The solution transitions the problem from the height dimension to the width dimension by allowing the cam to protrude in the width direction rather than increasing height. This dimensional shift enables compact height while accommodating the necessary mechanical clearance for carriage rotation through width expansion.
3Measurement precision
If the linear scale and driving belt overlap in the apparatus-height direction, then position detection is enabled, but the apparatus height increases
Solution Approach 1:
The linear scale and driving belt are merged in the width direction, allowing them to occupy the same vertical space. This horizontal stacking eliminates the need for vertical separation, enabling position detection functionality without increasing apparatus height.
Solution Approach 2:
The arrangement transitions from vertical stacking (height direction) to horizontal stacking (width direction). By placing the linear scale and driving belt side-by-side in the width direction rather than one above the other in height, the solution achieves position detection capability without compromising apparatus compactness in the height dimension.
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
This configuration effectively reduces the size of the recording apparatus in both the moving direction and height, enabling a more compact form factor while maintaining recording quality and position detection accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
a gap adjusting unit that causes the carriage to shift in a direction in which a gap between a medium and the recording head changes depending on rotation of a cam
Implementation Method 2
The linear scale has a length over an entire region of the carriage in a movement direction, and the carriage is provided with an optical sensor that detects the linear scale
Data Source
AI summary
A recording apparatus includes: a carriage that has a recording head which performs recording on a medium; and a gap adjusting unit that causes the carriage to shift in a direction in which a gap between a medium and the recording head changes depending on rotation of a cam. In a state in which the carriage is positioned at an end portion in a moving range in the first direction, at least a part of the carriage and at least a part of the cam overlap in a moving direction of the carriage. In the state in which the carriage is positioned at the end portion in the moving range in the first direction, the cam does not project with respect to the carriage in the first direction.