Resin Frame with Intersecting Metal Beams for Image Forming Apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image forming apparatuses with metal side frames are heavy due to their rigidity, and replacing them with resin frames reduces weight but compromises rigidity.
Innovation Solution
The use of a resin frame with elongated metal beams arranged along its planar face, intersecting and unfixed at their intersection point, to enhance rigidity while maintaining a lightweight structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If metal side frames are used to support the image forming unit, then rigidity is improved, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite frame structure combining resin and metal materials. The resin frame provides lightweight construction while metal beams (first beam and second beam) are strategically positioned to enhance rigidity where needed. This composite approach allows the frame to achieve both low weight and high rigidity characteristics that neither material could provide alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The frame is divided into multiple components: a resin frame body and separate metal beams. The metal beams are independently positioned at specific locations (along the planar face of the resin frame) to provide localized reinforcement. This segmentation allows the structure to optimize both weight and rigidity by placing metal only where structural support is critical, rather than using metal throughout the entire frame.
2Weight of stationary object
If resin side frames are used to reduce weight, then weight is reduced, but rigidity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The resin frame provides lightweight construction while metal beams are strategically positioned to enhance rigidity where needed. This composite approach allows the frame to achieve both low weight and high rigidity characteristics that neither material could provide alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a spatial dimension to the solution by positioning metal beams at specific locations along the planar face of the resin frame. The beams are arranged to intersect and extend in different directions, creating a three-dimensional reinforcement pattern that maximizes rigidity enhancement while minimizing additional weight.
3Strength
If metal beams are added to the resin frame to enhance rigidity, then rigidity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The frame is divided into multiple components: a resin frame body and separate metal beams. The metal beams are independently positioned at specific locations (along the planar face of the resin frame) to provide localized reinforcement. This segmentation allows the structure to optimize both weight and rigidity by placing metal only where structural support is critical, rather than using metal throughout the entire frame.
Solution Approach 2:
Metal reinforcement is applied locally at specific positions along the planar face of the resin frame rather than uniformly throughout the entire structure. The first beam and second beam are positioned to intersect at strategic points where additional rigidity is most needed, providing targeted structural enhancement that minimizes overall complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus, including an image forming unit having a photosensitive drum and a developer device; a first frame made of a resin, formed in a shape of a plate, and arranged on one end, along an axial direction of the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum, of the image forming unit; a first beam formed in an elongated shape, arranged along and fixed to a planar face of the first frame; and a second beam formed in an elongated shape, arranged along the planar face of the first frame to intersect with the first beam, and fixed to the first frame, is provided. The first beam and the second beam are unfixed to each other at a mutually intersecting part thereof.