Medium Transport Roller Segmentation to Suppress Wrinkles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medium transport devices, particularly those with a pair of transport rollers and paper feed rollers, suffer from differences in transport force across nip and non-nip portions, leading to wrinkles, especially when dealing with three-dimensional media like fabric, due to the absence of nipping between driven rollers.
Innovation Solution
A medium transport device with a main roller and a plurality of sub-rollers, where the sub-rollers are disposed at intervals along the longitudinal direction, and an adjustment section that adjusts the path difference between nipped and non-nipped paths, using either pressing or suction mechanisms to align the medium and reduce wrinkles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a plurality of sub-rollers are used to transport the medium, then the device complexity is reduced compared to continuous rollers, but path difference between nipped and non-nipped portions causes wrinkles
Solution Approach 1:
The transport system is segmented into multiple sub-rollers distributed along the main roller, each providing localized nipping force. This segmentation allows the system to approximate continuous support while using discrete, simpler components, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining path alignment through strategic placement of multiple smaller transport elements
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustment section introduces a new degree of freedom by enabling independent vertical movement of sub-rollers relative to the main roller. This dimensional adjustment capability allows dynamic compensation for path differences between nipped and non-nipped portions, resolving the alignment issue without requiring complex fixed structures
2Manufacturing precision
If continuous rollers are used to ensure parallelism and uniform transport force, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sub-rollers are designed with dynamic adjustment capability, allowing their positions to be modified based on actual transport needs. This dynamic adaptability replaces the static, precision-machined continuous roller structure with a flexible system that achieves uniform transport force through adjustable geometry rather than manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the geometric parameters of the transport path by adjusting the vertical positions of sub-rollers relative to the main roller. This parameter adjustment allows the system to compensate for path differences and achieve uniform medium transport without requiring the rollers themselves to have precise parallelism
3Device complexity
If multiple sub-rollers are disposed at intervals, then device complexity is reduced, but transport force uniformity deteriorates due to path difference
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustment section enables sub-rollers to move in the vertical dimension independently, allowing the system to compensate for the intermittent nature of nipping forces. By adjusting the vertical position of each sub-roller, the path length of nipped and non-nipped portions can be equalized, ensuring uniform transport force despite the discrete placement of rollers
Solution Approach 2:
Each sub-roller can be independently adjusted to provide locally optimized nipping force. This local adjustability ensures that each contact point between roller and medium applies appropriate force, compensating for the gaps between sub-rollers and maintaining overall transport force uniformity across the entire medium width
Data Source
AI summary
The medium transport device includes a main roller configured to apply a feeding force to the medium in the transport direction, a pair of transport rollers includes a plurality of sub-rollers disposed at intervals along the longitudinal direction of the main roller, and being driven to rotate about a first shaft in a state where the medium is nipped between the sub-rollers and the main roller, and an adjustment section that adjusts a path difference between a first path and a second path when a path of the medium that is nipped and transported between the main roller and the plurality of sub-rollers is defined as the first path, and a path of the medium that is transported in contact with the main roller but not in contact with the plurality of sub-rollers 16 is defined as the second path.