Flatbed Scanner Skew Adjustment via Rotatable Guide Rod
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flatbed scanners often experience skew misalignment due to manufacturing variations and tolerances in their mechanical drive systems, leading to skewed scanned images, necessitating a solution for adjustment during assembly and after use.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method involving a skew adjustment assembly with a tension spring and bracket locking fasteners to rotate the sliding guide rod, allowing for manual and automated correction of skew misalignment, using a standard chart with fiducials for measurement and image processing software to determine necessary adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the mechanical drive system is assembled using standard manufacturing tolerances, then the assembly process is simple and quick, but the scanner skew misalignment occurs leading to skewed scanned images
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the previously fixed guide rod mounting dynamic by introducing a rotatable bracket with locking mechanism. The guide rod can now be rotated to adjust skew alignment and then locked in position, transforming a static assembly into an adjustable one that maintains precision without complicating the overall device structure
Solution Approach 2:
The tension spring mechanism allows the bracket to automatically return to its neutral position after adjustment and enables the locking fastener to maintain the adjusted position without continuous external force. The system serves itself by maintaining the adjusted skew alignment through the spring's elastic recovery and the fastener's locking action
2Manufacturing precision
If the guide rod is made adjustable to correct skew misalignment, then manufacturing precision is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional adjustment components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the guide rod assembly into distinct functional components: the guide rod itself, the rotatable bracket for angular adjustment, the locking fastener for position fixation, and the tension spring for return action. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently, making the overall adjustment operation simpler despite the added precision capability
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket acts as an intermediary between the fixed scanner housing and the movable guide rod. It provides the rotational degree of freedom needed for skew adjustment while maintaining the structural connection, and the locking fastener serves as an intermediary to lock the adjusted position, enabling precise adjustment without direct manipulation of the guide rod itself
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual adjustment capability is added to correct skew after assembly, then product adaptability is improved, but the device complexity and ease of repair worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates the adjustment capability during the initial assembly process, allowing skew alignment to be corrected before the scanner is put into service. The bracket and locking mechanism are pre-installed and can be easily accessed during assembly, eliminating the need for complex post-assembly adjustments or specialized repair procedures later
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
Effectively corrects scanner skew misalignment during assembly and normal use, ensuring accurate image capture by repeatedly measuring and adjusting the sliding guide rod until acceptable tolerance is achieved, improving image quality and user convenience.
Implementation Method 1
a tension spring coacting with the skew adjustment bracket and movably actuatable relative thereto to move the sliding guide rod to undergo the skew adjustment
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and methods of use for adjusting a sliding guide rod for an imaging device of a flatbed scanner to improve scanner skew misalignment comprising an attachment member movably mounting the sliding guide rod at one end thereof to one side of the flatbed scanner so as to allow skew-adjusting movement of the sliding guide rod at an opposite end thereof relative to the flatbed scanner and a skew adjustment assembly attached to an opposite side of the flatbed scanner and movably coupling and supporting the opposite end of the sliding guide rod to the opposite side of the flatbed scanner and being actuatable to cause the sliding guide rod to undergo skew adjustment relative to the flatbed scanner to correct scanner skew misalignment of the imaging device. The skew adjustment assembly includes a skew adjustment bracket mounted to the opposite side of the flatbed scanner and movably coupled to and supporting the opposite end of the sliding guide rod to the opposite side of the flatbed scanner and a tension spring and a plurality of bracket locking fasteners coacting with the skew adjustment bracket and movably actuatable relative thereto to move the sliding guide rod to undergo the skew adjustment relative to the flatbed scanner.