Sheet Conveyance Guide Shifting to Reduce Friction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet conveying apparatuses face challenges in maintaining productivity due to misregistration and jamming issues, particularly when using a conveyance belt and spheres, which can lead to increased apparatus size and reduced productivity due to weak nipping force and high friction, causing sheets to jam and halt.
Innovation Solution
A sheet conveying apparatus with an endless conveyance belt, rotatable spheres, and pair of regulation guides that can shift between guide and retract positions, equipped with detecting sections to monitor sheet presence and adjust guide positions to prevent jamming and maintain conveyance, even when the sheet is nipped by the belt and spheres.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a pair of regulation guides are provided on opposite sides of the sheet in the width direction to guide opposite end edges of the sheet, then misregistration of the sheet in the width direction is corrected, but the nipping force between the conveyance belt and spheres becomes weak, causing the sheet to jam when friction with the regulation guide is large
Solution Approach 1:
The regulation guides are made movable rather than fixed, allowing them to shift between a guide position (for correcting misregistration) and a retracted position (for reducing friction). This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by enabling the system to switch between precision correction mode and low-friction conveyance mode, preventing sheet jamming while maintaining registration accuracy when needed
Solution Approach 2:
The position parameter of the regulation guides is changed dynamically - shifting from the guide position to the retracted position based on operational needs. This parameter change allows the system to reduce friction between the sheet and guides during conveyance, preventing jamming while maintaining the ability to correct misregistration when the guides are in the guide position
2Manufacturing precision
If the regulation guides are positioned to guide the opposite end edges of the sheet in the guide positions, then side registration is corrected, but the sheet may not be conveyed due to large friction force, causing productivity reduction
Solution Approach 1:
The regulation guides dynamically shift between guide position and retracted position. During conveyance, they retract to minimize friction and prevent jamming, maintaining productivity. When registration correction is needed, they move to the guide position to correct misregistration, thus resolving the contradiction between precision and productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The regulation guides periodically shift between guide position and retracted position based on the conveyance cycle. They are in the guide position during registration correction phases and retract during conveyance phases, creating a periodic action pattern that balances precision correction with productive conveyance, preventing continuous jamming
3Speed
If the conveyance belt and spheres convey the sheet while nipping, then the sheet is conveyed in the conveyance direction, but the nipping force is weak and friction with the regulation guide is large, causing the sheet to jam
Solution Approach 1:
The movable regulation guides act as an intermediary element that can be adjusted to mediate between the conveyance belt's weak nipping force and the sheet's movement. By retracting the guides, friction is reduced, allowing the weak nipping force to effectively convey the sheet without jamming, thus improving reliability while maintaining conveyance speed
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 stabilizes sheet conveyance, reduces the risk of jamming, and maintains productivity by ensuring continuous operation even when the sheet encounters the regulation guides, by shifting the guides to retract positions to prevent friction-induced halts.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of spheres disposed in positions opposed to the conveyance face in the conveyance direction to be rotatable in any direction, while nipping the sheet between the spheres and the conveyance face
Data Source
AI summary
In order to provide a configuration capable of suppressing reductions in productivity of sheets, a pair of regulation guides are capable of guiding opposite end edges in a sheet width direction Y of a sheet S1 conveyed by a conveyance belt and spheres, while being nipped. Further, the pair of regulation guides are capable of shifting to guide positions for guiding the opposite end edges of the sheet, and retract positions retracted from the opposite end edges of the sheet more than the guide positions. A sheet detecting sensor is disposed on the downstream side relative to the conveyance belt in a conveyance direction X to detect the presence or absence of the sheet.