Sheet Conveyance Suction Control for Large-Format Image Forming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image forming apparatuses face issues with sheet conveyance failures due to inadequate attraction force, leading to printing failures, especially when handling larger sheets, as the conveyance surface requires time to develop sufficient suction force.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus includes a conveyance section with multiple surfaces and an attraction section that uses suction holes to attract sheets, and a hardware processor that manages sheet conveyance by alternating between print job and non-print job sheets to maintain optimal attraction force, preventing printing failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the attraction force of the conveyance surface is increased to prevent sheet lifting, then sheet conveyance reliability is improved, but the sheet is deformed due to excessive suction
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyance surface is designed to be movable and deformable, allowing it to dynamically adjust its shape and position according to the size and characteristics of the sheet being conveyed. This dynamic adaptation enables the surface to provide appropriate attraction force without causing sheet deformation, resolving the contradiction between conveyance reliability and sheet shape maintenance.
2Adaptability or versatility
If larger sized sheets are handled by widening the attraction section and air pipe, then sheet size adaptability is improved, but printing failure occurs due to insufficient suction force at startup
Solution Approach 1:
Before conveying the actual print job sheet, a non-print job sheet is conveyed first through the same conveyance path. This preliminary action allows the conveyance surface and air pipe system to pre-establish the necessary negative pressure and suction force, ensuring that when the print job sheet is conveyed, sufficient attraction force is already available to prevent printing failure.
Solution Approach 2:
A non-print job sheet is used as an intermediary element to prepare the conveyance system. By conveying this intermediary sheet first, the system establishes the required negative pressure conditions without risking damage to actual print materials, thereby ensuring reliable conveyance of subsequent print job sheets.
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 solution effectively suppresses printing failures by ensuring consistent sheet attraction and conveyance, even with varying sheet sizes, by adjusting suction pressure through controlled conveyance of non-print job sheets when attraction force is weak.
Implementation Method 1
an attraction section that attracts the sheet onto each of the conveyance surfaces by sucking air from a plurality of suction holes formed in each of the conveyance surfaces
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an image forming apparatus including a conveyance section, an attraction section, an image forming section, and a hardware processor. The conveyance section includes conveyance surfaces on each of which a sheet can be placed and that conveys the sheet placed thereon. The attraction section that attracts the sheet onto the conveyance surfaces by sucking air from suction holes. The image forming section forms an image on the sheet. When a decrease of an attraction force by the attraction section is caused in executing a print job, the hardware processor causes one or more of the conveyance surfaces to suck and convey a non-print job sheet and then causes the one or more of the conveyance surfaces to consecutively suck and convey a print job sheet, and does not perform image formation on the non-print job sheet and performs the image formation on the print job sheet.