Sheet Feed Timing Control for Printer Roller Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet supply devices in printers and copiers face complexity in maintaining a predetermined interval between sheets due to dimensional errors and slip issues, requiring separate motors and gear mechanisms for rollers, which complicates the driving mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses sensors to detect the sheet interval and adjusts the sheet feed waiting interval dynamically, allowing for reduced complexity by using a single motor to control the rollers and eliminate the need for multiple gear mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If separate motors and gear mechanisms are used to control supply roller and feeding roller, then sheet interval control precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the control of supply roller and feeding roller into a single integrated driving mechanism. The supply roller and feeding roller are driven by the same motor through a unified gear system, eliminating the need for separate motors and independent control mechanisms. This integration maintains sheet interval control precision while significantly reducing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The single driving mechanism serves multiple functions: it controls both the supply roller for feeding sheets and the feeding roller for conveying sheets. The gear system is designed to provide different transmission ratios for different rollers, enabling one motor to perform what previously required separate drive systems, thus reducing complexity without sacrificing control precision.
2Productivity
If sheet feed waiting interval is reduced to increase productivity, then sheet interval consistency deteriorates due to dimensional errors and slip
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a sheet interval detection sensor that continuously monitors the actual interval between sheets. This feedback information is used to dynamically adjust the sheet feed waiting interval, compensating for dimensional errors and slip that occur at higher feed speeds. The closed-loop control ensures sheet interval consistency is maintained even when productivity is increased through faster feeding.
Solution Approach 2:
The sheet feed waiting interval is not fixed but dynamically adjusted based on real-time detection of sheet intervals and feed speed conditions. The system adapts the waiting interval to compensate for variations caused by dimensional errors and slip, maintaining consistent sheet spacing despite changes in feed speed for improved productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus may be configured to: upon feeding a sheet by a roller, wait for a sheet waiting interval before feeding a next sheet by the roller, determine, using a sensor downstream from the roller in a sheet feeding path, a sensed sheet interval between at least two of the fed sheets; determine whether the sensed sheet interval is equal to or greater than a reference value; and in response to determining that the sensed sheet interval is equal to or greater than the reference value, reduce the sheet feed waiting interval for subsequent feeding of at least one sheet.