Side Guide Metal Portion Reduces Wear on Roll Paper Feed Tray
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing paper feed tray designs wear down quickly when accommodating roll bodies due to constant contact with the edge of the sheet-shaped medium, especially when the inner-side surface is made of resin.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a metal portion on the inner-side surface of the side guide, which reduces wear by bringing the edge of the sheet-shaped medium into contact with a metal surface, thereby minimizing friction and wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the inner-side surface of the side guide is made of resin, then the cost is reduced and the manufacturing is easier, but the wear resistance deteriorates when accommodating roll bodies
Solution Approach 1:
The side guide is constructed as a composite structure combining resin and metal materials. The resin portion provides cost-effective manufacturing and basic guiding function, while the metal portion (such as a metal plate or coating) is attached to the inner-side surface to provide wear resistance against the sheet-shaped medium edge during roll body accommodation.
2Ease of manufacture
If the side guide is made of resin, then the manufacturing cost is reduced, but the durability deteriorates due to constant contact wear
Solution Approach 1:
The side guide combines resin and metal materials to achieve both cost-effectiveness and durability. The resin portion maintains low manufacturing cost while the attached metal portion (metal plate or coating) provides enhanced wear resistance for the contact surface with the sheet-shaped medium edge.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the entire side guide from expensive metal, only the inner-side surface that contacts the sheet-shaped medium edge is made of metal. This localized application of metal material provides wear resistance where needed while keeping the overall manufacturing cost low.
3Reliability
If a metal portion is added to the side guide, then the wear resistance is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The side guide uses a composite structure of resin and metal where the metal portion is attached to the resin base. This approach improves wear resistance through material properties rather than complex mechanical designs, maintaining structural simplicity while enhancing durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The metal portion is applied only to the specific inner-side surface area that requires wear resistance, rather than making the entire side guide complex. This localized enhancement maintains overall structural simplicity while providing the necessary durability improvement.
Data Source
AI summary
An image recording apparatus includes a feed tray, a feed mechanism feeding a sheet-shaped medium accommodated in the feed tray, and a recording device recording an image on the sheet-shaped medium fed by the feed mechanism. The feed tray includes a first accommodation portion accommodating a roll, in which the sheet-shaped medium is rolled, a pair of side walls interposing the sheet-shaped medium unrolled from the roll in a first direction parallel to an axis of the roll, and a side guide disposed inside the pair of side walls and having an inner-side surface contactable with an edge in the first direction of the first sheet-shaped medium unrolled from the roll. The side guide has a metal portion made of metal, the metal portion forming at least part of the inner-side surface.