Sliding Guide Disc Sheet Conveyance for Clean Image Margins
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conveying units in image forming apparatuses may accidentally soil or fade images on sheets due to contact with ink, especially when nipping margins of sheets.
Innovation Solution
A media conveying device with a delivery cylinder and guide discs that rotate integrally with the cylinder, featuring a slide mechanism to adjust the guide discs' position in the width direction, ensuring they contact only the sheet margins and avoid the image region.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the conveying unit nips margins of the sheet to convey it, then the sheet can be conveyed reliably, but the conveying unit may accidentally contact the image region and cause soiling or fading
Solution Approach 1:
The guide discs are made movable in the width direction through a slide mechanism, allowing dynamic adjustment of their position. This enables the system to adapt to different sheet widths while maintaining a constant gap between the guide discs and the image region, preventing contact with the image regardless of sheet size variations
Solution Approach 2:
The position of the guide discs is changed as a adjustable parameter through the slide mechanism. By modifying the lateral position of the guide discs relative to the sheet width, the system ensures that the guide discs contact only the margin regions and maintain a safe distance from the image region, thus preventing soiling and fading while ensuring reliable conveyance
2Manufacturing precision
If the conveying unit is positioned close to the sheet to ensure proper alignment, then alignment is improved, but the risk of contacting the image region increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sheet width is functionally segmented into different zones: the margin regions are designated for contact with the guide discs, while the image region is kept separate and protected. The slide mechanism allows precise positioning to ensure this functional segmentation is maintained, with guide discs engaging only the margin portions of the sheet
Solution Approach 2:
The guide discs act as intermediary elements between the conveying system and the sheet. By positioning these intermediary guide discs at adjustable positions, the system can achieve precise alignment and control sheet conveyance while the guide discs themselves serve as the contact point, keeping the main conveying unit away from the image region
Data Source
AI summary
A media conveying device includes: a delivery cylinder to rotate on an inner circumferential surface side of a medium conveyed along a curved conveyance path; a first guide disc to rotate integrally with the delivery cylinder on an inner circumferential surface side of the curved conveyance path, the first guide disc having an arc-shaped guide surface to come into contact with a first peripheral area of the medium in a width direction of the medium; a second guide disc to rotate integrally with the delivery cylinder on the inner circumferential surface side of the curved conveyance path, the second guide disc having an arc-shaped guide surface to come into contact with a second peripheral area of the medium in the width direction of the medium; and a slide mechanism to slide the first guide disc and the second guide disc in the width direction of the medium.