Spline and Yoke Registration Mechanism for Print Media Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printing device registration systems face inefficiencies due to high inertia and wear caused by heavy carriages, leading to misalignment and increased maintenance needs.
Innovation Solution
A registration system utilizing a spline and yoke mechanism, where drive rollers are coupled to splined shafts and yokes, allowing motors to remain in a fixed position, reducing weight and inertia, and enabling precise lateral movement and skew correction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a carriage moves drive rollers and motors with large total weight, then the registration system can adjust print media position, but high inertia causes hysteresis and slow speed adjustment
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the drive rollers from the motors. The motors remain fixed in position while only the lighter drive rollers move laterally to adjust print media alignment. This segmentation reduces the moving mass significantly, eliminating hysteresis and enabling fast speed adjustment while maintaining alignment precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The motors are extracted from the moving carriage and kept stationary. Only the essential components for media handling (drive rollers and splined shafts) are moved laterally. This extraction of heavy components resolves the contradiction by enabling fast positional adjustment without the inertia penalties of moving entire motor assemblies.
2Measurement precision
If a carriage moves drive rollers and motors with large total weight, then the registration system can correct skew and lateral position, but increased wear occurs on mechanical components
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the system into stationary motors and movable drive rollers, the wear-prone lateral movement components are minimized to only the splined shafts and drive roller bearings. The heavy motors that would contribute to wear through repeated acceleration/deceleration cycles remain fixed, significantly improving component reliability while maintaining skew correction capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The splined shaft acts as an intermediary mechanism that transfers rotational motion from the stationary motors to the laterally moving drive rollers. This intermediary allows the heavy motors to remain fixed while still enabling precise control of the lighter drive rollers, reducing wear on both the motors and the movement mechanism.
3Ease of operation
If motors are moved with the carriage, then drive roller rotation can be controlled, but the large weight causes high inertia and hysteresis
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the drive mechanism into stationary motors and movable drive rollers. The motors remain fixed to minimize moving weight, while the drive rollers are moved laterally only when skew or lateral position correction is needed. This segmentation maintains full control capability over drive roller rotation while dramatically reducing carriage weight and inertia.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the lateral position of drive rollers only when correction is needed, rather than continuously moving heavy components. The stationary motors provide constant rotational control capability, while the lighter drive rollers are moved dynamically only for position/skew correction, optimizing the balance between control ease and weight reduction.
Data Source
AI summary
A registration system for a printing device and a method for controlling the same are disclosed. For example, the registration system includes a lead screw motor, a lead screw coupled to the lead screw motor, and a carriage coupled to the lead screw. The carriage includes two drive rollers, wherein each drive roller is coupled to a respective splined shaft coupled to a respective yoke, wherein the respective yoke is coupled to a drive pulley and a drive motor that is in a fixed position, wherein movement of the carriage causes the respective splined shaft of the two drive rollers to move guided by the respective yoke.