Static Eliminator Rail Mounting for Drum Position Precision
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image forming apparatuses with statically mounted static eliminators have unstable position precision relative to the photosensitive drum, leading to varying light exposure and increased costs due to the static eliminator being replaced with the drum unit.
Innovation Solution
The static eliminator is fixedly mounted to a rail member within the apparatus, ensuring precise alignment and separate replacement from the drum unit, reducing costs and maintaining position accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the static eliminator is fixedly mounted to the housing, then the position precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a rail member as an intermediary component between the housing and the static eliminator. The rail member extends along the axis direction and provides a guided mounting path for the static eliminator, ensuring precise positioning without requiring complex fixed mounting mechanisms. The rail member acts as a mediator that simplifies the overall mounting structure while maintaining high position precision.
2Ease of operation
If the static eliminator is integrated with the drum unit, then the replacement is simplified, but the cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the static eliminator from the drum unit, allowing them to be replaced independently. The static eliminator is mounted on the rail member in the housing, while the drum unit remains a separate replaceable component. This segmentation enables the drum unit to be replaced without the static eliminator, reducing the overall cost since the static eliminator has a longer service life than the drum unit.
3Device complexity
If the static eliminator extends from the exhaust duct, then the structure is simplified, but the position precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic mounting approach where the static eliminator can be easily installed and removed from the rail member without requiring complex fixed structures. The rail member provides a stable guide path that maintains position precision while allowing flexible installation. This dynamic design simplifies the overall structure compared to rigid fixed mounting from the exhaust duct.
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 configuration enhances the position precision of the static eliminator and reduces the overall cost of the drum unit by allowing separate replacement, ensuring consistent static elimination without unnecessary increases in apparatus cost.
Implementation Method 1
The static eliminator irradiates the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum with static eliminating light to remove the remaining electric charges
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes a housing with an inner space, a photosensitive drum, a drum unit, a rail member, and a static eliminator. The photosensitive drum includes a rotating shaft, and a circumferential surface to be drivingly rotated around the rotating shaft for carrying an image thereon. The drum unit is inserted in the inner space of the housing along an axis direction of the rotating shaft in a state that the photosensitive drum is integrally supported to be mounted in the inner space. The rail member extends along the axis direction in the inner space for guiding the drum unit in the axis direction when the drum unit is mounted. The static eliminator is fixed to the rail member, and disposed to face the photosensitive drum in the drum unit mounted in the inner space for irradiating the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum with static eliminating light.