Tiltable Coupling Member for Drum Unit Power Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatuses face challenges in efficiently transmitting driving force to photosensitive drums within detachable cartridges, leading to potential misalignment and increased maintenance complexity.
Innovation Solution
A drum unit with a coupling member featuring a driving force receiving portion and a supporting portion, including first and second extended portions that extend in different axial directions, is designed to securely engage with the main assembly's driving shaft, ensuring stable power transmission and easy mounting/dismounting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a coupling member is provided at an end portion of the photosensitive drum to be tiltable with respect to the rotation axis, then the driving force transmission is improved, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling member is designed to be tiltable with respect to the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum, allowing dynamic adjustment of the engagement angle between the coupling member and driving shaft. This dynamic capability enables the coupling member to accommodate misalignment and ensure reliable driving force transmission while maintaining a relatively simple structural configuration.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the coupling member is made tiltable, then the engagement stability with driving shaft is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tiltable design of the coupling member allows it to dynamically adjust its orientation to achieve stable engagement with the driving shaft, compensating for minor manufacturing variations and alignment tolerances without requiring extremely high manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling member's tilt angle serves as a variable parameter that can be adjusted to optimize engagement stability. By changing the angular parameter of the coupling member relative to the rotation axis, the system achieves stable engagement while accommodating normal manufacturing tolerances.
3Reliability
If a supporting portion with extended portions is used, then the power transmission stability is enhanced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting portion is segmented into a first extended portion and a second extended portion that extend in different axial directions. This segmentation provides multiple support points and distribution paths for the driving force, enhancing power transmission stability while keeping each individual extended portion structurally simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The first and second extended portions extend in different axial directions, utilizing multiple spatial dimensions to distribute and transmit the driving force. This multi-directional extension enhances power transmission stability by providing redundant force paths without requiring excessive structural complexity in any single direction.
Data Source
AI summary
A drum unit detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum and a coupling member provided on the photosensitive drum. The coupling member includes a driving force receiving portion and a supporting portion movably supporting the driving force receiving portion. The supporting portion includes a first extended portion and a second extended portion which extend at least in an axial direction of the photosensitive drum.