Transfer Unit Fixing Apparatus for Laser Printers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tandem color laser printers face challenges in assembling and maintaining the transfer unit, leading to potential image defects due to manufacturing tolerances and environmental changes, which affect the contact pressure and relative position between the medium conveying belt and photoconductive bodies, resulting in issues like jitter, mis-registration, and skew.
Innovation Solution
A transfer unit-fixing apparatus with a position fixing unit for pivotal support and a locking unit for secure attachment, along with a movable support unit for elastic support and a relative position fixing unit to maintain consistent contact pressure and position, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly, and ensuring stable operation despite manufacturing inaccuracies or environmental changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the transfer unit is fixed to the door using conventional fixing means such as screws, then the transfer unit is integrally formed with the door, but the assembly process becomes complicated and requires considerable time during manufacturing
Solution Approach 1:
The transfer unit is divided into multiple components including the transfer belt, support members, and fixing members that can be assembled separately. The door is also segmented with specific mounting structures. This segmentation allows for simplified assembly where components are attached through straightforward operations rather than complex screw fixing, reducing manufacturing time while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The transfer unit components (transfer belt, support members, fixing members) are merged into a integrated assembly that attaches to the door as a unified structure. The fixing members are integrated into both the transfer unit and door designs, creating a combined structure that achieves integral formation without requiring separate complex fixing operations.
2Manufacturing precision
If the medium conveying belt is maintained in contact with photoconductive bodies at predetermined pressure to form nips, then uniform images can be formed, but manufacturing tolerances and environmental changes cause position deviations leading to image defects
Solution Approach 1:
The support members are designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing them to dynamically adjust their positions. This mobility enables the support members to compensate for position deviations caused by manufacturing tolerances and environmental changes, maintaining consistent contact pressure between the medium conveying belt and photoconductive bodies, thereby preventing image defects while ensuring reliability under varying conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows for changes in the positional parameters of the support members while maintaining the critical parameter of contact pressure. By permitting positional adjustment within certain ranges, the system adapts to manufacturing variations and environmental changes, ensuring that the contact pressure remains uniform and image quality is maintained despite parameter variations.
3Manufacturing precision
If the door and cartridge frame are not accurately manufactured or are twisted due to external forces, then the medium conveying belt cannot contact photoconductive bodies at appropriate pressure, but rigid fixing structures cannot accommodate these variations
Solution Approach 1:
The support members are designed with mobility to dynamically adapt to variations in door and frame positions. This dynamic capability allows the system to accommodate manufacturing tolerances and external forces that cause twisting or misalignment, maintaining proper contact pressure between the medium conveying belt and photoconductive bodies despite inaccuracies in the door and frame structures.
4Productivity
If separate photosensitive body units and developing units are used, then high-speed color image production is achieved, but the construction becomes complicated and difficult to assemble, maintain and repair
Solution Approach 1:
The transfer unit components (transfer belt, support members, fixing members) are merged into an integrated assembly that simplifies the overall device structure. This merging reduces the number of separate components that need to be handled during assembly, maintenance, and repair, while the tandem color image forming capability with multiple photosensitive body units is preserved to maintain high-speed color image production.
Data Source
AI summary
A transfer unit-fixing apparatus to integrally fix a transfer unit on a door, and an image forming device having the same are disclosed. The transfer unit-fixing apparatus includes a position fixing unit to pivotally support a first part of the transfer unit on the door and a locking unit to lock a second part of the transfer unit to the door. The transfer unit can be easily assembled and disassembled to and from the door by the position fixing unit and the locking unit, and thus the image forming device can be easily assembled, maintained and repaired.