Web Tip Folding Control for Jam-Resistant Sheet Forming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet manufacturing apparatuses face issues with controlling the thickness at the tip end of the web, leading to potential adhesion to heating rollers and mechanical weakness, which can cause paper jams due to insufficient mechanical strength.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a sheet manufacturing apparatus with a defibrating portion, accumulating portion, web transporting portion, and pressing portion, including steps to transport, peel, bend, and fold the web end using a pair of pressing rollers to control the thickness and strength at the tip end.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the thickness of the tip end of the web is reduced, then the web can be formed more easily, but the web may adhere to the heating roller and the sheet may buckle due to insufficient mechanical strength
Solution Approach 1:
The tip end of the web is folded in advance before entering the heating roller, creating a doubled thickness structure that prevents adhesion to the heating roller and provides sufficient mechanical strength for reliable transport through the sheet manufacturing apparatus
2Reliability
If the thickness of the tip end of the web is increased, then adhesion and buckling are prevented, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The web processing is segmented into distinct zones: a folding section that creates the doubled tip end, and a standard processing section for the rest of the web. This allows the complexity to be localized to only where needed (the tip end) while keeping the rest of the manufacturing process simple
3Device complexity
If the web is folded using a single pressing roller, then the structure is simple, but the folding effectiveness and thickness control are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
Two pressing rollers are combined to work simultaneously on the tip end of the web, with both rollers rotating in the same direction. This merging of two pressing actions provides effective folding and consistent thickness control at the folded tip end
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
Prevents issues such as adhesion and paper jams by ensuring sufficient thickness and strength at the web tip end, even when thin, through controlled folding and pressing processes.
Implementation Method 1
a third step of bending the tip end of the web by rotating the first roller in a first direction
Implementation Method 2
a fourth step of folding the tip end of the web by rotating the first roller in a second direction being opposite to the first direction and passing the web between the pair of pressing rollers
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A method of controlling a sheet manufacturing apparatus is applied to a sheet manufacturing apparatus including a defibrating portion, an accumulating portion that forms web, a second transporting portion that includes a transporting belt to transport the web, and a pressing portion that includes a pair of pressing rollers formed from a first roller and a second roller and forms a strip-shaped sheet by pressing the web. The method includes a first step of transporting the web with the transporting belt, a second step of peeling a tip end of the web off the transporting belt, a third step of bending the tip end of the web by rotating the first roller in a first direction, and a fourth step of folding the tip end of the web by rotating the first roller in a second direction and passing the web between the pair of pressing rollers.