Wire Cable Guide Structure for Compact Sheet Conveyance Wiring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet conveyance apparatuses face challenges in reducing the space required for wiring while improving the workability of the wiring operation, particularly due to the use of resin guide members that require large sizes and spaces for strength and workability.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus incorporates a guide member formed of a metal wire, specifically a wire-forming member, which is attached to the casing and guides the electric cable. The electric cable is wired along this guide member with at least one of the cable and the guide member twisted around the other, enhancing retention and reducing space requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If guide members formed of resin are used to support electric cables, then the cables can be routed along the guide members, but the size of the guide members and the space around them must be large to ensure strength and workability, leading to increase in apparatus size
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member is formed from a flexible metal wire instead of rigid resin, allowing it to bend and conform to the wiring path without requiring large clearance space. The wire's flexibility enables it to maintain structural integrity while occupying minimal space, resolving the contradiction between wiring workability and space requirements.
2Strength
If guide members formed of resin are used, then cables can be supported, but both the size of the guide members themselves and the space around the guide members are required to be large enough to ensure strength, which leads to increase in size of the apparatus
Solution Approach 1:
The material parameter is changed from resin to metal wire, fundamentally altering the strength-to-size ratio. The metal wire provides sufficient mechanical strength to support and guide cables while occupying significantly less volume than resin guide members would require, thus resolving the contradiction between strength and volume.
3Reliability
If cables are wired by having them nipped between projection pairs or hooked on L-shaped projections, then the cables can be secured, but the nipping and hooking of electric cables on each of the number of projections was troublesome, reducing workability
Solution Approach 1:
The complex multi-projection retention system is replaced by a single continuous wire-forming guide member. Instead of using multiple discrete projections that require individual nipping or hooking operations, the wire is formed into a continuous path that naturally guides and retains cables through its shape, dramatically improving wiring workability while maintaining reliable cable retention.
Data Source
AI summary
A sheet conveyance apparatus includes a casing, an electric cable including a conductor and an insulator configured to cover the conductor, and a guide member attached to the casing and configured to guide the electric cable, wherein the guide member includes a wire-forming member formed of a metal wire, and wherein the electric cable is wired along the guide member with at least one of the electric cable and the guide member twisted around the other of the electric cable and the guide member.