Patent Grant
9309072
The present apparatus and method relates to noise reduction in a printer, and more particularly, to audible noise caused by unnecessary spinning of idler rollers after media has left the rollers.
In a typical printer, media trays store media sheets within the printer. During the printing cycle, a media transport system retrieves media sheets from a tray, routes the media through the printer to receive an image, and then ejects the media into an output tray for collection by a user. The media transport system utilizes drive rollers and idler rollers to transport media through the printing process. Drive rollers are fixedly mounted about shafts that are coupled to the rotational output of an electrical motor or other actuator. As the shafts rotate in response to the rotational output of a motor, the drive rollers rotate. Idler rollers are mounted for rotation about an idler shaft that is engaged to a printer surface. Typically, the idler rollers are positioned opposite drive rollers. As the drive rollers rotate, they frictionally engages the idler rollers sufficiently to rotate the idler rollers. As a media sheet contacts a drive roller and idler roller junction or nip, the rotating rollers propel the sheet through the media path. Thus, the idler rollers assist in the movement of media sheets through the printer without requiring additional actuators for their rotation. Additionally, in some printers, idler rollers are used to ease media passage, e.g., around a paper tray output guide during feeding from a paper tray. Idler rollers in this instance do not have an opposing drive rollers, thus allowing them to spin freely after media has passed and create unwanted noise.
Heretofore, various vibration and noise reduction methods have been employed in printers. For example, US Patent Publication No. 2010/0090390 A1 discloses an apparatus for transporting media in a printer that helps reduce vibration and noise in the printer. The apparatus includes a pair of brackets secured to a printer surface, a shaft, a first portion of the shaft being secured within one of the brackets and a second portion of the shaft being secured within the other bracket, a roller mounted about the shaft for rotation about the shaft, and a pair of vibration dampers, one vibration damper interposed between the first portion of the shaft and the one bracket, and the other vibration damper being interposed between the second portion of the shaft and the other bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,857,631 discloses a sheet feeding system in which idler roller shafts are loosely mounted between opposing side walls of a slot for limited movement relative to their mating sheet feeding rollers, and spring biased there towards to provide sheet feeding nips with the desired normal force, wherein the spring biasing is non-symmetrical to additionally provide orthogonal spring biasing of the idler shafts towards only one of the side walls of their mounting slot. This non-symmetrical spring biasing may be provided by a torsion spring with a central coil wrapper around the idler shaft with extending legs anchored in non-symmetrical anchoring position and/or with non-symmetrically shaped legs.
The heretofore cited patent and publication are included herein by reference to the extent necessary to practice the present disclosure.
Unfortunately, even though the vibration and noise reduction techniques of the above prior art are useful, there is still a need to reduce audible noise caused by unnecessary spinning after media has left idler rollers that ease the passage of media around a media guide without assistance from drive rollers.
In answer to that need, provided hereinafter is a method and apparatus for preventing excess spin of idler rollers after a sheet of paper or other media has passed a media guide that includes a retard function within plastic idler rollers. The retard function is provided by adding a retard flexure molded into the idler rollers. This adds a brake which stops the over spin of the rollers.
The terms ‘sheet’ and ‘media’ used herein refers to any flimsy physical sheet or paper, plastic, media, or other useable physical substrate for printing images thereon, whether precut or initially web fed.
Various of the above-mentioned and further features and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the specific apparatus and its operation or methods described in the example(s) below, and the claims. Thus, they will be better understood from this description of these specific embodiment(s), including the drawing figures (which are approximately to scale) wherein:
Referring now to prior art
An improved plastic idler roller 30, in accordance with the present disclosure, is shown in
In recapitulation, a method and apparatus is disclosed for improving sheet noise in printers that includes molding a retard function within plastic idler rollers to prevent excess spin after a sheet of paper or other media has passed. The retard function of the idler roller is accomplished by reducing a center diameter portion of the idler rollers. This reduce diameter configuration of the idler rollers increases friction which stops over spin of the idler rollers.
The claims, as originally presented and as they may be amended, encompass variations, alternatives, modifications, improvements, equivalents, and substantial equivalents of the embodiments and teachings disclosed herein, including those that are presently unforeseen or unappreciated, and that, for example, may arise from applicants/patentees and others. Unless specifically recited in a claim, steps or components of claims should not be implied or imported from the specification or any other claims as to any particular order, number, position, size, shape, angle, color, or material.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4126305 | Colglazier | Nov 1978 | A |
| 6857631 | Morrison et al. | Feb 2005 | B2 |
| 20080258382 | deJong et al. | Oct 2008 | A1 |
| 20100090390 | Urban et al. | Apr 2010 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20150343815 A1 | Dec 2015 | US |
