Take-up pulley in an image processor

Details Take-up pulley in an image processor Take-up pulley in an image processor

1999-05-12

2001-04-24

Footland, Lenard A. (Department: 3682)

Machine element or mechanism

Mechanical movements

Reciprocating or oscillating to or from alternating rotary

C074S089200

Reexamination Certificate

active

06220106

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to an image processor such as a copying machine or a scanner functioning to read images of an original represented on a paper sheet or the like and then to subject these images to various kinds of processing and more particularly to a take-up pulley mounted on a driving shaft in such image processor to take up/let out the wire operatively associated with a carrier adapted to scan the original and thereby to transmit a drive force from an electric motor to said carrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
The function of the carrier in the image processor is to pick up images to be processed from the original and to guide them to an image processing unit such as a CCD. To achieve this, the carrier is provided with a reflector or the like adapted to form an optical path extending from the original to said CCD. The carrier thus scans the original and picks up the images on said original. The carrier is operatively associated with a wire taken up on a pulley by motor power so that said scanning is performed as said wire travels. One end of the wire is attached to the inner wall of the housing containing said carrier. The other end of the wire is also attached to the inner wall of the housing but with interposition of a tension spring, for example, in the form of a tension coil spring so that the tension spring puts the wire under a tension required for properly driving the carrier. An intermediate length of the wire is fixed directly on the carrier or extended around guide pulleys which are rotatably supported by the carrier. Said intermediate length of the wire is also wound around said take-up pulley by a desired number of turns.
FIG. 6
is a side view showing an example of a conventional take-up pulley
50
shown partially in cross-section. As shown, this take-up pulley
50
of prior art comprises a drum-like section
51
on which the wire is taken up and a boss
52
formed at one end of said drum
51
. The drum
51
is formed at its axially opposite ends with stopper flanges
53
, respectively, in order to prevent the wire (not shown) wound around said drum
51
from slipping off. This prior art take-up pulley
50
is formed by machining metallic material or made of sintered metal.
However, the take-up pulley
50
of the prior art, made of metallic material or sintered metal, necessarily leads to a high manufacturing cost of the pulley itself and a correspondingly high manufacturing cost of the image processor as a whole. To overcome this cost problem, it has been proposed to mold the take-up pulley of a suitable synthetic resin material.
FIG. 7
illustrates a mold construction which has been adopted to make the take-up pulley by molding a suitable synthetic resin material. As illustrated therein, the mold consists of a pair of split mold sections
54
a
,
54
b
adapted to be opened radially of the drum
51
so axially opposite ends of the drum
51
can be formed with said stopper flanges
53
. Such arrangement of the mold is inevitably accompanied with the problem that a desired out of roundness may not be ensured for the drum
51
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the problem as has been pointed out, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a take-up pulley used in an image processor so improved that not only an effective cost reduction but also an out of roundness desired for the pulley drum-like section can be achieved even when the take-up pulley is formed by molding of a suitable synthetic resin material.
The object set forth above is achieved, according to the invention, by a take-up pulley made of synthetic resin by a suitable molding process and fixedly mounted on a driving shaft in an image processor to take up a carrier driving wire. Said take-up pulley comprises a drum-like section around which said wire is taken up, a boss-like projection extending from an end surface of said drum-like section, and a stopper flange formed on said end surface from which said boss-like projection extends. Said stopper flange has an appropriate thickness and a diameter slightly larger than said drum-like section.
The take-up pulley is made of synthetic resin material by a suitable molding process such as an extrusion molding, and, therefore, the take-up pulley can be easily manufactured at a relatively low cost. Additionally, only one end of the drum-like section is formed with said stopper flange so that the mold can be opened axially of the drum-like section and thereby an out of roundness desired for the drum-like section can be reliably obtained.
Preferably, said take-up pulley is fixedly mounted on said driving shaft so that a gap smaller than a diameter of said wire may be formed between said end surface of said drum-like section opposite said boss-like projection and an inner wall of a housing of said image processor. Said collar is formed at only one end of the drum-like section so that, in a molding process of the take-up pulley, the mold can be opened axially of the drum-like section. Although slipping off of the wire might otherwise occur at the other end of the drum-like section, such slipping off of the wire can be reliably prevented by positioning said other end of the drum-like section closely adjacent the inner wall of the housing.
Preferably, said end surface of the drum-like section opposite said boss-like projection is formed with a recess adapted for partially receiving a bearing for said driving shaft. Said recess is shaped to partially receive the bearing for said driving shaft to enable a dimension of said gap defined between said end surface of the drum-like section opposite said boss-like projection and the inner wall of the housing to be easily adjusted. Preferably, the end of said drum-like section opposite said boss-like projection is provided with a stopper member radially extending beyond a periphery of said end.
After the take-up pulley has been molded, the end of the drum-like section opposite the boss-like projection is provided with the stopper member having its periphery radially extending beyond a periphery of said end, and, therefore, it is unnecessary to utilize the inner wall of the housing for prevention of the wire's slip-off. The stopper member may be in the form of an annular plate having an outer diameter slightly larger the outer diameter of the drum-like section and an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the driving shaft. Such stopper member may be adhesively bonded to or heat-sealed with the end surface of the drum-like section. Alternatively, the stopper member may be in the form of an annular member having an inner diameter substantially same as the outer diameter of the drum-like section and an appropriate outer diameter and may be tightly extended over an end of the drum-like section.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4254917 (1981-03-01), Okamura et al.
patent: 4993655 (1991-02-01), Gelardi et al.

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