Supports – Machinery support – Bracket
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-07
2003-05-06
Braun, Leslie A. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Machinery support
Bracket
C248S572000, C248S575000, C248S560000, C248S557000, C267S153000, C267S141000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06557816
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor mounting structure in which a load is applied toward a motor shaft in a direction orthogonal to the shaft, and a drive shaft mounting structure in which a load is applied in a direction orthogonal to the drive shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when a motor is mounted to a member to which it is to be mounted, such as a frame or the like, oftentimes an elastic member is disposed between the body of the motor and the member to which the motor is to be mounted, as a measure to isolate vibration. For example, in ink jet printers, a compression coil spring is disposed as an elastic member (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 8-17135), and in exposure apparatuses, a damper is disposed as an elastic member. Using an exposure apparatus as an example, conventional technology will be described below.
In a conventional exposure apparatus, a damper
72
such as illustrated in
FIG. 9
is used as the aforementioned damper. The damper
72
comprises a cylindrical damper body
73
, and an upper retention plate
70
and a lower retention plate
71
that are respectively affixed to an upper surface and a lower surface of the damper body
73
.
As shown in
FIG. 10C
, the damper
72
is disposed between a motor
76
, which forwardly rotates and rotates in reverse a timing belt
74
, and a mounting plate
80
. In
FIGS. 10A-10C
, the upper and lower retention plates have been omitted to clearly describe the deformation of the damper
72
.
A through-hole
72
H, through which a shaft
82
of the motor
76
is passed, is formed in the damper
72
. Further, an exposure head (not illustrated) that scans in accordance with the rotation and reverse rotation of the timing belt
74
is mounted at the timing belt
74
.
To mount the motor
76
at the mounting plate
80
, the shaft
82
is passed through the through-hole
72
H and screws (not illustrated) are passed through mounting holes
84
formed at lower flanges
77
of the lower retention plate
71
(see FIG.
9
), whereby the damper
72
is fixed to the motor
76
.
Next, the motor
76
to which the damper
72
is fixed is moved to a mounting portion
81
(see
FIG. 10A
) of the mounting plate
80
, so that a distal end portion of the shaft
82
projects at an outer portion (an upper portion) from an opening
80
A formed in advance at the mounting plate
80
. Screws (not illustrated) are passed through through-holes
85
formed at upper flanges
79
of the upper retention plate
70
(see
FIG. 9
) to fix the damper
72
to the mounting plate
80
(see. FIG.
10
A).
A pulley
86
is mounted at the distal end portion of the shaft
82
that protrudes from the opening
80
A (see FIG.
10
B), and the timing belt
74
is trained around the pulley
86
(see FIG.
10
C).
However, when a U direction tensile force acts on the timing belt
74
, a U direction force is applied to the shaft
82
and a bending moment acts on the motor
76
. Accordingly, the motor
76
has been mounted to the mounting plate
80
in a state in which the shaft
82
inclines so that the shaft
82
is no longer orthogonal to an orbital plane S.
Moreover, because an unbalanced load is placed on the timing belt
74
and stress (internal stress) becomes partially larger when the motor
76
is driven in this state, problems such as the durability of the timing belt
74
being poor and an excessive load being placed on the motor
76
have arisen.
Such problems are not restricted to exposure apparatuses and ink jet printers. Even in a common mechanism in which a bending moment is applied by an external force applied to a motor shaft, the motor has been mounted in a state in which the motor shaft is not parallel to a set target mounting direction. For this reason, problems such as excessive stress being applied to the mechanism that transmits a driving force from the shaft and an excessive load being placed on the motor have arisen. Moreover, these problems have not only been limited to a case in which an elastic body has been disposed as a measure to isolate vibration, but have also occurred in common mechanisms in which orientation of the motor shaft and orientation of the drive shaft have been regarded as important.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Taking the above facts into consideration, an object of the present invention is to provide a motor mounting structure with which a motor can be mounted such that a shaft thereof becomes parallel to a set target mounting direction, even when an external force acts on the motor shaft, and to provide a drive shaft mounting structure with which a drive shaft can be mounted such that a shaft thereof becomes parallel to a set target mounting direction, even when an external force acts on the drive shaft.
A motor mounting structure pertaining to a first aspect of the present invention has an elastic member disposed between a motor and a mounting portion to which the motor is mounted, wherein the motor is mounted to the mounting portion via the elastic member, and a motor shaft of the motor has a predetermined angle with respect to a target mounting direction set in advance.
When an external force is not applied to the motor shaft, the motor shaft inclines at a predetermined angle with respect to the target mounting direction that is set in advance. When a force acts on the motor shaft by a driving force transmission mechanism (i.e., a mechanism that transmits a driving force received from the motor shaft) such as a timing belt or the like and a bending moment presumed in advance is applied to the motor, a compressive force acts on the bending side of the elastic member and a tensile force acts on the side opposite the bending side of the elastic member so that the motor shaft becomes parallel to the target mounting direction. The target mounting direction is set, for example, to a direction orthogonal to an orbital plane of the timing belt mounted at a regular position. Further, the predetermined angle is determined in advance giving consideration to parameters such as size of the bending moment, elasticity of the elastic member and so forth.
Accordingly, a mechanism for transmitting a driving force (e.g., a timing pulley and a timing belt mounted at the motor shaft) can be held at a regular position, an unbalanced load is not partially applied to the mechanism for transmitting a driving force and an excessive load is not placed on the motor when the motor is rotated.
In the motor mounting structure of the first aspect of the present invention, the angle of the motor shaft at the time of mounting is preferably adjusted in accordance with a thickness or configuration of the elastic member. Further, the angle of the motor shaft at the time of mounting is adjusted at an inclination angle of the mounting portion with respect to the target mounting direction. Thus, setting of the predetermined angle is easy.
Moreover, in the motor mounting structure of the first aspect of the present invention, the elastic member is preferably provided with a through-hole through which the motor shaft is passed, the through-hole being sufficiently large enough so that the motor shaft does not make contact with an inner wall of the through-hole, and the configuration of the through-hole being formed in a long, substantial ellipse in a direction in which a tensile force acts. Furthermore, a hardness or thickness of the elastic member changes at a tension side and a compression side when a load is applied to the motor shaft.
Still further, in the motor mounting structure of the first aspect of the present invention, the mounting portion is positioned opposite the motor shaft and has a substantially L shape when seen in cross section. The elastic member is disposed so as to make contact with a side surface and a bottom surface of the motor. A hardness of the elastic member changes in correspondence with a difference in compressive force applied thereto when a load is applied to the motor shaft.
In the motor mounting structure of the present invention, whe
Braun Leslie A.
Fuji Photo Film Co. , Ltd.
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Weinhold Ingrid
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