JPS6251545A - Endless-tractor-belt for feeding record medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A. Industrial Field of Application The present invention relates to an endless tractor belt for feeding a recording medium, and more specifically, for moving a recording medium having apertures at the edges thereof. This relates to an endless tractor belt for feeding recording media.

B. Summary of the Disclosure The endless tractor belt for feeding a recording medium according to the present invention includes a thin flexible band and a drive formed around the band at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of the band. including members. In order to form the above belt,
First, slots are formed longitudinally spaced on at least one side of the band. A drive member is then molded around the band in each of the slots, except for at least one gap at each end of the band where there is no drive member. The ends of the band are overlapped so that the slots in the drive member-free spacing match each other. Then, to complete the endless tractor belt, a final drive member is formed around the slot in at least one pair of interlocking drive member-free spaces.

C0 Prior Art Conventionally, recording medium feeding trucks and lid mechanisms have been used to move recording media such as paper through printers and similar devices. Conventionally used paper has pre-formed apertures on both sides. A tractor mechanism including an endless tractor belt is mounted at a suitable location on the printer such that a drive member mounted on the belt is inserted into an aperture in the sheet. Rotation of the belt moves the drive member and advances the paper through the printer. Rotation of the belt is urged by any type of belt drive mechanism.

D0 PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION Generally, tractor belts consist of a band to which a drive member is attached. These drive members can be mounted on the band by forming them. The entire belt, i.e. the drive member and the band.

It is known to form a single moldable material in a single molding process. However, that forming method does not allow optimization of the individual material properties of each section of the belt. The drive member should be made of a hard, wear-resistant material, while the band material should be flexible and durable.

Another method of mounting the drive member on the band is to form the drive member through an aperture in the band. That mounting method has several drawbacks. One drawback is that the apertures in the band tend to become stress concentration areas during use of the belt. Stress concentration causes defects such as cracks to form,
These defects can result in premature failure. Another drawback is that the drive member may not fit well with the apertures in the band. Later movement of the drive member relative to the band can also cause wear and premature failure. Yet another drawback is that the apertures in the band must be close enough to the center of the width of the band to ensure that the band material has sufficient thickness on all sides of the apertures in the band. This is something that must be established as such. This limits the possibility of using drive members located away from the center of the width of the band.

Conventional tractor belts have yet other associated problems. Typically, the paper is not well protected from contacting the band. Too much contact between the paper and the thin band will cause the band to wear out quickly. Further, some drive members have a small gap between the base of the pin and the band, and the edge of the paper may be caught in the gap, resulting in poor paper feeding.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to form a tractor belt in which sources of band wear are minimized. This is achieved by using appropriate belt design.

Means for Solving the E0 Problem The present invention provides an endless tractor belt for transporting a recording medium for moving a recording medium having apertures at its edges, which includes a thin flexible band; Pins are formed around the bands at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of the bands and engage with openings in the recording medium so that the recording medium advances as the belt rotates. An improved endless tractor belt for transporting recording media having a plurality of drive members each including a section.

The endless tractor belt for feeding a recording medium according to the present invention includes a thin flexible band and a plurality of drive members each formed around the band at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of the band. have. These drive members consist of an upper pin part, a shoulder part and a lower drive element part.

The pin portion is sized to engage an aperture in a recording medium, such as a sheet of paper. The shoulder portion is inseparably formed integrally with both the pin portion and the drive element portion of the drive member so that the recording medium does not get caught in the gap or come into contact with the band. The drive element portion is shaped to engage with a sprocket.

In forming the belt, slots are first formed on at least one side of a thin flexible band at regular spacing in the longitudinal direction. A drive member is then molded around the band in each of the slots, except for at least one gap at each end of the band where there is no drive member.

The ends of the band are overlapped so that the slots in the gap without the drive member match each other. Then, to complete the endless tractor belt,
A final drive member is molded around the slot in the gap without at least one pair of matching drive members.

F. Embodiment FIG. 2 shows a conventional endless tractor belt 9 used in a recording medium feeding tractor mechanism 10. FIG. 3 shows an endless tractor belt 15 for feeding recording media according to the invention. Endless tractor belt 15 is a thin flexible band 1
1 includes a drive member 14 mounted on the drive member 1 . Figures 1 and 4
In the figure, the drive member 14 is shown in three parts: an upper pin part 16, a lower drive element part 17, and a shoulder part 18.
Contains A, 18B and 18C. The pin portion 16 is
It is sized to engage an aperture in a recording medium, typically, but not limited to, paper. The drive element portion 17 is shaped to engage a sprocket. When the sprocket is energized, the belt rotates and the recording medium advances. Shoulder portions 18A, 18B and 18C are formed sufficiently higher than the band to prevent the recording medium from contacting the band.

In the preferred embodiment, each drive member 14 is a single molded body. Therefore, the shoulders 18A, 18B and 18C are integrally formed with the corresponding pin portion 16 and drive element portion 17 of the drive member 14 in such a way that they cannot be separated. There is no gap between the base of the pin portion and the band in which the recording medium can be caught.

Further, in FIGS. 1 and 4, the driving member 14 is connected to the band 11.
Although it does not necessarily have to completely surround the band 11, it is shown that it is formed around the band 11. There are no holes in the band that could cause premature failure. Additionally, the pin portion can be mounted off the center of the width of the band if desired.

5-8, slots 12A, 12B and 12C are formed on both sides of band 11 at regular intervals 21 in the longitudinal direction.

Each of the slots serves to secure the drive member 14 relative to the band in all directions.

Tabless slots 12C are also important in forming endless tractor belts in accordance with the present invention, as discussed below in connection with forming the final drive member. Tab 13 is
It exists in slot 12B. Tab 13 is bent into drive member 14 as shown in FIG. The tabs are also used to fix the position of the drive member on the band. The dimensions and shapes of the slots 12A, 12B and 12C and the tabs 13 are not limited to those shown in Figure 1 and can fix the position of the drive member on the band. It can be of any size and shape.

Endless tractor belt 1 shown in FIG.
In forming 5, first a thin flexible band 11 is provided. The band 11 is preferably made of a material that is highly flexible, difficult to absorb moisture, does not cause creep, and has high tensile strength. Furthermore, band 11 should be formed from a material that can withstand the processing temperatures required to form the belt. Suitable materials thereof are, for example, polyimide or polyester plastic films.

As shown in FIG. 5, slots 12A, 12B, and 12G are formed in band 11 with constant gaps 21 in the longitudinal direction, leaving tab 13 in slot 12B. In Figure 9, at each end of the band,
A drive member 14 is formed around the band 11 in each slot, except for intervals 21A and 21B which are free of drive members and include slots 12A, 12B and 12C. The drive members may be molded at the same time or may be completed as one. Preferably, the drive member is formed from a moldable, wear-resistant material, such as glass-filled nylon. In FIG. 10, the interval 21 without a driving member
A and 21B and their slots 12A, 1
End 11A of the band so that 2B and 12C match.
and 11B are superimposed on each other. FIG. 11 shows these superimposed slots 12B and 12C.

Then matching drive member-free intervals 21A and 21 are formed to form an endless tractor belt.
The final drive member is molded around B slots 12A, 12B and 12C. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing the final drive member 19 molded around the ends 11A and 11B of the overlapped bands. Alternatively, several final drive members may be molded around the ends of the overlapped bands to increase the strength of the belt. In that case, initially several tabless slots are formed at one end of the band at several regular intervals in the longitudinal direction. The spacing containing the slots and the corresponding spacing at the other end of the band have no drive member until the ends of the band are overlapped to form the last drive member. The tabs 13 are bent into the drive member before or during molding of the drive member, and are retained within the drive member after molding. In the preferred embodiment, injection molding is used, although other types of molding methods may be used.

Although the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto and is susceptible to many other modifications.

For example, other shapes of drive element portions may be used as long as they are compatible with other portions of the tractor mechanism.

Effects of the G0 Invention The present invention provides an improved endless tape for feeding recording media.
Obtains a tractor belt.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a driving member attached around a flexible band in an embodiment of the endless tractor belt for feeding a recording medium of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional endless tractor belt in a transport tractor mechanism.
4 is a top view of the endless tractor belt of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a top view of the flexible band; FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are respectively Slot 12A in the flexible band shown in Figure 5;
12B and 12C are enlarged top views, FIG. 9 is a top view showing a flexible band with a drive member attached before both ends of the band are overlapped, and FIG. 10 is a top view of the band. a top view showing the flexible band with its ends overlapped but before the final drive member is attached;
FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 10, and FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing the last drive member mounted on both ends of the flexible bands stacked on top of each other. 9... Conventional endless tractor belt for feeding a recording medium, 10... Tractor mechanism for feeding a recording medium,
11... Thin flexible band, IIA, 11 B
・---Band ends, 12A, 12B, 12C...
・Slot, 13...Tab, 14...Drive member, 15...Endless tractor belt, 16...
...Pin part, 17...Drive element part, 18A,
18B, 18C... Shoulder portion, 19... Last drive member, 21... Constant interval in longitudinal direction, 21A, 2
1B... Distance without a driving member. Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation Representative Patent Attorney: Oka 1) Tsugumi (1 other person) Tsukasa "Purity Band JJiJ Diagram 5 Slot) -12A/> Enlarged Illustration Officer d Kumame Body Umbrella The new home of Toratata Isomura (for delivery) 2 2nd drawing/Dishimata Torawata ~ L Torata Torawata belt of the present invention No. 3
Figure 4: Enlarged view of slot 12B Figure 7: Thrower 1-12C/b v*#Iz'>'re, lff1 Figure 10: 10r
Enlarged view of jfi Figure 11 Test V member after fi

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) In an endless tractor belt for feeding a recording medium that has holes at its edges, the recording medium is moved forward by the rotation of the thin flexible band and the belt. a plurality of drives, each of which is molded around the band at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of the band and each includes a pin portion that engages an aperture in the recording medium; An endless tractor belt for feeding a recording medium, comprising a member. (2) the flexible band includes a plurality of longitudinally spaced slots formed on at least one side thereof, and the drive member is mounted in the slots and around the band; The endless tractor belt for feeding a recording medium according to claim (1), which is molded. (3) An endless tractor belt for feeding a recording medium according to claim (2), wherein the slot has a bendable tab in the drive member. (4) The drive member has a shoulder portion that is formed sufficiently higher than the flexible band so that the recording medium does not come into contact with the flexible band. Endless tractor belt for feeding recording media. (5) The endless tractor belt for feeding a recording medium according to claim (4), wherein the shoulder portion is integrally formed with the pin portion of the drive member in a manner that cannot be separated from the pin portion.