Information processing apparatus and its control method

• US 20060077246A1
• Filed: 10/12/2005
• Published: 04/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Taki, Kenji, Kikutani, Takao, Kawakami, Tatsuro
• Granted Patent: US 7,580,815 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 347/104
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2220/01 indicating an entity as a function of which control, adjustment or change is performed, i.e. input
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2220/11 indicating that the input or output entities exclusively relate to machine elements
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2404/14 Roller pairs
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2511/22 Distance
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2557/24 Calculating methods; Mathematic models
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 7/00 Controlling article feeding, separating, pile-advancing, or associated apparatus, to take account of incorrect feeding, absence of articles, or presence of faulty articles

Abstract

When the convey behavior of a flexible medium conveyed in a conveying path is analyzed by simulation, a design support apparatus of this invention executes 1) processing for approximating a nip on a model to an actual nip, 2) processing for matching a feature point of a drive chart with a calculation step upon making a numerical calculation for solving a motion of a flexible medium using the drive chart, and 3) processing for reflecting velocity variations due to deformation of a convey roller pair, thus implementing a simulation with high accuracy. When the design support apparatus of this invention is used, even a designer who does not have expert knowledge on simulation can analyze the convey behavior of the flexible medium conveyed in the conveying path with relatively higher accuracy.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus, which simulates a behavior of a sheet-like printing medium having a flexibility when the printing medium is conveyed in a conveying path including a convey roller pair, comprising:

setting means for setting a condition including an information associated with a rigidity of the convey roller pair arranged in the conveying path;

nip shape formation means for forming a shape of a contact area where the convey roller pair contact each other on the basis of the set condition; and

simulation means for simulating the behavior of the printing medium when the printing medium is conveyed in the conveying path on the basis of the shape of the contact area.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said setting means defines a roller with a higher rigidity of the convey roller pair as a first roller and a roller with a lower rigidity as a second roller, and displays a setting screen used to input a diameter of the first roller, a diameter of the second roller, and a center distance and rigidity ratio of the first and second rollers, so as to input setting conditions of the convey roller pair.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the rigidity ratio of the first and second rollers of the convey roller pair is not less than a predetermined value, said nip shape formation means arranges the convey roller pair with a set shape at a position set by said setting means, defines a nip shape of the convey roller pair to a shape that abuts along a surface shape of the first roller, cuts an overlapping portion between the first and second rollers, and generates an arc that abuts along the surface shape of the first roller on the cut portion, thus forming a portion between the arc and the first roller as the nip shape.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the set rigidity ratio of the convey roller pair is not less than a predetermined value, said nip shape formation means defines a shape of the contact area of the convey roller pair as a shape in which a surface shape of one roller abuts along a surface shape of the other roller, cuts an overlapping portion between the one roller and the other roller, and generates an arc that abuts along the surface shape of the other roller on the cut portion, so as to obtain the shape of the contact area of the convey roller pair.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said setting means further has a setting screen used to input a radius of curvature of the contact area, and when the set rigidity ratio of the convey roller pair is not less than a predetermined value, said nip shape formation means defines the input radius of curvature of the contact area as the shape of the contact area where the convey roller pair contact each other.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the radius of curvature of the contact area is set on the basis of a calculation of a deformation amount using a finite element method, and a contact area shape output based on the calculation result.

7. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when a rigidity of a first roller of the convey roller pair substantially equal to a rigidity of a second roller, said nip shape formation means arranges the convey roller pair with a set shape at a position set by said setting means, cuts an overlapping portion between the first and second rollers, and generates arcs designated with a radius of curvature of the contact area on the cut portion of the respective rollers, thereby generating a portion between the arcs as the shape of the contact area.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information associated with the rigidity includes a rigidity ratio of the convey roller pair, and a plurality of rigidity ratios can be set.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising means for selecting a radius of curvature of a contact area set in correspondence with the plurality of rigidity ratios.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

drive condition setting means for setting a drive condition indicating a time-series drive velocity of the convey roller pair; and

calculation time adjustment means for, when a time of a drive velocity change point in the drive condition does not match a calculation time, matching the calculation time with the time of the drive velocity change point;

wherein said simulation means simulates the behavior of the printing medium when the printing medium is conveyed in the conveying path on the basis of the condition set by said setting means, the drive condition, and the matched calculation time.

11. An information processing apparatus, which simulates a behavior of a sheet-like printing medium having a flexibility when the printing medium is conveyed in a conveying path including a convey roller pair, comprising:

setting means for setting a condition including a position of the convey roller pair arranged in the conveying path;

drive condition setting means for setting a drive condition indicating a time-series drive velocity of the convey roller pair;

calculation time adjustment means for, when a time of a drive velocity change point in the drive condition does not match a calculation time, matching the calculation time with the time of the drive velocity change point; and

simulation means for simulating the behavior of the printing medium when the printing medium is conveyed in the conveying path on the basis of the condition set by said setting means, the drive condition, and the matched calculation time.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein when the time of the drive velocity change point in the drive condition does not match the calculation time, said calculation time adjustment means matches the calculation time with the time of the drive velocity change point by time-dividing a calculation time step (Δ

t) used in numerical analysis.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the time of the drive velocity change point includes a drive start time, a drive end time, and a drive velocity change time of the building parts.

14. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus, which simulates a behavior of a sheet-like printing medium having a flexibility when the printing medium is conveyed in a conveying path including a convey roller pair, comprising:

a setting step of setting a condition including an information associated with a rigidity of the convey roller pair arranged in the conveying path;

a nip shape formation step of forming a shape of a contact area where the convey roller pair contact each other on the basis of the set condition; and

a simulation step of simulating the behavior of the printing medium when the printing medium is conveyed in the conveying path on the basis of the shape of the contact area.

20. A computer-executable program for implementing a control method of an information processing apparatus of claim 14.

21. A storage medium computer-readably storing a program of claim 20.

15. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus, which simulates a behavior of a sheet-like printing medium having a flexibility when the printing medium is conveyed in a conveying path including a convey roller pair, comprising:

a setting step of setting a condition including a position of the convey roller pair arranged in the conveying path;

a drive condition setting step of setting a drive condition indicating a time-series drive velocity of the convey roller pair;

a calculation time adjustment step of matching, when a time of a drive velocity change point in the drive condition does not match a calculation time, the calculation time with the time of the drive velocity change point; and

a simulation step of simulating the behavior of the printing medium when the printing medium is conveyed in the conveying path on the basis of the condition set by said setting means, the drive condition, and the matched calculation time.

16. An information processing apparatus, which simulates a behavior of a sheet-like printing medium having a flexibility when the printing medium is conveyed in a conveying path, comprising:

definition means for defining a convey roller pair to be arranged in the conveying path; and

display means for displaying an input screen used to input a parameter required to calculate a velocity variation rate caused by deformation of a convey roller with respect to the defined convey roller pair.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the parameter includes at least one of diameters of the convey roller pairs, a material and hardness of the convey roller, a thickness of a rubber layer of the convey roller, a thickness of a surface layer of the convey roller, and a pressure.

18. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said display means displays the conveying path defined in advance, and displays a convey roller pair with the calculated velocity variation rate in distinction from other convey roller pairs in the conveying path.

19. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus, which simulates a behavior of a sheet-like printing medium having a flexibility when the printing medium is conveyed in a conveying path, comprising:

a definition step of defining a convey roller pair to be arranged in the conveying path; and

a display step of displaying an input screen used to input a parameter required to calculate a velocity variation rate caused by deformation of a convey roller with respect to the defined convey roller pair.