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US 7,857,309 B2Granted
Shaft driving apparatus
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorSteven R. Moore
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This disclosure provides a shaft driving apparatus and method of operation. The shaft driving apparatus comprises a shaft and a slip joint configuration to extend the wear zone associated with bearings operatively connected to an apparatus which rotates a shaft less than 360 degrees in an oscillatory manner or other cyclical manner.
Claims12
A shaft driving apparatus comprising:
- a shaft including a first end, a second end, and one or more shaft support bearings for supporting rotational movement of the shaft;
- a motor, the motor operatively connected to the first end of the shaft and the motor including two or more motor bearings for supporting rotational movement of the shaft;
- a controller operatively connected to the motor;
- and
- a slip joint, the slip joint including a first portion and a second portion, the slip joint first portion operatively connected to the second end of the shaft, and the slip joint second portion configured to slip at a threshold rotational angle of shaft rotation;
- wherein the controller is configured to operate in a nonslip mode of operation to rotate the shaft, the one or more shaft support bearings, the first and second portions of the slip joint, and the two or more motor bearings a first predetermined rotational angle less than or equal to the threshold rotational angle, and the controller is configured to operate in a slip mode of operation to rotate the shaft, the one or more shaft support bearings, the first portion of the slip joint, and the two or more motor bearings a second predetermined rotational angle greater than the threshold rotational angle, and the controller is configured to subsequently return to the nonslip mode of operation, the slip mode of operation advancing a rotational angle associated with the two or more motor bearings and one or more shaft support bearings for subsequent operation in the nonslip mode.
3 more elements
A print media apparatus comprising:
- a shaft including a first end, a second end, and one or more shaft support bearings for supporting rotational movement of the shaft;
- a motor, the motor operatively connected to the first end of the shaft, the motor including two or more motor bearings for supporting rotational movement of the shaft;
- a slip joint, the slip joint operatively connected to the second end of the shaft;
- a controller operatively connected to the motor;
- and
- a print media path gate, the print media path gate operatively connected to the slip joint;
- wherein the controller is configured to rotate the print media path gate between a first angular position and a second angular position during a nonslip mode of operation, and the controller is configured to rotate the shaft to a third angular position that is greater than the second angular position or less than the first angular position causing the slip joint to slip during a slip mode of operation, the slip mode of operation rotating the two or more motor bearings and the one or more shaft support bearings to the third angular position, and the controller subsequently returning to the nonslip mode of operation, the slip mode of operation advancing a rotational angle associated with the two or more motor bearings and one or more shaft support bearings for subsequent operation in the nonslip mode.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.