Apparatus and method for controlling the axial rate of movement of a fusing belt in a printing apparatus

A method in an apparatus including a fusing belt, at least one fusing belt support roller, where the fusing belt is entrained on the fusing belt support roller, a pressure roller that contacts the fusing belt to form a fusing nip, where the fusing belt support roller includes an axis of rotation, the method comprising:

• fusing an image on a media sheet in the fusing nip using the pressure roller and the fusing belt;
• moving the fusing belt axially relative to the at least one fusing belt support roller axis of rotation;
• and
• adaptively controlling a rate of the axial movement of the fusing belt using previous one or more times it took for the fusing belt to move back and forth as inputs for control while periodically and regularly axially moving the fusing belt back and forth in a first direction and a second direction along the axis of rotation to mitigate edge wear on the fusing belt, where the first direction is opposite from the second direction and where the edge wear is caused by repeated contact between the media sheet edges and the fusing belt.

An apparatus comprising:

• a media sheet transport configured to transport a media sheet;
• a fusing belt;
• at least one fusing belt support roller, where the fusing belt is entrained on the fusing belt support roller, the fusing belt support roller having an axis of rotation;
• a heater configured to heat at least a portion of the fusing belt;
• a pressure roller that contacts the fusing belt to form a fusing nip, where the pressure roller, the heater, and the fusing belt are configured to fuse an image on the media sheet in the fusing nip;
• a belt position changing mechanism coupled to the fusing belt, the belt position changing mechanism configured to move the fusing belt axially relative to the at least one fusing belt support roller axis of rotation;
• a sensor configured to sense an axial position of the fusing belt along the axis of rotation;
• and
• a belt position changing control module coupled to the belt position changing mechanism, the belt position changing control module configured to adaptively control a rate of the axial movement of the fusing belt back and forth in a first direction and a second direction along the axis of rotation based on the sensed axial position of the fusing belt using previous one or more times it took for the fusing belt to move back and forth as inputs for control, where the first direction is opposite from the second direction and where the axial movement of the fusing belt back and forth in the first direction and the second direction is periodic and regular.