Patent ID: 7398135

Claim:
A method for simulating the behavior of a flexible medium which is conveyed along a conveying path constructed of a pair of conveyor rollers, the method comprising the steps of: defining a contact region of the conveyor rollers where the pair of conveyor rollers contact each other and a non-contact region of the conveyor rollers where the pair of conveyor rollers do not contact each other; setting a first peripheral speed and a second peripheral speed for the contact region and the non-contact region, respectively, the first and the second peripheral speeds being different from each other; and performing a simulation such that a conveying force corresponding to the difference between the second peripheral speed and a speed of the flexible medium is applied to the flexible medium when the flexible medium reaches the non-contact region of the conveyor rollers, such that the flexible medium is conveyed at the first peripheral speed when the flexible medium reaches the contact region of the conveyor rollers.