EP0212792B1 - Verfahren und Apparat zur Darstellung von Bildern - Google Patents

Verfahren und Apparat zur Darstellung von Bildern Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0212792B1
EP0212792B1 EP19860304531 EP86304531A EP0212792B1 EP 0212792 B1 EP0212792 B1 EP 0212792B1 EP 19860304531 EP19860304531 EP 19860304531 EP 86304531 A EP86304531 A EP 86304531A EP 0212792 B1 EP0212792 B1 EP 0212792B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
dyestuff
gas
recording medium
vaporous
mixture
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP19860304531
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0212792A1 (de
Inventor
Gerry B. Andeen
Ronald Swidler
Hisashi Nishikawa
Yasuo Matsumoto
Ayumu Makino
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Toshiba TEC Corp
Original Assignee
Tokyo Electric Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Tokyo Electric Co Ltd filed Critical Tokyo Electric Co Ltd
Publication of EP0212792A1 publication Critical patent/EP0212792A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0212792B1 publication Critical patent/EP0212792B1/de
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the production of images or representations, such as in high-speed printing. More particularly, it relates to a method and apparatus for effectively applying a colouring agent to a recording medium.
  • the manner of transferring the coloring agent to the recording medium is an important part of vapor jet printing, particularly in connection with assuring small dot size and accurate control over printing location.
  • Many vapor jet printing arrangements considered in the past have utilized electrical deflection means to provide the transfer. In these schemes the coloring agent is charged and then deflected to a desired location.
  • Such schemes have various disadvantages, a primary one being decomposition of the coloring agent if it is as in most situations, the vapor state of a sub- limabie dye.
  • most of such arrangements require relatively large spacing between the jet from which the coloring agent emanates and the recording medium, to accommodate the deflection and charging mechanism.
  • the coloring agent if it is heated such as is typical for a sublimable dye, can be cooled by the atmosphere in such space and solidified before it reaches the recording medium. This, of course, results in a degraded image. Also, most applications for vapor jet printing require multiple jets of one or more coloring agents. The necessity with this approach of controlling the individual jets of coloring agent results in added complexity. Examples of this approach are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 56-2020; 54-71636; and 54-71637.
  • the present invention is characterised in that the dyestuff is heated within a chamber in order to bring it into the vapour phase in an upper region of the chamber, that the pressurised gas is then introduced into the upper region of the chamber and mixed with the vapourised dyestuff to provide a pressurised gas and vaporous dyestuff mixture, and that controlled qnantities of the gas and vaporous dyestuff mixture are then ejected from the chamber under pressure to impinge directly on the recording medium.
  • the present invention thus provides a method and apparatus for applying a coloring agent to a recording medium which does not have the disadvantages of prior art approaches discussed above.
  • a carrier gas such as air
  • the coloring agent and gas are intimately mixed together to form a generally uniform mixture prior to being ejected. It will be recognized that this will assure that a selected known amount of coloring agent will be ejected toward the recording medium.
  • the mixture is pressurized to be ejected with force toward the recording medium. This pressurization simply is achieved by providing the carrier gas itself under a desired pressure when it is mixed with the coloring agent.
  • the carrier gas is heated to maintain the coloring agent in a vaporous phase during use of such gas to transport the coloring agent to the recording medium. This is most easily accomplished by passing the gas mixture through a channel the temperature of which is maintained at an appropriate level.
  • the coloring agent is a sublimable dye in solid form which is heated to form a vaporous dye which is then mixed with the carrier gas to form the desired, heated mixture.
  • the coloring agent is provided in a stand-alone cartridge which can be interchangeably connected with the remainder of the apparatus, including the ejection nozzle, to complete the arrangement. It will be recognized that the provision of such a cartridge simplifies the operation of providing new coloring agent or changing colors, and significantly reduces the downtime associated therewith.
  • the simplicity of the method and apparatus of the invention lends itself well to multi-head arrangements, i.e., arrangements having a plurality of sources of coloring agents and a plurality of nozzles. Moreover, it is particularly applicable to use of sublimable dyes as the coloring agents.
  • a recording head for applying four differing coloring agents to a recording medium is generally referred to by the reference numeral 11.
  • such recording head 11 includes four chambers 12 - 15 individually containing sublimable dyes in solid form to produce desired vaporous coloring agents. While in the drawing the sublimable dyes in solid form are schematically illustrated in the chambers 12 -15 as blocks 16 - 19, respectively, it is preferred that they be provided as is typical in powder form. The dyes could be of any desired color which is available.
  • the sublimable dye 16 could be, for example, a cyan dye, the sublimable dye 17 could be a magenta dye, the sublimable dye 21 could be a yellow dye, and the dye 19 could be a black dye.
  • a blocked entrance for supplying dye in powder form is provided for each of the chambers, and is schematically represented at 21 in Fig. 3 for chamber 13.
  • a source of heat in the form of a heater 22 is included within the base wall of the recording head 11 to provide simultaneous heating of the sublimable dyes in the four chambers 12 - 15.
  • Such heater is preferably an electrical resistance heater electrically insulated from the recording head material.
  • the amount of heat energy applied to the dyes and, hence, the temperature to which the heater is raised will depend upon the particular sublimable dyes which are used, as well as the desired vapor pressures. As is indicated by the dots in the figure, the dyes will sublime and form a vaporous state in the upper portion of the respective chambers 12 - 15.
  • means are provided for furnishing a carrier gas to the upper portion of such chambers for mixture with the dyes.
  • a reservoir 23 is schematcaiiy illustrated for this purpose, containing a pressurized gas, such as air. Such reservoir is individually communicated with each of the chambers 12 - 15, as is represented in Fig. 2.
  • a gas under pressure in this case air
  • the carrier gas is heated to a temperature which will maintain the dye with which it is mixed in a vaporous state.
  • the dye itself is provided with sufficient thermal energy to heat the carrier gas with which it is mixed before being ejected as described below.
  • the structure communicating the reservoir with the chambers is, in essence, means connecting the sources of coloring agents with the source of carrier gas.
  • the recording head 11 includes a nozzle structure 24 on its front face, having individual nozzles 26 - 29 communicating respectively with the dye chambers 12 - 15. Such nozzles face a recording medium 31 (Fig. 3) at a relatively close spacing.
  • the recording medium can be, for example, a sheet of paper or plastic upon which it is desired to impart graphical representations.
  • Fig. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a gate or shutter arrangement which can be used to provide such gating.
  • a gate 32 is shown in the outlet port of the illustrated nozzle.
  • Such gate includes not only an annulus 33 restricting the size of the nozzle orifice, but an electro striction vibrator 34 for controlling opening and closing of the nozzle orifice.
  • the carrier gas, sublimable dye mixture will be at a relatively high temperature of between 200 and 250 degrees C.
  • the vibrator 34 be one which is capable of withstanding and operating under such high temperature conditions.
  • a voltage is applied to the electro restriction vibrator to open and close the same, the application of which voltage is controlled by an image signal source.
  • an image signal source is schematically represented in the figures by block 36.
  • Each of the nozzles includes a gate for controlling the flow of the mixture in its associated dye chamber therefrom. This is schematically represented in Fig. 4 by the illustration of flow lines extending from the source 36 to each of the nozzles.
  • Fig. 6 illustrates another type of nozzle gating device that may be used with the instant invention. It is similar to the gating device shown in Fig. 5 and like reference numerals are used for common parts.
  • Such device generally referred to by the reference numeral 37, includes an electromagnet 38 for vibrating a gate 39. Again, because the carrier gas, sublimable dye mixture is at a relatively high temperature, it is desirable that the Curie temperature of the core portion of the electromagnet be above 300 degrees C.
  • the coloring agents in the individual chambers are mixed with a carrier gas and thereafter the mixture is ejected toward the desired location on the recording medium.
  • the configuration of each of the chambers assures that there is an intimate mixture of the coloring agent and gas to form a generally uniform mixture prior to it being ejected.
  • the carrier gas is provided under pressure. This results in the mixture also being pressurized.
  • the carrier gas is indirectly heated to assure that it will maintain the coloring agent in vaporous form between the time the individual mixtures are jetted from the nozzles and they strike the recording medium.
  • the coloring agent is a sublimable dye
  • sufficient thermal energy is provided to each solid dye both to form and maintain its vaporous state and also to heat the carrier gas with which each is mixed.
  • the carrier gas should be heated to a temperature at or above the temperature at which the sublimable dye will maintain its vaporous phase during travel to the recording medium. Ejection of the mixture toward the recording medium is controlled to occur only when it is desired, by the gating devices.
  • Figs. 7 and 8 are timing charts which indicate how with vibration of the gates of one of the respective nozzle gating devices, the amount of mixture ejected from a nozzle can be controlled.
  • Periodic time demarcations or intervals are represented in such figures by uniformly separated lines, the distance between any two of which is the same, as is represented by To.
  • the vibration rate provided by a gating device of a nozzle is represented in the figures by pulses 40.
  • Each of these pulses represents an "open" state of a gate and the frequency and amplitude of all of such pulses are the same, with the result that each represents a predetermined amount of carrier gas - coloring agent mixture which is allowed to eject.
  • the directions of the nozzles may be set so that the carrier gas - coloring agent mixture of a plural number of them will be converged to the same spot on the recording medium.
  • the vaporous dye can be made to impinge at different locations on the recording medium. It will be appreciated that sequential passing of a recording head by the same spots on the recording medium can be used to mix different colors at a single spot to form a desired color.
  • Fig. 9 illustrates a simple modification which can be made to the embodiment which is described above, to facilitate such separate heat control.
  • the individual dye chambers 12A-15A are separated from one another by thermally insulating walls 41 - 43.
  • the single heater 22 of the earlier embodiment is replaced by individual heaters 46 - 49 associated with the individual chambers and controllable separately. It thus will be seen that different amounts of thermal energy can be transmitted to the separate chambers.
  • Sublimation of the dyes can be enhanced by including high thermal conductivity material in the chambers with the solid form of the same.
  • the sublimable dye is preferably provided in powder form, and Fig. 10 illustrates metal (steel) shot 51 combined with the same. It is important that the high thermal conductivity material mixed with the solid sublimable dye be stable or inert with respect to such dye at the temperatures and pressures of operation.
  • the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 10 also includes a schematic illustration of a power source 52 and an adjusting mechanism 53 for controlling the pressure of gas to be injected into the illustrated dye chamber. It will be appreciated that adjustment of such pressure will change the mixture pressure and, thus, the color density or proportion obtainable in the ultimate image.
  • Such figure also illustrates a power source 54 and an adjustment mechanism 56 for the heater 22. This representation is included to bring out the fact that the mixture pressure and hence the density of the image also can be adjusted by changing the amount of thermal energy applied to the sublimable dye. A charge in the thermal energy changes the pressure of the dye in the vaporous state, the ultimate mixture pressure, and hence, the density of the image.
  • the sublimable dye is provided within a stand-alone cartridge 61 which is removably securable to the remainder of the apparatus. That is, the remainder of the apparatus include a leafspring 62 which resiliently urges the cartridge 61 into a pocket of the apparatus sized to fit the same.
  • Such apparatus includes means for ejecting a carrier gas - vaporous coloring agent toward a recording medium.
  • the apparatus is provided with a tubular needle 64 that communicates with its nozzle and is designed to register with and penetrate through an appropriate seal in the cartridge to provide a passage to the nozzle for the gas mixture.
  • the cartridge itself includes a tubular connection 66 extending from a gas inlet through the volume of the cartridge that may contain the sublimable dye in solid form to that portion of the cartridge designed for the vaporous phase of the dye.
  • the apparatus is provided with a second tube 67 which is designed to penetrate an appropriate seal into the cartridge for communication with the tubular connection 66. Means are thus provided for conveying gas under pressure from a source 68 in the remainder of the apparatus to the sublimable dye in the cartridge when the dye is in its vaporous state.
  • a plurality of standalone cartridges can be provided designed to cooperate with the remainder of the apparatus to apply desired dye to a recording medium 31.
  • Such cartridges can have differing coloring agents.
  • the apparatus can be said to include the nozzle, the cartridge, and means (the heater, gas source nozzle, passage way etc.) for condition- into the coloring agent for impingement at a desired location on the recording medium.
  • coloring agent is described in the preferred embodiment as being a sublimable dye, it will be recognized that other types of coloring agents may also be used appropriately with the invention. Such coloring agent may itself not provide a desired color. - It may be an acid or other material which will react with the recording medium to provide a selected color.

Landscapes

  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
  • Thermal Transfer Or Thermal Recording In General (AREA)

Claims (5)

1. Verfahren zum Zuführen eines färbenden Wirkstoffs auf ein Aufzeichnungsmedium, bei welchem ein unter Druck stehendes Trägergas sich mit einer Menge des Farbstoffes vermischt und die resultierende Strömung aus farbstoffdampfhaltigem Gas auf das Aufzeichnungsmedium auftrifft, wobei der Farbstoff in einer Kammer erhitzt wird, um ihn in einem oberen Bereich der Kammer in die Dampfphase zu bringen, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß das unter Druck stehende Gas dann in den oberen Bereich der Kammer eingeführt und mit dem verdampften Farbstoff vermischt wird, um ein Gemisch aus unter Druck stehendem Gas und dampfförmigem Farbtoff zu bilden, und daß gesteuerte Mengen des Gas/Farbstoffdampf-Gemischs dann aus der Kammer unter Druck abgestrahlt werden, um dann direkt auf das Aufzeichnungsmedium aufzutreffen.
2. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß dem Farbstoff ausreichend Hitze zugeführt wird, um ihn in der Damfphase zu halten, vor und nachdem er mit dem Trägergas gemischt wird, ohne daß die Notwendigkeit einer Zuführung von Hitze zu dem Trägergas besteht.
3. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß das Trägergas getrennt mit einer Mehrzahl von färbenden Wirkstoffen an getrennten Stellen gemischt wird, um getrennte Mischungen aus Gas und dampfförmigem Farbstoff zu bilden, und jede Mischung getrennt gesteuert wird, um jede der Mischungen auf das Aufzeichnungsmedium zu strahlen.
4. Vorrichtung zur Durchführung des Verfahrens nach Anspruch 1, enthaltend eine Kammer (12-15) zur Aufnahme eines verdampfbaren Farbstoffs in ihrem unteren Bereich, einen Heizer (22) in der Kammer zur Zuführung von Hitze zu dem Farbstoff, um in ihrem oberen Bereich einen verdampften Farbstoff zu bilden, eine Druckgaszuführungseinrichtung (23), die zur Zuführung von unter Druck stehendem Gas mit dem oberen Bereich der Farbstoffkammer verbunden ist, um ein Mischen des unter Druck stehenden Gases mit dem verdampften Farbstoff zu bewirken, und eine gesteuerte Abgabeeinrichtung (37) zum Freigeben gesteuerter Mengen des Gemischs aus Gas und verdampftem Farbstoff, um dieses unter Druck abzustrahlen, um direkt auf das Aufzeichnungsmedium aufzutreffen.
5. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 4, enthaltend mehrere Kammern (12, 13, 14, 15) zur Aufnahme verschiedener verdampfbarer Farbstoffe, und die jeweils mit getrennten, gesteuerten Freigabeeinrichtungen verbunden sind, um gesteuerte Mengen des Gemischs aus Gas und verdampftem Farbstoff freizugeben, um unter Druck abgestrahlt zu werden, damit es auf das Aufzeichnungsmedium auftrifft.
EP19860304531 1985-08-19 1986-06-12 Verfahren und Apparat zur Darstellung von Bildern Expired EP0212792B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US76717785A 1985-08-19 1985-08-19
US767177 1985-08-19

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0212792A1 EP0212792A1 (de) 1987-03-04
EP0212792B1 true EP0212792B1 (de) 1990-08-29

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JP (1) JPS6241090A (de)
DE (1) DE3673726D1 (de)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5619239A (en) * 1993-11-29 1997-04-08 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Replaceable ink tank
JP3102843B2 (ja) * 1995-12-08 2000-10-23 シャープ株式会社 画像記録装置
JP3148620B2 (ja) * 1996-02-26 2001-03-19 シャープ株式会社 画像形成装置

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1444094A (en) * 1973-01-31 1976-07-28 Ici Ltd Colouration process
US4019188A (en) * 1975-05-12 1977-04-19 International Business Machines Corporation Micromist jet printer
US4415910A (en) * 1982-01-25 1983-11-15 Ncr Corporation Ink jet transducer
DE3315767A1 (de) * 1983-04-30 1984-10-31 Brown, Boveri & Cie Ag, 6800 Mannheim Mehrfarbendruckkopf fuer schreibende und druckende registriergeraete

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JPS6241090A (ja) 1987-02-23
EP0212792A1 (de) 1987-03-04
DE3673726D1 (de) 1990-10-04

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