EP0730963A2 - Procédé d'enregistrement d'image et appareil utilisant ce procédé - Google Patents

Procédé d'enregistrement d'image et appareil utilisant ce procédé Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0730963A2
EP0730963A2 EP96103588A EP96103588A EP0730963A2 EP 0730963 A2 EP0730963 A2 EP 0730963A2 EP 96103588 A EP96103588 A EP 96103588A EP 96103588 A EP96103588 A EP 96103588A EP 0730963 A2 EP0730963 A2 EP 0730963A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
ink
recording medium
ipg
image
vaporized
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.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP96103588A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0730963A3 (fr
Inventor
Kaoru Higuchi
Hiroshi Ishii
Masayoshi Tsunezawa
Masaaki Ozaki
Masaya Nagata
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.)
Sharp Corp
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Sharp Corp
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Sharp Corp filed Critical Sharp Corp
Publication of EP0730963A2 publication Critical patent/EP0730963A2/fr
Publication of EP0730963A3 publication Critical patent/EP0730963A3/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • 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
    • B41J2/06—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by electric or magnetic field
    • 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
    • B41J2/06—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by electric or magnetic field
    • B41J2002/061—Ejection by electric field of ink or of toner particles contained in ink

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to image recording methods and apparatuses including a copying machine, a facsimile, and a printer, and more particularly to an image recording method and an apparatus for recording a predetermined image on a recording medium by using ink.
  • image recording apparatuses of an ejection type image recording apparatuses employing an ink jet method or an electrostatic recording method have been proposed.
  • the ink jet method printing operation is carried out by pressurizing liquid ink contained in a tank by piezoelectric elements or the like in accordance with electric signals corresponding to image data and ejecting the pressurized ink from a nozzle.
  • the electrostatic recording method printing operation is carried out by charging powder or liquid (misty) ink, ejecting it from the nozzle by electrostatic suction force, and opening and closing a shutter provided at a tip of the nozzle in accordance with electric signals corresponding to image data.
  • the ink jet method gives rise to problems that printing operation cannot be achieved because sufficient pressurization in the ink tank is hindered by the air introduced into the tank, and that the nozzle is clogged up with ink and the recording medium is blurred with ink because liquid ink is employed, leading to degradation in image quality.
  • the electrostatic recording method also gives rise to problems that the clogging is generated by the ink particles agglomerated by blocking if the ink used is powder, and that the image quality is degraded by the clogging and blur with ink similarly to the ink jet method.
  • a method of ejecting the vaporized ink to be adhered onto the recording medium is proposed. According to this method, the clogging of the nozzle is less likely to occur because gas is ejected, and higher resolution as well as excellent gradation can be achieved because the pixel is recorded in the molecular state, thereby allowing high quality print with less blur.
  • An image recording apparatus utilizing this method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-2020. In the following, the above-mentioned conventional image recording apparatus will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 8.
  • Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing the structure of the conventional image recording apparatus.
  • the image recording apparatus includes a printing head 101, a heating apparatus 102, a charging electrode 103, electric field lenses 104 and 105, an electric field shutter 106, a back electrode 107, a power source 110 and a signal source 111.
  • Heating apparatus 102 includes a power source 108, and an electric heater 109.
  • Ink Il in printing head 101 is heated and vaporized by heating apparatus 102 formed by electric heater 109 and power source 108. Gaseous ink Ig thus vaporized is jetted from printing head 101. At the same time, gaseous ink Ig is charged by power source 110 inserted between charging electrode 103 and printing head 101 as it passes through charging electrode 103. Gaseous ink Ig thus charged is converged by electric field lenses 104 and 105. Gaseous ink Ig thus converged is controlled to a predetermined ejection amount by electric field shutter 106 operation of which is controlled by signal source 111 and sprayed toward back electrode 107, whereby an image is formed on a recording medium RM.
  • the vaporized ink Ig is constantly ejected from printing head 101, thereby wasting ink which is not actually used for recording, leading to an increase in running cost.
  • an apparatus for collecting the unused gaseous ink and an apparatus (not shown) for cleaning electric field shutter 106 and the surrounding elements are required, preventing reduction in size of the entire apparatus.
  • Gaseous ink Ig is moved from printing head 101 to charging electrode 103 by increased pressure in printing head 101 due to volume expansion by vaporization of ink Il to cause gaseous ink Ig to jet out. Therefore, response in ejecting operation of gaseous ink Ig is poor and such operation is affected by the amount of ink Il in printing head 101, leading to an undesirable deterioration in quality of printing such as unequal density.
  • an object of the present invention is to provide an image recording method and apparatus which allows effective use of ink and reduction in running cost.
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus which allows improvement in adherence of ink and printing with high resolution and excellent gradation of density.
  • Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus allowing improvement in fixing properties of ink method to enhance preservability.
  • the image method recording according to the present invention relates to an image recording method for recording a predetermined image on a recording medium with ink which includes the steps of intermittently ejecting vaporized ink in accordance with image data corresponding to an image, causing vaporized ink to adhere or permeate onto the recording medium, and recording the image on the recording medium.
  • the step of intermittently ejecting vaporized ink includes the steps of charging ink, vaporizing the charged ink by heat, and ejecting the vaporized ink with use of a back electrode disposed at a rear surface of the recording medium.
  • the vaporized ink is intermittently ejected in accordance with the image data corresponding to the image to adhere or permeate onto the recording medium so that the image is recorded on the recording medium, only the ink necessary for printing can be intermittently ejected without using unnecessary ink, whereby an image recording method allowing efficient use of the ink and reducing running cost can be provided.
  • the heated ink is intermittently ejected in accordance with the image data corresponding to the image, only the ink necessary for printing can be ejected, thereby providing an image recording apparatus which can achieve efficient use of the ink and reduction in running cost.
  • Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a structure of an image recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the image recording apparatus shown in Fig. 1.
  • Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a structure of an image recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the image recording apparatus shown in Fig. 3.
  • Figs. 5 to 7 are block diagrams showing structures of image recording apparatuses according to third through fifth embodiments of the present invention, respectively.
  • Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing a structure of a conventional image recording apparatus.
  • the image recording apparatus includes a printing head 1, a heating apparatus 2 including an electric heater 7, a charging electrode 3, an electric field shutter 4, a back electrode 5, and a control unit 6.
  • Powder ink Ip is stored in printing head 1.
  • heating apparatus 2 is provided for heating ink Ip.
  • a thin wire electrode of 50-80 ⁇ m is provided as charging electrode 3 for charging the heated and vaporized ink Ipg.
  • An ejection hole for ejecting vaporized ink Ipg is provided at the upper portion of printing head 1, and electric field shutter 4 controlling an amount of vaporized ink Ipg to be ejected is provided to surround the ejection hole.
  • Electric field shutter 4 is formed by two electrode plates to sandwich the wall at the upper portion of printing head 1. Operation of electric field shutter 4 is controlled by control unit 6.
  • a recording medium RM is disposed over electric field shutter 4, and back electrode 5 is provided over recording medium RM.
  • Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the image recording apparatus shown in Fig. 1.
  • a plurality of ejection holes are provided, each corresponding to one pixel and provided with electric field shutter 4.
  • record density is 150 dpi
  • the distance between ejection holes is 169 ⁇ m and the hole has a diameter of 55 ⁇ m.
  • ink Ip is heated and vaporized by heating apparatus 2.
  • coloring material for the ink anthraisothiazole family, quinophtalon family, pyrazolonazo family, pyridonazo family, styryl family or the like can be used for yellow; anthraquinone family, dicyanoimidazole family, thiadiazoleazo family, tricyanovinyl family or the like can be used for magenta; azo family, anthraquinone family, naphthoquinone family, indoaniline family or the like can be used for cyan. The same applies to the embodiments described later.
  • Ink Ip is vaporized to gaseous ink Ipg and a voltage of +2 - 5 kV is applied to charging electrode 3, whereby corona discharge occurs toward heating apparatus 2 connected to the ground.
  • gaseous ink Ipg is charged to + ions.
  • a voltage of -0.5 to -2 kV is applied to back electrode 5 disposed at the rear surface with respect to the printing surface of printing medium RM, thereby attracting gaseous ink Ipg thus charged toward recording medium RM.
  • a voltage of 50 V - 1 kV is applied to the electrode on the side of recording medium RM and the electrode inside printing head 1 in accordance with an output signal of control unit 6 corresponding to the electric signal of image data to be recorded.
  • gaseous ink Ipg is controlled to pass or to be prevented from passing through electric field shutter 4.
  • Gaseous ink Ipg which has passed through electric field shutter 4 is attracted by back electrode 5 and adhered to recording medium RM to be printed.
  • the voltage applied to electric field shutter 4 is set so that the potential difference between electric field shutter 4 and back electrode 5 is large, taking into consideration the amount of increase in pressure in printing head 1 due to volume expansion caused by vaporization of ink Ip besides the Coulomb force of gaseous ink Ipg.
  • ink Ip is vaporized to be gaseous ink Ipg, intermittently ejected from electric field shutter 4 in accordance with the electric signal corresponding to the image data to be recorded, and adhered or permeated to recording medium RM, so that the desired image can be formed. Therefore, ejection operation of gaseous ink Ipg is controlled in printing head 1 in accordance with the image data, without ejecting ink Ipg more than necessary, thereby allowing efficient printing and reduction in running cost.
  • heating apparatus 2, charging electrode 3, and electric field shutter 4 are integrally formed with printing head 1, ink Ipg blocked at electric field shutter 4 does not adhere to the inside of shutter 4. As a result, generation of the clogging is diminished, eliminating the need for an apparatus for collecting the adhered ink Ipg or a cleaning apparatus. Furthermore, printing response can be improved by attracting only the charged gaseous ink Ipg.
  • liquid ink can also be employed, which excels in transportability and requires less amount of energy for evaporation. Since gaseous ink Ipg is charged, even the ink formed of insulating material can be charged, less susceptible to the environmental influences.
  • gaseous ink Ipg is charged to be positive in the embodiment above, the ink can be charged to be negative by applying a negative voltage to charging electrode 3.
  • countermeasures should be taken to prevent generation of toxic substances since it causes more toxic substances including ozone to generate than positive charging.
  • electric field shutter 4 is employed for controlling the ejection amount of gaseous ink Ipg in the present embodiment
  • an electromagnetic shutter or a shutter physically opened and closed by piezoelectric elements and the like can also be employed. The same applies to the embodiments described in the following.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a structure of the image recording apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
  • the image recording apparatus includes a printing head 1a, heating apparatus 2 including electric heater 7, a charging electrode 3a, an electric field shutter 4a, back electrode 5, and control unit 6a.
  • Liquid ink Il is stored in printing head 1a.
  • heating apparatus 2 is provided formed of a radiation plate and electric heater 7 for heating up ink Il as described above.
  • two electrodes for introduction of electric charges are provided to sandwich the stored ink Il as charging electrodes 3a for charging ink Il.
  • Electric field shutter 4a is provided at the upper portion of the printing head 1a. Operation of shutter 4a is controlled by control unit 6a.
  • Recording medium RM is disposed over electric field shutter 4a
  • back electrode 5 is disposed over recording medium RM.
  • Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the image recording apparatus shown in Fig. 3.
  • a slit is formed as an ejection hole of gaseous ink Ilg at the upper portion of printing head 1a.
  • Electric field shutters 4a and 4b are provided on both sides of the longer side of the slit.
  • the slit has a length corresponding to the printing width; the width of the slit is set at 200 ⁇ m when the printing density is 150 dpi.
  • One side 4a of the electric field shutter is connected to ground, while the other side 4b is provided with a plurality of electrodes in a comb-like shape spaced apart by the distance of 169 ⁇ m corresponding to the printing density.
  • the potential difference between the two charging electrodes 3a is set at 2-5 kV, thereby introducing electric charges to ink Il and charging the ink to + ions.
  • the charged ink Il is vaporized by heating apparatus 2 to turn into gaseous ink Ilg while maintaining the charged state.
  • Electric charges of -1 kV are applied to back electrode 5 disposed at the rear surface with respect to the printing surface of recording medium RM, thereby attracting gaseous ink Ilg to recording medium RM.
  • shutter 4a usually receives a voltage of 50 V - 1 kV and prevents passage of gaseous ink Ilg and permits passage of gaseous ink Ilg by controlling the potential of electrode 4b corresponding to each pixel in accordance with an output signal of control unit 6 corresponding to the electric signal of the image data to be recorded.
  • Gaseous ink Ilg passed through electric field shutter 4a is attracted by back electrode 5, adhered and printed on recording medium RM.
  • the second embodiment enjoys the effects similar to the first embodiment.
  • Ejection of gaseous ink Ilg is controlled in printing head 1a in accordance with the image data, so that only the required amount of ink is ejected to achieve efficient printing. Since heating apparatus 2, charging electrode 3a, and electric field shutter 4a are integrally formed with printing head 1a, ink prevented from passing through electric field shutter 4 does not adhere to shutter 4a, thereby diminishing generation of the clogging.
  • the apparatuses for cleaning and collecting the ink stuck to the shutter are not needed, whereby allowing reduction in size and weight of the apparatus.
  • charging operation can be performed without generating toxic substances including ozone because solid or liquid ink is charged and then heated and vaporized. Since the ejection hole for ink Ilg is formed as a slit, the clogging is suppressed and the need for providing an ejection hole for each pixel is eliminated, thereby simplifying the structure of printing head 1a.
  • ink Il before heated is liquid in the embodiment above
  • powder ink can also be employed.
  • a friction charging method can be adopted as well as the above-described charging method of introducing electric charges, and leakage from printing head 1a is reduced.
  • the liquid ink is employed, inequality in charging is diminished as compared to powder ink, thereby achieving efficient charging.
  • FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a structure of the image recording apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
  • the image recording apparatus includes a printing head 1b, a first heating apparatus 2a including a first electric heater 7a, a second heating apparatus 2b including a second electric heater 7b, a charging electrode 3a, electric field shutter 4a, back electrode 5, and control unit 6a.
  • Powder ink Ip is stored in printing head 1b.
  • First and second heating apparatuses 2a and 2b are disposed at the lower portion of printing head 1b.
  • First heating apparatus 2a is formed of a radiation plate and electric heater 7a for heating up ink Ip, and second heating apparatus 2b has the similar structure.
  • First heating apparatus 2a heats up ink Ip, so that liquid ink Ipl flows along a slope having a predetermined inclination in printing head 1b to second printing apparatus 2b.
  • Second heating apparatus 2b heats up liquid ink Ipl to turn into gaseous ink Ipg. More specifically, powder ink Ip is heated to 160°C and liquefied by first heating apparatus 2a. Liquid ink Ipl accumulates at the lower portion of printing head 1b and heated to 210°C to vaporize by second heating apparatus 2b provided at the lower portion.
  • Gaseous ink Ipg thus vaporized charges to + ions by applying a voltage of +2 - 5 kV to charging electrode 3a formed of a needle electrode to cause discharge toward second heating apparatus 2b which is connected to ground. Gaseous ink Ipg thus charged is attracted toward recording medium RM by applying a voltage of -0.5 to -2 kV to back electrode 5 disposed at the rear surface with respect to the printing surface of recording medium RM.
  • Electric field shutters 4a and 4b are arranged on both sides along the longer side of the slit serving as an ejection hole and provided at the upper portion of printing head 1b, similarly to the second embodiment described above.
  • the slit has a length corresponding to the printing width, and a width of 200 ⁇ m if the printing density is 150 dpi.
  • One side 4a of the electric field shutter is connected to ground while the other side 4b is provided with the electrodes in a comb-like shape spaced apart by a distance of 169 ⁇ m corresponding to the recording density.
  • a voltage of normally 50 V - 1 kV is applied to shutter 4b to prevent passage of gaseous ink Ipg and permit passage of gaseous ink Ipg by controlling the potential of the electrodes corresponding to respective pixels in response to the output signal of control unit 6a corresponding to the electric signal of the image data to be recorded.
  • the gaseous ink Ipg passed through electric field shutters 4a and 4b is attracted by back electrode 5, and adhered and printed on recording medium RM.
  • ejection of gaseous ink Ipg can be controlled in printing head 1b in accordance with the image data, without ejecting ink more than necessary, thereby achieving efficient printing. Since the ejection hole of ink is formed as a slit, clogging is suppressed and the need for providing an ejection hole for each pixel is eliminated, thereby simplifying the structure of the printing head 1b. Since ink is heated in two stages, the temperature of ink is controlled more easily and ink is not vaporized more than necessary, thereby minimizing volume expansion in the printing head due to vaporization of ink. As a result, the ink does not flow from the ejection hole more than necessary, thereby achieving even more efficient printing.
  • the ejection hole is provided corresponding to each pixel in the first embodiment above, the ejection hole can be formed as a slit as in the second and third embodiments. In addition, the ejection hole can be provided for each pixel in the second and third embodiments.
  • the temperature of recording medium RM is not controlled and printing operation is performed at a temperature close to the room temperature.
  • vaporized ink Ipg may be liquefied or solidified before attaching to recording medium RM to deteriorate adhesion of the ink.
  • the temperature of the vaporized ink may be raised to solve such a problem, too high a temperature destroys physical properties of the ink to affect the quality of printing.
  • load is placed on the printing head, causing problems in terms of durability and efficiency.
  • some ink adheres only onto the surface of the recording medium RM and does not sink into recording medium RM.
  • ink exhibits poor fixing properties and gives effects on the quality of printing, and also causes problems in terms of preservation.
  • sublimation dye sinks into the receptive layer on the recording medium to carry out printing, and therefore the ink adhered to the recording medium in the liquid or solid form is not fixed thereto.
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a structure of an image recording apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
  • the image recording apparatus includes printing head 1, heating apparatus 2 including electric heater 7, charging electrode 3, electric field shutter 4, back electrode 5, control unit 6, a preheating roller 8, and a resilient roller 9.
  • Preheating roller 8 and resilient roller 9 are provided to face each other at the front with respect to the printing direction of the printing head.
  • Preheating roller 8 is an aluminum tube coated with fluoroplastic and has a tungsten halogen lamp inserted in the tube.
  • Resilient roller 9 is formed by a metal mandrel with silicon rubber rolled therearound.
  • Powder ink Ip is provided in printing head 1.
  • heating apparatus 2 for heating up ink Ip is disposed.
  • charging electrode 3 formed of wire electrode of 50-80 ⁇ m is provided as a charging mechanism for charging ink Ipg thus heated and vaporized.
  • An ejection hole for ejecting vaporized ink Ipg is disposed at the upper portion of the printing head 1, and electric field shutter 4 for controlling an ejection amount of vaporized ink Ipg is provided to surround the ejection hole.
  • Shutter 4 is formed by two electrode plates to sandwich the wall of the upper portion of the printing head 1. Operation of shutter 4 is controlled by control unit 6. Over electric field shutter 4 recording medium RM is disposed, over which back electrode 5 is provided.
  • recording medium RM passes through the space between preheating roller 8 and resilient roller 9, brought into contact with these rollers by pressure of 300 gf/cm.
  • Preheating roller 8 heats up recording medium RM to 120-180°C by turning on/off the internal tungsten halogen lamp.
  • heating apparatus 2 heats up ink Ip to 150-200°C to be vaporized.
  • coloring material of ink anthraisothiazole family, quinophtalon family, pyrazolonazo family, pyridonazo family, styryl family or the like can be used for yellow; anthraquinone family, dicyanoimidazole family, thiadiazoleazo family, tricyanovinyl family or the like can be used for magenta; azo family, anthraquinone family, naphthoquinone family and indoaniline family can be used for cyan.
  • Ink Ip is vaporized to turn into gaseous ink Ipg, which is charged to + ions by applying a voltage of +2 - 5 kV to charging electrode 3 to cause corona discharge toward heating apparatus 2 connected to ground.
  • a voltage of -0.5 to -2 kV is applied to back electrode 5 disposed at the rear surface with respect to the printing surface of recording medium RM, thereby attracting charged gaseous ink Ipg to recording medium RM.
  • a voltage of 50 V - 1 kV is applied to the electrode on the side of recording medium RM and the electrode in printing head 1 in accordance with the output signal of control unit 6 corresponding to the electric signal of the image data to be recorded.
  • gaseous ink Ipg is controlled to pass or to be blocked from passing through shutter 4.
  • Gaseous ink Ipg passed through electric field shutter 4 is attracted by back electrode 5 and adhered and printed to the preheated recording medium RM.
  • Preheating roller 8 is desirably disposed near printing head 1 to achieve printing before the heat escapes. However, if preheating roller 8 is so disposed, consideration should be given to the effects imposed by the heat of roller 8 on printing head 1. While fluoroplastic is employed to coat the aluminum tube of preheating roller 8, other materials can be used for coating as long as the material is heat-resistant resin resisting the temperature of 300°C or higher, such as silicon.
  • Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing a structure of the image recording apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.
  • the image recording apparatus includes printing head 1a, heating apparatus 2 including electric heater 7, charging electrode 3a, electric field shutter 4a, back electrode 5, control unit 6, a fixing roller 10, and a resilient roller 11.
  • Fixing roller 10 and resilient roller 11 are disposed to face each other at the back with respect to the printing direction of the printing head.
  • Fixing roller 10 is an aluminum tube coated with fluoroplastic and has a tungsten halogen lamp inserted in the tube.
  • Resilient roller 11 has a metal mandrel with silicon rubber rolled therearound.
  • Liquid ink Il is stored in printing head 1a.
  • heating apparatus 2 is provided which is formed by a radiation plate and electric heater 7 for heating up ink Il as described above.
  • charging electrodes 3a formed by two electrodes for introduction of electric charges are provided to sandwich the stored ink Il as a charging mechanism for charging ink Il.
  • a slit is formed as an ejection hole for ejecting vaporized ink Ilg.
  • Electric field shutter 4a is provided on either side of the longer side of the slit.
  • the slit has a length corresponding to the printing width and has a width of 200 ⁇ m if the printing density is 150 dpi.
  • Electric field shutter 4a has one side connected to ground and the other side provided with a plurality of electrodes 4b in a comb-like shape spaced apart by a distance of 169 ⁇ m corresponding to the recording density, similarly to the structure shown in Fig. 4. Operation of field electric shutter 4a is controlled by control unit 6. Over electric field shutter 4a recording medium RM is disposed, over which back electrode 5 is provided.
  • the difference in potential between charging electrodes 3a is set at 2-5 kV, thereby introducing electric charges to ink Il and charging the ink to + ions.
  • Ink Il thus charged is heated to 150-200°C and vaporized by heating apparatus 2 to turn into gaseous ink Ilg, maintaining the charged state.
  • a voltage of -1 kV is applied to back electrode 5 disposed at the rear surface with respect to the printing surface of the recording medium RM, thereby attracting charged usually gaseous ink Ilg toward recording medium RM.
  • a voltage of usually 50 V - 1kV is applied to electric field shutter 4a to prevent passage of gaseous ink Ilg and to permit passage of gaseous ink Ilg by controlling the potential of electrode 4b corresponding to each pixel in accordance with the output signal of control unit 6 corresponding to the electric signal of the image data to be recorded.
  • Gaseous ink Ilg passed through electric field shutter 4a is attracted by back electrode 5, and adhered and printed to printing medium RM.
  • recording medium RM After printed, recording medium RM passes through the space between fixing roller 10 and resilient roller 11, brought into contact therewith by pressure of 1.5 - 2 kgf/cm. Fixing roller 10 turns on/off the tungsten halogen lamp, thereby heating up recording medium RM to 150-200°C to fix the ink on the recording medium RM.
  • the image recording apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention has a structure similar to that of the fourth embodiment shown in Fig. 6, and therefore the structure thereof will not be described in detail and only the characteristics of the sixth embodiment will be described below with reference to Fig. 6.
  • preheating roller 8 and resilient roller 9 are disposed to face each other, at the front with respect to the printing direction of the printing head, similarly to the fourth embodiment.
  • Preheating roller 8 is an aluminum tube coated with fluoroplastic and has a tungsten halogen lamp inserted into the tube.
  • Resilient roller 9 has a metal mandrel with silicon rubber rolled therearound.
  • recording medium RM Before printing, recording medium RM is brought into contact with preheating roller 8 and resilient roller 9 at a pressure of 1.5 - 2 kgf/cm and passes through the rollers. Preheating roller 8 heats up recording medium RM to 120-180°C by turning on/off the tungsten halogen lamp.
  • ink Ip Upon printing, ink Ip is heated to 150-200°C and vaporized by heating apparatus 2. Ink Ip is vaporized to be gaseous ink Ipg, and gaseous ink Ipg is charged to + ions by applying a voltage of +2 - 5 kV to charging electrode 3 to cause corona discharge toward heating apparatus 2 connected to ground.
  • a voltage of -0.5 to -2 kV is applied to back electrode 5 disposed at the rear surface with respect to the printing surface of recording medium RM, whereby the charged gaseous ink Ipg is attracted toward recording medium RM.
  • a voltage of 50 V-1 kV is applied to the electrode on the side of recording medium RM and the electrode in printing head 1 in accordance with the output signal of control unit 6 corresponding to the electric signal of the image data to be recorded.
  • gaseous ink Ipg is controlled to pass or to be prevented from passing through electric field shutter 4.
  • Gaseous ink Ipg passed through electric field shutter 4 is attracted by back electrode 5 and adhered and printed to the preheated recording medium RM.
  • recording medium RM After first printing operation to recording medium RM is completed, recording medium RM is fed in a reverse direction to the printing direction, and recording medium RM is brought into contact with preheating roller 8 and resilient roller 9 by a pressure of 1.5-2 kgf/cm and passes therethrough. Preheating roller 8 heats recording medium RM to 150-200°C by turning on/off the tungsten halogen lamp, thereby fixing the ink on recording medium RM.
  • preheating roller 8 While the heating temperatures of preheating roller 8 are different for preheating and fixing, they are set at the same temperature if causing no problems in terms of heat resistant properties of recording medium RM and the ink and the like, and such setting contributes to easier temperature control. While the pressure imposed on the sheet by preheating roller 8 and resilient roller 9 is the same for preheating and fixing, the pressure upon preheating can be reduced by additionally providing a pressure adjusting mechanism. In that case, recording medium RM can be fed at an appropriate pressure upon preheating to reduce the burden on the transport system for recording medium RM, though the apparatus is undesirably increased in size and control thereof becomes complicated.
  • fixing roller 10 in the fifth embodiment can be used as a preheating roller for both fixing and preheating as in the sixth embodiment. Then, the recording medium is transported from the fixing roller side in a reverse direction with respect to the printing direction. The recording medium is brought into contact with the fixing roller and the resilient roller and passes through the rollers. By turning on/off the tungsten halogen lamp, the recording medium is heated to 120-180°C. After the sheet is fed, printing is conducted by the printing head while transporting the recording medium in the printing direction and the ink is fixed by the fixing roller as in the fifth embodiment. Since printing is not conducted immediately after preheating, the efficiency is rather low. Particularly, the difference in temperature of the recording medium upon printing may vary at the leading edge and the trailing edge of the medium.
  • preheating roller 8 is used for both preheating and fixing in the sixth embodiment and fixing roller 10 is used for both preheating and fixing in the seventh embodiment
  • respective rollers dedicated to preheating and fixing can be provided as an eighth embodiment. If such rollers are provided, fixing roller 10 and resilient roller 11 are additionally provided at the side opposing to preheating roller 8 in the fourth embodiment shown in Fig. 6, and preheating roller 8 and resilient roller 9 are additionally provided at the side opposing to fixing roller 10 in the fifth embodiment shown in Fig. 7.
  • preheating and fixing can be conducted by using respective dedicated rollers, allowing preheating and fixing under the optimum conditions, so that resolution is improved and printing can be carried out with excellent density and fixing properties, and ink can be fixed more stably to improve preservation properties.

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  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
  • Electronic Switches (AREA)
  • Ink Jet Recording Methods And Recording Media Thereof (AREA)
EP96103588A 1995-03-09 1996-03-07 Procédé d'enregistrement d'image et appareil utilisant ce procédé Withdrawn EP0730963A3 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

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JP4977895 1995-03-09
JP49778/95 1995-03-09
JP232484/95 1995-09-11
JP7232484A JPH08300803A (ja) 1995-03-09 1995-09-11 画像記録方法および装置

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EP0730963A3 EP0730963A3 (fr) 1997-08-13

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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0791457A2 (fr) * 1996-02-26 1997-08-27 SHARP Corporation Appareil de formation d'images comportant une cartouche d'encre prévenant la détérioration de l'élément chauffant par l'encre et cartouche d'encre pour cet appareil
US5835114A (en) * 1995-12-08 1998-11-10 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Image printing apparatus

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP3821567B2 (ja) 1998-02-13 2006-09-13 シャープ株式会社 画像記録装置
EP2432643B1 (fr) 2009-05-18 2014-10-01 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Élément d'impression remplaçable
US8651645B2 (en) 2010-10-29 2014-02-18 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Print cartridge identification system and method

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4333086A (en) * 1979-06-30 1982-06-01 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Ink jet printing apparatus
JPS61106261A (ja) * 1984-10-30 1986-05-24 Fuji Xerox Co Ltd インクジエツトプリンタ
EP0284282A2 (fr) * 1987-03-24 1988-09-28 Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. Imprimante à jet d'encre thermique
US5144340A (en) * 1989-03-10 1992-09-01 Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha Inkjet printer with an electric curtain force
JPH04307253A (ja) * 1991-04-04 1992-10-29 Seiko Epson Corp 画像記録ヘッド
JPH05104724A (ja) * 1991-10-17 1993-04-27 Minolta Camera Co Ltd インクジエツト記録装置
JPH05124222A (ja) * 1991-11-07 1993-05-21 Minolta Camera Co Ltd 画像記録装置

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4333086A (en) * 1979-06-30 1982-06-01 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Ink jet printing apparatus
JPS61106261A (ja) * 1984-10-30 1986-05-24 Fuji Xerox Co Ltd インクジエツトプリンタ
EP0284282A2 (fr) * 1987-03-24 1988-09-28 Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. Imprimante à jet d'encre thermique
US5144340A (en) * 1989-03-10 1992-09-01 Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha Inkjet printer with an electric curtain force
JPH04307253A (ja) * 1991-04-04 1992-10-29 Seiko Epson Corp 画像記録ヘッド
JPH05104724A (ja) * 1991-10-17 1993-04-27 Minolta Camera Co Ltd インクジエツト記録装置
JPH05124222A (ja) * 1991-11-07 1993-05-21 Minolta Camera Co Ltd 画像記録装置

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Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 010, no. 291 (M-522), 3 October 1986 & JP 61 106261 A (FUJI XEROX CO LTD), 24 May 1986, *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 017, no. 126 (M-1381), 17 March 1993 & JP 04 307253 A (SEIKO EPSON CORP), 29 October 1992, *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 017, no. 455 (M-1466), 20 August 1993 & JP 05 104724 A (MINOLTA CAMERA CO LTD), 27 April 1993, *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 017, no. 493 (M-1475), 7 September 1993 & JP 05 124222 A (MINOLTA CAMERA CO LTD), 21 May 1993, *

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5835114A (en) * 1995-12-08 1998-11-10 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Image printing apparatus
EP0791457A2 (fr) * 1996-02-26 1997-08-27 SHARP Corporation Appareil de formation d'images comportant une cartouche d'encre prévenant la détérioration de l'élément chauffant par l'encre et cartouche d'encre pour cet appareil
EP0791457A3 (fr) * 1996-02-26 1998-11-25 SHARP Corporation Appareil de formation d'images comportant une cartouche d'encre prévenant la détérioration de l'élément chauffant par l'encre et cartouche d'encre pour cet appareil

Also Published As

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EP0730963A3 (fr) 1997-08-13

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