EP0849640A1 - Appareil d'impression pour imprimer à grand format avec un élément porteur d'image latente - Google Patents

Appareil d'impression pour imprimer à grand format avec un élément porteur d'image latente Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP0849640A1
EP0849640A1 EP97203820A EP97203820A EP0849640A1 EP 0849640 A1 EP0849640 A1 EP 0849640A1 EP 97203820 A EP97203820 A EP 97203820A EP 97203820 A EP97203820 A EP 97203820A EP 0849640 A1 EP0849640 A1 EP 0849640A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
width
printing
latent image
bearing member
printer
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Withdrawn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
EP97203820A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Hilbrand Van Den Wijngaert
Jacques Leonard
Guido Desie
Serge Tavernier
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.)
Xeikon NV
Original Assignee
Agfa Gevaert NV
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 Agfa Gevaert NV filed Critical Agfa Gevaert NV
Priority to EP97203820A priority Critical patent/EP0849640A1/fr
Publication of EP0849640A1 publication Critical patent/EP0849640A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
    • G03G15/00—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern
    • G03G15/06—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern for developing
    • G03G15/08—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern for developing using a solid developer, e.g. powder developer
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
    • G03G15/00—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern
    • G03G15/22—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern involving the combination of more than one step according to groups G03G13/02 - G03G13/20
    • G03G15/32—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern involving the combination of more than one step according to groups G03G13/02 - G03G13/20 in which the charge pattern is formed dotwise, e.g. by a thermal head
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
    • G03G15/00—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern
    • G03G15/65—Apparatus which relate to the handling of copy material
    • G03G15/6588—Apparatus which relate to the handling of copy material characterised by the copy material, e.g. postcards, large copies, multi-layered materials, coloured sheet material
    • G03G15/6594—Apparatus which relate to the handling of copy material characterised by the copy material, e.g. postcards, large copies, multi-layered materials, coloured sheet material characterised by the format or the thickness, e.g. endless forms
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
    • G03G2215/00—Apparatus for electrophotographic processes
    • G03G2215/00362—Apparatus for electrophotographic processes relating to the copy medium handling
    • G03G2215/00443—Copy medium
    • G03G2215/00451—Paper
    • G03G2215/00464—Non-standard format
    • G03G2215/00468—Large sized, e.g. technical plans

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a printing apparatus for large format printing. It relates especially to a large format printer comprising electrophotographic printing devices.
  • a well known digital addressable printing technique that is useful for large format printing is ink-jet printing, both with water based inks and with solvent based inks.
  • An example of an ink-jet printer for large format printing can be found in, e.g., US 5,488,397, wherein a printer is disclosed having two or more parallel ink-cartridges shuttling over the width of the substrate to be printed while the substrate moves in a direction basically perpendicular to the direction of movement of the shuttling ink-cartridges.
  • a commercial ink-jet printer INDANIT 162Ad (trade name) available from Indanit Technologies, Israel, uses multiple ink-jet printheads mounted in a staggered position over the width of the substrate to be printed.
  • the printing substrate has to pass several times under the array of staggered ink-jet printheads while between each pass the printheads are slightly moved in a direction parallel to the width of the substrate. This multi-pass printing enhances the resolution that can be printed, while in the printhead itself the nozzle can be positioned fairly far apart.
  • ink-jet printing provides the possibility for printing large formats in a short time, the possible printing resolution is not always up to the demands, the stability of the image in, e.g., billboards where the image has to be weatherproof leaves still room for improvement.
  • toner particles In toner particles the pigments are imbedded in a resin and thus are the pigments in the image quite well protected from the influences of the environment.
  • the objects of the invention are realized by providing a printer, with printing width (PW), for printing a toner image on a substrate, having a width (WS) and a length (LS), comprising,
  • said latent image bearing member is a photoconductive member.
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printer according to the first specific embodiment of this invention.
  • Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a printer according to the second specific embodiment of the invention, shown as a projection in the plane of the substrate to be printed.
  • staggered configuration with respect the latent image bearing member means that the toner delivery means or the toner applicator modules with a width (WTD) smaller than the printing width (PW) are spread over the width of the latent image bearing member (WLI) so that an image can be printed over the total printing width and that not all the toner delivery means or toner applicator modules are located on a single line.
  • the wording toner delivery means " is used to indicate this part of the printing engine carrying toner particles on a surface, from which the toner particles develop the latent image on the latent image bearing member. E.g. the when a magnetic brush is used to bring toner particles on the latent image, this magnetic brush is the toner delivery means " .
  • the wording substrate " or image receiving element” can in this document mean a final image receiving element whereon the toner image is printed, as well as an intermediate image receiving member " used to accept a toner image and to transfer that image to a final image receiving member.
  • the width of the image receiving substrate (WS) is the dimension of that substrate that is essentially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the substrate in the printer.
  • the length of the image receiving substrate (WL) is the dimension of that substrate that is essentially parallel to the direction of movement of the substrate in the printer.
  • a large format printer (large means in this document a surface of at least 0.25 m 2 and an image width of at least 30 cm), could be produced by using in an electrophotographical printing engine at least two toner delivery means having a width (WTD), which were staggered with respect to a latent image bearing member having a width (WLI) equal to or larger than the printing width.
  • WTD width
  • WLI width
  • the latent image bearing member can be a magnetic latent image bearing member and then the toner delivery means comprise magnetic toner particles, or said latent image bearing member can be an electrostatic latent image bearing member and then the toner delivery means comprise electrically charged toner particles.
  • the latent image bearing member is a photoconductive member that is uniformly charged and whereon a latent image is formed by image-wise exposure to light and the toner particles are tribo-electrically charged particles.
  • a printer according to the present invention wherein at least two toner applicator modules or at least two toner delivery means are present in a staggered position with respect to a latent image bearing member, can be constructed in such a way that any printing width, from 10 cm up to more than, e.g., 5 meter, can be realised. It is however preferred that the printing width (PW) of a printer according to the present invention is at least 40 cm, more preferably at least 60 cm and, for printing on very large formats, even more preferably 120 cm.
  • a photoconductive member having a width (WLI) larger than 40 cm or larger than 60 cm and evenly chargeable could be manufactured, whereas it proved more difficult, although not impossible, to produce toner delivery means with such a large width wherein all toner particles could be charged to largely the same level. Therefore in a printer according to the present invention, a wide photoconductive member (WLI lager than 40 cm, preferably larger than 60 cm) and toner delivery means of smaller width associated in a staggered configuration with the photoconductive member are used. It proved possible to provide photoconductive members having a width of 120 cm, which is a preferred specific embodiment of this invention for producing a fast printer for very large formats.
  • FIG 1 a perspective view of a printer according to this invention is shown.
  • a photoconductive latent image bearing member (100), having a width WLI is located under a substrate (101), to be printed, said substrate having a width WS and a length LS.
  • the substrate is for sake of clarity shown as transparent.
  • Around said photoconductive member (100) toner delivery means (102a, b and c), each having a width (WTDa, b and c) are positioned in a staggered configuration covering printing width PW.
  • Around the photoconductive member also other components of the printer, necessary for the operation of the printer can be located, these are not shown in figure 1.
  • the other components can be e.g. charging means to uniformly charge the photoconductor, exposure means, for image-wise exposing the charged photoconductor and cleaning means.
  • the photoconductive member can comprise an organic photoconductor (OPC) or an inorganic photoconductor, e.g. silicon.
  • OPC organic photoconductor
  • the photoconductive member is in figure 1 shown as a drum, but it is possible to build a printer according to this invention using a photoconductive member in the form of a belt.
  • the toner delivery means can comprise magnetic brushes or applicators for non-magnetic mono-component developer.
  • the toner delivery means are magnetic brushes, both a magnetic brush with stationary core and rotating sleeve and a magnetic brush with a rotating core and stationary or rotating sleeve can be used.
  • the toner delivery means in a printer according to this invention, are magnetic brushes, it is preferred, however, to use magnetic brushes with stationary core and rotating sleeve.
  • the first specific embodiment of the invention also comprises a printer configuration wherein a single intermediate image receiving member with a width equal to or larger than the printing width of the printer is present and at least two latent image bearing members, each associated with a toner delivery means and having a smaller width than the width of the intermediate member are staggered around said intermediate member.
  • the present invention encompasses also a printer, with printing width (PW), for printing a toner image on a substrate, having a width (WS) and a length (LS),comprising,
  • the toner particles used in a printer, according to this invention, wherein magnetic brushes are used as toner delivery means can be both magnetic toner particles, forming a magnetic mono-component developer and non-magnetic toner particles, forming with magnetic carrier particles and, optionally, further ingredients a multi-component developer.
  • the toner particles used are non-magnetic toner particles.
  • the colouring pigment is combined with a, in most cases, coloured magnetic pigment, this magnetic pigment can deteriorate the hue of the colour pigments and can thus give raise to difficulties in achieving true colour rendition.
  • any carrier particle known in the art can be used.
  • the non-magnetic toner particles comprise a toner resin and a pigment or dye and can be of any type known in the art.
  • the exposure means to expose a photoconductive member in a printer according to this invention, can be any means known in the art.
  • the exposure can be an analog one, simply projecting the image of an original on the photoconductive member or a digital one. It is preferred to use digitally addressable exposure means, e.g. a laser or an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs).
  • a laser is used to expose the photoconductive member in a printer according to this invention, the use of a diode laser or semiconductor laser is preferred.
  • a printer according to the present invention can further comprise any component necessary for the adequate functioning, it can e.g. comprises transfer means (transfer corona) to aid the transfer of the toner particles from the photoconductive member to the substrate to be printed.
  • transfer means transfer corona
  • a printer according to the present invention can be arranged for printing on substrates in web form as well as for printing on sheets and even on rigid bodies.
  • a combination of a latent image bearing member having a width (WLI) with staggered toner delivery means, as described above, is incorporated in moving shuttle-type printer so that a large format image is written in separate image bands (swaths).
  • the shuttle has preferably a printing width of at least 40 cm, more preferably 120 cm.
  • the latent image bearing member that is preferably a photoconductive member having a width (WLI) of at least 40 cm.
  • the shuttle comprising a printer as described in the first specific embodiment of the invention, is travelling over the image receiving member in a first direction, preferably a direction that is essentially parallel to the width of the substrate to be printed and the latent image bearing member is arranged essentially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the shuttle. After having printed a single band over the width of the image receiving member, the image receiving member is moved in a direction different from said first direction, over a distance equal to the printing width of the shuttle.
  • the second specific embodiment of the invention essentially consist of mounting a printer as described in the first specific embodiment of the invention in a shuttle, wherein the printing width of the printer described in the first specific embodiment is essentially parallel to the length of the substrate to be printed and the shuttle moves essentially parallel with the width of the substrate.
  • shuttling printers known in the art while by the second specific embodiment of the invention broader bands can be printed. This means that even with a fairly low shuttling speed of the printer a large format print can be made in a short time.
  • Such a shuttling printer according to the second specific embodiment of this invention can very beneficially be used for printing images of very large dimension (e.g. > 5 meter width) with a very high printing speed (e.g. > 500 m 2 /hour).
  • This second specific embodiment of the invention encompasses thus a printer, for printing a toner image on a substrate, having a width (WS) and a length (LS), comprising
  • a shuttle according to the present invention can, e.g., comprise a photoconductive member with a width of 120 cm and 4 toner delivery means, each having a width of 30 cm, that are staggered around the photoconductive member and arranged so that the four toner delivery means deliver toner over the whole width of the photoconductive member.
  • Such a printer makes it possible, when the shuttling proceeds with the longest dimension of the shuttling printers (i.e. 120 cm width) essentially perpendicular to the width of the large substrate, to print in one shuttle movement a band that is 120 cm wide. It is clear that such a shuttle can be constructed with wider or smaller latent image bearing members, with more or less toner delivery means, with smaller or larger toner delivery means, etc., without going beyond the scope of the second specific embodiment of this invention.
  • a shuttle comprising a wide intermediate member, whereon smaller electrophotographic units image wise deposit toner particles, as described above is within the scope of the second specific embodiment of the invention.
  • Such a printer comprises
  • FIG 2 a schematic view of a printer with shuttling printing engines is shown as a projection of the shuttle in the plane of the substrate (101) to be printed.
  • the shuttle (103) comprises a photoconductive drum (100) having a width (WLI), around which 3 toner delivery (102a, b and c) means, having a width (WTDa, b and c) are located in a staggered position so as to deliver toner particles over the width of the photoconductive member.
  • the swath width of the shuttle corresponds in fact to the width over which the toner delivery means apply toner to the photoconductive member.
  • the shuttle moves over the width (WS) of the substrate to be printed in the direction of arrow B, and after having printed a single band over the width of the image receiving member, the image receiving member is moved in a the direction of arrow A over a length corresponding to the working width (i.e. the width of the band (swath) that can be printed) of the shuttle (103).
  • the shuttle returns in a direction opposite to arrow B and prints the next swath.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electrophotography Using Other Than Carlson'S Method (AREA)
EP97203820A 1996-12-19 1997-12-05 Appareil d'impression pour imprimer à grand format avec un élément porteur d'image latente Withdrawn EP0849640A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP97203820A EP0849640A1 (fr) 1996-12-19 1997-12-05 Appareil d'impression pour imprimer à grand format avec un élément porteur d'image latente

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP96203634 1996-12-19
EP96203634 1996-12-19
EP97203820A EP0849640A1 (fr) 1996-12-19 1997-12-05 Appareil d'impression pour imprimer à grand format avec un élément porteur d'image latente

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0849640A1 true EP0849640A1 (fr) 1998-06-24

Family

ID=26143455

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP97203820A Withdrawn EP0849640A1 (fr) 1996-12-19 1997-12-05 Appareil d'impression pour imprimer à grand format avec un élément porteur d'image latente

Country Status (1)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0849640A1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1394631A3 (fr) * 2002-08-27 2011-05-11 Oki Data Corporation Appareil de formation d'image

Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3130951A1 (de) * 1981-08-05 1983-02-24 Standard Elektrik Lorenz Ag, 7000 Stuttgart Elektrostatischer drucker
JPS62164083A (ja) * 1986-01-16 1987-07-20 Canon Inc 画像表示装置
US4946297A (en) * 1987-07-22 1990-08-07 Silver Seiko Ltd. Printing apparatus
US4996556A (en) * 1989-08-03 1991-02-26 Xerox Corporation Large document copying system
JPH0511425A (ja) * 1991-07-08 1993-01-22 Brother Ind Ltd 画像形成装置
US5198841A (en) * 1989-12-08 1993-03-30 Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha Electric printer
EP0619188A2 (fr) * 1993-04-08 1994-10-12 Eastman Kodak Company Imprimante thermique pour l'impression ligne par ligne
US5488397A (en) * 1991-10-31 1996-01-30 Hewlett-Packard Company Wide-swath printer/plotter using multiple printheads
US5552862A (en) * 1994-08-18 1996-09-03 Fujitsu Limited Serial-type electrophotographic device and a method for adjusting printing based upon a detected humidity used therein
US5555078A (en) * 1994-05-18 1996-09-10 Fujitsu Limited Serial printer
DE19540138C1 (de) * 1995-10-27 1996-12-05 Siemens Nixdorf Inf Syst Entwicklerstation mit mehreren nebeneinander angeordneten Entwicklerkammern

Patent Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3130951A1 (de) * 1981-08-05 1983-02-24 Standard Elektrik Lorenz Ag, 7000 Stuttgart Elektrostatischer drucker
JPS62164083A (ja) * 1986-01-16 1987-07-20 Canon Inc 画像表示装置
US4946297A (en) * 1987-07-22 1990-08-07 Silver Seiko Ltd. Printing apparatus
US4996556A (en) * 1989-08-03 1991-02-26 Xerox Corporation Large document copying system
US5198841A (en) * 1989-12-08 1993-03-30 Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha Electric printer
JPH0511425A (ja) * 1991-07-08 1993-01-22 Brother Ind Ltd 画像形成装置
US5488397A (en) * 1991-10-31 1996-01-30 Hewlett-Packard Company Wide-swath printer/plotter using multiple printheads
EP0619188A2 (fr) * 1993-04-08 1994-10-12 Eastman Kodak Company Imprimante thermique pour l'impression ligne par ligne
US5555078A (en) * 1994-05-18 1996-09-10 Fujitsu Limited Serial printer
US5552862A (en) * 1994-08-18 1996-09-03 Fujitsu Limited Serial-type electrophotographic device and a method for adjusting printing based upon a detected humidity used therein
DE19540138C1 (de) * 1995-10-27 1996-12-05 Siemens Nixdorf Inf Syst Entwicklerstation mit mehreren nebeneinander angeordneten Entwicklerkammern

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 012, no. 002 (P - 652) 7 January 1988 (1988-01-07) *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 017, no. 273 (P - 1545) 26 May 1993 (1993-05-26) *

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1394631A3 (fr) * 2002-08-27 2011-05-11 Oki Data Corporation Appareil de formation d'image

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP0849087B1 (fr) Imprimante à passage unique pour l'impression à grand format
US4943816A (en) High quality thermal jet printer configuration suitable for producing color images
US7426361B2 (en) Developer mixing apparatus having four ribbon blenders
Duke et al. The surface science of xerography
CN102744981A (zh) 图像形成装置及图像形成方法
US7466940B2 (en) Modular marking architecture for wide media printing platform
JPH04505222A (ja) カラー作像装置
EP1070992A3 (fr) Imprimante électrophotographique par ligne couleur
US6074112A (en) Printer for large format printing
US5956065A (en) Printer for large format printing
JPS59192586A (ja) 電子写真式記録装置
EP0849640A1 (fr) Appareil d'impression pour imprimer à grand format avec un élément porteur d'image latente
US4952951A (en) Electrophotographic recording apparatus
US5826145A (en) Electrographic printing apparatus with a liquid developement system
US7396171B2 (en) Thor expandable ring printer for wide print media
US6246424B1 (en) Device for large format printing comprising a single central conditioning unit for controlling and monitoring the condition of the developer
EP0984336B1 (fr) Appareil d'impression pour imprimer à grand format avec une seule unité centrale de contrôle et de surveillance de toner
JPH10186818A (ja) 潜像支持部材を有する大型形式の印刷用の印刷機
JPS60103378A (ja) 静電写真装置
US8543030B2 (en) Electrophotographic printer with dust seal
EP1003083B1 (fr) Appareil d'impression pour imprimer à grand format, comportant une unité centrale de conditionnement pour commander et surveiller la condition du révélateur
US6102523A (en) Printer for large format printing using a direct electrostatic printing (DEP) engine
JP2001255710A (ja) 画像形成装置
Romano Digital Printing Pocket Primer
US20030036009A1 (en) Method for producing developed electrostatic images using multiple toner fountains

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): BE DE FR GB

AX Request for extension of the european patent

Free format text: AL;LT;LV;MK;RO;SI

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 19981228

AKX Designation fees paid

Free format text: BE DE FR GB

RBV Designated contracting states (corrected)

Designated state(s): BE DE FR GB

RAP1 Party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred)

Owner name: XEIKON NV

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 20020128

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 20030109