EP0855280A2 - Aufzeichnungskopf - Google Patents

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Publication number
EP0855280A2
EP0855280A2 EP98300566A EP98300566A EP0855280A2 EP 0855280 A2 EP0855280 A2 EP 0855280A2 EP 98300566 A EP98300566 A EP 98300566A EP 98300566 A EP98300566 A EP 98300566A EP 0855280 A2 EP0855280 A2 EP 0855280A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
ink
slit
record
photoconductive film
electrode
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Withdrawn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
EP98300566A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0855280A3 (de
Inventor
Kouji Kawaguchi
Tadao Iwaki
Naoki Kawawada
Tatsuru Sato
Satoshi Oohama
Seiji Kuwahara
Hiroshi Okano
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.)
Seiko Instruments Inc
Original Assignee
Seiko Instruments Inc
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 Seiko Instruments Inc filed Critical Seiko Instruments Inc
Publication of EP0855280A2 publication Critical patent/EP0855280A2/de
Publication of EP0855280A3 publication Critical patent/EP0855280A3/de
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current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
    • 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 a record head used in a record device for providing output picture on record paper capable of dealing with a wide variety of needs of industries ranging from the printing industry where high speed output of high quality picture is requested, the printer industry based on business or personal request to the electric appliance industry where general output devices and the like at low price using various kinds and uses of record paper are requested.
  • a record head having an ink jet injection port 101 formed in a slit-like shape, an upper plate 102 and a lower plate 103 for forming the ink injection port 101, a record electrode 104 arranged on the lower plate 103 by a unit of a record pixel, an opposed electrode 105 arranged opposedly to the ink injection port 101, a record medium 110 moving along the opposed electrode 105 and a drive power source 106 for supplying voltage to a selected electrode of the record electrode 104, ink 108 is filled in the ink injection port 101 and a voltage pulse 107 is applied between the record electrode 104 and the opposed electrode 105 by which the ink 108 is injected and flown ink 109 is adhered and permeated onto the record medium 110 whereby desired output print or picture is obtained.
  • the resolution can be prevented from being restricted by the nozzle and further, cleaning of the ink jet port 101 can be facilitated.
  • a plurality of the ink injection ports 101 are used and the inks 108 having different colors are injected into the respective ink injection ports 101 by which color output printing can easily be provided.
  • the ink jet recording system is classified into a continuous type and an on-demand type.
  • the continuous type although the record speed is high, the device is difficult to simplify due to recovery of unnecessary ink or the like whereas according to the on-demand type, although the constitution of the device is simplified, the record speed is difficult to accelerate.
  • a record unit in which highly fine and high quality printing is carried out at high speed and output printing in a noncontact state and where shape of a record medium is not selected can be carried out, and a record device using the record unit, a record unit and a record head used for the record device.
  • a record head having a transparent electrode formed on a substrate, a photoconductive film formed on the transparent electrode, means for supplying ink on the photoconductive film, a slit plate installed with a slit for controlling injection of the ink and an opposed electrode in this order, the slit plate and the opposed electrode being arranged with a gap therebetween sufficient for incorporating a record medium, and at least having a power source for applying a voltage between the transparent electrode and the opposed electrode and light irradiating means for supplying light in correspondence with a desired pixel to the photoconductive film in a form of a pulse.
  • a record head having a transparent electrode formed on a substrate, a photoconductive film formed on the transparent electrode, means for supplying ink on the photoconductive film, a slit plate installed with a slit for controlling injection of the ink and an opposed electrode in this order, the slit plate and the opposed electrode being arranged with a gap therebetween sufficient for incorporating a record medium, and at least having a power source for applying a voltage between the transparent electrode and the opposed electrode and light irradiating means for irradiating light in correspondence with a desired pixel to the photoconductive film, wherein an ink storage groove for temporarily storing the ink is formed on the substrate along a longitudinal direction of the slit and the ink storage groove(s) are disposed in an ink chamber formed between the substrate and the slit plate and disposed at an upper side or a lower side or both sides of the slit in a direction of a plane of the substrate.
  • Fig. 1 is an explanatory view showing the constitution of a record head according to a first example of the present invention.
  • Fig. 2 is an explanatory view showing the constitution of a record head according to a second example of the present invention.
  • Fig. 3 is an explanatory view showing the constitution of a record head according to a third example of the present invention.
  • Fig. 4 is an explanatory view showing the constitution of a record head according to a fourth example of the present invention.
  • Fig. 5 is a disassembled perspective view showing the constitution of a head unit of the record head according to the fourth example of the present invention.
  • Fig. 6 is a disassembled perspective view showing the constitution of the record head according to the fourth example of the present invention and its peripheral mechanism.
  • Fig. 7 is an explanatory view showing the constitution of a record head according to a fifth example of the present invention.
  • Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing the constitution of a recording device using the record head of the present invention.
  • Fig. 9 is an explanatory view showing a first embodiment of a record head of the present invention.
  • Fig. 10 is an explanatory view showing a record head of a conventional slit jet system.
  • Fig. 9 shows a first embodiment of a record head according to the present invention.
  • a head unit 54 of the record head is constituted by a transparent substrate 58, a transparent electrode 2 formed on the transparent substrate 58 and a photoconductive film 4 formed on the transparent electrode 2, further, a slit plate 8 is installed on the photoconductive film 4 via a spacer 55 for forming an ink chamber 56 and a slit 57 for controlling injection of the ink 6 is formed at the slit plate 8. Further, ink supplying means 50 for supplying the ink 6 to the ink chamber 56 on the photoconductive film 4 is constituted at the head unit 54.
  • an opposed electrode 1 is installed around the head unit 54 on the side of the slit plate 8 and the opposed electrode 1 is arranged such that a gap sufficient for incorporating a record medium 10 is formed between the opposed electrode 1 and the slit plate 8.
  • Paper feeding means (not illustrated) for supplying the record medium 10 without being brought into contact with the slit plate 8
  • a power source 3 for applying voltage between the transparent electrode 2 and the opposed electrode 1
  • light irradiating means 5 for supplying light in correspondence with a desired picture pixel to the photoconductive film 4 in a form of a pulse is installed on the rear face side of the transparent substrate 58.
  • the record head described in the first embodiment of the present invention sufficiently resolves the above-described problems. That is, it is easy to promote the resolution since it has no record electrode. Further, the record head has a feature in which there causes no discharge phenomenon between record electrodes since it has no record electrode and it is easy to optimize the ink characteristic and control applied voltage and timing thereof.
  • the frequency of driving the record head described in the first embodiment is significantly dependent on the refilling rate of ink and the record speed is restricted thereby.
  • the capacity of ink in the ink chamber must be enlarged and a mechanism capable of supplying ink sufficiently and at high speed is needed at the slit portion.
  • the expansion of the ink capacity is achieved by increasing, for example, the height of the ink chamber, that is, a distance of the gap between the photoconductive film face on the substrate and the slit plate
  • the injected ink amount is simultaneously increased and further, the amount of consumption of ink is increased and accordingly, as a result, the refilling rate of ink is not accelerated considerably.
  • the resolution is obliged to lower by an increase in the amount of injecting ink and since the amount of injecting ink is increased, energy necessary for injection, that is, a value of voltage applied between the both electrodes must be increased or time of
  • the ink chamber is formed thinly with a wide area in the head, when the head is not used in a long period of time, the ink filled in the ink chamber is liable to evaporate by which a solidified component of ink such as a pigment or the like adheres to the slit portion and the slit portion is clogged, further, the direction of injecting ink is varied thereby, which may cause dimmed portions or nonuniformity of dots and print quality may be deteriorated.
  • the record head is constituted by a line head
  • the amount of consumption of ink per unit time period is increased since the slit width as a injecting portion is significantly wider than a serial head. Therefore, these problems are revealed significantly in the case of a line head.
  • the ink is flown by using electrostatic force by applying high voltage between the electrodes and therefore, when impurities or the like having high conductivity are mixed in the ink, the discharge phenomenon may be caused.
  • a record head having a transparent electrode formed on a substrate, a photoconductive film formed on the transparent electrode, means for supplying ink on the photoconductive film, a slit plate installed with a slit for controlling injection of the ink and an opposed electrode in this order, the slit plate and the opposed electrode being arranged with a gap therebetween sufficient for incorporating a record medium, and at least having a power source for applying a voltage between the transparent electrode and the opposed electrode and light irradiating means for supplying light in correspondence with a desired pixel to the photoconductive film in a form of a pulse wherein an ink storage groove for temporarily storing the ink is formed on the substrate along a longitudinal direction of the slit and the ink storage groove(s) are disposed in an ink chamber formed between the substrate and the slit plate and disposed at an upper side or a lower side or both sides of the slit in a direction of a plane of the
  • the record head having the above-described first constitution operates as follows.
  • the record head of this constitution in the first constitution of the record head, is provided with a member having ink permeable fine pores in the ink storage groove.
  • the record head of the above-described second constitution operates as follows.
  • the ink to be refilled is supplied at high speed to the inside of the ink chamber, that is, the slit portion by a constant amount after passing through the material having fine pores provided in the ink storage groove.
  • the record head of this constitution is provided with ink accelerating means for accelerating further flown ink.
  • the record head of the above-described third constitution operates as follows.
  • the record head described in the first, or the second, or the third constitution is constituted in a line shape in correspondence with the print width of the record medium.
  • the record head of the above-described fourth constitution operates as follows.
  • the state where electricity is conducted between the ink and the transparent electrode is produced at the irradiated region of the photoconductive film, electric charge is charged to inside of the ink on the photoconductive film, the ink is flown toward the side of the opposed electrode by receiving Coulomb's force, the flown ink is moved, permeated and adhered to the record medium on the opposed electrode and therefore, one line region of desired picture pixels are provided on the record medium.
  • the ink to be refilled is supplied swiftly from the ink storage groove to the inside of the ink chamber, that is, the slit portion.
  • a fifth constitution of the record unit of the present invention a plurality of the record heads having one of the first through the fourth constitutions are used and means for supplying inks having different colors to the respective record heads are provided.
  • the record unit having the above-described sixth constitution operates as follows.
  • Fig. 1 is an explanatory view showing the first constitution of a record head according to the present invention.
  • the record head is constituted by the head unit 54, the ink supplying means 50 for supplying a necessary amount of ink to the head unit 54, the light irradiating means 5 arranged on the right side (hereinafter, rear face side) of the head unit 54 for irradiating light to the head unit 54, the opposed electrode 1 arranged on the left side (hereinafter, opposed face side) of the head unit 54 and the power source 3 for applying voltage between the opposed electrode 1 and an electrode in the head unit 54.
  • Numeral 58 designates a transparent substrate and the transparent substrate 58 is formed by a light transmitting material of glass, acrylic resin, plastic or the like for transmitting wavelength of light from the light irradiating means 5 arranged on the rear face side. Further, the transparent electrode 2 and the photoconductive film 4 are successively laminated on a face of the transparent substrate 58 on the opposed face side and the slit plate 8 is formed thereon via the spacer 55.
  • the spacer 55 is disposed in the upward and downward directions and transverse directions from the slit 57 such that the slit 57 in an elongated hole shape formed on the slit plate 8 is not closed and further, ink is not leaked and by constituting in this way, there is formed a space of the ink chamber 56 that is hermetically sealed at other than the opening of the slit 57.
  • the ink storage groove 53 is formed in the ink chamber 56 on the transparent substrate 58 and the depth of the ink storage groove 53 is set to be sufficiently deeper than that of the ink chamber 56. Further, the ink storage groove 53 is formed to dispose on the upper side or the lower side of the slit 57 such that the ink storage groove 53 is not opposed to the position of opening the slit 57 in the slit plate 8.
  • an inorganic conductor of a photoconductive single crystal material of Se group, CdS group, ZnO group, BSO (Bi 12 SiO 20 ) or the like, hydrogenerated amorphous silicon of i type, pi type, pin type or the like, or a lamination type organic photoconductor such as CTL/CGL or the like can be used.
  • the photoconductive film 4 the photoconductivity is important and it is preferable that potential difference of surface potential caused by attenuation of light is large.
  • the dark resistance of the inorganic photoconductor or the organic photoconductor falls in a range of 10 13 through 10 14 ⁇ . cm and the resistance value is lowered to 10 10 through 10 11 ⁇ .
  • the dark resistance falls in a range of 10 9 through 10 11 ⁇ . cm and the resistance value can be lowered to 10 4 through 10 6 ⁇ . cm by irradiating light to the photoconductive film 4 by which large surface potential difference can be ensured.
  • the optimum film thickness is 20 ⁇ m or lower, preferably, about 10 ⁇ m.
  • hydrogenerated amorphous silicon of i type where impurity elements are removed it is preferable to use hydrogenerated amorphous silicon of i type where impurity elements are removed.
  • ITO Indium-Tin-Oxide
  • a conductive high molecular material a metal thin film having a thinness sufficient for passing light (for example, Al thin film having a film thickness of 0.03 ⁇ m or the like), or ZnO, or SnO 2 or compounds of these can be used.
  • a material having excellent conductivity such as aluminum, copper, gold or the like can be used.
  • Numeral 52 designates an ink tank for storing an supplying ink and ink filled in the ink tank 52 is supplied to the ink chamber 56 or the ink storage groove 53 of the record head unit 15 via an ink supply path 51 of a pipe or the like.
  • the ink 6 is supplied firmly to the ink chamber 56 under the slit 57 or the ink storage groove 53 by setting the interface of ink of the ink tank 52 higher than the positions of the ink chamber 56 and the ink storage groove 53.
  • the ink supplying means 50 may be constituted integrally with the head unit 54.
  • a semiconductor laser can be used and laser beam is irradiated by the light irradiating means 5 in an arrow mark 7 direction from the rear face side of the transparent substrate 58 to a position on the photoconductive film 4 in correspondence with a desired picture pixel. Further, the irradiated light reaches the photoconductive film 4 after transmitting through the transparent substrate 58 and the transparent electrode 2. Thereby, the resistance value is lowered only at the irradiated desired picture pixel region on the photoconductive film 4.
  • the photosensitivity can be promoted by promoting the light attenuation rate of the photoconductive film 4 by matching the oscillation wavelength of the laser beam with the absorption coefficient of the photoconductive film 4 in respect of the oscillation wavelength.
  • the intensity of irradiated light, the shape of focus light spot and the like of laser beam irradiated from a laser oscillation device of a semiconductor laser or the like are optimized by an optical lens or the like and the laser beam can be constituted by a laser beam scanning mechanism composed of a polygonal mirror and the like at the light irradiating means 5.
  • laser beam is irradiated from the light irradiating means 5 and therefore, picture can be formed on the photoconductive film 4 at a position in correspondence with a desired picture pixel in a noncontact state and at high speed.
  • a semiconductor laser is used as a light emitting source of the light irradiating means 5, the present invention is not limited thereto but He-Ne laser, a semiconductor laser array, an LED array, a halogen lamp or the like can be used sufficiently as the light emitting source.
  • a light shutter array or a liquid crystal television set may be used in place of the above-described laser scanning optical system.
  • slit light exposure may be performed by an analog optical system such as a copier and light may be irradiated directly to the head unit 54 via an optical system.
  • the opposed electrode 1 comprises a conductive material and is arranged on the side of opposing the head unit 54 via a clearance of about 0.2 through 1 mm from the slit plate face of the head unit 54.
  • the side of the opposed electrode 1 is connected to the positive pole of the power source 3 and the side of the transparent electrode 2 in the head unit 54 is connected to the negative side thereof, respectively, in printing, constant voltage is applied between the both electrodes by the power source 3 and electric field is generated at the clearance between the both electrodes.
  • the shape of the opposed electrode 1 is constituted by a plane, it is preferable to concentrate the electric field by sharpening the opposed electrode face, constituting a shape having a radius of curvature or the like and in this way, energy necessary for injection of ink, that is, applied voltage or applied pulse can be reduced.
  • the photoconductive phenomenon is caused and photocurrent is flown at the light irradiated portion inside of the photoconductive film 4. That is, carriers are formed at the irradiated region of the photoconductive film 4 and transferred by the external electric field, as a result, the impedance is lowered and the photocurrent is flown.
  • the negative pole is connected to the side of the transparent electrode 2 and accordingly, electrons emerge on the ink side at the light irradiated portion, however, this is because the charge characteristic of the ink according to the embodiment-is defined as negative and the charge characteristic is not particularly limited thereto, although it is necessary to correspond to the charge characteristic of the ink.
  • the ink 6 and the transparent electrode 2 are brought into a conductive state and negative charge is charged to inside of the ink 6 having high insulating performance on the photoconductive film 4. Further, the ink is attracted to the record medium 10 on the opposed electrode 1 by receiving Coulomb's force caused by the electric field developed between the transparent electrode 2 and the opposed electrode 1 and the flown ink 12 is injected from the slit 57 to the side of the opposed electrode 1 and is adhered to the record medium.
  • Fig. 2 is an explanatory view showing the second constitution of a record head according to the present invention.
  • the record head is constituted by the head unit 54, the ink supplying means 50 for supplying a necessary amount of ink to the head unit 54, the light irradiating means 5 arranged on the rear face side of the head unit 54 for irradiating light to the head unit 54, the opposed electrode 1 arranged on the opposed face side of the head unit 54 and the power source 3 for applying voltage between the opposed electrode 1 and the electrode in the head unit 54.
  • Numeral 58 designates the transparent substrate and the transparent substrate 58 is formed by a light transmitting material of glass, acrylic resin, plastic or the like for transmitting wavelength of light from the light irradiating means 5 arranged on the rear face side. Further, the transparent electrode 2 and the photoconductive film 4 are successively laminated on the face of the transparent substrate 58 on the opposed face side and the slit plate 8 is formed thereon via the spacer 55.
  • the spacer 55 is arranged on the upper side, the lower side and in the lateral directions of the slit 57 such that the slit 57 having an elongated hole shape formed on the slit plate 8 is not closed and ink is not leaked and by constituting in this way, a hermetically sealed space of the ink chamber 56 is formed at other than the opening of the slit 57.
  • the ink storage groove 53 is formed at inside of the ink chamber 56 on the transparent substrate 58 and the depth of the ink storage groove 53 is set sufficiently deeper than that of the ink chamber 56.
  • the ink storage groove 53 is formed to dispose on the upper side or the lower side of the slit 57 such that the ink storage groove 53 is not opposed to the position of opening the slit 57 in the slit plate 8.
  • a porous material 65 where fine pores are formed is embedded in the ink storage groove 53 and the porous material 65 is formed by a foaming material comprising polyurethane, polyethylene, rubber, silicone rubber or the like.
  • Numeral 52 designates an ink tank for storing and supplying ink and ink filled in the ink tank 52 is supplied to the ink storage groove 53 of the record head unit 54 via the ink supply path 51 of a pipe or the like. Further, the ink 6 in the ink storage groove 53 receives flow resistance by interposing the porous material 65 and the constant amount of ink is supplied to the ink chamber 56. The amount of ink supplied to the ink chamber 56, that is, the portion of the slit 57 can freely be controlled by the size of the pore and a number of pores per unit volume of the porous material 65.
  • the ink 6 is firmly supplied to the ink chamber 56 under the slit 57 or the ink storage groove 53 by setting the interface of ink of the ink tank 52 higher than the positions of the ink chamber and the ink storage groove 53.
  • the ink supplying means 50 may be constituted integrally with the head unit 54.
  • the light irradiating means 5 similar to Example 1, a semiconductor laser can be used and laser beam from the light irradiating means 5 is irradiated in the arrow mark 7 direction from the rear face side of the transparent substrate 58 to the position on the photoconductive film 4 in correspondence with a desired picture pixel. Further, the irradiated light reaches the photoconductive film 4 by transmitting through the transparent substrate 58 and the transparent electrode 2. Thereby, a resistance value of only the irradiated desired picture pixel region is lowered on the photoconductive film 4.
  • the opposed electrode 1 comprises a conductive material and is arranged on the opposed face side of the head unit 54 via a clearance of about 0.2 through 1 mm from the slit plate face of the head unit 54.
  • the side of the opposed electrode 1 is connected to the positive pole of the power source 3 and the side of the transparent electrode 2 in the head unit 54 is connected to the negative pole thereof, respectively, constant voltage is applied between the both electrodes by the power source 3 in printing and electric field is generated at. the clearance between the both electrodes.
  • the photoconductive phenomenon is caused and photocurrent is flown at the light irradiated portion inside of the photoconductive film 4. That is, carriers are formed at the irradiated region of the photoconductive film 4 and transferred by the external electric field, as a result, the impedance is lowered and the photocurrent is flown.
  • the ink 6 and the transparent electrode 2 are brought into a conductive state, and negative charge is charged locally in the ink 6 having high insulating performance on the photoconductive film 4. Further, the ink is attracted to the record medium 10 on the opposed electrode 1 by receiving Coulomb's force by electric field developed between the transparent electrode 2 and the opposed electrode 1 and the flown ink 12 is injected to the side of the opposed electrode 1 from the slit 57 and adhered to the record medium.
  • the ink is supplied always stably to the slit and the. stable recording operation can be performed by firmly restraining the discharge phenomenon which may be caused between the opposed electrode and the transparent electrode under application of voltage by removing impurities in the ink.
  • Fig. 3 is an explanatory view showing the third constitution of a record head according to the present invention.
  • the record head is constituted by the head unit 54, the ink supplying means 50 for supplying a necessary amount of ink to the head unit 54, the light irradiating means 5 arranged on the rear face side of the head unit 54 for irradiating light to the head unit 54, the opposed electrode 1 arranged on the opposed face side of the head unit 54, the power source 3 for applying voltage between the opposed electrode 1 and the electrode in the head unit 54 and accelerating means for accelerating the injected ink in the flying direction.
  • Numeral 58 designates the transparent substrate and the transparent substrate 58 is formed by alight transmitting material of glass, acrylic resin, plastic or the like for transmitting wavelength of light from the light irradiating means 5 arranged on the rear face side. Further, the transparent electrode 2 and the photoconductive film 4 are successively laminated on the face of the transparent substrate 58 on the opposed face side and the slit plate 8 is formed thereon via the spacer 55.
  • the spacer 55 is arranged on the upper side, the lower side and in the lateral directions of the slit 57 such that the slit 57 having an elongated hole shape formed on the slit plate 8 is not closed and ink is not leaked and by constituting in this way, a hermetically sealed space of the ink chamber 56 is formed at other than the opening of the slit 57.
  • the ink storage groove 53 is formed at inside of the ink chamber 56 on the transparent substrate 58 and the depth of the ink storage groove 53 is set sufficiently deeper than that of the ink chamber 56. Further, the ink storage groove 53 is formed to dispose on the upper side or the lower side of the slit 57 such that the ink storage groove 53 is not opposed to the position of opening the slit 57 in the slit plate 8.
  • Numeral 52 designates the ink tank for storing and supplying ink and ink filled in the ink tank 52 is supplied to the ink storage groove 53 or the ink chamber 56 of the record head unit 54 via the ink supply path 51 of a pipe or the like.
  • the ink 6 is supplied firmly to the ink chamber 56 under the slit 57 or the ink storage groove 53 by setting the interface of ink of the ink tank 52 higher than the positions of the ink chamber 56 and the ink storage groove 53.
  • the ink supplying means 50 may be constituted integrally with the head unit 54.
  • the light irradiating means 5 similar to Example 1, a semiconductor laser can be used and laser beam from the light irradiating means 5 is irradiated in the arrow mark 7 direction from the rear face side of the transparent substrate 58 to the position on the photoconductive film 4 in correspondence with a desired picture pixel. Further, the irradiated light reaches the photoconductive film 4 after transmitting through the transparent substrate 58 and the transparent electrode 2. Thereby, the resistance value of only the irradiated desired picture pixel region is lowered on the photoconductive film 4.
  • the opposed electrode 1 comprises a conductive material and is arranged on the opposed face side of the head unit 54 via a clearance of about 0.2 through 1 mm from the slit plate face of the head unit 54.
  • the side of the opposed electrode 1 is connected to the positive pole of the power source 3 and the side of the transparent electrode 2 in the head unit 54 is connected to the negative pole thereof, respectively, constant voltage is applied between the both electrodes by the power source 3 in printing and electric field is generated at the clearance between the both electrodes.
  • the accelerating means 14 is arranged between the slit plate 8 and the opposed electrode 1.
  • the accelerating means 14 is fabricated by a material having excellent conductivity of aluminum, copper, gold or the like and may be of a condenser fabricated by a set of flat plates, or a member having a shape of a closed tube such as a cylinder or the like may be used.
  • the speed of the flown ink 12 is accelerated by the accelerating means 14 of the example and further, the amount of energy supplied to the photoconductive film 4 can be reduced by controlling a voltage value applied for flying the ink 6 and the light energy provided from the light irradiating means 5. Further, according to the accelerating means 14, voltage is applied to the accelerating means 14 from the electrode of the power source 3 on the side of the opposed electrode 1 via a resistor in this example.
  • application of potential to the accelerating means 14 is not limited thereto but, for example, the potential difference between the transparent electrode 2 and the accelerating means 14 can be made larger than the potential difference between the transparent electrode 2 and the opposed electrode 1. This is determined by the amount of the flown ink 12, a distance between the accelerating means 14 and the surface of the ink 6 or the like.
  • the ink 6 can be flown only by the accelerating means 14.
  • the photoconductive phenomenon is caused and photocurrent is flown at the light irradiated portion inside of the photoconductive film 4. That is, carriers are formed at the irradiated region of the photoconductive film 4 and transferred by the external electric field, as a result, the impedance is lowered and the photocurrent is flown.
  • Fig. 4 is an explanatory view showing a record head of a line shape that is the fourth constitution according to the present invention.
  • Fig. 5 is a disassembled perspective view of the head unit 54 of the record head and
  • Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the constitution of the record head and its periphery.
  • Numeral 58 designates the transparent substrate that is longer than the length of the record medium 10 in the width direction (main scanning direction), a light transmitting material of acrylic resin, plastic or the like for transmitting wavelength of light from the light irradiating means 5 arranged on the rear face side of the substrate is used in the transparent substrate 58 and the ink storage groove 53 and the ink chamber 58 (The notation is not indicated in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 to avoid complication of the drawings. Refer to Fig. 1 through Fig. 3 for details.) are formed by injection molding and the shape of spacer is integrally formed.
  • the transparent electrode 2 and the photoconductive film 4 are successively laminated on the face of the transparent substrate 58 on the opposed face side by using screen printing or the like.
  • the slit plate 8 having a slit opening portion of about the width of the record medium 10 is constituted on the opposed face side of the transparent substrate 58 such that a recessed portion where the ink storage groove 53 and the ink chamber 56 are formed, is closed. Thereby, the ink storage groove 53 and the ink chamber 56 are formed as a space hermetically sealed at other than the opening portion of the slit 57.
  • the photoconductive film 4 is not laminated at the right end portion of the transparent substrate 58 in order to form a lead-out portion of the electrode and the transparent electrode 2 is in an exposed state and an electrode line of a flexible substrate 70 or the like is press-contacted, bonded by conductive bonding or soldered to the portion thereby providing an electrode contact.
  • a gap portion between the transparent substrate 58 and the slit plate 8 produced when the slit plate 8 is attached, is filled with a sealing member 71 or an adhesive agent by which the portion where the transparent electrode 2 is exposed is prevented from being brought into contact with ink.
  • ink supply holes 60 for flowing ink from the ink supply path 51 into the record head penetrate the bottom portion of the ink storage groove 53 of the transparent substrate 58 to the rear face side.
  • the ink supply holes 60 are provided at two locations on the both ends of the transparent substrate 58 in the longitudinal direction and one of them constitutes a hole for air vent such that bubbles are not stored in the ink storage groove 53 and the ink chamber 56 when ink is injected.
  • a reinforcing plate 59 is disposed on the rear face side of the transparent substrate 58 and the ink tank 52 is disposed on the rear face side of the reinforcing plate 59.
  • the ink supply paths 51 are provided in the reinforcing plate 59 at positions the same as those of the ink supply holes 60 provided to the transparent substrate 58 and are formed to penetrate projected portions on the rear face side of the reinforcing plate 59. Further, by inserting the projected portions into the ink tank 52, ink in the ink tank 52 is flown through the ink supply paths 51.
  • an adhesive agent or the like may be filled between the ink supply holes 60 and the ink supply paths 51 and between the ink supply paths 51 and the ink tank 52 such that ink is not leaked when the head is formed, it is preferable to insert sealing members of O rings, oil seals or the like between the respective substrates.
  • the reinforcing plate 59 is provided simply for reinforcing the transparent substrate 58 and reducing warp thereof and fixing the ink tank 52 provided on the side of the reinforcing plate opposed to the substrate and is not necessarily needed when the above-described points are satisfied by the transparent substrate 58.
  • a polygonal scanner 61 using a semiconductor laser that is the light irradiating means is disposed on the rear face side of the head unit 54 and laser beam condensed at the slit position of the head unit 54 via a condensing optical system or the like, is irradiated while being scanned in the slit direction.
  • the opposed electrode 1 in a drum shape comprising a conductive material is arranged on the opposed face side of the head unit 54.
  • the drum main body is disposed by maintaining a constant distance from the face of the slit 57 of the head unit 54 such that the drum main body is not brought into contact with the face of the slit 57 and is pivotable in the clockwise direction, that is, paper feeding direction by a drive system, not illustrated.
  • electric contact is provided by bringing an elastic thin plate electrode in press-contact with the periphery of the drum or the axial end (not illustrated) and the electrode is connected to the power source 3.
  • the paper feeding means 11 is constituted by paper supplying means 62 and paper transferring means 63 as shown by Fig. 4.
  • the paper feeding means 62 is arranged on the upstream side of the paper feeding means 11, the paper feeding means 62 is constituted by a drive roller and a rotatable pinch roller and the pinch roller is brought into press-contact with the drive roller in a rotatable state.
  • Paper guides 64 comprising an insulating material are arranged around the periphery of the drum of the opposed electrode 1 and guide the record medium 10 transferred by the paper feeding means 62 such that the record medium 10 is transferred along the shape of the drum.
  • the drum of the opposed electrode 1 is pivoted by a drive system, not illustrated, with a motor speed of which can be controlled such as a pulse motor or a DC servo motor or the like as a drive source via a gear wheel train and a pulley belt drive system and an elastic pinch roller of rubber, urethane or the like is brought into press-contact with the lower end of the drum rotatably.
  • a mechanism for transferring the record medium 10 supplied from the paper feeding means 62 by driving the drum of the opposed electrode 1, is constituted and the portion constitutes the paper transferring means 63.
  • the record medium 10 is supplied to the side of the opposed electrode 1 by the paper feeding means 62, made to pass through a very small clearance between the drum peripheral face of the opposed electrode 1 and the paper guides and transfer to the paper transferring means 63 along the drum peripheral face of the opposed electrode 1.
  • the front end of the record medium 10 is inserted between the opposed electrode 1 and the pinch roller and heading of record position is carried out by detecting position by using an edge sensor or the like and the transfer of the record medium 10 is once stopped.
  • the record medium 10 is transferred to a second line by driving the paper transferring means 63, that is, the drum of the opposed electrode 1 in the sub scanning direction by a dot pitch having necessary resolution.
  • the ink storage groove may naturally be disposed on the lower side of the slit or both on the upper and the lower sides.
  • the ink storage groove may be formed such that the portion of the slit is avoided, that is, at a position not blocking light from the light irradiating means.
  • Fig. 7 is an explanatory view showing the sixth constitution of a record head 71 according to the present invention.
  • Fig. 7 four of the record heads 71 each in a line shape in correspondence with the width of print of the record medium 10 as shown by Example 6, are laminated vertically and inks 6 of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (Bk) are supplied from the upper portions of the respective record heads 71 to the record heads 71.
  • Y yellow
  • M magenta
  • C cyan
  • Bk black
  • a state where high voltage is applied between the individual transparent electrodes 2 and the opposed electrode 1 is produced, light is irradiated in an arrow mark 7 direction from the side of the transparent electrode 2 of the yellow ink record head 71 to the photoconductive film 4 by the light irradiating means 5, the resistance value of the photoconductive film 4 at the irradiated region is lowered and photocurrent is flown.
  • the magenta ink record head 71 is moved in the arrow mark 17 direction, a desired pixel of cyan ink is provided on the record medium 10 in 1 line region by the cyan ink record head 71 through the above-described recording procedure.
  • the cyan ink record head 71 is moved in the arrow mark 17 direction, the desired pixel of black ink is provided on the record medium 10 in 1 line region by the black ink record head 71 through the above-described recording procedure.
  • the record medium 10 is moved in a 1 line arrow mark 19 direction by paper feeding means, not illustrated, the four record heads 71 are driven in an arrow mark 18 direction back to the home positions, the above-described procedure is repeated and the desired color pixels for each picture is provided on the record medium 10.
  • the inks 6 are constituted by 4 kinds, by increasing the number of the record heads 71 and supplying individually the inks 6 of multiple colors, highly fine output print or picture of full color with no restriction in the color of print is provided.
  • the present invention is not limited thereto but, for example, a plurality of serial heads may be arranged and the main scanning direction may be controlled respectively and independently from each other.
  • Fig. 8 is an explanatory view showing the constitution of the record device using each of the record heads 71 described in the first through the fifth examples of the present invention.
  • a record device 30 inputs picture data 29 from an outside device 28, picture modifying processing or pattern recognition is carried out at a picture processing circuit 25, data transformation is carried out for each pixel and picture pixel data 31 is outputted.
  • the picture pixel data 31 is transferred to inside of a record unit 24 in synchronism with a trigger signal 36 from a controller 26 and a flown ink 32 in correspondence with the picture pixel data 31 is adhered and transcribed from the record unit 24 to the record paper 10 that is the record medium.
  • synchronization of the flown ink 32 and the record paper 10 is carried out by outputting a control signal 33 from the controller 26 to paper feeding means 11. Further, a voltage value 34 in the record unit 24 is set to a power source unit 27 from the controller 26 and voltage 35 is supplied from the power source unit 27 to the record unit 24. Further, an output of a light control signal 37 of a light source irradiation light intensity and an irradiated pulse width in the record unit 24 or a drive processing signal 38 of an optical part or the like is controlled by the controller 26 whereby dots formed on the record paper 10 are controlled.
  • the record unit 24 of the present invention as the record device 30, can perform highly fine 'printing with high quality at high speed and can provide output print in a noncontact state without selecting the shape of the record medium.
  • an ink storage groove for temporarily storing ink on the substrate is formed along the longitudinal direction of the slit, the ink storage groove is disposed at inside of an ink chamber formed between the substrate and the slit plate and is disposed on the upper side, or the lower side, the both sides of the slit in the direction of the face of the substrate and accordingly, the following effects are achieved.
  • a sufficient amount of ink can be supplied at high speed to the slit portion after flying ink in printing and accordingly, the drive frequency of the record head can be accelerated. That is, the record speed as the device can be accelerated. Further, thereby, the discharge phenomenon between the opposed electrode and the slit which may occur by deficiency in supplying ink can be avoided.
  • the ink injecting portion of the record head is provided with a slit shape and accordingly, different from a record head having a conventional nozzle shape, ink is communicated in one channel by the ink chamber and the ink storage groove and accordingly, ink is brought into the state of being difficult to dry. Further, the ink supply groove is provided at the vicinity of the slit portion in the record head and therefore, ink is filled always sufficiently in the slit portion. Therefore, ink clogging of the slit portion caused by evaporation or solidification of ink is difficult to occur and stable high quality recording can be performed.
  • the ink supply amount is increased by deepening the groove in the depth direction according to the ink supply groove in the record head and therefore, the ink chamber is not expanded in the direction of the plane of the substrate, the head can be constituted while saving space and particularly in forming the device such that colors can be constituted by arranging the record heads of the respective colors, the device can be downsized.
  • a proper supply amount of ink can be controlled by flow resistance which ink receives in passing through the member.
  • Impurities in ink at very fine pores can be removed by passing the ink through the member by which the discharge phenomenon caused by clogging of ink at the slit or the ink path or by mixing impurities can be prevented.

Landscapes

  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
EP98300566A 1997-01-28 1998-01-27 Aufzeichnungskopf Withdrawn EP0855280A3 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP1438197A JPH10202882A (ja) 1997-01-28 1997-01-28 記録ヘッド
JP14381/97 1997-01-28

Publications (2)

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EP0855280A2 true EP0855280A2 (de) 1998-07-29
EP0855280A3 EP0855280A3 (de) 1999-03-10

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* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2013193390A (ja) * 2012-03-22 2013-09-30 Ricoh Co Ltd 液滴吐出装置

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JPS58207058A (ja) * 1982-04-30 1983-12-02 Yokogawa Hokushin Electric Corp 記録装置
JPS62156674A (ja) * 1985-12-27 1987-07-11 Seikosha Co Ltd 電子写真記録装置
EP0268277A2 (de) * 1986-11-19 1988-05-25 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Tintenstrahl-Aufzeichnungskopf, Tintenstrahl-Aufzeichnungsvorrichtung und Betriebsverfahren für den Tintenstrahl-Aufzeichnungskopf
JPH0272960A (ja) * 1988-09-07 1990-03-13 Toshiba Corp 静電加速型インクジェット記録装置
JPH03288652A (ja) * 1990-04-04 1991-12-18 Sharp Corp インクカートリッジ及びインク供給装置
JPH05193135A (ja) * 1992-01-17 1993-08-03 Olympus Optical Co Ltd 記録装置
EP0670220A2 (de) * 1994-03-04 1995-09-06 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Farbstrahlaufzeichnungsvorrichtung
WO1995025637A1 (en) * 1994-03-21 1995-09-28 Spectra, Inc. Simplified ink jet head
JPH0895356A (ja) * 1994-09-28 1996-04-12 Nec Corp 画像形成装置
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JPS58207058A (ja) * 1982-04-30 1983-12-02 Yokogawa Hokushin Electric Corp 記録装置
JPS62156674A (ja) * 1985-12-27 1987-07-11 Seikosha Co Ltd 電子写真記録装置
EP0268277A2 (de) * 1986-11-19 1988-05-25 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Tintenstrahl-Aufzeichnungskopf, Tintenstrahl-Aufzeichnungsvorrichtung und Betriebsverfahren für den Tintenstrahl-Aufzeichnungskopf
JPH0272960A (ja) * 1988-09-07 1990-03-13 Toshiba Corp 静電加速型インクジェット記録装置
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JPH03288652A (ja) * 1990-04-04 1991-12-18 Sharp Corp インクカートリッジ及びインク供給装置
JPH05193135A (ja) * 1992-01-17 1993-08-03 Olympus Optical Co Ltd 記録装置
EP0670220A2 (de) * 1994-03-04 1995-09-06 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Farbstrahlaufzeichnungsvorrichtung
WO1995025637A1 (en) * 1994-03-21 1995-09-28 Spectra, Inc. Simplified ink jet head
JPH0895356A (ja) * 1994-09-28 1996-04-12 Nec Corp 画像形成装置

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