JP2000132018A - Image forming material removing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an image forming material peeled from a recording medium from being leaked from an image peeling belt and soiling the inside of a device and to stably maintain peeling performance over a long term in an image forming material removing device where the image forming material is removed from the recording medium on which an image is formed, and the recording medium is recycled. SOLUTION: The image peeling belt 1 provided with an image peeling layer on the surface of belt base material is laid to circulate by a 1st heating roll 2 and a 2nd heating roll 3. The device is provided with a width regulating blade 7 pressing the image forming material fluidized near the side edge of the belt base material back to a center part side at a position where the belt 1 is opposed to the 2nd heating roll 3, and a layer thickness maintaining blade 6 regulating the layer thickness of the image peeling layer on the downstream side of the blade 7. Thus, even when the image forming material peeled onto the image peeling layer from paper 8 is spread to the vicinity of the side edge, it is regulated to be nearly equal to or under fixed width by the blade 7 and the nearly fixed layer thickness is obtained by the blade 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic system or a thermal transfer system for removing an image forming material from a recording medium on which an image is formed by attaching an image forming material containing a heat-fusible resin, and reproducing the recording medium. The present invention relates to an image forming material removing apparatus that enables reuse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electrophotographic image forming apparatus is a copier,
It is widely used in offices and homes as printers and facsimile machines. Accordingly, the amount of PPC paper used has increased remarkably, and the amount of paper to be discarded has become enormous. For this reason, copiers,
Paper used in printers and the like is reused, and once used paper is collected as used paper, and once decomposed into paper fibers at a paper mill, impurities are removed, and the paper is recycled again.

[0003] However, such a method requires energy equivalent to the production of new paper, and also requires energy and cost for recovery of used paper.
For this reason, the load is not necessarily low for the environment, and profitability is often difficult.

Under such circumstances, a method has been proposed in which the image forming material is peeled off from the recording paper on which the image forming material is melted and fixed, and the recording paper is reused as it is. A forming material removing apparatus is described in, for example, JP-A-4-64472.

In this image forming material removing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 7, an image peeling layer 10 made of a hot-melt resin is formed on the surface.
Endless sheet 101 provided with 2 is stretched around a heating roll 103 and a cooling roll 104, and recording is performed in which an image 107 is formed between a pressing roll 105 provided opposite to the heating roll and the image peeling layer. The medium 106 is sent.
Then, the surface of the recording medium 106 on which the image is present is pressed against the image release layer 102 by the pressing roll 105, and the image release layer and the recording medium 106 in contact with the image release layer are heated by the heating roll 103. The image forming material adhering to the recording medium to form the image 107 is softened by heating, integrated with the hot-melt resin of the image release layer 102, and when the recording medium 106 is released from the endless sheet 101. The image forming material adheres to the image release layer 102 and is removed from the recording medium 106. It is desirable that the recording medium 106 from which the image is to be removed is provided with a releasability in advance.

[0006]

However, the above-described image forming material removing apparatus has the following problems. When the recording medium 106 on which the image 107 is formed is continuously processed, the image release layer 102 on the endless sheet 101
A large amount of the image forming material peeled off from the recording medium adheres to the sheet, and these heat-fusible resins spread near the side edges (outside in the width direction) on the endless sheet 101 due to heat and pressure, and contaminate the inside of the apparatus. There is. In addition, the endless sheet 10
The heat-fusible resin leaking from the side edge of the heating roll 103 and the cooling roll 10 for stretching the endless sheet 101
4 and the drive failure occurs. In addition, uneven rotation of a roll or the like may occur due to this, and peeling failure may occur.

[0007] The heat-meltable resin once spread from the endless sheet 101 spreads over the roll that stretches the endless sheet 101 and the support portion of the roll. It is necessary to install a cleaning device, which complicates the entire device.

Further, when the image peeling layer 102 is continuously used, the image forming material peeled off from the recording medium 106 accumulates on the image peeling layer, and the thickness of the layer increases as a whole. Depending on the state of formation of the image 107 on the recording medium 106, a portion where the image forming material is accumulated in a large amount and a portion where the image forming material is small are formed, and the unevenness of the surface becomes larger. When the layer thickness of the image peeling layer 102 becomes non-uniform as described above, the contact property with the recording medium 106 is deteriorated, and the image 107 on the recording medium and the image peeling layer 102 cannot be sufficiently adhered. For this reason, it is difficult to completely remove the image forming material from the recording medium 106, and there is a problem that peeling failure occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to prevent the inside of an apparatus from being contaminated by an image forming material peeled from a recording medium and to drive the apparatus. The present invention provides an image forming material removing apparatus capable of stabilizing an image forming material, forming an image peeling layer having a substantially constant thickness with a simple structure, and maintaining stable peeling performance for a long period of time.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an invention according to claim 1 is an endless belt that is stretched around a plurality of members and driven to rotate. An image peeling belt provided with an image peeling layer made of a heat-fusible resin on the surface of a belt base material, and a heating unit for heating the image peeling layer, wherein an image forming material using the heat-fusible resin as a binder is provided. In the image forming material removing apparatus, the attached image recording material is pressed against and separated from the heated image peeling belt, and the image forming material on the image recording material is transferred to the image peeling belt. ,
The heat-resistant belt substrate is formed in a range narrower than the entire width of the central portion, and is brought into contact with portions near both sides of the heat-resistant belt substrate where the image release layer is not provided, from the image release layer. A width regulating member for suppressing the spread of the hot-melt resin flowing near the side edge is provided.

[0011] Dirt in the apparatus, which has been a problem in the prior art, is an area where the heat-fusible resin constituting the image forming material receives heat and pressure when the image recording material is continuously reproduced. This occurs because it spreads toward the vicinity of the side edge of the image peeling belt. When the image forming material is accumulated in the image peeling layer of the image peeling belt, by removing only the excess heat-meltable resin, it is possible to solve the deterioration of the peeling performance and the conveyance failure. When completely removed, the peeling performance deteriorates, so that the image peeling layer receives heat and pressure due to the structure of the apparatus, and it is not possible to suppress the spread of the hot-melt resin near the side edges.

On the other hand, in the present invention, since the width regulating members are provided near both sides of the heat resistant belt base material, the image peeling layer on the heat resistant belt base material is in contact with the width regulating members. By passing through the contact portion, it is possible to suppress the spread of the hot-melt resin flowing near the side edge. Thus, the width of the image peeling layer after passing through the contact portion can be maintained at a predetermined value or less, and the leakage of the hot-melt resin from the side edge of the image peeling belt can be prevented. For this reason, the occurrence of dirt in the apparatus is eliminated, and the complication of the image forming material removing apparatus by a cleaning device or the like can be prevented.

The configuration of the width regulating member can be appropriately set as long as the spread of the hot-melt resin flowing near the side edge of the belt base material can be suppressed. For example, it is possible to use a rubber blade or the like which is arranged in a C-shape near both ends in the traveling direction of the image peeling belt.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plate-like member which is arranged so as to be closely opposed to the width direction of the image peeling belt and supported so that an edge thereof is parallel to a surface of the image peeling belt. In addition, a layer thickness maintaining member for regulating the layer thickness of the image peeling layer is provided.

When the image peeling layer on the image peeling belt passes through the portion facing the layer thickness maintaining member, the excess amount of the hot-melt resin is removed, and the thickness of the image peeling layer after passing is substantially constant. Can be maintained. Thereby, the temperature and the surface state of the image peeling layer can be kept almost uniform, and the peeling performance can be stabilized. Further, by removing the excess of the hot-melt resin, it is possible to more reliably prevent the hot-melt resin from leaking from the vicinity of the side edge.

In the invention according to a third aspect, the layer thickness maintaining member is integrally joined to the width regulating member. With such a configuration, the number of parts can be reduced, and the number of steps required for assembling the apparatus can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the cost of the device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming material removing apparatus according to the first, second, or third aspect, the plurality of members for stretching the image peeling belt are:
The image recording material includes two heating rolls incorporating a heating unit, the image recording material is pressed against the image peeling belt at a position facing the first heating roll of the two heating rolls, It is assumed that it is provided at a position facing the second heating roll of the two heating rolls.

With such a configuration, even when the image forming material adhered to the image release layer at the position facing the first heating roll spreads near the side edge due to heat and pressure, it faces the second heating roll. By contacting the image forming material with the width regulating member while heating the image forming material at the position, the spread of the hot-melt resin flowing near the side edge can be suppressed. Further, since the temperature of the hot-melt resin can be controlled separately by the first heating roll and the second heating roll, the viscosity of the hot-melt resin is appropriately adjusted, and the regulating operation by the width regulating member is performed. Can be performed more reliably. For this reason, the width of the image peeling layer on the image belt can be stably maintained at a substantially constant value or less.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming material removing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus includes an endless image peeling belt 1 having an image peeling layer made of a heat-fusible resin formed on an outer peripheral surface, a first heating roll 2 and a second heating roll 3 which stretch the image peeling belt. And a guide plate 4 which is in contact with the inside of the image peeling belt 1 and bends the image peeling belt at a predetermined curvature, and a pressing roll 5 which is opposed to the first heating roll 2 and pressed against the image peeling belt. And a layer thickness maintaining blade 6 provided at a position facing the second heating roll 3 and supported so that an edge thereof is close to the peripheral surface of the image peeling belt 1. Two width regulating blades 7 that are arranged on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the image peeling belt 1 and are in contact with both ends of the image peeling belt 1, and a sheet 8 on which an image is formed is transferred from a sheet tray 9 to the pressing roll 5. And image peeling bell Major portions in the sheet conveying device 10 for feeding the pressure-contact portion between the 1 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image peeling belt 1 is a 75 μm-thick polyimide belt base material 2.
1 is provided with an image release layer 22 made of a heat-fusible resin having a thickness of 50 μm, for example, a polyester resin.
This image peeling belt 1 has a width of 340 mm and a circumference of 30.
0 mm. As the belt base material 21, strength,
An appropriate material can be appropriately selected in consideration of durability and dimensional stability against heat. For example, in addition to the above-mentioned polyimide, a resin-based material such as polyamide and polyamide-imide, and a metal material such as stainless steel and nickel can be selected. The image peeling layer 22 is formed of the same hot-melt resin as the binder resin of the toner removed by the image forming material removing device, and has a thickness of 20 to 20.
0 μm, particularly preferably in the range of 50 to 100 μm.

The first heating roll 2 has an outer diameter of 25 m.
m, a silicone rubber layer having a thickness of 0.1 mm is formed on the outer peripheral surface of a steel cylindrical member having a thickness of 0.3 mm. A halogen lamp 11 is installed as a heating source inside the cylindrical member, and is controlled to blink on and off based on an output of a temperature sensor 12 arranged to be in contact with the peripheral surface of the first heating roll 2. The peripheral surface of the heating roll is maintained at a predetermined temperature. The temperature at this time is set so that the image release layer 22 on the image release belt 1 is heated to be in a softened state. The temperature sensor 12 does not necessarily need to be in contact with the image peeling belt 1 and may be arranged at a predetermined interval. The first heating roll 2 is driven to rotate by a driving device (not shown), and the rotation causes the stretched image peeling belt 1 to move around.

The second heating roll 3 uses the same steel tubular member as the first heating roll 2, has a halogen lamp 13 installed inside, and has the first heating roll 3 based on the output of the temperature sensor 14. The temperature is controlled in the same manner as in the heating roll 2. The temperature of the second heating roll 3 is set to a temperature sufficient to bring the image release layer 22 on the image release belt 1 into a molten state. The second heating roll 3 differs from the first heating roll 2 in that no silicone resin layer is formed on the peripheral surface of the tubular member.

The guide plate 4 is fixedly supported by a frame (not shown) of the apparatus main body, and the image peeling belt 1 is provided.
Is formed in an arc shape having a radius of curvature smaller than the radius of the heating rolls 2 and 3. A low surface energy layer made of a fluororesin is formed on the arc-shaped peripheral surface so that the image peeling belt 1 slides smoothly. As the guide plate 4, for example, a plate obtained by performing a Teflon (trade name, hereinafter the same) treatment on a surface of a steel plate having a curved surface with an outer radius of curvature of 3 mm is used. By the guide plate 4, the image peeling belt 1 is stretched at a predetermined position and bent around the arc-shaped peripheral surface.

The pressing roll 5 is formed by forming an elastic layer on the peripheral surface of a cylindrical member, and is pressed toward the first heating roll 2 by a pressing mechanism (not shown). The image peeling belt 1 is held between the first heating roll 2 and the pressing roll 5.

The layer thickness maintaining blade 6 is a plate member made of stainless steel provided so that edges 6a face each other in the width direction of the image peeling belt 1, and the thickness of the plate member is 0.5 mm. It has become. Edge 6a of layer thickness maintaining blade
Has a smooth flat surface parallel to the peripheral surface of the image peeling belt 1, and has an edge facing the width direction of the image peeling belt 1 so as to uniformly maintain a distance of 100 μm from the belt substrate 21. Supported. With such a configuration, when the thickness of the image peeling layer 22 becomes larger than a predetermined value,
The excess heat-meltable resin is blocked to regulate the image peeling layer to a uniform thickness.

As shown in FIG. 1, the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 is fixedly supported so that the angle θ ₁ on the upstream side in the circumferential direction with respect to the tangent to the peripheral surface of the image peeling belt 1 becomes a predetermined mounting angle. ing. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the heat-fusible resin scraped off by the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 is in contact with the surface of the image peeling layer 22 between the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 and the image peeling belt 1. Is stored at The mounting angle θ ₁ is appropriately determined according to the viscosity of the heat-fusible resin constituting the image peeling layer 22, the coefficient of friction with the surface of the heat-fusible resin, and the moving speed of the image peeling belt 1 around. In FIG. 1, the mounting angle θ ₁ of the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 is an obtuse angle, but may be a right angle or an acute angle as long as it is mounted so as to satisfy the above conditions.

The surface of the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 is subjected to a Teflon treatment to form a low surface energy layer. Therefore, the friction between the stored hot-melt resin and the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 is smaller than the friction with the image peeling layer 22. Therefore, when the image peeling belt 1 moves around, the stored hot-melt resin rotates due to the friction of the surface of the image peeling layer 22.

A ceramic heater 15 is mounted on the back of the stainless plate member. The ceramic heater 15 is provided so as to be in contact with a temperature sensor 16, and based on the output of the temperature sensor 16, the power supply to the ceramic heater 15 is controlled.
The layer thickness maintaining blade 6 is set to a predetermined temperature, that is, a temperature (for example, 150 ° C.) sufficient to bring the hot-melt resin into a molten state.
° C). With such a configuration, the heat of the ceramic heater 15 is transferred to the layer thickness maintaining blade 6.
Is transmitted to the heat-fusible resin through the heat-melting resin to melt the heat-fusible resin. Further, since the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 is heated by the ceramic heater 15 in this manner, the surface of the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 (the surface on which the ceramic heater 15 is not attached) also has a melting temperature equal to or higher than the melting temperature of the hot-melt resin. Is formed. In addition, the temperature sensor 16
It is not necessary to be in contact with the ceramic heater 15, and it may be arranged at a predetermined interval.

The width regulating blade 7 is made of a plate-like elastic member. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the width regulating blade 7 is located near both ends in the width direction of the image peeling belt 1 in the direction of the circumferential movement of the image peeling belt. It is set in the shape of a letter C. As shown in FIG. 2, the width regulating blade 7 is supported such that an angle θ ₂ on the upstream side with respect to a tangent to the peripheral surface of the image peeling belt becomes a predetermined mounting angle. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the width regulating blade 7 has an angle θ _{3 with} respect to a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the image peeling belt 1 rotates (the broken line shown in the figure).
Are set to satisfy 0 <θ ₃ <90 °. As the width regulating blade 7, for example, a silicone rubber having a rubber hardness of 70 degrees, a thickness of 5 mm, a width of 30 mm,
The one molded to a height of 10 mm is used, and the tip is knife-edge processed. Then, the mounting angle θ
₂ is set to 120 °, and the angle θ ₃ is set to 30 °, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the tip is abutted against the image peeling belt 1. The image peeling layer 22 on the image peeling belt 1 flows by heating and pressurizing during the orbital movement and spreads in the width direction, but when passing through the contact portion with the width regulating blade 7, the image peeling layer 22 It is pushed back toward the center of the image peeling belt 1, whereby the spread of the image peeling layer 22 is suppressed.

The mounting angle θ ₃ of the image peeling belt 1 with respect to the direction perpendicular to the orbital movement is determined by the material and shape of the width regulating blade 7, the viscosity of the heat-fusible resin forming the image peeling layer 22, It is appropriately determined by the coefficient of friction with the surface of the conductive resin and the moving speed of the image peeling belt 1 around. Similarly, the mounting angle θ ₂ of the image peeling belt 1 with respect to the tangent line is also appropriately determined by the viscosity of the heat-fusible resin, the coefficient of friction with the surface of the heat-fusible resin, and the moving speed of the image peeling belt 1 around. . In FIG. 1, the mounting angle θ ₂ of the width regulating blade 7 is an obtuse angle, but may be a right angle or an acute angle as long as it is mounted so as to satisfy the above conditions. In the case where the width regulating blade 7 has a thickness in the direction of the circumferential movement of the image peeling belt 1, the width regulating blade 7 is installed so that the upstream edge thereof abuts against the image peeling belt 1, so that the width can be reduced with less pressure. The regulating blade 7 can be pressed against the image peeling belt 1.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned image forming material removing apparatus will be described. The object of the image forming material removing apparatus by this image forming material removing apparatus is as follows.
The silicone resin layer should not be damaged by the unevenness of the paper (about 1μ).
m) is a special paper formed with a thickness of m), and an image is formed on the special paper by adhesion of toner or the like. The image is formed by transferring a color toner or a black toner onto the dedicated paper by using a generally used electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and fixing by heating. The toner uses a polyester resin as a binder as a heat-fusible resin and contains yellow, magenta, cyan, and black pigments, respectively. The polyester resin used is the heat used in the image release layer 22. It is the same as the meltable resin. The thermal properties of this polyester resin are such that the glass transition point is about 70 ° C and the melting temperature is about 1 ° C.
It is 15 ° C. FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the temperature and the viscosity of the polyester resin. As is clear from this graph, in the temperature range exceeding the glass transition point, the viscosity sharply decreases as the temperature increases, and it can be said that the resin is a sharp melt resin.

A sheet 8 on which an image is recorded is accommodated in a sheet tray 9 detachably attached to the apparatus main body, with the image forming surface facing down. These papers 8
The paper is fed out of the paper tray 9 one by one at a predetermined interval by the feeding roll 17. Further, the sheet 8 is nipped and conveyed by a conveying roll 18 and sent to an opposing portion between the image peeling belt 1 and the pressing roll 5 along a paper guide (not shown).

The image peeling belt 1 includes a first heating roll 2
Is driven at a speed of 80 mm / s by the rotation of
It is heated at the position where it is wound around the first heating roll and the second heating roll 3. The second heating roll 3 has a temperature of 150 ° C. which is sufficiently higher than the melting temperature of the hot-melt resin, and the hot-melt resin of the image peeling layer 22 is heated to a temperature sufficiently higher than the melting temperature at a position on the heating roll 3. And it is in a molten state. On the other hand, the temperature of the first heating roll 2 is controlled to 110 ° C., which is close to the melting temperature of the hot-melt resin, and the first heating roll 2 is transported from a position on the second heating roll 3 to above the first heating roll 2. In the meantime, the heat is radiated and the temperature is once lowered, but is again heated to near the melting temperature on the first heating roll 2,
It gradually becomes softened.

A sheet 8 on which an image is recorded is conveyed from a sheet tray 9 to a pressure contact portion between the first heating roll 2 and the pressing roll 5, and the image peeling belt 1 is positioned at a position facing the first heating roll. And between the pressing roll 5. Then, the image forming surface of the sheet 8 is pressed against the image release layer 22.

At this time, the heat-meltable resin of the image peeling layer 22 is in a softened state due to the heat from the first heating roll 2, and the image forming material ( And toner). For this reason, when the image forming surface of the sheet 8 is pressed against the image peeling layer 22, the heat-meltable resin of the image peeling layer 22 is easily deformed according to the unevenness of the sheet 8, and adheres to the image forming material on the sheet. I do. In this case, the heat-meltable resin of the image peeling layer and the image forming material is not heated enough to penetrate into the paper.

The paper that has passed through the portion where the pressing roll 5 is pressed is conveyed by the orbital movement of the image peeling belt 1 while maintaining the state of contact with the image peeling belt 1.
Above the image peeling belt 1, a plate-shaped paper plate 19 is supported in parallel with a portion stretched between the pressing roll 5 and the guide plate 4, and the paper 8 is peeled from the image peeling belt 1. Guide plate 4
Guide to the position facing. In this transport process, the heat of the image peeling layer 22 is transmitted to the image forming material adhering to the paper, and the temperature of the image peeling layer 22 and the image forming material become substantially the same. Further, heat is radiated from the image peeling layer 22 and the image forming material to the surroundings, and the image peeling layer 22 and the image forming material are gradually cooled.

When the sheet 8 reaches the portion facing the guide plate 4, the temperature of the image peeling layer 22 and the heat-meltable resin of the image forming material are slightly higher than the glass transition point (80 ° C. to 90 °).
C). At this temperature, the viscosity of the heat-meltable resin increases, and the cohesive force is larger than the adhesive force of the image forming material to the paper, but the rubber-like elasticity is still maintained. In such a state, when a force for separating the hot-melt resin acts, the interface with the paper is easily separated.

The image peeling belt 1 is bent with a small radius of curvature by moving around while sliding along the outer peripheral surface of the guide plate 4, so that the image forming material adhered to the image peeling layer 22 also has a small curvature. It is bent at the radius. Since the cohesive force between the image release layer 22 and the image forming material is larger than the adhesive force of the image forming material to the paper, distortion occurs in the image forming material. Further, the paper bends with a larger radius of curvature than the image peeling belt 1 due to its own rigidity (elasticity against deformation in the paper thickness direction). As a result, the image forming material on the paper is peeled off integrally with the image peeling layer 22, and the image on the paper is removed. The sheet from which the image forming material has been removed is guided by the sheet chute 20 in a predetermined transport direction, and is discharged to a discharge tray (not shown).

On the other hand, the image forming material adhered to the image peeling belt 1 is transported together with the heat-fusible resin of the image peeling layer 22 and is sufficiently high at the position where the image peeling belt 1 is wound around the second heating roll 3. It is heated to a temperature and becomes a molten state. As a result, the viscosity of the image forming material is reduced, the surface tension is also reduced and the image forming material is integrated with the image peeling layer 22, and the image peeling layer 22 and the image forming material are integrated on the peripheral surface of the image peeling belt 1. A layer is formed. Since the heat-meltable resin in these layers easily flows, the heat-meltable resin spreads in the width direction of the belt base material 21. It is pushed back to the center. Thus, the width of the image peeling layer 22 after passing through the contact portion with the width regulating blade 7 is suppressed to a width equal to or less than the interval between the two width regulating blades 7.

Thereafter, the image release layer 2 on the belt substrate 21
2 is conveyed to a position facing the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 and contacts the edge 6 a of the layer thickness maintaining blade 6. At that time, the heat-meltable resin in a portion having a thickness equal to or more than the predetermined thickness of the image release layer 22 is
An image peeling layer 22 having a constant thickness is continuously maintained on the downstream side of the blade 6 while being blocked and accumulated on the upstream side of the layer thickness maintaining blade 6.

That is, the image forming material containing the hot-melt resin, which has been peeled off from the paper 8 on which the image is recorded as described above, is taken into the image peeling layer 22, and by repeating this, the layer of the image peeling layer 22 is formed. Although the thickness increases, the excessively heat-fusible resin is blocked by the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 to keep the layer thickness of the image peeling layer 22 constant.

The image peeling layer 22 that has passed through the facing portion of the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 is a mixture of the resin originally on the image peeling belt 1 and the image forming material peeled from the paper. Since both resins use the same material, they have high compatibility and the peeling performance does not change after peeling.

When the paper 8 is continuously processed, the excess of the image peeling layer 22 of the image peeling belt 1 is blocked and stored upstream of the layer thickness maintaining blade 6. Since these heat-meltable resins are maintained in contact with the image peeling layer 22 of the image peeling belt 1, when the image peeling belt 1 circulates, the moving direction of the belt is caused by friction with the surface of the image peeling layer 22. (Clockwise direction in Fig. 2)
It has a substantially cylindrical rod shape having an axis parallel to the second heating roll 3. The surface of the image peeling layer 22 is constantly refreshed by the rod-shaped hot-melt resin coming into contact with the image peeling layer 22 while rotating, thereby preventing deterioration.

On the other hand, the image peeling belt 1 having passed through the layer thickness maintaining blade 6 and having a substantially constant layer thickness of the image peeling layer 22.
Is again conveyed between the first heating roll 2 and the pressing roll 5 and is pressed against the sheet 8 on which an image is formed and heated. Even if the image release layer 22 and the image forming material of the image release belt 1 spread in the width direction due to the heating and the pressurization,
At a position facing the second heating roll 3, the width regulating blade 7
The width of the image peeling layer is reduced by the
After passing through the opposite portion, the image peeling layer 22 having a uniform thickness moves around. Thereby, the width of the image peeling layer 22 is suppressed from expanding to a certain value or more, and leakage of the hot-melt resin is prevented. Further, even if the heat-meltable resin accumulates on the image peeling belt, it can be collected by a simple collecting member such as a scraping member for removing a part of the resin.

When the color image fixed on the sheet 8 was removed by using the above-described image forming material removing apparatus, it was confirmed that the color image could be removed satisfactorily.
In addition, when color images were continuously removed from a plurality of sheets 8, it was confirmed that good removal performance could be maintained for a long period of time. Further, the layer width of the image peeling layer 22 could be stably maintained at a substantially constant value or less.

Next, an image forming material removing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. This apparatus employs the same ones as those used in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 as the image peeling belt, the first and second heating rolls, the pressing rolls, the guide plate, the sheet transporting device, and the like. The configurations of the layer thickness maintaining blade and the width regulating blade are different.

As shown in FIG. 6, the second heating roll 33
A plate-like layer thickness maintaining blade 36 supported so that an edge thereof is close to the peripheral surface of the image peeling belt 1 is provided at a position facing the image peeling belt 31 and the image peeling belt 31. Two width regulating blades 37 are integrally mounted on the upstream side. Width regulating blade 37
Is an elastic member made of, for example, silicone rubber,
The image peeling belt 1 is supported so as to be in contact with the vicinity of both sides.

In such an image forming material removing apparatus, as in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, even if the image peeling layer 42 on the belt substrate 41 spreads near the side edge by heating and pressing, the width regulating blade 37 As a result, the belt is pushed back toward the center of the image peeling belt 1, and the width of the image peeling layer 42 is suppressed to be substantially constant or less. At the same time, the excess of the image peeling layer 42 is blocked by the layer thickness maintaining blade 36, and the image peeling layer 42 having a substantially constant thickness is formed on the belt base 41.

When the color image fixed on the paper was removed by using such an apparatus, it was confirmed that the color image could be removed satisfactorily. Further, when color images were continuously removed from a plurality of sheets, it was confirmed that good removal performance could be maintained for a long period of time.
Also, the layer width of the image peeling layer 42 could be stably maintained at a substantially constant value or less.

In the embodiments described above, the image peeling belt is stretched by two heating rolls and the guide plate, and the recording medium is pressed against the image peeling belt at a position on one of the heating rolls and the other is heated. Although a layer thickness maintaining blade is provided at a position facing the heating roll, the present invention is directed to an apparatus for removing an image forming material on a recording medium using a belt having a hot-melt resin layer, and an image peeling belt. Is not limited. Therefore, the roller may be stretched between one heating roll and a fixedly supported member such as a guide plate, or may have one heating roll and another roll that is not heated. The heating means may use a different type of heater in addition to the halogen lamp built in the heating roll, and may supply power to the heating element included in the image peeling belt from the roll supporting the image peeling belt. It may be something.

Further, in the apparatus of the above embodiment, the same resin as the resin contained in the image forming material adhered on the recording medium is used as the heat-meltable resin of the image peeling layer. Other resins can be used as long as they are substantially the same and are mixed with each other in a molten state. In this case, while the peeling of the image forming material from the recording medium is repeated, the resin that originally formed the image peeling layer and the peeled image forming material are mixed, and the mixed resin is used as the image peeling layer. Will be.

In the recording medium from which an image is removed by the image forming material removing apparatus, a silicone resin layer is formed in order to reduce the adhesiveness in the above embodiment. When a toner containing low resin is used, an image may be formed on ordinary PPC paper.

[0053]

As described above, the image forming material removing apparatus according to the present invention can prevent the image peeling layer on the image peeling belt from spreading near the side edge by the width regulating member. It is possible to prevent the hot-melt resin from adhering to the supporting member and the driving member of the belt, and to stably drive the apparatus for a long period of time. Further, since the image peeling layer on the image peeling belt is maintained at a certain width or less, it is possible to prevent the inside of the apparatus from being contaminated with the hot-melt resin, and to simplify the collection member for collecting excess hot-melt resin. Can be achieved. Further, since the layer thickness of the image release layer on the image release belt can be maintained substantially constant by the layer thickness maintaining member, the temperature and surface properties of the image release layer can be maintained substantially constant, and the release performance can be maintained for a long time. Can be maintained over time. Further, by integrating the width regulating member and the layer thickness maintaining member, the number of components can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of steps in assembling the apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an image forming material removing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing the vicinity of an opposing portion between a width regulating blade, a layer thickness maintaining blade, and an image peeling belt used in the image forming material removing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the vicinity of an opposing portion between an image peeling belt and a width regulating blade and a layer thickness maintaining blade used in the image forming material removing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of a portion where a width regulating blade, a layer thickness maintaining blade, and an image peeling belt are used in the image forming material removing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the temperature and the viscosity of the hot-melt resin used in the image forming material removing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view of an image forming material removing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the blade is a layer thickness maintaining blade and a layer thickness maintaining; FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of a facing portion between a blade and an image peeling belt.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional image forming material removing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 31 Image peeling belt 2 First heating roll 3, 33 Second heating roll 4 Guide plate 5 Press roll 6, 36 Layer thickness maintaining blade 7, 37 Width regulating blade 8 Paper 9 Paper tray 10 Paper transport device 11, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Halogen lamp 12, 14 Temperature sensor 15 Ceramic heater 16 Temperature sensor 17 Delivery roll 18 Conveyance roll 19 Paper plate 20 Paper chute 21, 41 Belt base material 22, 42 Image peeling layer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An endless belt that is stretched around a plurality of members and driven to rotate, wherein an image release belt provided with an image release layer made of a hot-melt resin on a surface of a heat-resistant belt base material; A heating unit for heating the image release layer, wherein the image recording material to which the image forming material having the heat-fusible resin as a binder is adhered is pressed against the heated image release belt to separate the image recording material. In the image forming material removing apparatus for transferring the above image forming material to the image peeling belt, the image peeling layer is formed in a range narrower than a full width of a central portion of the heat resistant belt base material. It has a width regulating member which is in contact with portions near both sides where the image peeling layer is not provided on the base material and suppresses the spread of the heat-meltable resin flowing from the image peeling layer to the vicinity of the side edge. Image formation Charge removal device. 2. A plate-like member which is disposed so as to be closely opposed to a width direction of the image peeling belt and supported so that an edge thereof is parallel to a surface of the image peeling belt, wherein the image peeling layer is provided. 2. The image forming material removing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a layer thickness maintaining member for regulating the layer thickness of the image forming material. 3. The image forming material removing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the layer thickness maintaining member is integrally joined to the width regulating member. 4. The image forming material removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of members for stretching the image peeling belt include two heating rolls having a built-in heating unit. The image recording material is a first of the two heating rolls.
The pressure regulating member is pressed against the image peeling belt at a position facing the heating roll, and the width regulating member is a second one of the two heating rolls.
An image forming material removing device provided at a position facing the heating roll.