JP2001096775A - Printing apparatus, image forming apparatus, printing method and image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing apparatus and an image forming apparatus capable of being reduced in size and cost as a whole and capable of reconciling an increase in speed with low power consumption. SOLUTION: An endlessly driven film 2 and a particle supply brush 4 for supplying the particles 1 in a particle feeder 5 to the film to form a thin particle layer on the surface of the film are arranged. A heating head 6 is provided inside the film 2 at the position opposed to the paper 18 fed on a feed device 19 and a heating head driving device 7 supplying power to the heating head to heat a predetermined region corresponding to image data is provided. By this constitution, the predetermined particles 1 on the film 2 are suddenly heated by the heating head 6 and the particles 1 are discharged by the expansion pressure due to heating to be bonded to the paper 18.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is applied to a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, etc., and a printing apparatus for forming a visible image by flying colored particles on a recording medium such as paper.
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a printing method, and an image forming method using the printing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a printing method in a conventional image forming apparatus, an electrophotographic method and an ink jet method have become mainstream due to their superiority in image quality, speed, price and the like. Also,
A thermal transfer method, in which a transfer film having an ink layer is heated and melted by a thermal head or laser irradiation and then transferred, is also widely used. However, these printing methods have the following disadvantages.

The electrophotographic method is a method in which a surface of a photoconductive image carrier is charged, an electrostatic latent image is formed by performing exposure corresponding to an image, and then developed with toner to obtain a visible image. The visible image on the image carrier is transferred to paper or the like, and the visible image is fixed to form a print. Such a scheme is
Many processes such as charging, exposure, development, and transfer are required, and the device becomes large and expensive. In addition, the power for driving each part is also large. further,
It is important to stabilize the electrical characteristics of the toner and photoconductive material to control the behavior of the toner by using an electrostatic field, and it is important to mix various additives and detect the characteristics, temperature, and humidity. Special materials and mechanisms for compensating for sufficient environmental stability and temporal stability, such as introducing a mechanism for controlling image formation parameters, are required.

On the other hand, as a technique for simplifying the process of the electrophotographic system, toner on a developing roll is caused to fly by forming an electric field by an aperture electrode, and the toner is passed directly through a slit of the electrode to adhere directly to paper. A so-called toner jet method has been proposed in which an image is obtained by using a toner jet method. But,
Even with this method, it is necessary to stabilize the electrical characteristics of the toner, and there are problems such as the particles being scattered due to the electrical interaction when the toner flies, and the landing position on the paper being shifted. .

[0005] In a direct recording system using liquid ink such as an ink jet system, integration of print nozzles,
Since it is difficult to form multiple arrays and it is expensive, it is necessary to print while scanning the print head in the direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction. For this reason, the image forming speed becomes very slow, and power consumption increases due to a frictional load when scanning the head. Even when a high-resolution, large-size print head is used, it takes a certain time to dry the ink after printing, so that it is not always possible to increase the speed. Further, the energy required when the liquid is discretized into fine droplets in pixel units is much greater than that of the powder, which contributes to an increase in power consumption.

Also, in the case of the thermal transfer method, the energy required to melt the ink to separate the image portion from the base material and transfer it to the recording medium is large, and the transfer performance depends on the characteristics of the recording medium. Therefore, good image quality cannot be obtained because transfer failure occurs with plain paper. Further, the used ink ribbon is only transferred and consumed in the image portion, but is generally discarded including the non-image portion, which leads to an increase in running cost.

As a new proposal for solving the above-mentioned problem, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-314741 discloses that an infrared-transmitting toner is provided on an endless toner-carrying member provided with an adhesive member or an elastic body on its surface. A technique is disclosed in which the toner is irradiated with infrared light such as a laser beam to the toner, and the toner is melted and transferred to paper.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-290679, an image is transferred onto an image receiving sheet by a thermal head using a thermal transfer sheet having an ink layer containing a pigment on fine particles and an amorphous organic high molecular polymer. Alternatively, a method has been proposed in which a light-to-heat conversion layer is provided on the thermal transfer sheet and an image is transferred onto an image receiving sheet using an ablation method by laser irradiation.

[0009]

However, the above-described conventional image forming apparatus has the following problems. The apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-314741 is intended to realize a simple image forming apparatus and to ensure reusability of the image forming material. And has exactly the same problems as this method. Further, the apparatus described in JP-A-8-290679 needs to separate a pigment portion on a transfer sheet from a base material and a binder. For this purpose, a conventional thermal transfer method, a laser marking method using an ablation method, and the like are used. Similarly, a great deal of energy is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a simple, compact, low-cost, high-speed and low power consumption that cannot be achieved by a conventional image forming apparatus. Printing device, image forming device,
An object of the present invention is to provide a printing method and an image forming method.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 comprises a support for supporting printing particles on the surface, and a method of supplying particles on the support. ,
A particle layer forming means for forming a thin particle layer, and a heating means for selectively heating the formed particle layer from one side of the support, wherein the heating means causes particles to fly by heating, Provided is a printing apparatus characterized in that the printing apparatus is attached to a recording medium that is close to and opposed to a support.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the heating means includes a resistor at a contact portion with the support, and a heating drive for supplying power to the resistor. And a printing device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the support is partially formed of a resistor, and the heating means conducts a local current to the resistor. And a heating device for supplying electric power to the heating means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the second or third aspect, the heating drive means supplies energy of 10 J / J to the heating means or the resistor included in the support. cm ² or less, and supplies power so that the supply time is 0.5 ms or less.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the support is made of a light-transmitting material that transmits light of a predetermined wavelength, and the heating unit is configured to support the support. Provided is a printing device, which is a laser irradiation device that selectively scans and exposes a laser beam from the back side of a body.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the laser irradiation device has an irradiation energy on the light irradiation surface of 0.5 J / cm ² or less and an irradiation time of 0 J / cm ^2. The present invention provides a printing apparatus which performs scanning exposure so as to have a duration of 0.5 ms or less.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, there is provided a liquid supply means for supplying a liquid to the support, and The present invention provides a printing apparatus characterized in that a liquid film is formed on a substrate, and then particles are supplied to form a particle layer.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to the seventh aspect, wherein the liquid is mainly composed of silicone oil.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, further comprising a vibrating means for vibrating the support. I do.

[0020] According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a support for supporting printing particles on the surface thereof, and a particle layer forming means for supplying the particles on the support to form a thin particle layer. Heating means for selectively heating the particle layer from one side of the support, heating driving means for driving the heating means, based on image data, so that the heating means heats only an image portion, At a heating position of the heating unit, a recording medium conveying unit that conveys and supplies a recording medium so as to be closely opposed to the support, and is transferred to the recording medium,
An image forming apparatus comprising: a fixing unit that fixes an attached particle image.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a support for supporting printing particles on a surface thereof, and a particle layer forming means for supplying the particles on the support to form a thin particle layer. Heating means for selectively heating the particle layer from one side of the support, heating driving means for driving the heating means, based on image data, so that the heating means heats only an image portion, An intermediate medium that is circulated and driven so as to be in close proximity to the support at a heating position of the heating unit; a recording medium transport unit that transports a recording medium in contact with or in proximity to the intermediate medium; and the intermediate medium. An image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer unit that transfers a particle image transferred and attached to a recording medium to the recording medium; and a fixing unit that fixes the particle image transferred to the recording medium.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, a thin particle layer is formed on a surface by supplying printing particles on a support.
The formed particle layer is selectively heated from one side of the support, and at a heating position of the particle layer, a recording medium is conveyed so as to be closely opposed to the support, and the particles are heated by heating the particle layer. A printing method characterized in that a particle image is formed by causing the particles to fly and adhere to the recording medium.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, a printing particle is supplied onto a support to form a thin particle layer on the surface,
On the basis of image data, selectively heat only the image portion of the particle layer from one side of the support, and convey a recording medium so as to be closely opposed to the support at a heating position of the particle layer; The present invention provides an image forming method characterized by fixing a particle image transferred to and adhered to a recording medium.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, a thin particle layer is formed on a surface by supplying printing particles on a support.
On the basis of image data, selectively heat only the image portion of the particle layer from one side of the support, and at the heating position of the particle layer, transport an intermediate medium so as to be closely opposed to the support, The recording medium is conveyed so as to be in contact with or close to the intermediate medium, transferred to the intermediate medium, the attached particle image is transferred to the recording medium, and the particle image transferred to the recording medium is fixed. Image forming method.

In the present invention, the printing device and the printing method are not limited to printing characters by transferring particles onto a recording medium, but also include forming images.

According to the first or twelfth aspect of the present invention, a particle layer is formed on a support, and the particle layer is selectively heated from one side of the support. A portion of the air or the air in the vicinity of the particle attachment portion rapidly rises in temperature and expands. The particles are ejected by the expansion pressure at this time, and fly and adhere to the opposing recording medium. That is,
By supplying sufficient heating energy in a short time,
Part of the particles or the air in the vicinity of the adhesion portion of the particles rapidly rises in temperature, sublimates, and can be discharged by the vaporization and expansion force at that time. At this time, a desired visible image can be formed by performing control such that the particle layer is selectively heated according to the image signal.

As described above, a direct printing mechanism can be configured with a very simple configuration, and particles are used.
The energy required for ejection is smaller than that of liquid. Further, since a thin layer of particles is formed, heat loss is small and the amount of particles per unit area is small, so that it is possible to discharge with less energy and lower power consumption is achieved. Further, since no nozzle is used unlike the ink jet method, no problem of nozzle clogging occurs and no maintenance is required. Further, since the particles fly at a sufficient speed and adhere to the recording medium, transfer failure does not occur as in the case of fusion transfer.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the heating means has a resistor at a contact portion with the support, and power is supplied to the resistor by the heating driving means, the resistance is increased. Can be selectively heated, and the attached particles can be directly heated. The heated particles are ejected, fly and adhere to the opposing recording medium, so that a visible image can be formed by the particles. In this configuration,
The heating mechanism can be simplified, and since the particles are directly heated, heat loss is further reduced, and power consumption can be further reduced. Further, it is possible to use a line head such as a thermal recording head for the resistor and the heating driving means, and it is easy to increase the speed by using a large-sized head.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a part of the support is a resistor, a heating means for conducting a local current to the resistor, and a heating drive for supplying electric power to the heating means. By providing the means, the resistor can be selectively heated as in the above case, and the attached particles can be directly heated.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the energy supplied to the heating means or the resistor included in the support is set to 10 J / cm ² or less, and the supply time is set to 0.5 ms or less. Therefore, the temperature of air or particles can be increased in a short time, and a large expansion pressure can be obtained. As a result, the flying speed of the particles increases, and stable printing can be performed without causing a flying defect. In addition, since diffusion of heat to the peripheral portion can be prevented, energy can be further reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, by selectively scanning and exposing a particle layer formed on a support with a laser beam, some of the particles absorb the laser beam and generate heat. Then, the particles are ejected by the action of the vaporizing expansion force when sublimating due to the rapid temperature rise and the expansion force due to the surrounding air rising in temperature, and fly and adhere to the opposing recording medium. At this time, a desired visible image can be formed by performing control such that the laser beam is selectively scanned and exposed according to the image signal. As described above, a printing mechanism can be directly configured with a very simple configuration, and since particles are used, the energy required for ejection is smaller than that of liquid. Furthermore, since there is no portion that slides on the support, an increase in power consumption due to a friction load can be avoided. In addition, since a thin layer of particles is formed, heat loss is small and the amount of particles per unit area is small, so that it is possible to discharge with less energy, and power consumption is reduced. Further, since no nozzle is used unlike the ink jet method, no problem of nozzle clogging occurs and no maintenance is required. In addition, since a laser beam is used, energy is not dissipated to portions other than the laser absorbing portion. Therefore, energy can be concentrated only on a desired portion of the particles, and power consumption can be reduced.

According to the present invention, the scanning exposure of the laser irradiation apparatus is controlled so that the irradiation energy of the laser beam is 0.5 J / cm ² or less and the irradiation time is 0.5 ms or less. Therefore, the temperature of air or particles can be increased in a short time, and a large expansion pressure can be obtained. As a result, the flying speed of the particles increases, and stable printing can be performed without causing a flying defect. Further, since the diffusion of heat to the peripheral portion can be prevented, lower energy can be achieved.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since the liquid is interposed in the portion where the particles adhere to the support, the capability of retaining the particles on the support is improved by the liquid crosslinking force. As a result, it becomes easy to form the particle layer more uniformly and at a high density, thereby stabilizing the ejection performance, improving the uniformity of the formed image, and stabilizing the density. Furthermore, the flying particles land on the opposing recording medium,
Even when the particles adhere, the liquid that adheres to the periphery of the particles intervenes, so that the particle retention performance on the recording medium is improved, and image omission does not occur.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, since the liquid interposed between the support and the particles is a liquid containing silicone oil as a main component, the ability of retaining the particles to the support by the liquid crosslinking force is improved. Can be improved. Further, since the particle peeling performance is improved, the discharge can be made uniform and stable, and the energy at the time of discharge can be reduced.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, since the vibration means for vibrating the support is provided, the vibration of the vibration means propagates to the particles supplied on the support. As a result, the aggregation between the particles is decomposed, the formation of the particle layer is facilitated, the uniformity of the particle layer is improved, and the discharge performance can be improved and stabilized.

According to the tenth or thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the recording medium is conveyed so as to face the particle layer formed on the support, and the particles on the support are selectively heated. Thus, the particles fly and adhere to the recording medium, so that a desired particle image can be formed on the recording medium. By fixing the particle image formed on the recording medium by heating, pressing, or the like, a desired image can be formed with a simple configuration. Accordingly, the size and cost of the apparatus can be reduced, and the power consumption of the entire image forming apparatus can be reduced.

According to the eleventh or fourteenth aspect of the present invention, a particle image is once formed on an intermediate medium, and the final image is formed by transferring the particle image on the intermediate medium to a recording medium. Any property can be used as the intermediate medium. Therefore, by improving the particle adhesion and the holding performance of the intermediate medium, the uniformity of the image can be improved and the density can be stabilized. Further, by using an intermediate medium of an endless circulation drive type such as a drum or a belt, it is possible to improve the gap between the printing units and the accuracy of conveyance.

[0038]

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 showing a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention described in claim 1, claim 2, or claim 4. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an image forming apparatus to which the printing apparatus is applied, which is an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 2 includes four printing devices 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d for printing four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black in a housing 11. These printing devices 12a, 12b, 12c,
At the bottom of 12d, a paper tray 13 for storing paper 18 is provided.
And a paper feed roller 14 disposed at the left end of the paper tray 13 and feeding out the paper 18 one by one. Further, a transport roller 15 arranged along a paper transport path (curve in the figure) from the paper feed roller 14 to the upper part of the printing apparatus
And a transport device 1 for sucking and transporting the sheet facing the printing device
9 and a fixing device 16 for fixing the image formed on the paper by the printing device by applying pressure and heat.

The fixing device 16 fixes the particles on the paper, and heats and fuses the particles depending on the properties of the particles.
Types such as pressurization and overcoat (lamination) can be selected. In this embodiment, two rolls having a heat source are pressed against each other, and the particles are fixed on the paper by heating and pressing. The transport device 19 is composed of an endless belt stretched over two support rolls 17, and transports the sheet 18 sent out on the endless belt by the orbital movement of the endless belt due to the rotation of the support roll. .

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus will be described. This is also an image forming method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In such an image forming apparatus, the paper 18 in the paper tray 13 is
The paper 18 is conveyed one by one, and the paper 18 is conveyed by the conveying roller 15 to the vicinity of the printing portion. Then, the paper 18 is printed by the transport device 19 on the printing devices 12a, 12b, 1
It is conveyed so as to pass under the lower portions of 2c and 12d at a predetermined interval. As will be described later, each printing device discharges colored particles based on a signal from an image signal processing device (not shown) or the like, and forms each color image on paper. After each color image is superimposed on the paper, it is pressed and heated by the fixing device 16. After the colored particles on the paper are melted by heating, they solidify with cooling and are fixed on the paper to obtain a full-color image.

Next, the printing devices 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d used in the image forming apparatus will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus includes a film 2 that is driven to circulate while carrying particles 1, a particle supply device 5 that supplies particles on the film, and a particle supply device that is disposed in the particle supply device. A particle supply brush 4 which is held in a brush provided on the surface and conveyed onto the film 2 and forms a thin layer while being in light contact with the film;
A heating head that is arranged so as to be in contact with the inside and heats particles on the film through the film; and a heating head that supplies power to the heating head and heats a predetermined portion corresponding to an image. And a driving device 7.

As the particles 1, those equivalent to those used in an electrophotographic process can be used, but the electric characteristics may be arbitrary. Further, in order to enhance the ejection property, a material having a higher melting point may be used, or capsule particles in which ink is sealed may be used.

Specifically, for example, the following particles can be used.・ Spherical conductive particles (micropearl NI manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) with electroless nickel plating on the surface of fine particles made of a crosslinked copolymer containing divinylbenzene as the main component. Electroless nickel plating is applied to the surface of the fine particles made of the crosslinked copolymer, and then gold-substituted plated true spherical conductive particles (Micropearl AU manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) Spherical conductive particles of amorphous carbon obtained by carbonization and firing (Univex GCP, H-Type manufactured by Unitika Ltd.) ・ Amorphous carbon obtained by carbonization of thermosetting phenol resin to gold, silver, etc. Spherical conductive particles coated with metal surface (Univex Corp. Univex GCP
Conductive particles) ・ Silica ・ Spherical conductive particles in which the surfaces of spherical oxide fine particles of alumina are coated with Ag and tin oxide (Admafine manufactured by Admatechs) ・ Glass beads ・ White fused alumina particles ・ Divinylbenzene Spherical particles composed of a cross-linked copolymer containing as a main component (Micropearl SP, manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.)
• Micropearl BB) • Fine particles of cross-linked polymethyl methacrylate (MBX-20 black and white manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) • Fine particles of polytetrafluoroethylene (Rublon L manufactured by Daikin Industries, SS manufactured by Shamrock Technologies Inc.
T-2) ・ Microparticles of silicone resin (Tospearl manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) ・ MB-C, MBE, EMA, SBX, BM manufactured by Sekisui Plastics Co., Ltd.
X, ARX-15, UB) ・ Toreceram manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.

The film 2 is made of an endless member.
It is stretched around the drive roller 3 and the two support rollers 8 and 9 and can move around in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. Since the film 2 is required to have heat resistance, it is preferable to use a metal belt made of steel, copper, or the like. Further, the positions of the film 2 and the transport device 19 are set so that the distance between the film 2 and the paper 18 is about 0.5 mm.

The heating head 6 rapidly heats the particles 1 and is equivalent to an ordinary thermal head or thermal ink jet head. The heating temperature of the heating head 6 is set at 300 ° C. to 3000 ° C., and changes depending on the applied energy. When the heating time of the particles 1 is about 1 μs, the temperature hardly rises, and when the heating time is about 100 μs, the temperature of the head contact portion of the particles becomes about the same as the head. Also in this case, there is almost no temperature rise on the side of the particle opposite to the contact portion with the head.

Next, a description will be given of a printing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is an operation of the printing apparatus as described above. The particles 1 supplied onto the film 2 by the particle supply brush 4 adhere to the film surface by the action of Van der Waals force or the like, and particles not in contact with the film surface are scraped off by the particle supply brush 4,
A thin particle layer is formed on the film surface. This particle layer is transferred to the paper 18
Is conveyed to the printing portion opposite to. In the printing portion, the particles in the image portion and air near the particles are heated to 300 ° C. to 3000 ° C. by the heating head 6 via the film 2. As a result, the particles 1 fly downward in the figure due to the expansion force of air or the rapid vaporization expansion force of the particles, and land on the conveyed paper 18. The particles 1 are adhered and held on the sheet 18 by Van der Waals force or the like, and form a visible image.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the heating time measured by using a thermal head having a 0.1 mm square resistor array and the energy required for ejection. In this figure, the regression equation of each straight line is as follows. Where y
Is required energy (J / cm ² ), and x is pulse width (ms). Liquid, thermal y = 1.57071 x x ^0.228294 Particle, thermal y = 15.70006 x x ^1.001743

When particles are used, good ejection is possible in the upper region of the regression equation shown in the figure. In the case of particles (dashed line), compared to the case of heating and flying the liquid (broken line), It was confirmed that ejection was possible with lower energy, and required energy could be reduced by shortening the heating time. As a result, if the heating time is set to 0.5 ms or less using an A4 width line head, the supply energy is 10 J / cm 2.
Good ejection is possible with ² or less. The specification of image formation is that at 1200 spi (spot per inch), 10 ppm (print per
minute), at 600 spi, high resolution of 20 ppm and high-speed printing can be achieved, and the power consumption of the printing unit can be 1.5 kVA or less.

As described above, the following effects were confirmed in the present embodiment. It is simpler and smaller than conventional electrophotographic systems. The required energy at the time of ejection is significantly smaller than that of the prior art. Speeding up is easy.
Printing is possible with low power consumption even at high speed. Since static electricity is not used for image formation, stable operation can be performed without depending on changes in material properties such as resistance due to the environment.
There is no restriction on the electrical properties of the material, and a wider range of materials is available compared to electrophotographic processes. In the above description, the various setting values are merely examples, and are optimally selected depending on the required quality, the configuration, the material used, the characteristics of the particles, and the like.

FIG. 4 shows claim 1, claim 3, or claim 4.
1 is a partial configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention described in FIG. In this printing apparatus, instead of the heating head 6 and the film 2 of the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the back side of the film 102 is formed by a resistor 102a.
It has an electrode device 106 that conducts a local current to 2a, and a heating drive device 107 that supplies power to the electrode device 106. The electrode device 106 includes electrodes 106a arranged at minute intervals. Power is supplied from the heating driving device 107 to the electrodes 106a so that the resistor 10a
2a can conduct a local current. The other configuration of the printing apparatus is the same as the printing apparatus shown in FIG.

In such a printing apparatus, the heating driving device 1
07 to the electrode device 106,
a by locally conducting a current to the resistor 102
a is selectively heated. The particles 101 on the film 102 are rapidly heated by the heat of the resistor 102a, and the particles are discharged by the vaporization and expansion force, and adhere to a sheet to form a visible image.

FIG. 5 shows claim 1, claim 5, or claim 6.
1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention described in FIG. This printing device is used as a printing portion of an image forming apparatus having a configuration as shown in FIG. 2, and includes a particle supply brush 34 for supplying particles 31 and a particle supply device 3.
5. The drive roller 33 for transporting particles on the film 32 and the like have substantially the same configuration as the printing apparatus shown in FIG. These operations are the same as those of the printing apparatus shown in FIG. Hereinafter, FIG.
The differences from the printing apparatus shown in FIG.

A laser irradiation device 36 for irradiating a laser from the back side of the film 32 is installed in the film 32, and a laser light driving device 37 for driving a laser light source of the laser irradiation device is connected. The film 32 is made of a light transmissive material.

The laser irradiating device 36 may have the same configuration as a scanning exposure optical system used in a laser printer utilizing electrophotography. Built-in polygon mirror and so on. In this device, a predetermined power is supplied from a laser light driving device 37 so that a light source is turned on / off in accordance with an image signal in synchronization with scanning of a laser beam.

As the particles 31 to be used, those equivalent to those used in an electrophotographic process can be used, but the electric characteristics may be arbitrary. Further, in order to enhance the ejection property, it is preferable to use a material having a higher melting point and use a material having a high light absorption. The film 32 preferably has high heat resistance, and is preferably made of glass or the like. When it is difficult to form a film using a material having high rigidity such as glass, a drum may be used.

In such a printing apparatus, a laser beam passes through the film 32 at a printing portion facing the paper 18,
The particles 31 are irradiated. The particles 31 absorb laser light and generate heat. If the amount of supplied laser light is sufficient, a part of the particles 31 is heated to 300 ° C. to 3000 ° C. in a short time and vaporized. Due to the expansion force at this time, the particles 31
Eject in the direction of 8.

FIG. 6 shows the result of examining the relationship between the laser irradiation energy required for ejection and the irradiation time. In this figure, the regression equation of each straight line is as follows.
Where y is required energy (J / cm ² ) and x is pulse wi
dth (ms). Particle, laser y = 1.06842 x x ^1.38133 Liquid, thermal y = 1.57071 x x ^0.228294

In the case of using particles, good discharge is possible in the upper region of the regression equation shown in the figure, and the present embodiment (solid line) is compared with the case where the liquid is heated to fly (dotted line).
It was confirmed that the ink could be discharged with lower energy, and the required energy could be reduced by shortening the heating time. As a result, if the energy supply (laser irradiation) time is set to 0.5 ms or less, the supplied energy will be 0.5 J
Good ejection is possible at less than / cm ² . When an A4 width laser array head or LED array head is used, the image forming specifications are 10 ppm and 600 s at 1200 spi.
With pi, high resolution of 20 ppm and high-speed printing can be achieved, and the power consumption of the printing part can be 100 W or less. If the energy supply (laser irradiation) time is set to 20 ns or less, the supply energy becomes 0.4 μ
Good ejection is possible at J / cm ² , and in the case of laser scanning,
As for the specification of image formation, high resolution and high speed printing of 10 ppm at 1200 spi and 50 ppm at 600 spi can be achieved, and the power consumption of the printing unit can be several watts or less.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the following effects were confirmed as in the printing apparatus shown in FIG. It is simpler and smaller than conventional electrophotographic systems.
The required energy at the time of ejection is significantly smaller than that of the prior art. Speeding up is easy. Printing is possible with low power consumption even at high speed. Since static electricity is not used for image formation, stable operation can be performed without depending on changes in material properties such as resistance due to the environment. There is no restriction on the electrical properties of the material, and a wider range of materials is available compared to electrophotographic processes. In the above description, the various setting values are examples, and the required quality, or the configuration and the material used,
It is optimally selected depending on the characteristics of the particles.

FIG. 7 shows claims 1, 5, and 6 of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention described in claim 7 or 8. In addition to the configuration of the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 5, this printing apparatus includes an oil supply roller 48 on the upstream side of the particle supply apparatus 45 in the circumferential direction of the film 42, and a silicone oil 603 (Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) supplied to the roller 48. KF-96-10CS). The surface of the oil supply roller 48 is made of a porous material, contains silicone oil supplied from an oil tank 49, and supplies oil to the film surface while rotating at substantially the same speed as the film 42.
Form a film. The particles 41 are supplied on the formed oil film.

In the present embodiment, since the liquid film is formed on the film 42, the retention of the particles 41 is good.
Dropping of particles during transport hardly occurs. Also,
It was confirmed that the variation in the ejection due to the size and the adhesion state of the particles 41 was reduced, and the ejection was possible with low energy.

The liquid forming the film on the film is not limited to the oil described above, but may be any liquid in order to improve the retention of the particles 41. However, it is preferable to have sufficient wettability according to the material of the film used. In order to improve the exfoliation and ejection properties of the particles 41, a liquid having a smaller surface tension is preferable.

FIG. 8 is a partial configuration diagram showing the vicinity of a printing device used in an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The printing apparatus shown in this figure has substantially the same configuration as the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 5, but the configuration of the image forming apparatus in which this printing apparatus is arranged is different, and instead of the paper transporting apparatus 19 shown in FIG. , Belt-like intermediate medium 2
An intermediate medium device 20 for circulating the drive 1 is provided.
Further, the transfer roller 22 which is pressed against the intermediate medium 21
Is provided so as to face a driving roller 23 that drives the intermediate medium 21, and the transfer roller 22 and the intermediate medium 2
The sheet 18 is supplied and conveyed to a portion where the sheet 18 contacts.

As the intermediate medium 21, for example, a plastic belt used for an electrophotographic intermediate transfer member can be used. The electrical characteristics of the intermediate medium 21 may be arbitrary, but it is preferable that the surface is smooth and has tackiness and adhesion enough to hold particles.
Plastics such as PET and PC, and those obtained by forming a thin layer of silicone rubber on these substrates are suitable.

The transfer roller 22 may be made of any material as long as it can transfer the particle image on the intermediate medium 21 onto the paper 18 by applying pressure. From the viewpoint of increasing the contact width with the paper 18 and obtaining a uniform pressure, those having low hardness are preferable.

Further, due to the degree of adhesion between the intermediate medium 21 and the paper 18, good transfer may not be possible only with pressure. In such a case, a charge is applied to the particles 51 by corona discharge or the like on the intermediate medium 21 and the transfer roller 2
It is effective that a bias is applied to the opposing drive roller 23 in the intermediate medium 2 and the intermediate medium 21 to form an electric field, and transfer is performed by applying an electrostatic force.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus will be described.
An image forming method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. The particle layer formed on the film 52 is irradiated with laser light from a laser irradiation device 56 at a position facing the intermediate medium 21 so that the particles 51
Discharge to 1. The particles adhere to and are held on the intermediate medium 21, and are conveyed to a position facing the transfer roller 22 by the orbital movement of the intermediate medium 21. At the position facing the transfer roller 22, the sheet 18 is conveyed at a predetermined timing, and the particle image on the intermediate medium 21 is transferred to the sheet 18 by the action of the transfer electric field.
Transcribed above.

In the present embodiment, since the intermediate medium 21 is used, the retention of the particles 51 at the time of printing can be improved irrespective of the type of paper, and image disturbance due to missing images or scattering of particles can be prevented. It can be almost eliminated. The particle image satisfactorily formed on the intermediate medium 21 is transferred to the transfer roller 2.
The transfer can be favorably performed on the paper 18 by the pressure of 2 or the electrostatic force, and a high-quality image can be finally obtained.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention described in claim 1, claim 5, claim 6, or claim 9. This printing apparatus has substantially the same configuration as the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 5, but additionally includes a vibrating device 68 which vibrates while being in contact with the particle supply brush 64 while being in contact with the film. Is installed.

The vibrating device 68 generates high-frequency vibrations by means of a piezoelectric element or a piezoelectric film and transmits the vibrations to a thin layer of the particles 61 via the contacted film 62.
As a result, the mutual adhesion between the particles is decomposed, and the particle arrangement on the film 62 becomes denser, and a good thin layer,
A highly packed particle layer can be formed. Particle 6
The adhesion state of 1 is also made uniform. For this reason, the ejection performance of the particles 61 is stabilized, the amount of ejected particles per unit area is increased, and a good image with improved density and uniformity can be formed.

[0071]

As described above, the following effects were confirmed in the printing apparatus and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It can be simpler and smaller than conventional electrophotographic systems. The required energy at the time of ejection is significantly smaller than that of the prior art. Speeding up is easy.
Printing is possible with low power consumption even at high speed. Since static electricity is not used for image formation, stable operation can be performed without depending on changes in material properties such as resistance due to the environment.
There is no restriction on the electrical properties of the material, and a wider range of materials can be used compared to electrophotographic processes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus using the printing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram comparing the printing energy of the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 with that of the related art.

FIG. 4 is a partial configuration diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a diagram comparing the printing energy of the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 5 with that of the related art.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial configuration diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention and an image forming apparatus using the printing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 31, 41, 51, 61, 101 Particle 2, 32, 42, 52, 62, 102 Film 3, 33, 43, 53, 63 Driving roller 4, 34, 44, 54, 64 Particle supply brush 5, 35 , 45, 55, 65 Particle supply device 6 Heating head 7 Heating head drive device 8, 9 Support roller 11 Housing 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d Printing device 13 Paper tray 14 Feed roller 15 Transport roller 16 Fixing device 18 Paper 19 Paper Conveying device 20 Intermediate medium device 21 Intermediate medium 22 Transfer roller 23 Drive roller 36, 46, 56, 66 Laser irradiation device 37, 47, 57, 67 Laser light drive device 48 Oil supply roller 49 Oil tank 68 Vibration device 106 Electrode device 107 heating drive

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A support for supporting particles for printing on the surface, a particle layer forming means for supplying particles on the support to form a thin particle layer, and supporting the formed particle layer on the support. A heating means for selectively heating from one side of the body, wherein the heating means causes the particles to fly by heating and adhere on a recording medium which is close to and opposed to the support. apparatus. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating unit includes a resistor at a contact portion with the support, and a heating driving unit that supplies power to the resistor. . 3. The supporting member is partially composed of a resistor, and the heating unit is configured to conduct a local current to the resistor, and includes a heating driving unit that supplies power to the heating unit. The printing device according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. The heating driving means has an energy supplied to the heating means or a resistor included in the support body of one or more.
The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the power is supplied such that the supply time is 0 J / cm ² or less and the supply time is 0.5 ms or less. 5. 5. The support is made of a light-transmissive material that transmits light of a predetermined wavelength, and the heating unit selectively scans and exposes a laser beam from the back side of the support. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein 6. The laser irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an irradiation energy on a light irradiation surface is 0.5 J / cm ² or less, and a scanning exposure is performed so that an irradiation time is 0.5 ms or less. The printing device according to claim 5, wherein 7. A liquid supply means for supplying a liquid to the support, wherein a liquid film is formed on the support, and then the particles are supplied to form a particle layer. 1
The printing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the liquid contains silicone oil as a main component. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a vibrating means for vibrating the support. 10. A support for supporting particles for printing on the surface, a particle layer forming means for supplying particles on the support to form a thin particle layer, and supporting the formed particle layer on the support. Heating means for selectively heating from one side of the body; heating drive means for driving the heating means, based on image data, such that the heating means heats only the image portion; and a heating position of the heating means. A recording medium conveying means for conveying and supplying a recording medium so as to be closely opposed to the support; and a fixing means for fixing a particle image transferred to and adhered to the recording medium. Forming equipment. 11. A support for supporting particles for printing on the surface, a particle layer forming means for supplying particles on the support to form a thin particle layer, and supporting the formed particle layer on the support. Heating means for selectively heating from one side of the body; heating drive means for driving the heating means, based on image data, such that the heating means heats only the image portion; and a heating position of the heating means. An intermediate medium that is driven to rotate so as to be in close proximity to the support; a recording medium transport unit that transports a recording medium in contact with or in proximity to the intermediate medium; and particles that have been transferred to and adhered to the intermediate medium. An image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer unit that transfers an image to the recording medium; and a fixing unit that fixes the particle image transferred to the recording medium. 12. A printing particle is supplied onto a support, a thin particle layer is formed on the surface, and the formed particle layer is selectively heated from one side of the support. At a heating position, a recording medium is conveyed so as to be close to and opposed to the support, and the particles are heated by heating the particle layer, and the particles are attached to the recording medium to form a particle image. Method. 13. A method for supplying particles for printing onto a support, forming a thin particle layer on the surface, and selectively selecting only an image portion of the particle layer from one side of the support based on image data. An image forming method comprising: heating the recording medium at a heating position of the particle layer so as to be in close proximity to the support; and fixing the transferred particle image transferred to the recording medium. 14. A method for supplying particles for printing onto a support, forming a thin particle layer on the surface, and selectively selecting only an image portion of the particle layer from one side of the support based on image data. Heating, at the heating position of the particle layer, transporting the intermediate medium so as to be in close proximity to the support, transporting the recording medium in contact with or in proximity to the intermediate medium, and transferred to the intermediate medium; An image forming method, comprising: transferring the attached particle image to the recording medium; and fixing the particle image transferred to the recording medium.