JP2001301174A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a printer which satisfies all conditions of miniaturizing the apparatus, lowering costs, reducing an energy and increasing a printing speed in a balanced way and can form a stable sequence of particles. SOLUTION: A fluid storage container 32 is vibrated by a piezoelectric vibrator 36 in an X direction. As a result, standing waves are formed to a fluid 30 in the fluid storage container 32. Particles 28 supplied into the fluid storage container 32 are trapped by nodes of the standing waves, thereby forming the sequence. Since the fluid storage container 32 is supported by rolling bearings 40A and 40B in a Z direction other than the X direction of a vibration direction, the vibration in the Z direction is regulated. At the same time, the vibration in the X direction is permitted because outer rings 48A and 48B rotate in the X direction. The fluid storage container 32 represents simple harmonic motion only in the X direction, so that stable standing waves are formed. The stable sequence of the particles 28 is accordingly formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a means for displaying an image composed of characters and the like on an image holding medium, there are a printing method, an electrophotographic method, an ink jet method and the like. Each of these printing methods has the following features and problems.

[0003] First, in the printing method, ink is printed on a plate (print type,
Screen, etc.) and selectively paper (image holding medium)
(Image formation). Such a printing method has a feature that it is possible to print the same thing in large quantities at high speed, and the cost of printing the same thing in large quantities is low. Not suitable for personal use. Also, when printing,
Since the production of a plate or the like is expensive, it is possible to reduce the cost when printing a large number of the same plate, but there is a problem that the cost is increased only by printing a small amount.

Second, in an electrophotographic system, a charged developer (particles) is held on a developing roll (developer carrier) by magnetic force or electrostatic force, and a photosensitive member (latent) on which an electrostatic latent image is written is formed. (Image bearing member) is selectively electrostatically developed on paper (image holding medium)
To form an image. Such an electrophotographic method has a feature that it is possible to form an image at a high speed, though not as much as printing, and that the cost can be reduced because a plate or the like is not required. However, since it requires a lot of power, it is not suitable for personal use except for some small black and white models.

Third, in the ink jet system, an image is formed by directly transferring ink to paper (image holding medium) using heat or vibration. In such an inkjet system,
Since the printing unit is only a head composed of nozzles, ink ejection members, and the like, and is small in size and has a simple device configuration, the device is inexpensive as compared with other methods and is mainly used for personal use. However, there is a problem that the printing speed is very slow as compared with the above two methods.

Here, as a technique using a surface standing wave, there has been proposed an ink jet printer head having a configuration in which ink is atomized by ultrasonic waves from a meniscus of the surface standing wave and printing is performed. However, in such a method, since a liquid is used as a coloring material, there is a problem that much energy is required for drying and discretization.

In view of the above, there has been proposed a printing apparatus which performs printing by selectively discharging particles, which are aligned by a physical stimulus such as vibration, by instantaneous thermal expansion by a discharge means such as a laser beam. According to this method, it is possible to provide a printing device that satisfies the requirements of miniaturization, low cost, low energy, and high speed of the device with good balance.

In this method, the most important task is to stably arrange the particles. For example, in a method of forming a standing wave by vibration in a fluid in a container and arranging particles on the standing wave, a simple vibration of one degree of freedom and a single frequency is given to the container (or the fluid itself). There must be. In addition, the means for applying vibration must not physically hinder the particle discharging means. However, there has been no configuration that satisfies such a condition.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above facts, the present invention satisfies all the conditions of miniaturization, low cost, low energy, and high printing speed in a well-balanced manner. It is an object to solve the problems and to provide a printing device having excellent stability.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus, comprising: a fluid holding means for containing a fluid therein; a particle supply means for supplying particles to the fluid holding means; Vibrating means for arranging the particles supplied to the holding means at substantially equal intervals, discharging means for discharging the arranged particles onto a medium opposed to the particles, and vibration means for vibrating the fluid holding means by the vibrating means. Constraining means that allows vibration and regulates vibration in at least one direction other than the vibration direction,
Is characterized by including.

Next, the operation and effect of the printing apparatus according to the first aspect will be described.

When the fluid holding means is vibrated by the vibrating means, the particles supplied to the fluid holding means are arranged at substantially equal intervals. After the particles are arranged, the particles are discharged onto a medium by a discharge unit.

Here, the fluid holding means is vibrated by the vibrating means, but the restraining means allows the fluid holding means to vibrate in the vibration direction, and regulates at least one vibration other than the vibration direction.

Therefore, a stable standing wave can be formed in the fluid inside the fluid holding means, and a stable arrangement of particles can be formed.

In the printing apparatus according to the second aspect, the discharging means is an exposure apparatus for irradiating the particles with laser light to discharge the particles onto the medium, and the restraining means avoids the laser light and holds the fluid. Preferably, the supporting member is a supporting member that supports the means and allows the fluid holding means to vibrate in the vibration direction.

In the printing apparatus according to the third aspect, the support member is preferably a rolling bearing rotatable in the vibration direction of the fluid holding means.

In the printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, it is preferable that the support member is composed of a lubricant movable in the vibration direction of the fluid holding means, and a holding member on which the lubricant is placed.

In the printing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, it is preferable that a pressing means is provided for pressing the fluid holding means in a direction opposite to the supporting direction of the support member and for allowing vibration in the vibration direction of the fluid holding means.

In the printing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, it is preferable that the vibrating means is provided on a side face of the fluid holding means which avoids the laser beam.

In the printing apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, it is preferable that the fluid inside the fluid holding means is a liquid, and the depth of the liquid is equal to or less than the diameter of the particles.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The printing apparatus according to the present embodiment is used for a printing portion of the image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 includes an image forming apparatus main body 1.
2, yellow disposed inside the image forming apparatus main body 12;
A printing device 14 that prints each color of magenta, cyan, and black; a paper storage tray 18 that is disposed below the printing device 14 and stores paper 16; and a delivery roller that delivers the paper 16 inside the paper storage tray 18 to a paper transport path. 20, a paper transport roller 22 that is disposed along the paper transport path and transports the paper to each of the printing devices 14;
And a fixing device 26 for fixing the particles 28 (see FIG. 2) on the paper 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 10
The printing device 14 used in the first embodiment includes a fluid container 32 in which the fluid 30 is stored. The upper surface of the fluid storage container 32 is open, and the particles 28 are separated by the particle supply device 34 provided near the fluid storage container 32.
Is supplied from the upper surface of the device. The fluid container 32 is formed of a material that transmits laser light.

The paper 16 as an image recording medium to which particles 28 adhere is located above the fluid container 32 (in the direction of arrow Z in FIG. 2).

The side surface 3 of the fluid container 32 in the X direction
A piezoelectric vibrator 36 as a vibrating means is provided on 2A (a side surface on which laser light described below is avoided). A driving device 38 for driving and controlling the piezoelectric vibrator 36 is electrically connected to the piezoelectric vibrator 36. For this reason, when the piezoelectric vibrator 36 is driven by the driving device 38, the entire fluid container 32 is vibrated by the piezoelectric vibrator 36, and a surface standing wave (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a “standing wave”) is applied to the inner fluid surface. .)
Is formed. That is, irregularities are formed on the surface of the fluid at the time of excitation, and the concave portion is a node of the wave, and the convex portion is an antinode of the wave.

The particles 28 supplied to the surface of the fluid from the particle supply device 34 are respectively captured by the nodes of the waves, and a highly accurate particle arrangement is formed. Here, the distance between the particles 28, that is, the image resolution, can be controlled by changing the wavelength of the standing wave. Note that the wavelength of the standing wave can be easily changed by changing the frequency of the piezoelectric vibrator 36 under the control of the driving device 38.

Here, the relationship between the excitation frequency and the wavelength of the surface standing wave will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, the relationship between the excitation frequency (shown on the horizontal axis) and the wavelength of the surface standing wave (shown on the vertical axis), the excitation frequency and the excitation at the start of surface standing wave shaping. The relationship with the amplitude is
Eisenenger, W, Dynamic pro
parties of the surfactant
session of water and aqueous
solutions of surface act
live agentswith standing c
apillary waves in the fre
quency range from 10kc / s
to 1.5 Mc, Acoustica, 9 (195
9), 327-340. The inventors have developed water and silicone oil (Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
(KF96-10CS), the theoretical values described in the literature were consistent with the experimental values.

Next, the surface standing wave when the surface standing wave is formed will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, there are a portion which vibrates with time and a portion which does not vibrate and stays still. The vibrating portion is a belly, and the non-vibrating portion is a node. The distance between the particles is equal to the distance between the antinodes, and is a half wavelength of the standing wave wavelength. For example, as shown in the graph of FIG.
When a vibration is applied at about z, a surface standing wave having a wavelength of 40 μm can be formed.
m. This means that when one particle is defined as one pixel, 12
This indicates that printing equivalent to 00 spi (Spot Per Inch) is possible. In order to form a surface standing wave having a wavelength of 40 μm with silicone oil, vibration may be applied at a frequency of about 100 kHz as shown in FIG.

As a specific example of this embodiment, a half wavelength of 20 μm
m, a particle diameter of 15 μm and a volume density ρ = 16
When 8 kg / m ³ of the particles 28 were loaded, the particles 28 were trapped in the node portion without changing the waveform, and formed an array.

In particular, as shown in FIG.
Has a lyophobic property, and the layer thickness h (depth) of water or silicone oil used as a fluid is set to be not less than the amplitude of the surface standing wave and not more than the particle size d (15 μm). And
When the volume density of the particles 28 is ρ = 1200 kg / m ³ ,
The particles 28 trapped in the node of the wave are
Stably formed in an array in contact with the bottom surface of the.

By using a liquid having a higher viscosity and a lower surface tension than water as the fluid stored in the fluid container, it is possible to form a stable surface standing wave without fluctuation on the liquid surface. it can.

Next, the restraining means provided in the printing apparatus of the present invention will be described.

The fluid container 32 is mounted on two rolling bearings 40A, 40B (restraining means), and is supported by the two rolling bearings 40A, 40B in the Z direction in FIG. In addition, these rolling bearings 40A,
0B supports the edge of the bottom 32B of the fluid container 32 in the X direction.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, well-known existing radial ball bearings are used for the rolling bearings 40A and 40B, and inner rings 44A and 44B fixed to shafts 42A and 42B, respectively, and inner rings 44A and 44B. Rigid ball 46 rotatably provided by a retainer (not shown) on the outer periphery of
And outer rings 48A and 48B that rotate around the outer circumferences of the inner rings 44A and 44B via the hard spheres 46, respectively. The shafts 42A and 42B are fixed to the frame 50.

As shown in FIG. 3, the dimension L in the Y direction of the inner races 44A, 44B and the outer races 48A, 48B of the rolling bearings 40A, 40B of the present embodiment is
The width W of the second bottom 32B is set to be larger than the dimension W of the width in the Y direction. For this reason, the fluid storage container 32 is supported in the Z direction with the contact area between the rolling bearings 40A, 40B and the outer rings 48A, 48B as large as possible.

As described above, the rolling bearings 40A, 40
B, the fluid container 32 is mounted on the piezoelectric vibrator 36.
The vibration in the Z direction is restricted (constrained) by the rolling bearings 40A and 40B in the Z direction when excited by the vibration, but the vibration in the X direction due to the rotation of the outer races 48A and 48B in the X direction. Not regulated. As a result, the fluid container 32 oscillates only in the X direction due to the vibration from the piezoelectric vibrator 36, and a stable standing wave is formed in the fluid 30 inside.

As described above, the rolling bearing 40
A, 40B and inner ring 44A, 44B and outer ring 48
A, 48B, the dimension L in the Y direction is
By making it larger than the dimension W of the direction width, the fluid container 32 can be supported more reliably in the Z direction, but is not limited thereto.

For example, two rolling bearings (not shown) each having an inner race and an outer race having a dimension L in the Y direction smaller than the dimension W of the fluid container 32 in the Y direction are provided on one shaft 42.
A may be provided at both ends of A and support the Y-direction edge of the bottom 32A of the fluid container 32. In this case, two other similar rolling bearings (not shown) are provided on the other shaft 42B, and the fluid container 32 is supported by a total of four rolling bearings.

Next, as a particle discharge device for discharging the arranged particles 28, a laser exposure device in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is provided below the fluid container 32 (in a direction opposite to the Z direction in FIG. 2). A laser exposure device 52 having the above configuration is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the laser exposure device 52
Is a laser light source 54 and a laser light control driving device 56 for controlling the laser light emitted from the laser light source 54.
And a laser light shaping lens 58 for correcting the laser light emitted from the laser light source 54, a rotating polygon mirror 60 for rotating and scanning the laser light corrected by the laser light shaping lens 58, and reflected by the rotating polygon mirror 60. An irradiation mirror 62 for irradiating the laser light to the lower part of the particles inside the fluid container 32.

As described above, by using the laser exposure device 52, the particles 28 are selectively irradiated with laser light corresponding to the image signal, so that the particles 28
Can be discharged in the direction of. In other words, when the particles 28 are irradiated with high-power laser light, a part of the particles 28 rises in temperature in a short time to several thousand degrees Celsius and is vaporized. Become. The ejected particles 28 collide with the sheet 16 and are held by an adhesive force such as van der Waals force, thereby forming a visible image. Here, by making the particles 28 hydrophobic, the adhesion to the fluid 30 is reduced, so that the particles 28 can be discharged with less energy.

As a method for discharging the particles 28 other than using the expansion force, for example, particles having photoconductivity are used, and the particles are irradiated with laser light.
The electric charge held by the particles may be attenuated, and an electric field may be applied to this field. As a result, it is possible to selectively discharge only particles whose charge has not decayed.

In this embodiment, the rolling bearing 40
Although the form in which the vibration of the fluid container 32 in the Z direction is regulated by A and 40B is shown, the invention is not limited to this, and the vibration of the fluid container 32 in the Z direction is regulated, and in FIG. Vibration in the Y direction may be restricted.

Here, as means for restricting the vibration in the 2Y direction in the figure, although not shown, for example, the fluid container 32
Alternatively, a convex portion may be formed linearly on the side surface in the Y direction, and a concave portion or a slide rail that meshes with the convex portion may be formed on a frame provided close to the fluid container 32.
Accordingly, since the fluid container 32 is constrained in the Y direction, the vibration in the Y direction is restricted, and the fluid container 32 can be more simply vibrated only in the X direction, and a more stable standing wave is formed. it can.

Next, the operation and effects of the printing device 14 of the present embodiment will be described.

The driving device 38 drives the piezoelectric vibrator 36 to vibrate the fluid container 32. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the fluid container 32 vibrates in the X direction, and a surface standing wave is formed in the fluid 30 inside. At this time, the particles 28 supplied onto the fluid 30 from the particle supply device 34
Are trapped in the nodal portion of the surface standing wave to form an array.

Here, the fluid storage container 32 is supported in the Z direction by two rolling bearings 40A and 40B, and the vibration of the fluid storage container 32 in the Z direction is regulated.

On the other hand, the rolling bearings 40A,
Since the outer races 48A and 48B of OB rotate, the vibration of the fluid container 32 in the vibration direction (X direction) is not restricted. For this reason, the fluid container 32 can be made to vibrate only in the X direction. As a result, a stable standing wave can be formed in the fluid 30 inside the fluid container 32, and a stable arrangement of the particles 28 can be formed.

As described above, in a state in which a large number of particles 28 on the fluid 30 are arranged, a laser beam is emitted from a laser light source 54 controlled by a laser beam control driving device 56 to form a laser beam. After being corrected by the lens 58 and reflected by the rotating polygon mirror 60, the laser light is irradiated on the lower part of the particle 28 by the irradiation mirror 62.

When the particles 28 are irradiated with the high-power laser light, the temperature of some of the particles 28 rises to several thousand degrees Celsius in a short time, and the particles 28 are vaporized. The discharged particles 28 collide with the paper 16 and are held by an adhesive force such as van der Waals force, thereby forming a visible image.

Further, by using the well-known existing rolling bearings 40A and 40B as the restraining means, the cost can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 2, the two rolling bearings 40A and 40B support the bottom edge of the fluid container 32 in the X direction, so that the two rolling bearings 40A and 40B are supported.
Since a space is formed between A and 40B, the laser light emitted from the laser exposure device 52 can pass through this space. Further, since the piezoelectric vibrator 36 is directly attached to the side surface 32A of the fluid storage container 32 which is avoided from the laser beam, the laser beam is not blocked.

The volume density ρ of the particles 28 (kg /
When m ³ ) is set to ρ ≦ 1600, the influence of the surface standing wave can be increased, so that the particle arrangement on the fluid surface can be facilitated.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, when the fluid 30 is a liquid and the layer thickness h (depth) is equal to or less than the average particle diameter d, the arranged particles 28 are
And is supported by this bottom surface, so that the waveform of the fluid surface can be reduced.

By using water as the fluid,
A standing wave can be formed on the surface without extra cost. Further, when a surface standing wave is formed, compared with other fluids having a small surface tension, an amplitude at the time of excitation is not required, so that energy for vibrating the piezoelectric vibrator 36 can be reduced.

Further, hydrophobic particles 2 having a small adhesion interface
By using 8, the energy for discretizing the color material in pixel units can be reduced as compared with the case where a liquid is used, and the energy can be reduced.

If a fluid having a higher viscosity than water and a low surface tension is used as the fluid inside the fluid container 32, a stable surface standing wave without fluctuation can be formed on the liquid surface.

As described above, according to the printing device 14 of the present embodiment, the fluid storage container 32 is mounted on the rolling bearing 4.
0A, 40B, the fluid storage container 32
Can be stably vibrated only in a desired direction, and a stable standing wave can be formed. In addition, by using the existing rolling bearings 40A and 40B as the restraining means, cost reduction can be achieved.

Further, by making the particles 28 hydrophobic, the adhesive force with the fluid 30 can be reduced, so that the particles 28 can be discharged with relatively small energy, and the energy can be reduced.

High-speed printing can be achieved by forming a large number of particle arrays or by increasing the laser scanning speed.

Further, the two rolling bearings 40A, 40
By supporting the fluid container 32 with B and attaching the piezoelectric vibrator 36 to the side surface 32A in the X direction of the fluid container 32, laser light from the laser exposure device 52 can be avoided. Therefore, the irradiation of the particles 28 with the laser light is not adversely affected.

Next, a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description will not be repeated.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the printing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment has a lid 102 placed on the upper surface of the fluid container 32 constituting the printing apparatus 14 of the first embodiment. This is a mode in which a pressing means for pressing the fluid container 32 is provided from above.

Here, the pressing means comes into contact with the lid 102 of the fluid container 32, and has a rolling bearing (radial ball bearing) 104 having the same structure as the rolling bearings 40A and 40B.
A, 104B. That is, the rolling bearing 1
Reference numerals 04A and 104B denote inner rings (both not shown) fixed to the shafts 110A and 110B, rigid balls (not shown) rotatably provided on the outer periphery of the inner rings, and outer rings (not shown) rotating on the outer periphery of the inner rings. It is composed of

Coil springs 112A and 112B for pressing the rolling bearings 104A and 104B against the lid 102 are fixed to the ends of the shafts 110A and 110B, respectively. Note that these shafts 110A, 110
B is fixed to a frame (not shown) so as to be movable in the direction of expansion and contraction of the coil springs 112A and 112B.

According to the printing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, when the fluid container 32 vibrates in the X direction, the rolling bearing 1
Because the outer rings of 04A and 104B rotate on the outer periphery of the inner ring,
Vibration in the vibration direction (X direction) of the fluid container 32 is allowed without being restricted.

On the other hand, in order to press down the fluid storage container 32 from above, the rolling bearings 40A, which are supported from below,
Along with 40B, the fluid container 32 can be reliably restrained in the Z direction. For this reason, the vibration of the fluid container 32 in the Z direction is regulated.

As a result, as compared with the first embodiment, the fluid container 32 can be more stably vibrated only in a desired direction by an amount corresponding to the increase in the constraint performance of the fluid container 32 in the Z direction. And a stable standing wave can be formed by the fluid 30. As a result, a more stable particle arrangement can be formed.

Further, by the same means as in the first embodiment,
By restraining the fluid container 32 in the Y direction in the figure and restricting the vibration in the Y direction, a more stable standing wave can be formed.

Further, by using the existing rolling bearings 104A and 104B as the pressing means, cost reduction can be realized.

Next, a printing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description will not be repeated.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the printing apparatus 200 of this embodiment is provided with another restraining means in place of the rolling bearings 40A and 40B of the printing apparatus 14 of the first embodiment. .

In the present embodiment, the restraining means is
Particles 202A, 202B contacting the bottom 32B of the second
And holding members 204A and 204B for holding the lubricating particles 202A and 202B. That is,
The fluid container 32 is placed on lubricating particles 202A, 202B placed on the holding members 204A, 204B. Note that ends of the holding members 204A and 204B are fixed to the frame 50, respectively.

Here, as the lubricating particles 202A and 202B, SiO ₂ particles having a particle size of 0.1 to 100 μm, TiO ₂ particles having a particle size of 0.1 to 100 μm, and a particle size of 0.1 to 100 μm.
Fine particles such as 100 μm PMMA particles are used. The lubricating particles 202A and 202B are preferably spherical.

In addition to the fine particles, oil, wax and the like may be used.

According to the printing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment, the fluid container 32 is placed via the above-mentioned fine particles as compared with the case where the fluid container 32 is simply placed on the holding members 204A and 204B. Storage container 32 and holding member 204
A, the frictional force generated between them and 204B can be significantly reduced.

For this reason, since the fluid container 32 is supported in the Z direction to restrict the vibration in the Z direction and the vibration in the X direction is not restricted, a stable standing wave is formed as in the first embodiment. And a stable particle arrangement can be formed. The same effect can be obtained by using oil, wax, or the like instead of the fine particles.

In addition, a more stable standing wave can be formed by restricting the fluid container 32 in the Y direction in the figure and restricting the vibration in the Y direction by the same means as in the first embodiment. . Furthermore, the restraining force in the Z direction may be further increased by using the pressing means of the second embodiment.

Further, since existing particles are used as the fine particles, cost reduction can be realized.

[0084]

According to the printing apparatus of the present invention, all of the conditions of miniaturization, low cost, low energy, and high printing speed are satisfied in a well-balanced manner, and particles are arranged stably. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus using a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between an excitation frequency and a wavelength.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the formation of a surface standing wave.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of a printing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the depth of the liquid inside the fluid container and the particle size of the particles.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Printing device 16 Paper (medium) 28 Particles 30 Fluid 32 Fluid storage container (Fluid holding means) 34 Particle supply device (Particle supply means) 36 Piezoelectric vibrator (Vibration means) 40A Rolling bearing (Restriction means) 40B Rolling bearing ( Constraining means) 52 Laser exposure apparatus (ejection means) 100 Printing apparatus 104A Rolling bearing (pressing means) 104B Rolling bearing (pressing means) 112A Coil spring (pressing means) 112B Coil spring (pressing means) 200 Printing apparatus 202A Lubricating particles (constraint) Means) 202B Lubricating particles (restraining means) 204A Holding member (restraining means) 204B Holding member (restraining means)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A fluid holding means for containing a fluid therein, a particle supply means for supplying particles to the fluid holding means, and the particles supplied to the fluid holding means by vibrating the fluid holding means at substantially equal intervals. Vibrating means for arranging the particles, discharging means for discharging the arranged particles onto a medium facing the particles, vibration in the vibration direction of the fluid holding means by the vibrating means is allowed, and other than the vibrating direction And a restraining means for restricting vibration in at least one direction of the printing apparatus. 2. The exposure device according to claim 1, wherein the discharge unit is an exposure device that irradiates the particles with laser light and discharges the particles onto the medium. The restraining unit supports the fluid holding unit while avoiding the laser light. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a support member that allows the fluid holding means to vibrate in a vibration direction. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said support member is a rolling bearing rotatable in a vibration direction of said fluid holding means. 4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said support member comprises a lubricant movable in a vibration direction of said fluid holding means, and a holding member on which said lubricant is placed. Printing device. 5. A device according to claim 2, further comprising pressing means for pressing said fluid holding means in a direction opposite to a supporting direction of said support member and for allowing vibration of said fluid holding means in a vibration direction. The printing device according to any one of the above items. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the vibrating means is provided on a side surface of the fluid holding unit that avoids the laser beam. .