JP2006347179A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device which can prevent an unheated non-image region from occurring, can prevent a stripe-like scumming from occurring, and performs the formation of a high quality image. <P>SOLUTION: This image forming device has an image forming means which forms a latent image in an image region of a recording body by selectively heating a non-image region of the recording body, and transfers the latent image formed on the recording body by developing it onto a recording paper. In the image forming device, the image forming means has a plurality of heating sources to the recording body (multi-head), and also, a plurality of the heating sources are made to be able to write the same pixel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a method for forming a latent image on an image recording body for forming a latent image by light (or heat) writing.

  FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 1 is a heating source (preferably a light source having a wavelength of about 300 nm to 1300 nm). Any of an LED array, a semiconductor laser, a solid laser, and the like may be used. 2 is a recording roller, 3 is an inking unit, 4 is an intermediate transfer roller, 5 is recording paper, 6 is a pressure roller, 7 is an infrared heater, 8 is a cleaning unit, 9 is a liquid layer forming roller, and 10 is an image recording The recording body 10 has a receding contact angle that decreases when the recording layer 10 is brought into contact with the recording layer in a heated state (lyophilic state), and receding contact angle when heated in a non-contact state with the liquid. It is a recording material having surface characteristics that increase (liquid repellency).

  When processing the surface of the recording medium 10 to be lyophilic, a liquid layer is formed before heating the surface of the recording medium 10, or the liquid is brought into contact with the surface of the recording medium during heating or immediately after heating. The liquid is brought into contact with the surface of the recording medium. The liquid layer may be formed by forming a liquid layer on the recording medium 10 using a liquid layer forming roller 9 as shown in FIG. The liquid layer forming roller 9 is not always necessary. For example, the recording body 10 may be removed from the recording body roller 2 or may be immersed in the liquid layer together with the recording body roller, or recording may be performed using the cleaning unit 8. A liquid layer may be formed on the surface of the body 10.

  After making the surface of the recording body 10 lyophilic as described above, image writing is performed. This image writing is performed by separating the inking unit 3, the intermediate transfer roller 4, the cleaning unit 8 and the like from the recording body 10. In the state, the heating source 1 is scanned to write an image. As a scanning method, a method of writing while moving the heating unit 1 in the main scanning direction with a linear motor or the like while rotating the recording roller 2, or raster scanning with a polygon mirror or a galvanometer mirror can be applied.

  Next, an image is formed on the recording body 10. During this image formation, the recording paper 5 is fed with the intermediate transfer roller 4 and the inking unit 3 pressed against the recording body 10. As the inking unit 3, a plurality of inking rollers whose ink layer thickness is controlled by a blade 3b or the like are used. Ink supply is performed by dropping the ink from the ink supply tank 3a from above the blade 3b.

  After printing the desired number of sheets, another image is newly formed on the recording medium 10 and the recording medium 10 is reused. At that time, that is, after the completion of printing, the intermediate transfer roller 4 and the inking roller 3 are connected to the recording medium. 10, the cleaning unit 8 is pressed against the recording medium 10 to remove ink remaining on the recording medium 10. After removing the ink on the recording body 10 and forming a liquid layer on the surface of the recording body, the recording body 10 is heated by the infrared heater 7 to erase the latent image of the previous image and Liquid treatment. However, in addition to the method described above, the lyophilic treatment method for the surface of the recording body 10 may be performed by heating in a state where the liquid is in contact with the recording body surface, or immediately after heating the recording body surface. You may make a liquid contact. In other words, the recording body 10 performs printing on a predetermined number of recording papers 5 as described above, then removes ink remaining on the recording body 10, and removes the ink on the recording body 10. A new image (latent image) is formed on the recording medium 10 by erasing the latent image (liquid repellent area) formed on the recording medium 10 and lyophilic processing the surface of the recording medium 10. Is possible. That is, when the ink remaining on the recording body 10 is removed by the cleaning unit 8, a liquid layer is formed on the surface of the recording body by the liquid layer forming roller 9, and the surface of the recording body 10 is heated by the infrared heater 7. The recording medium 10 is subjected to the lyophilic treatment and can be used again. As the cleaning unit 8, the cleaning liquid is infiltrated into the waste 8b from the cleaning liquid supply tank 8a, and the waste 8b infiltrated with the cleaning liquid is pressed against the recording body 10 to clean the surface of the recording body 10.

  Image writing includes negative writing and positive writing. In the negative writing, the recording body 10 is heated while being in contact with a member selected from a liquid and / or a solid, or the recording body 10 is written. Immediately after the surface of the recording medium is heated, the contact member is subjected to lyophilic treatment by bringing it into contact with a member selected from liquid and / or solid to reduce the receding contact angle of the image area on the surface of the recording body. By selectively heating only the non-image area of the recording body in the absence of the liquid, the receding contact angle of the non-image area is increased to perform the liquid repellent treatment. On the other hand, in the positive writing, only the image area is selectively heated while the recording body 10 is in contact with a member selected from liquid and / or solid, or the surface of the recording body is selectively selected. Immediately after heating, the image area is subjected to lyophilic processing by selectively contacting with a member selected from liquid and / or solid.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied performs a lyophilic process according to the image information on the recording body 10, and attaches ink to the portion subjected to the lyophilic process, and this recording is performed. Ink adhering to the body 10 is transferred and printed on the recording paper 5 via the intermediate transfer roller 4 or directly.

The recording body 10 performs printing on a predetermined number of recording papers 5 as described above, and then erases the latent image (lyophilic area) formed on the recording body 10, and the recording body By removing the ink remaining on the recording medium 10, a new image (latent image) can be formed on the recording medium 10 and used again. That is, the ink remaining on the recording medium 10 is removed by the cleaning unit 8 or other means, and then the recording medium 10 is heated by the infrared heater 7 in the absence of the liquid. The liquid-repellent treatment is applied and it can be reused.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-178478 JP-A-8-276663

  Patent Document 1 describes a recording method using a heat-sensitive wettability changing material, and Patent Document 2 describes a recording method by negative writing. However, the invention described in Patent Document 1 is mainly recorded by a thermal head, and there is a possibility that the recording layer is mechanically broken due to recording by contact between the thermal head and the recording body. Further, in the negative writing method described in Patent Document 2, since the light source continuously oscillates, it cannot be said that the light-to-heat conversion efficiency is high, and writing takes time, and an expensive apparatus is required as a laser light source. There are some problems.

  In addition, the negative writing method described in Patent Document 2 has a drawback that the lifetime is shorter than that of positive writing because the light source continuously oscillates.

  Further, when the recording medium includes a photothermal conversion layer, for example, when writing using laser light, light incident from the surface of the recording layer 11 passes through the recording layer 11 and the photothermal conversion layer 12 on the surface of the substrate 13. When reflected, the specular reflection component is strong and reaches the boundary surface between the photothermal conversion layer 12 and the recording layer 11 or the surface of the recording layer 11, and this is reflected at each boundary surface, surface, etc., so that the inside of each layer is reflected. In this case, there are problems that multiple reflection occurs and the exposed area is thickened and recording unevenness such as moire occurs.

  Further, in order to reuse a recording medium that has been used once, unless the ink remaining on the recording medium after the previous use is removed cleanly, the recording paper becomes dirty with the residual ink, and clean printing cannot be performed.

  Further, when a plurality of heating sources for the recording medium are provided (multi-head) and the negative writing is performed by these, if any one of the heating sources is damaged, an unheated non-image area is generated, and a streak-like background stain is generated.

  Furthermore, when recording by negative writing, if there is a variation in heating and heat storage of the recording medium and / or image forming means at the time of negative writing, the image is reduced due to the variation in heating and heat storage.

  Furthermore, when writing is performed via a rotating polygonal mirror, if the sensitivity of the recording medium is low, the rotating polygonal mirror must be rotated at a low speed. The speed becomes unstable, which becomes unevenness of photothermal conversion, and appears as unevenness of image density, unevenness of dots and lines.

  The invention of claim 1 further comprises image forming means for selectively heating a non-image area of the recording body to form a latent image in the image area of the recording body, and developing the latent image formed on the recording body In the image forming apparatus for transferring to the recording paper, the image forming means has a plurality of heating sources for the recording body (multihead), and the plurality of heating sources can write the same pixel. It is a feature.

  In the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1, when a defective heating source that is always in a heated state is generated and the heating source is located in a blank area, the heating source is written in an area to be written. On the other hand, the correction by other heating sources is not performed, thereby reducing the labor involved in writing correction and reducing the capacity of the control program.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the image forming means has a multi-head having a recording width wider than the image forming area, and the multi-head is moved in the main scanning direction for every fixed print amount. Therefore, defective heating caused by excessive use is suppressed.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided the multihead according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the image forming means has a multihead having a recording width wider than that of the image forming area, and the multihead is moved in the main scanning direction at regular intervals. Therefore, defective heating caused by excessive use is suppressed.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the image forming unit includes an image area heating unit and a blank area heating unit. The heating is suppressed.

  The invention of claim 6 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 5, a multi-head having a resolution lower than that of the image area heating means is used for the blank area heating means, and by shortening the heating time of the blank area, The image forming time is shortened.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the resistance value of each heating source of the multi-head and / or the voltage across the resistor connected in series with the heating source is detected, and the detection is performed. The presence or absence of a defective heating source is checked by comparing the voltage with a specified voltage, thereby preventing the occurrence of an unheated non-image area due to the generation of a defective heating source, It is intended to prevent the occurrence of dirt.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, when the image forming means is brought into contact with the liquid in a heated state, the receding contact angle is lowered (lyophilic state), and the liquid The recording medium having a surface characteristic that increases the receding contact angle when heated in a non-contact state (liquid repellency state) is heated while being in contact with a member selected from liquid and / or solid, or Immediately after the surface of the recording body is heated, the receding contact angle of the surface of the recording body is lowered by contact with a member selected from a liquid and / or a solid (lyophilic treatment), and then the whole is treated as a parent. Then, only the non-image area of the recording medium is selectively heated in the absence of a liquid and / or solid that makes the liquid repellency only in the area where recording is not performed, thereby repelling only the area where recording is not performed. It is an image forming means that makes it liquid. , It has been, but with clear negative writing means.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to eighth aspects, the image forming means includes a plurality of image forming units corresponding to the colors of the respective recording inks, thereby forming a high-quality multicolor image. It is possible.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided image forming means for selectively heating a non-image area of a recording body to form a latent image in the image area of the recording body, and developing the latent image formed on the recording body Then, in the image forming apparatus for transferring to the recording paper, the image forming means has a function of adjusting the heating amount of writing, so that the heating temperature is adjusted to prevent uneven heating. .

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect of the present invention, the image forming means has a function of adjusting a heating amount of writing in accordance with temperature information of the recording body, and thus has a base temperature of the recording body. Based on the above, an optimum heating amount is supplied to form a high quality image.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the tenth or eleventh aspect, the image forming means is a pixel adjacent to a pixel to be heated (a target pixel) and a pixel to be written simultaneously with or before the target pixel. It has a function of adjusting the heating amount of writing according to the heating information of the image, so that the influence of the temperature variation of the pixel of interest generated according to the heating state of the adjacent pixel is suppressed, and a high quality image is formed. It is a thing.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the tenth to twelfth aspects, the image forming unit is configured to perform heating history of a plurality of lines in the main scanning direction that is the same or close to the target pixel. It is characterized in that the heating amount of writing is changed, so that the influence of the temperature variation of the pixel of interest generated according to the heating history of a plurality of past lines is suppressed, and a high quality image is formed.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the tenth to thirteenth aspects, the image forming unit includes a multi-head having a plurality of heating sources for the recording body, and simultaneously drives the heating amount from the multi-head. It is characterized in that it is changed according to the quantity of heating sources to be used, and thus the heating amount variation caused by the quantity driven simultaneously is suppressed, and a high quality image is formed.

  According to a fifteenth aspect of the invention, in the invention according to any one of the tenth to fourteenth aspects, the image forming unit performs writing at least every one line or more in the sub-scanning direction. In this way, high quality images are formed while preventing uneven heating.

  According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the tenth to fifteenth aspects, the image forming unit changes a writing speed in accordance with the image information. The heat storage amount variation is suppressed, and a high quality image is formed.

  According to a seventeenth aspect of the invention, there is provided the recording medium according to any one of the tenth to sixteenth aspects, wherein the image forming means changes the writing speed according to the rising temperature of the recording body. The temperature rise is reduced to form a high-quality image.

  According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the tenth to seventeenth aspects, the image forming means forms an image by increasing the heating amount at the start of writing, so that the recording body temperature is stable. This prevents the heating amount from being insufficient before performing high-quality images.

  A nineteenth aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in any one of the tenth to eighteenth aspects, the image forming means has a multi-head and writes pixels on the same line at least every one pixel or more. Therefore, heat storage during writing is suppressed, and uneven heating is suppressed to form a high quality image.

  According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the tenth to nineteenth aspects, the image forming unit is a multi-head in which a heating source is formed every other pixel or more. Heat storage is suppressed and uneven heating is suppressed to form a high quality image.

  According to a twenty-first aspect of the invention, in the invention according to any one of the tenth to twentieth aspects, the image forming means has a multi-head, writes at least every one pixel or more of pixels on the same line, and has a spiral shape. Thus, it is characterized in that heat storage during writing is suppressed, and uneven heating is suppressed to form a high quality image.

  According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the tenth to twenty-first aspects, the image forming unit has a multi-head, writes at least every one or more pixels on the same line, and finishes writing the final line. After that, the image forming means or the recording body is moved in the main scanning direction to continue image formation, so that heat storage at the time of writing is suppressed and uneven heating is suppressed to form a high quality image. It is a thing.

  According to a twenty-third aspect of the invention, in the invention according to any one of the tenth to twenty-second aspects, when the image forming means is brought into contact with the liquid in a heated state, the receding contact angle is lowered (lyophilic state), and the liquid The recording medium having a surface characteristic that increases the receding contact angle when heated in a non-contact state (liquid repellency state) is heated while being in contact with a member selected from liquid and / or solid, or Immediately after the surface of the recording body is heated, the receding contact angle of the surface of the recording body is lowered by bringing it into contact with a member selected from a liquid and / or a solid (lyophilic treatment), and the whole is made lyophilic. The image forming means that selectively heats only the non-image area of the recording body in the absence of the liquid and / or the solid contact member to make the liquid repellency only in the area where recording is not performed. With negative writing Are those that clarifies the stage.

  According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus according to any one of the tenth to twenty-third aspects includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses corresponding to the colors of the respective recording inks, thereby forming a multi-color high-quality image. It is what.

  The invention of claim 25 includes a laser light source whose emission is controlled according to image information, a rotating polygon mirror for scanning the laser light from the laser light source, a motor for rotating the rotating polygon mirror, In an image forming apparatus that comprises a recording body irradiated with laser light reflected by a rotary polygon mirror, and forms a latent image according to image information by irradiation of the laser light on the recording body, the recording body comprises: A low-sensitivity recording medium having a light-to-heat conversion material for converting the laser light irradiated to the recording medium into heat, wherein the rotary polygon mirror is rotated by the motor via a speed reduction mechanism, and , The motor is rotated at a high rotation speed in the stable rotation region, and the rotating polygon mirror is stably rotated at a low speed by using a speed reducing unit, thereby stabilizing the rotation of the polygon mirror at a low speed, the scanning speed of the laser beam, And between 査時 constant image density unevenness, in which to obtain a dot or line size irregularity (Extra-thinning) inexpensive optical scanning device less like.

  The invention of claim 26 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 25, the rotating shaft of the motor or rotary polygon mirror has a disk-like mass body having a mass equal to or greater than that of the rotary polygon mirror. This makes it possible to stabilize the rotation of the polygon mirror at low speed, to make the scanning speed and scanning time of the laser beam constant, and to obtain an optical scanning device free from image density unevenness, dot and line size unevenness (thickness / thinning), etc. Is.

  The invention of claim 1 has an image forming apparatus for selectively heating a non-image area of a recording body to form a latent image in the image area of the recording body, and developing the latent image formed on the recording body In the image forming apparatus for transferring to the recording paper, the image forming unit has a plurality of heating sources for the recording body (multihead), and the plurality of heating sources can write the same pixel. By generating a defective heating source, it is possible to prevent an unheated non-image area from being generated and to prevent generation of streak stains.

  In the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1, when a defective heating source that is always in a heated state is generated and the heating source is located in a blank area, the heating source is written in an area to be written. On the other hand, since correction by other heating sources is not performed, it is possible to reduce time and effort related to writing correction and to reduce the control program capacity.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the image forming means has a multi-head having a recording width wider than the image forming area, and the multi-head is moved in the main scanning direction for every fixed print amount. Therefore, it is possible to suppress defective heating caused by excessive use.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided the multihead according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the image forming means has a multihead having a recording width wider than that of the image forming area, and the multihead is moved in the main scanning direction at regular intervals. Therefore, defective heating caused by excessive use can be suppressed.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, since the image area heating means and the blank area heating means are provided in any one of the first to fourth aspects of the invention, defective heating caused by excessive use can be suppressed.

  In the invention of claim 6, in the invention of claim 5, since the multi-head having a resolution lower than that of the image area heating means is used for the blank area heating means, the image formation is performed by shortening the heating time of the margin. Time can be shortened.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the invention of any one of the first to sixth aspects, the resistance value of each heating source of the multi-head and / or the voltage across the resistor connected in series with the heating source is detected, and the detected voltage Has a function to check the presence or absence of a defective heating source by comparing the voltage with a specified voltage, so that the generation of a defective heating source prevents the occurrence of an unheated non-image area and prevents the occurrence of streak stains. be able to.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, when the image forming means is brought into contact with the liquid in a heated state, the receding contact angle is lowered (lyophilic state), and the liquid The recording medium having a surface characteristic that increases the receding contact angle when heated in a non-contact state (liquid repellency state) is heated while being in contact with a member selected from liquid and / or solid, or Immediately after the surface of the recording body is heated, the receding contact angle of the surface of the recording body is lowered by bringing it into contact with a member selected from a liquid and / or a solid (lyophilic treatment), and the whole is made lyophilic. The image forming means that selectively heats only the non-image area of the recording body in the absence of a liquid and / or solid contact member to make the area not to be recorded liquid repellent. So that the negative writing method is clear. It is possible.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to eighth aspects, since a plurality of the image forming means are provided, a high-quality multicolor image can be formed.

According to the invention of claim 10, the heating temperature can be adjusted to prevent heating unevenness.
According to the invention of claim 11, it is possible to form a high quality image by supplying an optimum heating amount based on the base temperature of the recording medium.
According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, it is possible to suppress the influence of the temperature variation of the pixel of interest that occurs according to the heating state of the adjacent pixel, and to form a high-quality pixel.
According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the influence of the temperature variation of the pixel of interest that occurs according to the heating history of a plurality of past lines, and to form a high quality pixel.
According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the variation in the amount of heating caused by the quantity driven simultaneously and form high quality pixels.
According to the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, heat storage during writing can be prevented, and uneven heating can be suppressed to form high quality pixels.
According to the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to form a high-quality pixel by suppressing variations in the amount of heat storage during writing depending on image information.
According to the seventeenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the temperature rise of the recording body during writing and to form high quality pixels.
According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the heating amount from being insufficient before the temperature of the recording medium is stabilized, and to form a high quality image.
According to the nineteenth to twenty-second aspects of the present invention, it is possible to form a high quality image by suppressing heat storage during writing and suppressing uneven heating.
According to the invention of claim 23, the negative writing can be surely performed.
According to the invention of claim 24, it is possible to form a multicolor high quality image.

According to the invention of claim 25, the rotation of the polygon mirror at low speed is stabilized, the scanning speed and scanning time of the laser beam are constant, and there are few image density unevenness, dot and line size unevenness (thickening / thinning), and the like. An optical scanning device can be obtained.
According to the twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, optical scanning is performed with stable rotation of the polygon mirror at a low speed, constant scanning speed and scanning time of the laser beam, and no image density unevenness, dot or line size unevenness (thickness / thinning). A device can be obtained.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a main part of the recording body 10, and the surface of the recording body 10 exhibits absorption with respect to light (electromagnetic wave) wavelength by forming a liquid layer on the surface. 2A shows an example in which the light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing member on the substrate 11 of the recording body 10 is formed by the recording layer 12 itself, and FIG. 2B shows the light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing member in the recording layer. FIG. 2C shows an example in which the light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing member 15 is provided between the recording layer 14 and the substrate 11. Specific examples of the light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing member contained in the recording layer are as shown in Tables 1 and 2. The light absorbing member may be either a pigment or a dye.

  As the light (electromagnetic wave) generation source 1, a solid laser such as YAG, a semiconductor laser, or an LED array is suitable. As a method for scanning light (electromagnetic waves) on the recording surface, raster scanning using a polygon mirror or galvanometer mirror, or a method of scanning while rotating the recording medium is appropriate. The shorter the wavelength of light (electromagnetic wave), the smaller the irradiation spot diameter and the higher the resolution.

(Experimental example)
Thermosensitive wettability changing functional material: Fluorine-containing acrylate polymer Substrate: Polyester film Light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing material: Cyanine dye Layer structure: 1 wt% to 10 wt% of cyanine dye in the recording layer Light (electromagnetic wave) source: Wavelength 800 nm semiconductor laser Result: Image recording was possible with an irradiation energy of 1/10 that of the prior art.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example when the recording medium 10 itself shown in FIG. 1 is provided with light (electromagnetic wave) absorption capability. In FIG. 3, A part is a part having a thermal wettability changing function, and B part is As shown in the figure, a monomer having a change in wettability function (a monomer having a change in wettability function is disclosed in, for example, a patent). The monomer described in Document 1 can be mentioned) and a copolymer material of a monomer having a skeleton structure of a dye in a side chain called a so-called polymer dye is desirable.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the aforementioned polymer dye. Basically, as shown in FIG. 4 (A), a vinyl monomer is basically used, and a monomer having a dye in the side chain as shown in FIG. Specifically, it has a structure as shown in FIGS. 4B, 4C, and 4D.

(Experimental example)
Heat sensitive wettability changing functional material: copolymer of fluorine-containing acrylate monomer (part A)
Substrate: Polyimide film Light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing material: Monomer (part B) with pendant phthalocyanine moiety
Layer structure: Copolymer of fluorine-containing acrylate monomer and the above monomer Light (electromagnetic wave) source: Semiconductor laser having a wavelength of 780 nm Result: Image writing was possible with an irradiation energy of 1/20 as compared with the prior art.

  Also, a recording layer containing a material having a wettability changing function is incorporated in a state where a dye or pigment that absorbs light (electromagnetic waves) is dissolved and dispersed, and the recording layer material and the absorbing material are separated. By mixing in the recording layer, each material selectivity can be enhanced. In this case, the pigment concentration is desirably 10 wt% to 30 wt%, and in the case of a dye, 1 wt% to 10 wt% is desirable.

(Experimental example)
Heat-sensitive wettability changing functional material: Fluorine-containing acrylate polymer Substrate: Polyester film Light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing material: Cyanine pigment (particle 0.1 μm)
Layer configuration: 10 wt% to 50 wt% dispersion of absorbent in the recording layer Light (electromagnetic wave) source: Image writing was possible with 1/8 irradiation energy as compared with the prior art.

  Furthermore, the optical path length in the recording layer is increased by providing a layer that reflects light (electromagnetic waves) between the recording layer containing the wettability changing material and the substrate and applying multiple reflection. The heat conversion efficiency can be increased.

  In FIG. 5, by providing the reflection layer 16 as described above, the light (electromagnetic wave) L is multiply scattered in the recording layer 17 and the optical path length is increased, so that the light-heat conversion efficiency can be increased. In the main part configuration diagram showing an example, the reflective layer 16 includes a method of depositing a metal such as aluminum on the surface of the substrate 11 and a method of applying or depositing a white oxide such as titanium oxide or aluminum oxide. desirable. Further, a primer layer may be provided on the surface of the reflective layer 16 so that the adhesiveness to the recording layer 17 is not deteriorated by providing the reflective layer 16.

(Experimental example)
Thermosensitive wettability changing functional material: Fluorine-containing acrylate polymer Substrate: Polyester film Light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing material: Cyanine dye Layer structure: 1 wt% to 10 wt% of cyanine dye in the recording layer Light (electromagnetic wave) source: Wavelength 800 nm semiconductor laser Reflective layer: Layer obtained by depositing 1000 mm of aluminum on the substrate Result: Image recording was possible with 1/20 of the irradiation energy.

  FIG. 6 shows an example in which the surface of the reflective layer 16 on the side in contact with the recording layer 17 is formed on the rough surface 16A in the experimental example shown in FIG. . The surface roughness of the reflective layer 16 is preferably Rz = 0.1 μm to 10 μm.

(Experimental example)
Thermosensitive wettability changing functional material: Fluorine-containing acrylate polymer Substrate: Polyester film Light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing material: Cyanine dye Layer structure: 1 wt% to 10 wt% of cyanine dye in the recording layer Light (electromagnetic wave) source: Wavelength 800 nm semiconductor laser Reflective layer: A layer in which 1000 mm of aluminum is deposited on a rough surface substrate with Rz = 0.1 μm. Result: Image recording can be performed with an irradiation energy of 1/20 compared to the conventional case.

  In the negative writing method described in Patent Document 2, the light source continuously oscillates, so that there is a drawback that the lifetime is shorter than that of positive writing. Therefore, write positive writing in optical writing, extending the life of the writing light source, making liquid layer retention and liquid supply compatible, ensuring liquid supply and storage stability, facilitating high-speed writing, etc. It is necessary to plan.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the recording body 10 includes a substrate 11 and a recording layer 12, and a liquid layer W is formed on the recording layer 12 by liquid layer forming means 9. When the recording medium 10 is brought into contact with a liquid in a heated state, the receding contact angle decreases (lyophilic state), and when the recording material 10 is heated in a non-contact state with the liquid, the receding contact angle increases (liquid repellent state). A recording medium having surface characteristics, which is selectively heated in contact with a member selected from only an image area, liquid, and / or solid, or liquid immediately after heating the surface of the recording medium, And / or by selectively contacting with a member selected from solids, a latent image is formed on the recording medium, and the latent image is visualized by using the inking unit 3, via the transfer roller 4. Alternatively, it is recorded directly on the recording paper 5. As the heating means 1, a light (electromagnetic wave) generator is used and heated without contact.

  As a method for forming the liquid layer W on the recording body 10, it is preferable to use a method such as applying a liquid or attaching a film containing the liquid. As the liquid used for the liquid layer W, a liquid having a surface energy close to the surface energy of the recording medium 10, an ink solvent (having the advantage of eliminating the liquid layer after writing), a water-soluble resin (polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, etc.) And a liquid that does not repel on the recording medium 10 such as a high-viscosity liquid such as water.

  The formation timing of the liquid layer W and the irradiation of the light (electromagnetic wave) L are preliminarily formed by irradiating the light (electromagnetic wave) L with the liquid layer W formed on the surface of the recording medium 10 in advance. The liquid layer W may be formed while there is residual heat, the formation of the liquid layer W and the irradiation of light (electromagnetic wave) L may be performed at the same time.

(Experimental example)
Substrate: polyester film heat-sensitive wettability change functional material: fluorine-containing acrylate polymer light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing material: cyanine dye layer constitution: light (electromagnetic wave) containing 1 to 10 wt% of cyanine dye in the recording layer Source: wavelength 800 nm Semiconductor laser liquid layer supply means: impregnating a porous elastic roller with a non-volatile solvent of ink,
Coating result on the surface: It was confirmed that high speed image writing was possible by positive writing.

  FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of another main part of the recording body. A gel layer 18 is formed on the surface of the recording layer 12 of the recording body 10, and light (electromagnetic wave) L is irradiated on the gel layer 18 for writing. Is to do. Specifically, utilizing the sol-gel transition phenomenon of the gel-like part, once the gel-like part is solled and fluidized, it is coated on the recording body 10 and re-gelled on the surface of the recording body 10. Then, writing is performed.

(Experimental example)
Substrate: polyester film heat-sensitive wettability changeable functional material: fluorine-containing acrylate polymer light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing material: cyanine dye layer constitution: 1 to 10 wt% of cyanine dye in the recording layer Light (electromagnetic wave) source: wavelength 800 nm semiconductor laser liquid layer supply means: contact with gel such as gelatin and removal after heating Result: The liquid layer can be easily held.

  FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of another main part of the recording body, in which 19 is a microcapsule layer, and in this embodiment, a microcapsule 19 enclosing a liquid is used as a heat-sensitive wettability changing functional material. The capsule is broken by heat energy at the time of (electromagnetic wave) irradiation, and a liquid layer is formed on the surface of the recording medium 10. In this case, it is desirable to contain a light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing agent on the surface or inside of the microcapsule.

(Experimental example)
Substrate: Polyester film Thermal wettability change Functional material: Fluorine-containing acrylate polymer Light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing material: Cyanine pigment (particle 0.1 μm)
Layer structure: 10 to 50 wt% absorbent in recording layer Dispersed light (electromagnetic wave) source: Semiconductor laser liquid layer supply means with wavelength of 800 nm Means of polyethylene microcapsule containing non-volatile solvent of ink
Particle results: The liquid supply and liquid storage stability could be secured.

  FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of another main part of the image forming apparatus, in which 1 is a light (electromagnetic wave) generator, 2 is a rotating drum, 21 is a film, 22 is a liquid supply means, and 23 is a film cutter. In the embodiment, as shown in the drawing, the film 21 is wound around the rotary drum 2 while the liquid is supplied onto the film 21 by the liquid supply means 22, and a liquid layer is formed on the recording body 10 on the rotary drum 2. Is. A film 21 having light (electromagnetic wave) permeability is used for the film 21. By sandwiching the liquid with a film, a uniform thin layer of liquid phase can be formed, heating unevenness is less likely to occur, and image formation without unevenness is possible.

(Experimental example)
Substrate: polyester film heat-sensitive wettability change functional material: fluorine-containing acrylate polymer light (electromagnetic wave) absorbing material: cyanine dye layer constitution: light (electromagnetic wave) containing 1 to 10 wt% of cyanine dye in the recording layer Source: wavelength 800 nm Semiconductor laser liquid layer supply means: polyester film while supplying non-volatile solvent for ink during recording
Result of wrapping the recording medium with the film: High-speed writing was possible, and furthermore, image formation with less unevenness was possible.

  However, as shown in FIG. 11A, in the recording body 30 including the recording layer 31, the photothermal conversion layer 32, and the base 33 (in the following description, the recording body 30 does not necessarily include a light absorbing material. For example, when writing is performed using a laser beam as a heating source, when light incident from the surface of the recording layer 31 passes through the recording layer 31 and the photothermal conversion layer 32 and is reflected by the surface of the substrate 33. The specular reflection component is strong and reaches the boundary surface between the photothermal conversion layer 32 and the recording layer 31 or the surface of the recording layer 31, and is reflected at each boundary surface, surface, etc., so that multiple reflections occur inside each layer. As a result, there is a problem that the exposed area is thickened and a recording unevenness such as moire occurs. When the exposed area becomes thick, the image portion becomes thicker if the image portion exposure method (positive writing method), and the image portion becomes thinner if the non-image portion exposure method (negative writing method). Further, since the cost increases when the layer structure is increased, there is a problem that it is desired to produce the product inexpensively while avoiding the layer structure as much as possible.

  Further, in the recording body 30 composed of the recording layer 34 and the base 33 in which the photothermal conversion material shown in FIG. 12A is dispersed, the surface of the recording layer 34 is used when writing using, for example, laser light as a heating source. When the light incident on the recording layer 34 passes through the recording layer 34 and is reflected by the surface of the substrate 33, the specular reflection component is strong and reaches the surface of the recording layer 34, which is reflected by the surface of the recording layer 34. There are problems that multiple reflection occurs inside the recording layer 34 and the exposed area is thickened, and recording unevenness such as moire occurs. When the exposed area is thick, the image portion is thickened in the case of the image portion exposure method, and the image portion is thinned in the case of the non-image portion exposure method. Further, since the cost increases when the layer structure is increased, there is a problem that it is desired to produce the product inexpensively while avoiding the layer structure as much as possible.

  Further, in a recording body having a layer configuration other than the above, for example, a recording body comprising a recording layer, a photothermal conversion layer, and a transparent substrate, light incident from the surface of the recording layer passes through the recording layer, the photothermal conversion layer, and the transparent substrate. The specular reflection component is strong when passing through and reflected from the back surface of the substrate, and reaches the boundary surface between the transparent substrate and the photothermal conversion layer, the boundary surface between the photothermal conversion layer and the recording layer, or the recording layer surface. By reflecting on the boundary surface, the surface, etc., multiple reflections are caused inside each layer, and the problem that the exposed area becomes thick as mentioned above, the problem of recording unevenness such as moire, etc. There was also a problem.

  In addition, in a recording body comprising a recording layer in which a photothermal conversion material is dispersed and a transparent substrate, the light incident from the surface of the recording layer passes through the recording layer and the transparent substrate and is reflected by the back surface of the substrate. The component is strong and reaches the boundary surface between the transparent substrate and the recording layer or the surface of the recording layer, and this is reflected at the boundary surface, the surface, etc., thereby causing multiple reflections within the layer. There is a problem that the area is thickened, a problem that recording unevenness such as moire occurs, and a problem that it is desired to produce the product as cheaply as possible.

  Further, when a recording medium comprising a recording layer, a light-to-heat conversion layer, and a transparent substrate is supported on a recording medium support (for example, the recording medium roller 2 shown in FIG. 1), the recording medium is incident from the surface of the recording layer. When the reflected light passes through the recording layer, the photothermal conversion layer, and the transparent substrate and is reflected by the surface of the recording medium support, the specular reflection component is strong, and the boundary surface between the transparent substrate and the photothermal conversion layer, the photothermal conversion layer And reaches the boundary surface of the recording layer or the surface of the recording layer, and this is reflected at each boundary surface, the surface, etc., thereby causing multiple reflections inside each layer, and the problem is that the exposed area becomes fat or moire There was a problem that uneven recording occurred.

  Similarly, in a recording body composed of a recording layer in which a photothermal conversion material is dispersed and a transparent substrate, light incident from the surface of the recording layer passes through the recording layer and the transparent substrate and is reflected by the surface of the recording medium carrier. The reflection component is strong and reaches the boundary surface of the transparent substrate and the light-to-heat conversion layer or the surface of the recording layer, and this is reflected at each boundary surface, surface, etc., so that multiple reflections occur inside the layer. As a result, there is a problem that the exposed area is thickened and a recording unevenness such as moire occurs.

  In the following description, a recording body as described above, that is, a recording body comprising a recording layer, a photothermal conversion layer and a substrate, a recording layer comprising a recording layer in which a photothermal conversion material is dispersed and a base, a recording layer, a photothermal conversion layer, and a transparent A recording body comprising a substrate, a recording layer in which a light-to-heat conversion material is dispersed and a recording body comprising a transparent substrate, a recording layer carried on the recording material carrier, a recording body comprising a light-heat conversion layer and a transparent substrate, and a recording body By using a recording layer composed of a recording layer in which a photothermal conversion material carried on a carrier and a transparent substrate are dispersed, diffusion of an exposed area is reduced, and the image portion is appropriately thickened and thinned.

  FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view for explaining an example of a recording body, and shows a recording body 30 including a recording layer 31, a photothermal conversion layer 32, and a base 33. Such a recording layer 31 and a photothermal conversion layer are shown in FIG. As described above, in the recording body 30 including the recording layer 32 and the substrate 33, the light incident from the surface of the recording layer 31 passes through the recording layer 31 and the photothermal conversion layer 32 and is reflected by the surface of the substrate 33. The reflection component is strong and reaches the boundary surface of the light-to-heat conversion layer 32 and the recording layer 31 or the surface of the recording layer 31, and this is reflected at each boundary surface, the surface, etc., thereby causing multiple reflections inside each layer, There are problems that the exposed area is thickened and recording unevenness such as moire occurs.

FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the recording body 30 in which a layer 15 for preventing regular reflection of incident light used for recording is provided between the base 33 of the recording body 30 and the photothermal conversion layer 32. Thus, as the layer 35 for preventing regular reflection, for example, a light diffusion layer in which powder (TiO ₂ , MgO) is dispersed in a binder is used. As a result, the specular reflection component when incident light is reflected on the surface of the substrate 13 is weakened, and multiple reflections are less likely to occur inside each layer, and the problem of the exposed area becoming thicker and recording unevenness such as moire. The problem of generating was reduced.

  FIG. 11C is a cross-sectional view for explaining another example of the recording medium, in which 33a is a fine unevenness provided on the surface of the substrate 33 on the photothermal conversion layer 32 side, and the unevenness 33a In this configuration, regular reflection of incident light used for recording is prevented. Thus, according to the configuration shown in FIG. 11 (B), the cost may increase due to an increase in the layer configuration. In this way, fine irregularities 33a are formed on the surface of the substrate 33 on the photothermal conversion layer 32 side. If provided, the specular reflection component when incident light is reflected on the surface of the substrate 33 is weakened, and multiple reflections are less likely to occur inside each layer, and the exposed area becomes thicker and recording irregularities such as moire. Can be produced at low cost because the layer structure is not increased. In addition, it was set as the roughness of about 0.1-1.0 micrometer as fine unevenness | corrugation.

  FIG. 12A is a cross-sectional view for explaining an example of a recording body. In the figure, 34 is a recording layer in which a photothermal conversion material is dispersed, 33 is a base, and such a photothermal conversion material is dispersed. In the recording medium 30 including the recording layer 34 and the base 33, the specular reflection component is strong when light incident from the surface of the recording layer 34 passes through the recording layer 34 and is reflected by the surface of the base 33 as described above. As a result, the light reaches the surface of the recording layer 34 and is reflected by the surface of the recording layer 34, thereby causing multiple reflections inside each layer, resulting in a problem that the exposed area becomes thick and recording unevenness such as moire occurs. was there.

FIG. 12B is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the recording body 30, and prevents regular reflection of incident light used for recording between the recording layer 34 in which the photothermal conversion material is dispersed and the base 33 as shown in the figure. A light diffusion layer in which powder (TiO ₂ , MgO, etc.) is dispersed in a binder is used as the layer 35 for preventing regular reflection. As a result, the specular reflection component when the incident light is reflected by the surface of the substrate 33 is weakened, the occurrence of multiple reflections in each layer is reduced, and the problem is that the exposed area is fattened and recording irregularities such as moire. The problem of generating was reduced.

  FIG. 12C is a cross-sectional view for explaining another example of the recording medium, in which 33a is a fine unevenness provided on the surface of the substrate 33 on the recording layer 34 side, and recording is performed by this unevenness 33a. This prevents the regular reflection of incident light used in the above. Thus, according to the configuration shown in FIG. 12B, the cost may increase due to an increase in the layer configuration. Thus, fine irregularities 33a are provided on the surface of the substrate 33 on the recording layer 34 side. Then, the specular reflection component when incident light is reflected by the surface of the substrate 33 is weakened, the occurrence of multiple reflections in each layer is reduced, and the problem is that the exposed area becomes fat and recording unevenness such as moire. The problem of occurrence is reduced, and the layer structure is not increased, so that it can be produced at low cost. In addition, it was set as the roughness of about 0.1-1.0 micrometer as fine unevenness | corrugation.

  FIG. 13A is a cross-sectional view for explaining another example of the recording medium, in which 31 is a recording layer, 32 is a photothermal conversion layer, and 36 is a transparent substrate. In the recording medium 30 including the conversion layer 32 and the transparent substrate 36, the light incident from the surface of the recording layer 31 passes through the recording layer 31, the photothermal conversion layer 32, and the transparent substrate 36 and is transparent as described above. The specular reflection component is strong when reflected on the back surface of the substrate 36, and reaches the boundary surface between the transparent substrate 36 and the photothermal conversion layer 32, the boundary surface between the photothermal conversion layer 32 and the recording layer 31, or the surface of the recording layer 31. When the light reaches the surface and is reflected by the boundary surface, the surface, and the like, multiple reflection occurs inside each layer, and there is a problem that the exposed area is thickened and recording unevenness such as moire occurs.

FIG. 13B is a cross-sectional view of the recording medium. As shown in the drawing, a regular reflection blocking layer 35 for blocking regular reflection of incident light used for recording on the surface of the transparent substrate 36 opposite to the photothermal conversion layer 32 is shown. As the layer 35 for preventing regular reflection, a light diffusion layer in which powder (TiO ₂ , MgO, etc.) is dispersed in a binder is used. As a result, the specular reflection component at the time of reflection on the back surface of the transparent substrate 36 is weakened, and multiple reflections are less likely to occur inside each layer, resulting in a problem that the exposed area becomes fat and recording irregularities such as moire. The problem was reduced.

  FIG. 13C is a cross-sectional view of the recording medium. In the figure, reference numeral 36a denotes fine unevenness provided on the surface of the transparent substrate 36 opposite to the photothermal conversion layer 32, and incident light used for recording by the unevenness 36a. This is intended to prevent regular reflection. Thus, according to the configuration shown in FIG. 13B, the layer configuration increases, which may increase the cost. In order to solve this problem, fine irregularities are provided on the surface of the transparent substrate 36 opposite to the photothermal conversion layer 32, and the fine irregularities have a roughness of about 0.1 to 1.0 μm. . As a result, the specular reflection component when incident light is reflected on the surface of the transparent substrate is weakened, the occurrence of multiple reflections in each layer is reduced, and the problem is that the exposed area becomes thicker and recording unevenness such as moire occurs. The problem of occurring has been reduced. Further, since the layer structure is not increased, it can be produced at low cost.

  FIG. 14A is a cross-sectional view for explaining another example of the recording body, in which 34 is a recording layer in which a photothermal conversion material is dispersed, 36 is a transparent substrate, and such a photothermal conversion material is used. In the recording body 30 composed of the dispersed recording layer 34 and the transparent substrate 36, light incident from the surface of the recording layer 34 passes through the recording layer 34 and the transparent substrate 36 and is reflected by the back surface of the transparent substrate 36. The specular reflection component is strong and reaches the boundary surface of the transparent substrate 36 and the recording layer 34 or the surface of the recording layer 34, and this is reflected by the boundary surface, the surface, etc., thereby causing multiple reflections inside the layer and exposure. There is a problem that a thickened area becomes thick and a recording unevenness such as moire occurs.

FIG. 14B is a cross-sectional view of the recording body. As shown in the drawing, a regular reflection blocking layer 35 for blocking regular reflection of incident light used for recording is provided on the surface of the transparent substrate 36 opposite to the recording layer 34. A light diffusion layer formed by dispersing powder (TiO ₂ , MgO, etc.) in a binder was used as the layer 35 provided to prevent regular reflection. As a result, the specular reflection component at the time of reflection on the back surface of the transparent substrate 36 is weakened, and multiple reflections are less likely to occur inside each layer, resulting in a problem that the exposed area becomes fat and recording irregularities such as moire. The problem was reduced.

  FIG. 14C is a cross-sectional view of the recording medium. In the figure, reference numeral 36a denotes fine irregularities provided on the surface of the transparent substrate 36 on the side opposite to the recording layer 34, and the irregularities cause the incident light used for recording. It is intended to prevent regular reflection. Thus, according to the structure shown in FIG. 14B, the layer structure increases, which may increase the cost. In order to solve this problem, the surface of the transparent substrate 36 opposite to the recording layer 34 is provided with fine unevenness, and the fine unevenness is set to a roughness of about 0.1 to 1.0 μm. As a result, the specular reflection component when reflected on the surface of the transparent substrate 36 is weakened, and multiple reflections are less likely to occur inside each layer, resulting in a problem that the exposed area becomes fat and recording unevenness such as moire occurs. The problem was reduced. In addition, since the layer structure is not increased, it can be produced at low cost.

  FIG. 15A1 is a cross-sectional view of a principal part for explaining another example of the recording body, in which 30 is a recording body comprising a recording layer 31, a photothermal conversion layer 32 and a transparent substrate 36, and 40 is the recording body. When the recording medium 30 is supported on the recording medium support 40 by the recording medium support 2 that supports the recording medium 30, for example, the recording medium roller 2 shown in FIG. 6, from the surface of the recording layer 31. When the incident light passes through the recording layer 31, the photothermal conversion layer 32, and the transparent substrate 36 and is reflected on the surface of the recording medium carrier 40, the specular reflection component is strong, and the transparent substrate 36 and the photothermal conversion layer 32 The boundary surface, the boundary surface between the photothermal conversion layer 32 and the recording layer 31, or the surface of the recording layer 31 is reached, and this is reflected at each boundary surface, the surface, etc., thereby causing multiple reflections inside each layer and exposure. If the problem is that the area becomes thicker or recording irregularities such as moire occur There was a cormorant problem. When the exposed area is thick, the image portion is thickened in the case of the image portion exposure method, and the image portion is thinned in the case of the non-image portion exposure method.

  FIG. 15B1 is a cross-sectional view of the principal part for explaining another example of the recording body. In the figure, 30 is a recording body comprising a recording layer 34 in which a photothermal conversion material is dispersed and a transparent substrate 36, 40 Is a recording material carrier that carries the recording material 30, for example, the recording material roller 2 shown in FIG. 1. When the recording material 30 is supported on the carrier 40 in this way, the light incident from the surface of the recording layer 34. Is reflected by the surface of the recording medium carrier 40 through the recording layer 34 and the transparent substrate 36, the specular reflection component is strong, and the boundary surface between the transparent substrate 36 and the recording layer 34, or the recording layer 34. When the light reaches the surface of the film and is reflected by the boundary surface, the surface and the like, multiple reflection occurs inside the layer, and there is a problem that the exposed area becomes thick and recording unevenness such as moire occurs. When the exposed area is thick, the image portion is thickened in the case of the image portion exposure method, and the image portion is thinned in the case of the non-image portion exposure method.

FIGS. 15A2 and 15B2 are cross-sectional structural views of the main part of the recording body, respectively, and as shown in the drawing, regular reflection for preventing regular reflection of incident light used for recording on the surface of the recording medium carrier 40 is shown. A blocking layer 35 is provided, and a light diffusion layer in which powder (TiO ₂ , MgO, etc.) is dispersed in a binder is used as the layer 35 for blocking regular reflection. As a result, the specular reflection component at the time of reflection on the surface of the recording medium carrier 40 is weakened, and multiple reflections are less likely to occur inside each layer, so that the exposed area becomes thicker and recording unevenness such as moire. The problem of generating was reduced.

  FIGS. 15A3 and 15B3 are cross-sectional views of the main part for explaining another embodiment of the recording medium, in which 40a is a fine structure provided on the surface of the recording medium carrier 40. FIG. The roughness was about 0.1 to 1.0 μm as the fine irregularities. As a result, the specular reflection component at the time of reflection on the surface of the recording medium carrier 40 is weakened, and multiple reflections are less likely to occur inside each layer, so that the exposed area becomes thicker and recording unevenness such as moire. The problem of generating was reduced. Further, since the layer structure is not increased, it can be produced at low cost.

  As described above, the recording body 10 (or 30) is used for reuse after the desired number of sheets have been printed and the ink remaining on the recording body is removed. The less ink remaining on the top, the easier it will be to remove the residual ink. When the surface of the recording medium is washed, if the surface of the recording medium is rough, the ink pigment tends to remain in the recesses. Therefore, by making the recording body smoother, specifically, the residual pigment can be reduced by setting the surface roughness of the recording body to 20 μm or less, preferably 10 μm or less. Therefore, in the present invention, the surface of the recording body is smoothed to reduce the ink remaining on the surface of the recording body, thereby facilitating cleaning of the surface of the recording body.

  Further, when the surface of the recording body comes into contact with any member and the surface is scratched, the function as the recording body at that location is impaired, which may cause scumming or white spots. Further, even when the function as a recording medium is carried, the pigment tends to remain at the location, which may cause background staining. In order to avoid this, it is preferable to increase the hardness of the recording layer so that it is less likely to be damaged. Specifically, when the pencil hardness of the recording layer is H or higher, preferably 2H or higher, the surface of the recording body can be hardly damaged.

Further, by imparting elasticity to the recording layer of the recording body, it is possible to make the recording surface difficult to be damaged by relaxing the stress applied to the recording body surface. Further, by making the thickness of the recording layer above a certain level, it is possible to make it harder to be damaged. Specifically, the Young's modulus of the recording layer 1.0x10 ⁷ N / m ² or less, preferably, a 0.5 × 10 ⁷ N / m ² or less, the thickness of the recording layer 2μm or more, preferably, 4 [mu] m or more And

Further, by imparting elasticity to the substrate of the recording body, the surface of the recording body can be hardly damaged by relaxing the stress applied to the surface of the recording body. Further, by making the thickness of such a substrate equal to or greater than a certain value, it is possible to make it more difficult to be damaged. Specifically, the Young's modulus of the substrate 11 1.0x10 ⁸ N / m ² or less, preferably, 1.0 × and 10 ⁸ N / m ^2, the thickness of the substrate 11 25 [mu] m or more, preferably, a 50μm or more To do.

Further, as shown in FIG. 16, recording is also performed by relaxing a stress applied to the surface of the recording body by providing a cushion layer 38 having elasticity between the recording layer 31 (or 34) of the recording body 30 and the substrate 33. The body surface can be made hard to be damaged. Further, by making the thickness of the cushion layer 38 a certain level or more, it is possible to make it harder to be damaged. Specifically, the Young's modulus of the cushion layer 38 is 8.0 × 10 ⁷ N / m ² or less, preferably 2.5 × 10 ⁷ N / m ^2, and the thickness of the cushion layer 38 is 5 μm or more, preferably 10 μm or more. .

  According to the recording medium as described above, after printing the desired number of sheets, the image formed on the recording medium is erased, a new image is formed on the recording medium, and the recording medium is used again. However, in order to reuse a recording medium that has been used once, unless the ink remaining on the recording medium is removed cleanly after the previous use, the remaining ink prevents new image formation.

  As described above, the recording body 10 (or 30), after performing a predetermined number of prints, erases the latent image (lyophilic area) formed on the recording body, and on the recording body By removing the remaining ink, a new image (latent image) is formed on the recording medium so that it can be used again. The remaining ink removing method is performed in the image forming apparatus main body. However, the recording roller 2 may be removed from the image forming apparatus main body, or may be removed from the image forming apparatus main body.

  As a method for removing residual ink, a liquid that is compatible with the resin and pigment contained in the recording ink is applied to the recording material that has been printed as desired as described above, or a liquid that exhibits the compatibility. The recording medium is immersed therein, and then the ink pigment and resin on the recording medium are wiped off together with the compatible liquid with a waste cloth or the like. As long as the liquid is compatible with the ink resin and the pigment, any of aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatics, ketones, alcohols, polar solvents, nonpolar solvents, and the like may be used. Specifically, a commercially available blanket cleaner is applied to the developed recording medium 10, and the ink is wiped off with a waste cloth or the like.

  In addition, as a method for removing the residual ink, a non-volatile or volatile solvent contained in the ink is applied to the recording body after printing, and is removed with a waste or the like to effectively remove the ink pigment and resin on the recording body. To be removed. A solvent to be applied is selected according to the ink to be removed, such as a paraffinic or olefinic solvent contained in the ink. Specifically, solvent No. 6 (paraffinic solvent) used as an ink solvent is applied to the surface of the developed recording medium, and the ink is wiped off with a waste cloth or the like.

  Furthermore, a liquid that is compatible with the resin and pigment contained in the recording ink is applied to the recording body after printing, or a non-volatile or volatile solvent contained in the recording ink is applied, or The recording medium is placed in these liquid tanks, ultrasonic waves are applied, and the surface of the recording medium is washed by non-contact means to remove residual ink. Specifically, the ink can be removed without damaging the surface of the recording body by immersing the developed recording body in a blanket cleaner liquid and removing the ink with an ultrasonic cleaner.

  Further, after the remaining ink is removed, the surface of the recording body is washed, and the ink pigment, ink solvent, and cleaning liquid remaining on the surface of the recording body are completely removed. For example, after ink removal, residues such as water and surfactant on the surface of the recording body are completely removed, and cleaning is performed using a liquid that does not remain on the surface of the recording body. Specifically, after the residual ink is removed by the above-described method, the surface of the recording material is washed with a 10% solution of a fluorosurfactant Surflon (manufactured by Asahi Kasei).

  As described above, after a desired number of prints are printed on the recording medium, the ink remaining on the recording medium is removed and reused. In this case, the recording medium remains on the recording medium. The less ink that is present, the easier it will be to remove residual ink.

  In order to remove the ink remaining on the recording medium after the recording, the adhesive member is brought into contact with the surface of the developed recording body used for printing, thereby remaining on the surface of the recording body. It is also possible to easily remove the ink that is present. The adhesive member may be either a single member whose material itself constitutes an adhesive or a composite member obtained by applying an adhesive tape or an adhesive to NBR rubber. Specifically, the ink is removed by bringing an isobutyl rubber roller into contact with the surface of the developed recording medium.

  Ink remaining on the surface of the recording medium can also be easily removed by bringing a member having a roughness higher than the surface of the recording body into contact with the surface of the developed recording medium. In this case, the surface of the member to be contacted should have a roughness equal to or greater than the surface of the recording body. Specifically, when the surface of the recording body has a roughness of 10 μm, the member to be contacted is 20 μm. The ink can be removed if it has a roughness of.

  Furthermore, the ink remaining on the surface of the recording medium can be easily removed by forming a solid film on the surface of the developed recording medium and removing the film together with the ink. In this case, a liquid that forms a solid film in the absence of moisture is applied, and after drying, the residual ink on the recording medium is removed together with the film. Specifically, a 2% aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (POVAL) is applied to the surface of the recording material, and after drying, the POVAL film is removed together with the ink.

  Furthermore, the ink can be easily and effectively removed by removing the ink by the above-mentioned method after completely cured by residual natural drying on the surface of the developed recording medium. Specifically, after the printing is completed, the ink is left to stand until the ink is completely cured. Specifically, after 3 to 4 hours have elapsed after the development, the ink is removed by contacting with isobutyl rubber.

  Alternatively, the ink remaining on the surface of the developed recording medium is forcibly and completely cured, and then the ink is removed by the above-described method, whereby the ink can be removed easily and in a short time. Specifically, after the residual ink on the recording body is completely cured by forcible means such as heat fixing or silicone fixing method, the ink is cured by bringing silicone rubber into contact with the surface of the recording medium after development. After applying and drying a POVAL aqueous solution, the ink is removed together with the film.

  In the image forming apparatus as described above, since image formation by negative writing heats a non-image area, if a heating pixel or energy radiation source of the image forming means is damaged, the damaged portion cannot heat the surface of the recording medium. There is a problem that image-like background stains occur and image quality deteriorates significantly. In order to solve this problem, the damaged pixels of the image forming means may be compensated by other heating elements or energy radiation sources.

  FIG. 17 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 17A, 2 is a recording body roller, 10 (or 30) is a recording body, 50 is a multi-head, During recording (image formation), the recording medium 10 rotates in the direction of arrow A, and the multi-head 50 gradually moves in the direction of arrow B. In the present invention, the recording medium 10 has a receding contact angle that decreases when contacted with a liquid in a heated state (lyophilic state), and increases when the recording material 10 is heated in a non-contact state with a liquid (repellency). (Liquid state) A recording medium having surface characteristics is heated in contact with a member selected from a liquid and / or a solid, or a liquid and / or immediately after heating the surface of the recording medium. Then, after reducing the receding contact angle of the surface of the recording body by making contact with a member selected from solids (lyophilic treatment), only the non-image area of the recording body is selectively selected in the absence of the contact member. An image forming unit for heating is provided, and the image forming unit has a plurality of heating sources for the recording medium (multihead). These plurality of heating sources can write the same pixel.

  17 (B) and 17 (C) are diagrams for explaining the recording method according to the present invention. FIG. 3 (B) is a diagram showing the first round recording of the recording medium 10, and FIG. ) Is a diagram showing recording in the second round. In the figure, the hatched portion is a pixel already written (however, whether it is heated depending on the image data), a portion indicated by a cross Is a pixel to be written by defective heating, and a portion indicated by a blank is a pixel to be written later. For example, when the fourth heating source becomes defective, it is an odd number that is not normally used ( Image formation is performed using the third and fifth heating sources, and a recorded image as shown in FIG. 17C can be obtained, thereby preventing the occurrence of an unheated non-image area. The occurrence of streak dirt can be prevented.

(Example)
1. As the ink used, those in Table 3 were used.
2. Use the following as the recording material,
・ Material: Fluorine-containing acrylate material (LS317 (Asahi Glass))
-Substrate 1: PET film roll
(250mm × 50m, 100μ thickness)… For thermal head ・ Substrate 2: Direct mat PET film sheet
(220 × 350mm, 180μ thickness)… For thermal head ・ Substrate 3: Direct mat PET film roll
(350mm × 10m, 100μ thickness)… For thermal head ・ Substrate 4: Direct mat PET film sheet (350 × 540mm, 50μ thickness) + 2μm thick carbon layer (light absorption layer)
... For laser light source ・ Substrate 5: Direct mat PET film roll (350 mm × 10 m, 100 μm thickness) +3 μm thick carbon layer (light absorption layer)
... for laser light source As a developing means, a phenomenon caused by an ink roller of nitrile rubber (hardness 50) is used.
4). As recording paper, use fine paper, fine coated paper, coated paper, art paper, synthetic paper, plain paper,
5. As an image forming means,
・ 600 dpi thermal head,
・ 300 dpi thermal head,
70W semiconductor laser,
The experiment was conducted using

As an image forming means,
・ 600 dpi thermal head (Toshiba) / (resistance value: 3000Ω, pulse width: 8 μs pulse train, applied voltage: 16 V)
・ 300 dpi thermal head (Kyocera) / (resistance value: 1000Ω, basic pulse width: 0.3 ms, applied voltage: 12 V)
In general, only the even-numbered heating source is used, and when the recording medium is rotated once, the head is gradually shifted in the main operation direction so as to be shifted by one pixel. Form. When a defect occurs in the even-numbered heat source, image formation is performed even if a defective heat source occurs by driving an odd-numbered heat source capable of writing pixels to be heated by the defective heat source. I confirmed that I can do it.

As a screen forming means,
・ When using 70mW semiconductor laser x 84 A4 size multi-head (spot shape: φ20μm, light source arrangement: 1500 pixel pitch), normally one light source forms an image of 1500 pixels per line and a defective light source is generated In this case, it was confirmed that image formation can be continued even when a defective light source is generated by making the light source adjacent to the defective light source perform double writing.

FIG. 18 is a configuration diagram of a main part for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a recording medium, 10A is an image area, 10B is a blank area, 50 is a multi-head, and the multi-head 50 is It is assumed that a defective heating source (defective heating source that is constantly heated) 50 ₁ is provided. In the present invention, when such a defective heating source 50 _{1 that} is always in a heated state is generated and the heating source 50 ₁ is located in the blank area 10B, the area to which the heating source is to be written. Thus, the correction by other heating sources is not performed, the effort involved in writing correction is reduced, and the capacity of the control program is reduced.

(Example)
As the ink used, the recording medium, the developing means, the recording paper, and the image forming means, the same ones as in the above embodiment were used, and when all the images were recorded under the same image forming means and the same conditions as in the above embodiments, the image forming means When the heating source located in the blank area became uncontrollable and always heated, the defective heating source was used as it was. As a result, the blank area was heated and it was confirmed that there was no problem.

  FIG. 19 is a configuration diagram of the main part for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a recording medium, 50 is a multi-head, 60 is a head movement control unit, and 61 is a printing number counter. By driving the head movement control unit 60 and moving the multi-head 50 in the main scanning direction (arrow B direction) each time the number of times counter 61 counts a certain amount of printing, a defective heating source caused by excessive use is reduced. It is intended to suppress.

(Example)
As a result of an experiment using the same ink as the above-described embodiment as the ink used, the recording medium, the developing means, the recording paper, and the image forming means, it corresponds to the blank area every time image formation is performed for 500 recording bodies in the A3 area. As a result of moving the number of heating sources in the main scanning direction, it was confirmed that the occurrence of defective heating sources decreased. The experimental results are shown in Table 4.

  FIG. 20 is a configuration diagram of a main part for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a recording medium, 50 is a multi-head, 60 is a head movement control unit, 62 is a timer, and an image forming area. The multi-head 50 having a wider recording width is used, the timer 62 drives the head movement control unit 60 at regular intervals to move the multi-head 50 in the main scanning direction (in the direction of arrow B), and this occurs due to excessive use. The defective heating source is suppressed.

(Example)
Using the ink, the recording medium, the developing means, the recording paper, and the image forming means, which are the same as those in the above-described embodiment, correspond to the blank area every month (images of about 500 A3 area recording bodies are formed). As a result of moving a number of heating sources in the main scanning direction, it was confirmed that the frequency of occurrence of defective heating sources decreased. The experimental results are shown in Table 5.

  FIG. 21 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a recording medium, 50 is a multi-head, 64 is a heater for heating a blank area, and 63 is a heater movement control. In this embodiment, the heater 64 compensates for a defective heating source due to excessive use.

(Example)
In the same way as in the previous embodiment, the ceramic heater was used as the ink, the recording medium, the developing means, the recording paper, the image forming means, and the margin heating means (heater) 64 to form an image for 1000 recording sheets in the A3 area. As a result, it was confirmed that the occurrence of defects in the heat source was greatly reduced and the reliability was improved. Table 6 shows the experimental results.

  FIG. 22 is a configuration diagram of a main part for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 22, 10 is a recording medium, 50 is a multi-head, and 65 is a low-resolution thermal head. In place of the heater 64 shown, a multi-head 65 having a resolution lower than that of the image area heating means is used to shorten the heating time of the margin, thereby shortening the image forming time.

(Example)
As in the previous embodiment, ink, recording medium, developing means, recording paper, and image forming means are used, and a 200 dpi thermal head is used as the low resolution multihead 65 to form an image for 1000 recording bodies in the A3 area. As a result, it was confirmed that the occurrence of defects in the heat source was greatly reduced and the reliability was improved. The experimental results are shown in Table 7.

FIGS. 23 and 24 are diagrams for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 23 shows a case where the image forming means is a thermal (multi) head, in which 71 _{1 to} 71 _n are thermal heads. , 72 _{1 to} 72 _n are drive ICs, and 74 is a defective heating source detection resistor. FIG. 24 shows a case where the image forming means is a laser diode, in which 75 is a laser diode, 76 is a resistor for detecting a defect of the laser diode 75, and 77 is a pulse voltage generation for driving the laser diode 75. In the source, check the resistance value of each heating source of the multi-head and / or the voltage value across the resistor connected in series with the heating source, and check the presence of a defective heating source by comparing with the specified value, By generating a defective heating source, it is possible to prevent an unheated non-image area from being generated, and to prevent the occurrence of streak stains.

(Example)
Using the same ink, recording material, developing means, recording paper, and image forming means as in the above embodiment,
・ In the case of a thermal head,
It was confirmed that the resistance of the heat source element having an initial resistance value of about 3000Ω was inferior when the resistance value was infinite, and the presence or absence of a defective heat source could be detected.
・ In the case of a semiconductor laser light source,
It was confirmed that the voltage across the 1 ohm resistor connected in series with the laser diode was 0 V from the initial value of 200 mV, and it was possible to detect the presence or absence of a defective heating source.

  25 and 26 are main part configuration diagrams for explaining the embodiment of the present invention, in which Bk is black, C is cyan, M is magenta, and Y is yellow. In the example shown in FIG. 25, the heads 81 (Bk), 81 (C), 81 (M), 81 (Y), the recording bodies 82 (Bk), 82 (C), 82 (M), 82 ( Y), developing roller 83 (Bk), 83 (C), 83 (M), 83 (Y), blade 84 (Bk), 84 (C), 84 (M), 84 (Y), intermediate transfer member 85 (Bk), 85 (C), 85 (M), 85 (Y), pressure roller 86 (Bk), 86 (C), 86 (M), 86 (Y), as shown in FIG. In the example, the pressure roller 86 (Bk), 86 (C), 86 (M), 86 (Y) has a single pressure roller 87 in common, and the pressure roller The recording paper 91 is sequentially passed between the intermediate transfer member, that is, the multi-color image forming apparatus is configured by providing a plurality of the above-described image forming means so as to form a high-quality multi-color image. Is.

(Example)
As in the previous embodiment, ink, recording medium, developing means, recording paper, and image forming means are used, and four image forming means are used to detect a defective heating source by the method of the above-described embodiment, thereby detecting a defective heating source. In the case where there is, it was confirmed that by using the method of the above-described embodiment, a multi-color printing apparatus having a long life and high reliability was obtained.

  In the image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied, in the negative writing, the non-image area of the recording body 10 is selectively heated to perform a liquid repellent treatment, and the image area of the recording medium 10 is used as a lyophilic area. More specifically, it is a latent image. More specifically, when the recording medium 10 is brought into contact with the liquid in the heated state, the receding contact angle is lowered (becomes lyophilic) and is not in contact with the liquid. The recording medium has surface characteristics that increase the receding contact angle (becomes a liquid-repellent state) when heated at a temperature, and is heated in contact with a member selected from liquid and / or solid, or the recording medium Immediately after the surface of the recording medium is heated, it is brought into contact with a member selected from a liquid and / or a solid to reduce the receding contact angle of the surface of the recording material (lyophilic treatment), and then the absence of the contact member Image forming means for only the non-image area of the recording medium below But is intended to image formed by more selectively heated, as described above, there is a problem that the image quality is reduced by heating and heat storage variations in the recording medium and / or the image forming means during negative writing. The present invention is provided with a function of adjusting the heating amount of writing in the image forming means as described above, and in particular, it is intended to eliminate heating / heat storage variations during negative writing with a large writing amount.

FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining an example of the case where the above-described write heating amount adjustment is performed by pulse width modulation. FIG. 27A is a flowchart showing the operation procedure, and FIG. ) Is a time chart for explaining the operation. In FIG. 27A, reference numeral 111 denotes a heating time calculation unit (= calculation of the count number of the basic clock), and 112 denotes an image forming means drive signal generation unit (= counter). 113 is an image forming means (for example, a thermal head, a laser light source, etc.), and the heating time calculation unit 111 uses the equation (1) to calculate the count number N from the heating amount control signal (coefficient K) and the basic clock cycle. And the count number N is obtained from the basic clock. The image forming unit drive signal generation unit 112 includes a counter, and counts N pulses from the basic clock by the counter. When the count value is less than or equal to the set count value, it is H (high), and when the count value is set, it is L (low). That is, when a trigger pulse is input, the counter sets the gate of the counter to H to start counting, and drives (heats or emits light) the image forming means 113 until the counter calculates the basic clock number N.
Basic heating time / Basic clock cycle (1)

  FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining an example in the case of pulse number modulation. FIG. 28A is a main part configuration diagram for explaining the operation, and FIG. 28B is a time chart for explaining the operation. 28A, reference numeral 115 denotes an image forming means signal generator (drive pulse number limit signal generator), 116 denotes an AND circuit, 117 denotes an image forming means drive pulse signal generator, and 118 denotes an image forming means. The image forming means drive pulse number limit signal generation unit 115 obtains the basic clock count number N from the heating amount control signal (K) and the basic clock cycle using the above equation (1), and the pulse is determined by the count number N. A signal for limiting the number of driving pulses having a width is generated. An AND circuit 116 calculates the logical sum of the drive pulse number limit signal generated by the image forming means drive pulse number limit signal generator 115 and the image forming means drive pulse signal generator 117 generated by the image forming means drive pulse signal generator 117. Thus, an image forming means driving pulse (number of pulses) for driving the image forming means 118 is generated.

(Example)
(1) Use the ink shown in Table 3 as the ink used.
(2) Use the following as the recording material,
・ Material: Fluorine-containing acrylate material (LS317 (Asahi Glass))
-Substrate 1: PET film roll
(250 mm × 50 m, 100 μm thickness)… for thermal head ・ Substrate 2: Dicre matte PET film sheet
(220 × 350 mm, 180 μm thickness)… for thermal head ・ Substrate 3: Dicre matte PET film roll
(350mm × 10m, 100μm thickness) ... For thermal head ・ Substrate 4: Dicre matte PET film sheet
(350 × 540mm, 50μm thickness)
+1 μm thick carbon layer (light absorption layer) for laser light source Substrate 5: Dicre mat PET film roll
(350mm × 10m, 100μm thickness)
+1 μm-thick carbon layer (light absorption layer) (3) For laser light source (3) As a developing means, development using a nitrile rubber (hardness 50) ink roller is used.
(4) High quality paper, fine coated paper, coated paper, art paper, synthetic paper, plain paper is used as the recording paper.
・ 600 dpi thermal head (Toshiba) /
(Resistance value: 300Ω, pulse width: 8 μs pulse train, applied voltage: 16 V)
... Has a function to drive by changing the number of pulses ・ 300 dpi thermal head (Kyocera) /
(Resistance value: 1000Ω, basic pulse width: 0.3 ms, applied voltage: 12 V)
... with a function to drive by changing the number of pulses ・ 200 mW semiconductor laser (spot shape: φ20 μm) ... with a function to drive by changing the number of pulses ・ 50 mW semiconductor laser × 16 1270 dpi multiheads (spot shape: φ20 μm) As a result of conducting an experiment using a device having a function of driving by changing the number of pulses, as shown in Table 8, it was possible to eliminate uneven heating.

  FIG. 29 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an example for detecting the temperature of the recording body 120 (121 is a substrate, 122 is a recording layer), and FIG. 29A is a non-contact type infrared radiation thermometer. FIG. 29B shows an example in which a thermistor, thermocouple, etc., contact thermometer is used. FIG. 29A shows an example in which a non-contact type thermometer such as an infrared radiation thermometer 124 is used to detect the surface temperature of the recording body 120, and FIG. 29B shows a contact of a thermistor, a thermocouple, or the like. An example using a thermometer 125 of the shape is shown, the surface temperature of the recording body 120 is detected by these thermometers, the output of the laser light source 123 is adjusted based on the detected output, and the surface temperature of the recording body is adjusted. Control to an appropriate temperature.

(Example)
In the same conditions (ink, recording body, developing means, recording paper) as in the above embodiment, and the image forming means and the heating amount adjusting method,
・ Thermistor… the backside temperature of the recording material,
・ Thermocouple… the backside temperature of the recording material,
・ Infrared radiation thermometer: surface temperature of the recording medium,
And an optimum heating amount based on the base temperature of the recording medium was supplied to a heating source (for example, a laser light source) to form a high quality image.

  FIG. 30 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 30 shows a case of a serial head (when writing is performed by moving the image forming means in the main scanning direction). Each coefficient is set to k for one pixel before, j for two pixels, and i for three pixels. In accordance with the heated pixel (k, j, i,...), The basic heating time is multiplied by each setting coefficient to obtain the heating time. However, the relationship between the coefficient values is k <j <i <1.

  In this embodiment, the writing heating amount is adjusted in accordance with the heating information of a pixel which is adjacent to a pixel to be heated (hereinafter referred to as a target pixel) and which is written simultaneously with or before the target pixel. Thus, it is possible to suppress the influence of the temperature variation of the target pixel that occurs according to the heating state of the adjacent pixel, and to form a high quality image.

FIG. 31 is a conceptual diagram for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 31 shows a case of a line head, showing pixels which are all or almost simultaneously written, and when all are written simultaneously.
・ K = l
・ J = m
・ I = n
And k <j <i <1
For example, when writing n-1, n + 2,
(Basic heating time) x k x m (2)
Is the heating time.

  FIG. 32 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a configuration example of a control unit on the printing press side for carrying out the present invention. Pixel information from a personal computer (PC) 128 is passed through an I / F 131 in the control unit 30 on the printing press side. Are stored in the line buffer 132, latched by the line buffer 133 for each line, and supplied to the actual writing image data generation unit 134. A heating energy signal component is added to each pixel by the energy data buffer 135 to the image data for one line of the image data generation unit 134, and an image is formed by the image forming unit 29.

(Example)
The pixel temperature of interest generated according to the heating state of the adjacent pixel as a result of recording using the above-described writing heating amount adjustment method using the same conditions as in the above embodiment, and the same image forming means and heating amount adjustment method. It was possible to suppress the influence of variation and form a high-quality image.

  FIG. 33 is a conceptual diagram for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. This invention suppresses the influence of the temperature variation of the pixel of interest that occurs according to the past heating history of a plurality of lines, and forms a high-quality image. The writing heating amount is changed according to the heating history of a plurality of past lines whose main scanning direction is the same or in the vicinity of the target pixel.

FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating an example in which pixels in the main scanning direction are simultaneously written in consideration of the past three lines. In this case, g <f <e <c <b <a <1
And
b = d, g = h, e = i (3)
The threshold value table is made to correspond to the value obtained by (1) to obtain several levels of writing energy.

  FIG. 34 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a configuration example of the printing press side control unit for carrying out the present invention, and its basic operation is the same as in FIG. 32. In this embodiment, the line buffer 132 is A memory of several lines is provided, and several lines of past image data actually generated by the actual writing image data generation unit 134 are returned to the line buffer 132 for each line to create the relationship shown in FIG. On the other hand, the heating energy is calculated by the equation (3), serially transferred from the 1 line buffer 32 to the actual writing image data generation unit for each pixel, and the energy data buffer 135 stores the image data for one line. A heating energy signal component is added to each pixel, and is transferred to the image forming unit 129 for each line and recorded.

  FIG. 35 is a block diagram of the main part for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 35, 136 is a drive pixel counter provided in place of the 1-line buffer 133 shown in FIG. The configuration is the same as that shown in FIG. Thus, the present invention suppresses the variation in the amount of heating caused by the quantity driven simultaneously, and forms a high quality image. From the image forming means (multihead) having a plurality of heating sources for the recording medium. The number of heating sources (pixels) that are simultaneously heated (driven) by the driving pixel number counter 136 is counted to change the heating amount according to the number of heating sources that are simultaneously driven. . For example, the heating time is obtained by referring to a coefficient table corresponding to the number of drive pixels and multiplying this by the basic heating time.

  FIG. 36 is a schematic view of a main part for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 36A, 2 is a recording body roller, 10 is a (or 30 or 120) recording body, and 141 is a recording head. This figure shows an example of a serial writing head. As is well known, the recording roller 2 rotates in the sub-scanning direction indicated by arrow A, and the recording head 141 reciprocates in the main scanning direction indicated by arrow B. Move. Thus, according to the present invention, writing is performed at least every other line in the main scanning direction (B direction) in order to prevent heat accumulation during writing and to suppress uneven heating to form a high quality image (see FIG. 5). For example, as shown in FIG. 36 (B), every other pixel in the main scanning direction (B direction) is shown in FIG. 36 (B). Write (blank portion is a pixel to be written later), and write the remaining pixels (blank portion pixels shown in FIG. 36B) in the second round as shown in FIG. It was.

  FIG. 37 is a schematic view of a main part for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 37A, reference numeral 142 denotes a line head, and FIG. 37 shows an example of a line write head. Thus, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 37 (B), the first round is recorded every other line in the sub-scanning direction (direction A) (the part indicated by the oblique lines), and the second round As shown in FIG. 37C, the part that was not recorded in the first round (blank line shown in FIG. 37B) is recorded.

  FIG. 38 is a block diagram of the main part for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 151 is a drive pixel number counter for one line, 152 is a one-line writing time determining unit, 153 is a counter, and 154 is a counter. A basic clock generating unit 155 for driving 153 is a motor driver for driving the recording roller.

  FIG. 39 is a diagram showing the relationship between the motor driven by the motor driver 155 shown in FIG. 38 and the recording drum driven by the motor. In FIG. 39, reference numeral 155 denotes the above-described recording roller driving motor driver. 156 is a recording roller driving motor driven by the motor driver 155, 157 is a gear for transmitting the rotation of the motor 156 to the recording drum, 2 is a recording roller, 10 is a recording body, and 142 is a line head. It is.

  Thus, the present invention is designed to form a high-quality image by changing the writing speed according to the image information, thereby suppressing variations in the amount of heat storage during writing depending on the image information. As shown in FIG. 38, first, the number of drive pixels in one line is counted, and the writing time for one line is determined. For example, the write time is determined by referring to a table of line cycle data (corresponding to the count number of the basic clock) determined according to the count value. The basic clock is counted by the counter 153 with the count number determined in this way, and the recording roller driving motor 156 is driven during this counting period (from the count start to the count end). As a result, when the number of drive pixels is large, the heat storage amount of the recording head increases, so that the time until the next line is written can be increased to reduce the writing speed.

  FIG. 40 is a block diagram of the main part for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 161 is a recording body temperature detecting unit, 162 is a one-line writing time determining unit (determined corresponding to the recording body temperature). 163 is a counter for counting the count value (or time) determined by the one-line write time determination unit 162, 164 is a basic clock generation unit, The set count value or time is counted by the counter 163 with the basic clock, and during that time, the recording roller driving motor driver 65 is driven.

  FIG. 41 is a view showing the relationship between the motor driven by the recording medium roller driving motor driver 165 and the recording medium roller driven by the motor. In FIG. 41, reference numeral 165 denotes the recording roller driving motor driver. 166 is a recording roller driving motor driven by the motor driver 165, 167 is a gear for transmitting the rotation of the motor 166 to the recording roller 2, 2 is a recording roller, 10 is a recording member, and 142 is a line. The head 168 is, for example, an infrared radiation thermometer that detects the temperature of the recording medium.

  Thus, the present invention reduces the temperature rise of the recording body during writing by changing the writing speed according to the rising temperature of the recording body, and forms a high quality image. As described above, the temperature of the recording medium 10 is detected by the thermometer 168, and, for example, when the temperature of the recording medium 10 is high, the rotation of the recording medium roller driving motor 166 is slowed according to the temperature of the recording medium 10. Thus, the temperature rise of the recording medium 10 is suppressed.

FIG. 42 is a block diagram of the main part for explaining another embodiment of the present invention, in which 171 is a counter for counting the number of write lines n from the initial stage of writing, and 172 is a counter for setting the number of lines N to be written. , 173 is a comparator, and 174 is a write energy flag setting unit. The comparison unit 173 compares the write line number n from the initial stage of writing from the counter 171 with the set line number N from the setting counter 172,
By increasing the writing energy during n <N and decreasing the energy after n> N, the heating amount at the start of writing is increased to form an image, and the heating amount is insufficient before the recording medium temperature stabilizes. The high-quality image was prevented, and 200 lines of the writing start blank area were actually heated at 1.2 times the normal energy, and good results were obtained.

  FIG. 43 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention. In the figure, 2 is a recording roller, 10 is a recording member, 143 and 144 are multi-heads, and FIG. 43 (A) is a multi-head 143 of a laser light source. FIG. 43B shows the line thermal head 144.

Thus, the present invention has a multi-head in the image forming means and writes at least one pixel or more on the same line, thereby suppressing heat storage during writing and suppressing uneven heating. It was designed to form an image,
In the case of the laser light source multi-head 143 shown in FIG.
(A ₁ ) The first, third, fifth and seventh four pixels are written simultaneously every other pixel,
next,
(A ₂ ) After writing the fourth pixel of the second, fourth, sixth and eighth at the same time,
(A ₃ ) One line is written by sequentially performing similar writing while shifting by 8 pixels in the main scanning direction. The next line is written in the same way while shifting by 8 pixels from the same position in the opposite direction of the main scanning direction, or after moving to the home position in the main scanning direction, the same writing as the previous line is performed. Write the image area.

In the case of the line thermal head 144 shown in FIG.
(B ₁ ). For each heating element block (4 blocks in total), every other pixel, that is, even-numbered pixels and odd-numbered pixels are alternately driven and written a total of 8 times to form an image for one line. The next line is similarly performed to write the entire image area.
(B ₂ ). While moving the recording medium 10 in the sub-scanning direction, every other heating element block (4 blocks in total) is driven every other pixel, that is, odd-numbered pixels or odd-numbered pixels are driven to write half the pixels of each line, After writing from the first line to the last line, the odd-numbered pixels or even-numbered pixels that have not been driven first are driven simultaneously, and writing is performed once again, thereby writing the entire image area.

  44A and 44B are diagrams for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 44A shows a case where a multi-head 145 using a laser light source is used as a heating source, and FIG. 44B shows a heating source. The case where the multi-head 146 using a heat generating body is used is shown. Thus, according to the present invention, a multi-head in which a heating source is formed every other pixel or more is used as an image forming apparatus, thereby suppressing heat storage during writing and forming high quality images while suppressing uneven heating. It is what I did.

In the case of the laser light source multi-head 145 shown in FIG.
50 mW semiconductor laser x 4 multi-heads (spot shape: φ21 μm)
4 pixels are written simultaneously every 2100 pixels (a ₁ ), and every time the recording medium rotates, writing is performed for 2100 rotations while shifting the light source one pixel at a time. a _2).

In the case of the thermal head shown in FIG.
300 dpi thermal head (Kyocera)
/ (Resistance value: 1000Ω, basic pulse width: 0.3 ms,
Applied voltage: 12 V, heating element shape: 40 × 20 μm
(Main scanning direction x Sub scanning direction)
And every other heating element block (4 blocks in total), every other pixel, that is, even-numbered pixel or only odd-numbered pixel is driven (b ₁ ), and the head is subjected to main scanning after one rotation of the recording medium By shifting by one pixel in the direction and writing the second rotation, (b ₂ ) all image formation could be performed.

  FIG. 45 is a block diagram of the main part for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 45, 2 is a recording body roller, 10 is a recording body, and 147 is a multi-head. Holds the multi-head 147, writes at least every other pixel on the same line, writes in a spilled manner while gradually shifting in the main scanning direction, suppresses heat storage during writing, and causes uneven heating. A high-quality image is formed while being suppressed.

  In FIG. 45, when the laser light source multi-head 143 shown in FIG. 43 is used as the multi-head 147, four pixels are written simultaneously every other pixel, and the recording medium 10 is rotated little by little so that it is shifted by one pixel. All images are formed by rotating the light source in the main scanning direction for 2100 rotations and writing in a spiral shape. When the thermal head 144 shown in FIG. 43 is used as the multi-head 147, recording is performed by driving every other pixel, that is, only even-numbered pixels or odd-numbered pixels for each heating element block (4 blocks in total). While the head is gradually shifted in the main scanning direction so as to be shifted by one pixel when the body rotates once (FIG. 45A shows a state where the recording roller 2 is rotated halfway and the head is moved to the right by 1/2 pixel. 45) (FIG. 45 (B) shows a state where the recording medium roller 2 has rotated two heads to the right by two pixels), and all images are formed by writing in a spiral shape.

  FIG. 46 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 46, reference numeral 2 denotes a recording roller, 10 denotes a recording member, the image forming means has a multi-head, and at least pixels on the same line. Writing is performed every other pixel (FIG. 46A), and after the final line has been written, the image forming means or the recording medium is moved in the main scanning direction to continue image formation, thereby storing heat during writing. In this case, high quality images are formed by suppressing the uneven heating. In FIG. 46A, the hatched portion is a pixel to be written (whether heated or not), the blank portion is a pixel to be written later, and when using the laser light source multi-head, for example, 2100 pixels Every four pixels are written at the same time, and every time the recording medium makes one rotation, the light source is written by 2100 rotations while shifting by one pixel at a time, thereby forming all images. In the case of using the thermal head, for example, every one heating element block (4 blocks in total) is driven every other pixel, that is, even-numbered pixels or only odd-numbered pixels are driven to rotate the recording medium once. All images are formed by shifting the rear head by one pixel in the main scanning direction and writing the second rotation.

  When a multi-color image forming apparatus is configured using the present invention, a plurality of the above-described image forming means are provided and configured as shown in FIGS. In FIGS. 25 and 26, Bk is black, C is cyan, M is magenta, and Y is yellow. For each color, the head 81, the recording body 82, the developing unit 83, the blade 84, and the intermediate transfer roller 85 are shown. 25, the example shown in FIG. 25 is an example in which the pressure roller 86 is separately provided for each color, and the example shown in FIG. 26 is that the pressure roller 87 is common to each color. An example is shown. Reference numeral 91 denotes a recording sheet.

  Thus, as shown in FIGS. 25 and 26, when a multi-color high-quality image is formed by having a plurality of image forming means, black, cyan, For image formation on magenta and yellow recording media, for example, image formation is performed using four multiheads 143 shown in FIG. In the case of using a thermal head, for example, an image forming method using four 300 dpi multi-heads 144 shown in FIG. 43B for forming images on black, cyan, magenta, and yellow recording media. Perform image formation.

  As described above, in the present invention, the recording body 10 (or 30) is heated, and for example, the recording body 10 is heated by a laser beam to form a latent image. It can also be realized by using a laser beam to scan the recording medium. 2. Description of the Related Art A planar light scanning device that forms a latent image on a recording medium by scanning a laser beam modulated by an image information signal on a recording medium using a rotating polygon mirror is often used for a laser beam printer using an electrophotographic method. This is used to form an electrostatic latent image by photoelectric conversion by performing optical scanning according to image information on a pre-charged photoconductor, and since the photoconductor is highly sensitive, Even if a laser with an output of about several mW is used, several to several tens of A4 size printed matter can be output per minute.

  However, when a latent image is formed by photothermal conversion on a recording medium having a photothermal conversion layer or a recording medium having a recording layer in which a photothermal conversion agent is dispersed to form a latent image on the recording medium, the recording medium Since it has extremely low sensitivity, it must be realized by using a high-power laser or by increasing the scanning time.

  Thus, in order to reduce the apparatus cost, it is desired to increase the scanning time without using an expensive high-power laser. However, increasing the scanning time is to lower the scanning speed. For example, in a type in which a rotating polygon mirror is rotated by a motor, the rotating polygon mirror is driven at a low rotation. However, in this case, since the inertial effect due to the rotation does not work, the rotation speed becomes unstable, and the polygon mirror rotates unevenly, leading to fluctuations in the scanning speed and scanning time of the laser beam. Further, there is a problem that this appears as image density unevenness, dot or line size unevenness (thickening / thinning), and the like.

  As described above, in an optical scanning device using a rotating polygon mirror, when the rotating polygon mirror is driven at a low rotation with a motor, the inertial effect due to the rotation does not work, so the rotation speed becomes unstable and the polygon mirror rotates. Unevenness occurs, leading to fluctuations in the scanning speed of the laser beam and fluctuations in the scanning time. This results in unevenness of photothermal conversion, resulting in image density unevenness, dot and line size unevenness (thickening / thinning), and the like. Further, since the number of constituent members increases or becomes complicated, it becomes expensive, so that the number of constituent members is reduced and simplified.

  FIG. 47 is a block diagram of the principal part for explaining one embodiment of the optical scanning device according to the present invention. In FIG. 47, 151 is, for example, a semiconductor laser light source, 152 is a rotary polygon mirror, and 153 is the mirror. A motor for rotating the rotary polygon mirror 152, which reflects the laser beam from the laser light source or 151 by the rotary polygon mirror 152 and optically scans the recording medium 10, and the present invention provides such an optical scanning method. Is applied to the case where a latent image is formed on a recording medium having a photothermal conversion material, so that even if the optical scanning is slow, the scanning speed is stabilized and optical writing can be performed.

  In an optical scanning device using a rotating polygon mirror, when the rotating polygon mirror is driven with a motor at a low rotation, the inertial effect due to the rotation does not work, so the rotation speed becomes unstable, and the rotation of the polygon mirror becomes uneven. This leads to fluctuations in the scanning speed of the laser beam and fluctuations in the scanning time. Furthermore, this causes unevenness in photothermal conversion, resulting in image density unevenness, dot and line size unevenness (thickening / thinning), and the like.

  In the present invention, in order to solve such a problem, the motor is rotated at a high rotation speed in a stable rotation region, and the rotating polygon mirror is stably rotated at a low speed using the speed reduction mechanism 14. As the speed reduction mechanism 14, gears having different diameters, magnetic pulleys / idlers, pulleys / belts, and the like were used. As a result, the rotation of the polygon mirror at low speed is stabilized, the scanning speed of the laser beam and the scanning time are constant, and low-cost optical scanning with less image density unevenness, dot and line size unevenness (thickening / thinning), etc. is obtained. I was able to.

  In addition, in order to stabilize the rotation of the motor, if the number of components increases or becomes complicated, the cost increases. Therefore, it is important to reduce the number of components and simplify them. In order to solve this, an inertia mass body 155 is provided on the shaft of the motor 153 or the shaft of the rotary polygon mirror 152. The inertia mass body 155 preferably has a radius approximately equal to or greater than the rotation radius of the rotary polygon mirror, or is configured of a disk-shaped member having a mass approximately equal to or greater than that of the rotary polygon mirror. In addition, as a disk-shaped member, the board, casting, etc. which consist of metals, such as iron, aluminum, copper, and lead, are used. Thereby, the rotation of the polygon mirror at a low speed is stabilized, the scanning speed of the laser beam and the scanning time are constant, and an optical scanning device free from image density unevenness, dot and line size unevenness (thickness / thinning), and the like can be obtained. did it. In addition, since the constituent member is only a disk-shaped member, it can be realized at low cost.

1 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an example of an image forming apparatus; It is principal part sectional drawing of a recording body. It is a figure which shows the structural example at the time of providing light (electromagnetic wave) absorption capability to the recording body itself. It is a figure which shows the basic structure of a polymeric pigment | dye, and its specific structure. It is a principal part block diagram which shows an example at the time of providing a reflection layer in a recording body. It is a figure which shows the example at the time of forming the surface by the side of a reflection layer in contact with the recording layer into a rough surface. It is a figure which shows the conventional usage example (example using a liquid) of a recording body. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating the example (when using a gel layer) of a recording body. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating the other example (when a microcapsule layer is used) of a recording body. It is another principal part block diagram of an image forming apparatus. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating an example of the recording body by this invention. It is a cross-sectional block diagram for demonstrating the other example of a recording body. It is a cross-sectional block diagram for demonstrating the other example of a recording body. It is a cross-sectional block diagram for demonstrating the other example of a recording body. It is a cross-sectional block diagram for demonstrating the other example of a recording body. It is a cross-sectional block diagram for demonstrating an example of a recording body. It is a principal part schematic block diagram for demonstrating one Embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part block diagram in order to demonstrate other embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating other embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating other embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating other embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating other embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating other embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating an example at the time of adjusting a writing heating amount by pulse width modulation. It is a figure for demonstrating the example in the case of adjusting the writing heating amount by pulse number modulation. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating the example for detecting the temperature of a recording body. It is a concept for demonstrating one Example of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the other Example of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structural example of the control part by the side of the printing press for implementing this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which pixels in the main scanning direction are simultaneously written in consideration of the past three lines. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structural example of the printing press side control part which implements this invention. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating the other Example of this invention. It is a principal part schematic for demonstrating the other Example of this invention. It is a principal part schematic for demonstrating the other Example of this invention. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating the other Example of this invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a motor driven by a motor driver and a recording drum driven by the motor. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating one Example of this invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a motor driven by a motor driver and a recording medium roller driven by the motor. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating one Example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the other Example of this invention. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating the other Example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating this invention. It is a principal part block diagram for demonstrating one Example of the optical scanning device by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Heat source, 2 ... Recording body roller, 3 ... Inking unit, 4 ... Transfer roller, 5 ... Recording paper, 6 ... Pressure roller, 7 ... Infrared heater, 8 ... Cleaning unit, 9 ... Liquid layer formation means, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 30 ... Recording body, 40 ... Recording body carrier, 50 ... Recording head, 111 ... Heating time calculation part, 112 ... Counter, 113 ... Image forming apparatus, 115 ... Image formation means drive pulse number limit signal generation part, 116 , AND circuit, 117, image forming means drive pulse generator, 118, image forming means, 120, recording medium, 123, laser light source, 124, non-contact thermometer, 125, contact thermometer, 128, personal computer, 129 ... Image forming means 130... Printing side control unit 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147.

Claims (26)

  Image forming means for selectively heating a non-image area of the recording body to form a latent image in the image area of the recording body, developing the latent image formed on the recording body and transferring it to recording paper In the image forming apparatus, the image forming unit includes a plurality of heating sources for the recording medium (multihead), and the plurality of heating sources can write the same pixel.   In claim 1, when a defective heating source that is always in a heating state is generated and the heating source is located in a blank area, correction by another heating source is performed on an area to be written by the heating source. An image forming apparatus which is not performed.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a multi-head having a recording width wider than the image forming area as the image forming unit, and a unit that moves the multi-head in the main scanning direction for every predetermined printing amount. Image forming apparatus.   4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: a multi-head having a recording width wider than an image forming area as the image forming unit, and a unit that moves the multi-head in the main scanning direction at regular intervals. An image forming apparatus.   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming unit includes an image area heating unit and a blank area heating unit.   6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a multi-head having a resolution lower than that of the image area heating unit is used for the blank area heating unit.   The resistance value of each heating source of the multi-head and / or the voltage across the resistor connected in series with the heating source is detected in any one of claims 1 to 6, and the detected voltage is compared with a specified voltage. An image forming apparatus characterized by examining the presence or absence of a defective heating source.   8. The image forming unit according to claim 1, wherein the image forming unit has a receding contact angle that decreases when contacted with a liquid in a heated state (lyophilic state) and retreats when heated in a non-contact state with the liquid. A recording body having surface characteristics with an increased contact angle (liquid repellency state) is heated while being in contact with a member selected from liquid and / or solid, or the surface of the recording body is heated. Immediately after that, the contact surface with the member selected from liquid and / or solid is lowered to reduce the receding contact angle of the surface of the recording material (lyophilic treatment), and the whole is made lyophilic, then the liquid and / or An image forming apparatus, wherein the non-image area of the recording body is selectively heated in the absence of a solid contact member to make the area where recording is not performed liquid repellent.   9. The multicolor image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the image forming units are provided corresponding to the colors of the respective recording inks.   Image forming means for selectively heating a non-image area of the recording body to form a latent image in the image area of the recording body, developing the latent image formed on the recording body and transferring it to recording paper In the image forming apparatus, the image forming unit has a function of adjusting a writing heating amount.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit has a function of adjusting a writing heating amount in accordance with temperature information of the recording medium.   12. The heating amount of writing according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the image forming means is a pixel adjacent to a pixel to be heated from now on (a pixel of interest) and is written simultaneously with or before the pixel of interest according to heating information. An image forming apparatus having a function of adjusting the image.   The image forming unit according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit changes a heating amount of writing with respect to a target pixel in accordance with a heating history of a plurality of past lines whose main scanning directions are the same or in the vicinity. Image forming apparatus.   14. The image forming unit according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit includes a multi-head having a plurality of heating sources for the recording body, and the heating amount from the multi-head is changed according to the number of heating sources to be driven simultaneously. An image forming apparatus.   15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit performs writing at least one pixel or every other line in the main scanning direction or the sub scanning direction.   16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit changes a writing speed according to image information.   17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit changes a writing speed in accordance with a rising temperature of the recording medium.   18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit forms an image by increasing a heating amount at the start of writing.   19. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit has a multi-head and writes pixels on the same line at least every other pixel.   20. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit is a multi-head in which a heating source is formed every other pixel or more.   21. The image forming unit according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit has a multi-head, performs writing at least every one pixel or more of pixels on the same line, and performs writing in a spiral shape. Image forming apparatus.   22. The image forming means or the recording body according to claim 10, wherein the image forming means has a multi-head, writes at least every one pixel or more of pixels on the same line, and finishes writing the final line. An image forming apparatus characterized in that image formation is continued by moving in the main scanning direction.   23. The image forming unit according to claim 10, wherein the image forming unit has a receding contact angle that decreases when contacted with a liquid in a heated state (lyophilic state) and retreats when heated in a non-contact state with the liquid. A recording body having surface characteristics with an increased contact angle (liquid repellency state) is heated while being in contact with a member selected from liquid and / or solid, or the surface of the recording body is heated. Immediately after that, the contact surface with the member selected from liquid and / or solid is lowered to reduce the receding contact angle of the surface of the recording material (lyophilic treatment), and the whole is made lyophilic, then the liquid and / or An image forming apparatus, wherein the non-image area of the recording body is selectively heated in the absence of a solid contact member to make the area where recording is not performed liquid repellent.   A multicolor image forming apparatus comprising a plurality of image forming apparatuses according to any one of claims 10 to 23 corresponding to the colors of the respective recording inks.   A laser light source whose emission is controlled in accordance with image information, a rotating polygon mirror for scanning the laser light from the laser light source, a motor for rotating the rotating polygon mirror, and the reflection from the rotating polygon mirror In an image forming apparatus that forms a latent image according to image information by irradiating the laser beam on the recording body, the recording body is irradiated to the recording body. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a low-sensitivity recording material having a light-to-heat conversion material that converts the laser light into heat, wherein the rotary polygon mirror is rotated by the motor via a speed reduction mechanism.   26. The image forming apparatus according to claim 25, wherein a disk-shaped mass body having a mass equal to or greater than that of the rotary polygon mirror is provided on a rotation shaft of the motor or rotary polygon mirror.

Images