JP2007093699A - Stereoscopic image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stereoscopic image forming apparatus which achieves space saving, and low running cost, and can achieve uniform gloss and high image quality even in a stereoscopic image. <P>SOLUTION: In the image forming apparatus, a chromatic toner containing an adjuvant and a transparent toner or a white toner containing a foaming agent that foams by the adjuvant are held in separated developing devices to form toner images on an image carrier. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that a foaming phenomenon does not occur until the adjuvant of the chromatic toner reacts with the foaming agent in the transparent toner or the white toner in a fixing process, forming a stereoscopic permanent toner image on a transfer paper. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine to which an electrophotographic system or an electrostatic recording system is applied, and more particularly to a stereoscopic image forming apparatus capable of forming a stereoscopic image using foaming toner. .

  In the recent color image market, pictorial color images are becoming mainstream, and further, there is a growing need to add three-dimensional images and add value to the images themselves. For example, in the Japanese market, rugged processed cards are accepted as New Year's cards and as greeting cards overseas.

  Conventionally, as a technique for forming a three-dimensional image on paper, various ideas have been made, and various techniques have been proposed. For example, a technology that performs three-dimensional printing by plastically deforming a support (paper) by dot impact, a technology that performs three-dimensional printing using a thermally foamable toner, or three-dimensional printing that uses foamed paper or a thermal transfer film There are various techniques, such as a technique, a technique for performing three-dimensional printing by printing an ultraviolet curable resin, or a technique for performing three-dimensional printing by a number of times of transfer using a conventional toner.

  However, the above-mentioned various three-dimensional printing techniques form a three-dimensional image composed of simple unevenness without color or a black-and-white three-dimensional image, an image forming method for forming a three-dimensional full-color image, and after fixing. No technology has been proposed for defining the image structure.

  From a technical point of view, it is extremely difficult to overlay a full-color image on a three-dimensional convex part such as paper in the image forming process and post-processing, resulting in poor transfer, and full color with high durability and high storage stability. No image forming apparatus for forming a stereoscopic image has been proposed so far.

  In addition, there is a technology to plastically deform a support such as paper by post-processing embossing of full color images such as posters, but it takes a lot of time, man-hours, and cost to mold the mold for embossing It is only applied to the production of a large number of copies, and from the viewpoint of durability, the paper is plastically deformed to obtain a convex image.Therefore, it is flattened when lightly pressed with a finger or the like. Have.

  Therefore, “image forming toner, its production method and three-dimensional image forming method and image forming apparatus and image forming apparatus using the same”, and “image forming apparatus” have been proposed as foaming toners (Patent Documents 1 to 3). reference).

In Patent Document 4, a color toner image made of a non-foamable full-color toner is formed on a toner image made of a heat-foamable toner. Proposals have been made so as not to form a color toner image composed of a non-foaming full-color toner over a minute width.
Japanese Patent Application No. 10-304458 Japanese Patent Application No. 11-311710 Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-300669 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-244284

  However, conventionally, as a method for forming a three-dimensional image, a three-dimensional output image is formed by inserting a foam into a colored toner and the toner itself foams and swells when heated during fixing. However, this resulted in a total of eight color toners (four types of foamed toner and two types of non-foamed toner, respectively), resulting in useless toner that was less frequently used and the apparatus itself becoming larger. Also, in producing the toner, making two types of each color increases the cost and hinders the introduction of the stereoscopic image forming apparatus itself.

  On the other hand, when a color toner is a non-foamed toner and a transparent toner is provided with a foaming function to form an image, especially in full-color image formation, when the foamed toner adhering portion and the colored toner portion are overlapped, a misalignment, etc. Originally, a place where a three-dimensional image is desired to be formed is a flat surface, a three-dimensional image is formed in a normal white background portion, and a gloss difference (gross nonuniformity) between an image portion and a non-image portion (white background portion) occurs.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and a target process thereof is a three-dimensional image forming apparatus that can be realized with space saving and low running cost, and can achieve high image quality with uniform gloss even in a three-dimensional image. Is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a color toner having an auxiliary agent and a transparent toner or a white toner having a foaming agent foamed by the auxiliary agent are held in separate developing devices, and an image carrier is provided. In an image forming apparatus for forming a toner image thereon, a foaming phenomenon occurs only when a color toner auxiliary agent and a transparent toner or a white toner foaming agent react during a fixing process, and a three-dimensional permanent toner image is formed on a transfer paper. It is characterized by creating.

  The invention described in claim 2 is the invention described in claim 1, wherein a planar image and a stereoscopic image can be arbitrarily selected, and when forming a stereoscopic image, the same or a wider range than the colored toner forming portion. In addition, a transparent toner or a white toner image is formed.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, in which the colored toner having the auxiliary agent and the transparent toner or the white toner having the heat generation auxiliary agent that generates heat by reacting with the auxiliary agent. A three-dimensional permanent toner image is created on the transfer paper.

  The invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that, in the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3, the auxiliary agent has moisture contained in a resin in the colored toner.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the transparent toner or the white toner has CaO as a heat generation aid.

  The invention described in claim 6 is characterized in that, in the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 5, the transparent toner or the white toner has isocyanate as a foaming agent.

  According to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus in which an output image is three-dimensionally formed from a toner image, a normal planar image output and a three-dimensional image output are formed with the same main body and the same toner, thereby saving space and low running cost. It is possible to provide a stereoscopic image forming apparatus that can realize and achieve high image quality with uniform gloss even in stereoscopic images.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. <Embodiment 1>
According to the present invention, a planar image and a stereoscopic image can be arbitrarily selected on the same main body, and at the same time, by using a common toner, space saving and low running cost are realized. To achieve this, an auxiliary agent is added to the colored toner, and the foaming function is activated only when the transparent toner or the white toner having the foaming agent and the auxiliary agent are combined, and a three-dimensional image is obtained by the foaming of the toner. It is a thing. The auxiliary agent is contained inside the colored toner, and is exposed to the pressure and heat at the fixing unit and comes out of the toner. When it comes out, transparent toner or white toner having a foaming function foams. Considering the environmental properties of the auxiliary agent and the foaming agent, for example, when water is used as the auxiliary agent and isocyanate is used as the blowing agent, the present invention utilizes the characteristic that the foaming function is generated by the reaction of isocyanate with water. .

  Further, the uniformity of gloss as an image is maintained by attaching transparent toner or white toner to the white background portion of the image.

  The image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described below.

  FIG. 8 shows a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

  In terms of productivity, it is a full-color copier with a single drum system of 50 black-and-white and 12 color / min. As the drum, an OPC drum was used (an a-Si drum having further improved durability may be used if necessary). With reference to FIG. 8, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment using the rotational development method will be described.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a drum-type electrophotographic photosensitive member as an image carrier, that is, a photosensitive drum 28 that can rotate in a direction indicated by an arrow R1 in the drawing. Around the photosensitive drum 28, a primary charger 21 as a charging means for uniformly charging the photosensitive drum 28, the surface of the charged photosensitive drum 28 is exposed according to image information, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 28. The exposure unit 22 to be formed, the rotary developing device 50 that is a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 28 by a developing device of a plurality of colors, and the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 28 with an intermediate transfer member. A first transfer charger 23a as a first transfer means for transferring to an intermediate transfer belt 24, a first cleaner 29a for removing residual toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 28 after the transfer of the toner image, and the like are provided. It has been.

  Next, the image forming process will be described.

  A document reading device 10 that reads an image of a document pressed by a platen cover is disposed on the color copying machine main body 100. The document reader 10 illuminates a document placed on a platen glass (not shown) with a light source, and reduces a reflected light image from the document to a reduction optical system including a full rate mirror, a half rate mirror, and an imaging lens. Then, scanning exposure is performed on an image reading element composed of a CCD or the like, and the color material reflected light image of the original is read at a predetermined dot density (for example, 16 dots / mm) by this image reading element.

  The color material reflected light image of the document 2 read by the document reading device 4 is subjected to image processing, for example, as document reflectance data of three colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) (8 bits each). In this image processing apparatus, a predetermined image such as shading correction, position shift correction, brightness / color space conversion, gamma correction, frame deletion, color / moving editing, etc. is applied to the reflectance data of the document 2. Processing is performed.

  The image data that has been subjected to the predetermined image processing by the image processing apparatus as described above is an original of four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (BK) (each 8 bits). Color material gradation data is sent to a ROS (Raster Output Scanner). In this ROS, image exposure is performed with laser light in accordance with the original color material gradation data.

  The rotary developing device 50 supports the black developing device 1K, the yellow developing device 1Y, the magenta developing device 1M, and the cyan developing device 1C on a rotating body that is a developing device holding unit. The rotating shaft of the rotating body can be freely rotated by driving means (not shown) such as a motor and a gear mechanism. For example, when a black toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 28, development is performed by the black developing device 1K at the development position P1 close to the photosensitive drum 28. When forming a yellow toner image, the rotating body is rotated by approximately 90 ° in the direction of arrow R2 in the drawing, and the yellow developing device 1Y is disposed at the developing position P1 for development. Similarly, when magenta and cyan toner images are formed, the rotating body is further rotated by about 90 ° in the direction of the arrow R2 in the drawing, and the developing devices 1M and 1C are arranged at the developing position P1 for development. . Above the rotary developing device 50, a developing device having a transparent toner (or white toner) indicated by T is provided.

  Next, the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described.

  Hereinafter, for example, the color toner developing devices of the black developing device 1K, the yellow developing 1Y, the magenta developing device 1M, and the cyan developing device 1C are simply referred to as the developing device 1. As described above, when it is not necessary to particularly distinguish the developing devices of the respective colors, the subscripts K, Y, M, C, and T given to indicate the elements belonging to the developing devices for the respective colors are omitted (developing device). Each has a shape shown in FIG. 5 and basically includes a developing sleeve 2, a stirring screw 53/54, and a toner layer thickness regulating blade 51).

  In FIG. 8, the surface of the photosensitive drum 28 rotating in the direction of arrow R <b> 1 is uniformly charged by the primary charger 21. Then, the exposure unit 22 irradiates the surface of the charged photosensitive drum 28 with a laser beam or the like corresponding to the image information to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 28. The electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 1 containing desired toner, and a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 28.

  The surface of the photosensitive drum 28 is uniformly charged to, for example, −650 V, and then the image portion is scanned and exposed with the laser beam LB to form an electrostatic latent image in which the exposed portion is −200 V. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 28 includes four color developing devices 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (BK). The rotary developing device 50 and the transparent toner developing unit T are reversely developed with, for example, a toner (charged color material) charged to a negative polarity that is the same polarity as the charged polarity of the photosensitive drum 28, and a toner image of a predetermined color It becomes. At that time, for example, a developing bias voltage of −500 V is applied to the developing rolls of the developing devices 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1K, and T.

  This toner image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 24 by the first transfer bias by the first transfer charger 23a. For example, when full-color image formation is performed, first, a black toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 28 by the black developing device 1K at the development position P1, and the black toner image is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 24. . Next, the rotating body is rotated by 90 ° in the direction of the arrow R2 in the drawing, the yellow developing device 1Y is disposed at the developing position P1, and a yellow toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 28. Then, the yellow toner image is primarily transferred and superimposed on the black toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 24. This operation is also sequentially performed in the magenta developing device 1M, the cyan developing device 1C, and the transparent toner developing device T to form a desired full-color image on the intermediate transfer belt 24.

  On the other hand, in synchronism with the formation of a full-color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 24, a recording material such as recording paper, an OHP sheet, etc. is provided with a recording material storage cassette, a pickup roller, a conveyance roller, a conveyance guide, and the like. From a material supply means (not shown), it is supplied to a recording material conveyance belt which is a recording material conveyance means, and is conveyed to a facing portion between the intermediate transfer belt 24 and a second transfer charger 23b which is a second transfer means. come.

  Thereafter, the full color images on the intermediate transfer belt 24 are collectively transferred onto the recording material on the recording material conveyance belt by the second transfer bias by the second transfer charger 23b.

  Subsequently, the recording material is peeled off from the recording material conveyance belt and is pressed / heated by the fixing device 26. Thus, the unfixed toner image transferred to the recording material is fixed on the recording material and becomes a permanent image.

  Further, the transfer residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 28 after the primary transfer is removed by the first cleaner 29a, and further, the transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 24 after the secondary transfer is removed by the second cleaner 29b. In preparation for the next image formation.

  Next, the developing device 1 will be described.

  A developing container 2 of the developing device 1 contains a two-component developer (developer) mainly including a non-magnetic toner (toner) and a magnetic carrier (carrier). The toner concentration in the developer is about 8% by weight.

  The toner includes colored resin particles containing a binder resin, a colorant, and other additives as necessary, and colored particles to which an external additive such as colloidal silica fine powder is externally added. Yes. The toner is a negatively chargeable polyester resin produced by a polymerization method, and the volume average particle diameter is preferably 5 μm or more and 8 μm or less. In this embodiment, it is 7.2 μm.

As the carrier, for example, surface-oxidized or non-oxidized iron, nickel, cobalt, manganese, chromium, rare earth and other metals and their alloys, or oxide ferrite can be preferably used. The production method is not particularly limited. The carrier has a weight average particle diameter of 20 to 50 μm, preferably 30 to 40 μm, and a resistivity of 10 ⁷ Ωcm or more, preferably 10 ⁸ Ωcm or more. In this embodiment, 10 ⁸ Ωcm is used.

Furthermore, as the low specific gravity magnetic carrier, a resin magnetic carrier produced by mixing a phenolic binder resin with a magnetic metal oxide and a nonmagnetic metal oxide at a predetermined ratio and using a polymerization method can be used. For example, such a carrier has a volume average particle diameter of 35 μm, a true density of 3.6 to 3.7 (g / cm ³ ), and a magnetization of 53 (A · m ² / kg).

  As the developing system, both the color toner and the foamable toner adopt the two-component developing system in this embodiment, but the non-magnetic one-component developing system and the magnetic one-component developing system may be used. In the present embodiment, the toner composition may or may not contain a wax that enables oilless heat fixing in both the expandable toner and the non-expandable full-color toner that is a colored toner. Both the foamed toner and the non-foamed color toner employ a toner containing no wax, and a soft roll fixing device 26 shown in FIG. 4 forms a permanent image.

  In the first embodiment, in the rotary developing device 1, the four color developing devices 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (BK) are used. The newly added transparent color developing device T is an image forming toner containing a foaming auxiliary agent for colored toner and a foaming agent for transparent toner, both of which contain a binder resin.

  Although it does not restrict | limit especially as a foaming agent, A foaming phenomenon is produced only by a foaming auxiliary agent so that it may mention later. It may be solid at room temperature or liquid. Further, the foaming agent is not limited to a material composed of a single substance, and may be a material composed of a plurality of substances or a functional material such as microcapsule particles. The preferable range of the foaming temperature of the foaming agent varies depending on the type of apparatus used to form the stereoscopic image. However, when forming a stereoscopic image using a normal printer or copying machine as shown in FIG. The foaming temperature is preferably not more than the heat fixing temperature.

As the foaming agent, for example, a foaming agent mainly composed of a substance that generates gas by thermal decomposition can be used. Specifically, a bicarbonate such as sodium hydrogen carbonate that generates carbon dioxide by thermal decomposition, NaNO2 that generates nitrogen gas
And a mixture of NH 4 Cl, azo compounds such as azobisirobutyronitrile and diazoaminobenzene, peroxides that generate oxygen, and the like.

In the present invention, as a combination of a foaming aid and a foaming agent,
・ Hydrocarbon / hydrofluorocarbon and water ・ Polyol and isocyanate ・ Dichlorotrifluoroethane and paraffin ・ Active hydrogen compound and polyisocyanate ・ There are polyisocyanate and polyol in this embodiment. Water was included in the colored toner as an auxiliary agent, and isocyanate was included in the transparent toner as a foaming agent.

  The form of the foaming agent for transparent toner (or white toner) and the form of the foaming aid for colored toner are low-boiling substances that vaporize at low temperatures (may be liquid or solid at room temperature). And a foaming agent for microcapsule particles (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “microcapsule type foaming agent”). A microcapsule type foaming agent is preferable because of its high foaming property.

  When the image forming toner of the present embodiment is used in an ordinary printer or copying machine, the low boiling point substance contained in the microcapsule can be vaporized at a temperature lower than at least the heat fixing temperature. Specifically, it is a substance that vaporizes at 100 ° C. or lower, preferably 50 ° C. or lower, more preferably 25 ° C. or lower. However, since the thermal responsiveness of the microcapsule type foaming agent depends not only on the boiling point of the low-boiling substance as the core material but also on the softening point of the wall material, the preferred boiling range of the low-boiling substance is not limited to the above range. . Examples of the low boiling point substance include neopentane, neohexane, isopentane, isobutylene, and isobutane. Among them, isobutane which is stable with respect to the wall material of the microcapsule and has a high coefficient of thermal expansion is preferable.

  The wall material of the microcapsule has a solvent resistance to various solvents used in the toner manufacturing process, and is impermeable to a gas when a low-boiling substance contained in the microcapsule is vaporized. The material which has is preferable. Further, when the image forming toner of the present embodiment is used in a normal printer or copying machine, the wall material needs to be softened and expanded at a temperature lower than the heat fixing temperature.

  Conventionally used wall materials can be widely used as wall materials for microcapsules. For example, homopolymers such as polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polystyrene, polyacrylonitrile, polybutadiene, polyacrylic acid ester, and copolymers thereof are preferably used. Among these, a copolymer of vinylidene chloride and acrylonitrile is preferable in terms of high adhesiveness to the binder resin and high solvent resistance to the solvent.

  The content of the foaming agent in the toner of the present exemplary embodiment varies depending on the type of foaming agent, but is usually 5% to 50% by weight, preferably 10% to 40% by weight. When the content of the foaming agent is less than 5% by weight, the thermal expansion of the toner may be insufficient in practical use. On the other hand, when the content exceeds 50% by weight, the proportion of the binder resin in the toner is relatively high. Insufficient fixing properties may not be obtained.

  The binder resin of the three-dimensional image forming toner of this embodiment is not particularly limited, and resins generally used as toner resins can be used. Specifically, polyester resin, styrene resin, acrylic resin, styrene / acrylic resin, silicone resin, epoxy resin, diene resin, phenol resin, ethylene / vinyl acetate resin, and the like are more preferable. .

  In the binder resin of this embodiment, two or more kinds of the above-mentioned polyester resins may be combined, and another resin may be further combined. Other resins include styrene resin, acrylic resin, styrene / acrylic resin, silicone resin, epoxy resin, diene resin, phenol resin, terpene resin, coumarin resin, amide resin, amideimide resin, butyral resin, urethane resin, ethylene There are natural wax resins such as vinyl acetate resin, polypropylene resin, polyethylene resin and carnauba wax. In the present embodiment, it is preferable to add polyester resin as a main component and other resins in the toner in an amount of 0 to 30% by weight. In the case of preparing a toner by dispersing a foaming agent in a binder resin monomer and subjecting them to suspension polymerization, the suspension-polymerizable monomer in the binder resin can be used.

  The transparent toner particles of the present embodiment are composed of at least a binder resin and foaming agent particles, and the foaming agent particles are encapsulated on the toner core side without losing foamability. Since the image forming toner of the present embodiment has a configuration in which the foaming agent is not substantially exposed on the surface, it has high thermal expansibility and maintains good adhesion and charging stability to the recording medium. ing.

  It is preferable that the foaming agent 42 is uniformly dispersed in the toner as particles because the adhesion of the toner to the recording medium and the charging stability can be further improved.

  The colored toner and the transparent toner of the present embodiment may contain a colorant if desired, and may be colored and visualized. As the colorant to be dispersed, known organic or inorganic pigments and dyes, and oil-soluble dyes can be used. These colorants depend on the toner particle size and development amount, but generally a ratio of about 1 to 100 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of toner is appropriate.

  In addition, the image forming toner of the present embodiment may contain a magnetic material in order to give magnetization. As the type of the magnetic material, known materials can be used as appropriate. Further, the image forming toner of the present embodiment may contain a release agent as desired. It is preferable to include a release agent since an offset phenomenon at the time of contact fixing can be prevented. Note that a charge control agent may be added to the image forming toner of the present embodiment as desired. Furthermore, a known external additive may be added to the image forming toner of the present embodiment in order to control fluidity and developability.

  A method for manufacturing the colored toner and the transparent toner according to the present embodiment will be described.

  As an example, a step of suspending and dispersing an oil phase in which at least a binder resin and a foaming agent are dissolved and / or dispersed in a solvent to produce a particle composed of the oil phase; And a process including a step of removing.

  Further, the image forming toner of the present embodiment may be produced by a process including a step of suspension polymerization of a binder resin monomer in which at least a foaming agent is dissolved or dispersed in an aqueous phase.

  The image forming toner used in this embodiment is a white toner containing 75% by weight of binder polymer as a binder resin and 25% by weight of Expandel 461 as a foaming agent, and 74 binder polymer as a binder resin. Black toner containing 1% by weight, 24.7% by weight of EXPANSEL 461 as a foaming agent, and 1.2% by weight of carbon black as a colorant. Note that an external additive may be appropriately added to these toners as necessary.

  When white toner is used as the image forming toner, the white toner may be contained in the transparent toner developing device T instead of the transparent toner. There are various methods for making the color white, but it is more effective to add CaO as in Embodiment 2 to be described later.

  Next, the results will be described.

  In the color printer and the copying machine according to the first embodiment, a normal planar image and a stereoscopic image can be arbitrarily selected. When forming a flat image, it is possible to form an image with only colored toner and obtain an image as shown in FIG. 6 in full color.

  On the other hand, when a three-dimensional image is selected, image formation is performed so that a portion to be three-dimensionalized with a transparent toner (or white toner) overlaps with the colored toner. In this embodiment, transparent toner is adhered to all the colored toner portions. When forming a stereoscopic image, a transparent foam on which a stereoscopic image is to be formed on a full-color toner image composed of toner images of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black on the intermediate transfer belt 24 by the above-described image forming process. A toner image made of a conductive toner is transferred in multiple layers.

  After that, the yellow, magenta, cyan, and black full-color toner images transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 24 in a superimposed manner with the transparent toner image are collectively transferred onto the transfer paper at the secondary transfer portion. Is done.

  Finally, the transfer paper on which the full-color toner image has been transferred is subjected to a fixing process with heat and pressure by the fixing roll 1 and the pressure roll 1C of the fixing device 26, as shown in FIG. As the resin melts, the foaming aid in the color toner reacts with the foaming agent in the transparent toner, so that the part where the image is formed by the toner foams, so that a stereoscopic image is formed on the transfer paper as shown in FIG. It is formed.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of φ1 mm dots formed on transfer paper. The toner height is about 100 μm. Of course, if a single color Bk is formed at the same time as the transparent toner, for example, a solid image of a single color character can be obtained. The three-dimensional image fixed on the transfer paper is foamed by the foaming agent in the toner particles to form hollow gas bubbles having a substantially spherical shape or a substantially ellipsoidal shape. A high-quality three-dimensional image could be formed.

  With the above configuration, in an image forming apparatus in which an output image is three-dimensionally formed with a toner image, a normal planar image output and a three-dimensional image output are formed with the same main body and the same toner, thereby saving space and low running. It was possible to provide a stereoscopic image forming apparatus that was realized at a low cost and more added value.

<Embodiment 2>
The feature of the present embodiment is to use a phenomenon of generating heat by mixing moisture and CaO in order to form a stereoscopic image more effectively. In other words, the colored toner is configured to include moisture, the white toner is configured to include CaO and a foaming agent, and nothing is generated when a normal flat image is formed. White toner is formed to overlap, and the colored toner is crushed by pressure and heat by the fixing device, moisture is discharged out of the toner, combined with CaO of the white toner, generates heat, and the foaming agent foams in a shorter time Was made to be done enough.

The reaction of CaO and water, which is a feature of the present invention,
CaO + H ₂ O → Ca (OH) ₂ +15.2 kcal
It is. Since the construction and manufacturing method of the colored toner and the white toner are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  As the main body, as shown in FIG. 3, a so-called tandem type in which a plurality of drums are arranged in parallel was used. In the present embodiment, an M portion formed of one drum and transparent toner is provided as a final step in a portion having four drums made of colored toner. Such a tandem type has the merit of improving the productivity of color images.

  In this way, by further including CaO inside the white toner, dissolution of the colored toner and the white toner by heat can be promoted even in a microscopic part by heat, and a high-quality three-dimensional image can be obtained even in the microscopic part. In addition to being formed, the fixability can be secured, so that foaming can be performed in a shorter time and an ultra-high-speed stereoscopic image forming apparatus of 100 sheets per minute could be realized.

  With the above configuration, in an image forming apparatus in which an output image is three-dimensionally formed with a toner image, a normal planar image output and a three-dimensional image output are formed with the same main body and the same toner, thereby saving space and low running. It was possible to provide a stereoscopic image forming apparatus that provides a stereoscopic image realized at a low cost.

<Embodiment 3>
In the present embodiment, in order to improve the quality of a stereoscopic image, transparent toner or white toner is adhered to a white background portion so as to obtain a uniform gloss. Further, in order to improve the foaming performance, the foaming agent material was improved so that the transparent toner (or white toner) having dichloroisocyanuric acid and isocyanate reacts with the colored toner having moisture as an auxiliary agent to cause foaming.

  FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In order to further reduce the space with respect to the first embodiment, a developing device T for transparent toner (or a developing device for white toner) is provided in the developing rotary. I put it in. Since the construction and manufacturing method of the colored toner and the transparent toner are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  In this method, when forming an image, white toner is adhered to a white background portion where an image is not formed. That is, white toner is attached to the front surface of the image area. This can be arbitrarily selected by the user. By doing in this way, it is possible to provide a uniform glossy stereoscopic image to a user who seeks uniformity of image gloss. This is because the difference in gloss between the low gloss area and the high gloss area of the image area due to the surface of the conventional paper itself is large, but by forming white toner on the white background area and increasing the white area gloss area, the difference is reduced. It can be done. The result is shown in FIG.

  Here, the A portion is a white background portion, and white toner is formed thereon. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the image as described above. A white toner layer is formed on the transfer paper, and a toner image is formed thereon. The image realizes uniform gloss, and the glossiness of the white background gives a higher-quality product and increases added value.

  With the above configuration, in an image forming apparatus in which an output image is three-dimensionally formed with a toner image, a normal planar image output and a three-dimensional image output are formed with the same main body and the same toner, thereby saving space and low running. It has been possible to provide a stereoscopic image forming apparatus that can be realized at low cost, achieves high image quality with uniform gloss even in stereoscopic images, and can cope with the environment.

It is a flowchart for demonstrating the stereo image produced in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the stereo image of another embodiment by this invention. It is a figure explaining the image forming apparatus of another embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating a fixing device apparatus. It is a figure explaining a developing device. It is a figure explaining a normal image. It is a figure explaining the image forming apparatus used in Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the image forming apparatus used in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the stereo image of Embodiment 3 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

50 Developing Rotary 28 Photosensitive Drum 24 Intermediate Transfer Member 26 Fixing Device

Claims (6)

In an image forming apparatus in which a colored toner having an auxiliary agent and a transparent toner or white toner having a foaming agent foamed by the auxiliary agent are held in separate developing devices to form a toner image on an image carrier.
A three-dimensional image forming apparatus characterized in that a foaming phenomenon occurs only when a color toner auxiliary agent and a transparent toner or a white toner foaming agent react in a fixing step to form a three-dimensional permanent toner image on a transfer paper.   A planar image and a three-dimensional image can be arbitrarily selected. When a three-dimensional image is formed, a transparent toner or a white toner image is formed in the same or wider range than the colored toner forming portion. The three-dimensional image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   A three-dimensional permanent toner image is formed on a transfer paper with a colored toner having an auxiliary agent and a transparent toner or a white toner having a heat generation auxiliary agent that generates heat by reacting with the auxiliary agent. The stereoscopic image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.   The three-dimensional image forming apparatus according to any one of 1 to 3, which has a structure in which moisture is contained in a resin in a colored toner as an auxiliary agent.   The three-dimensional image forming apparatus according to any one of 1 to 4, wherein the transparent toner or white toner has CaO as a heat generation aid.   The three-dimensional image forming apparatus according to any one of 1 to 5, wherein the transparent toner or the white toner has isocyanate as a foaming agent.

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