JP2008015190A - Method for printing on glass plate, and method for manufacturing the glass plate with printing pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for printing on a glass plate, where toner on non-image area can be appropriately removed. <P>SOLUTION: The method for printing on the glass plate G includes exposing a photosensitive drum 13 that rotates; making the toner adhere to the exposed photosensitive drum; and transferring the adhered toner to the surface of the glass plate G. The toner of the region, corresponding to a predetermined image pattern among the toner transferred from the photosensitive drum to the glass plate surface, is heated and/or pressed to be temporarily fixed, and thereafter, the glass plate surface is cleaned with cleaner 19, to remove the toner transferred to the region other than regions corresponding to the image pattern in the surface G of the glass plate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for printing a glass plate for imparting a desired image pattern to a glass plate and a method for producing a glass plate with a print pattern using the same.

  A glass plate used for an automobile window is provided with a conductive printed wire as a heater wire for removing fogging and an antenna wire for receiving television, radio, or the like. Such a conductive printed wire is mainly provided in the rear window or rear side window of the automobile. The conductive printed wire is composed of a fired body of paste mainly containing silver. Specifically, a paste containing silver and glass frit contained in a resin solution is printed on a glass plate surface in a predetermined pattern by screen printing, and the glass plate is heated to decompose the resin component. After fixing silver on the glass plate surface, the silver is fired to provide conductive printed lines on the glass plate surface.

  Since there is a restriction on the voltage of the electric system used in the automobile, it is necessary to set the resistance value of the heater wire to a predetermined resistance value in order to obtain a desired heat generation amount. In addition, in order to receive radio waves with a predetermined antenna pattern, it is necessary to set the resistance value of the antenna line to a predetermined resistance value. The resistance value of the conductive printed line depends on the line width and line thickness.

  On the other hand, it is necessary to devise an arrangement pattern of heater wires and antenna wires in order to sufficiently remove fogging over the entire area of the window and to receive radio waves with a desired sensitivity. How much haze can be removed by these patterns, or how much antenna performance can be obtained, can be predicted to some extent by computer simulation. In addition, a conductive tape is simply attached to a glass plate surface, and each performance is preliminarily measured. However, it is necessary to measure each performance by actually providing a conductive printed line in order to determine whether or not the defogging and antenna performance to be finally obtained.

  Therefore, the arrangement pattern of the conductive printed lines may be changed even after the screen plate is manufactured and the glass plate with the conductive print is manufactured by predicting that it is almost the final stage. In this case, the screen version must be corrected according to the corrected arrangement pattern.

  Since automobiles are mass-produced products, glass plates for windows used in automobiles are also mass-produced products. For this reason, once the pattern of the conductive printed line is determined, it is required to sequentially print the conductive paste on a large number of glass plates according to the determined pattern. For such mass production, screen printing of a conductive paste using a screen plate is suitable. However, as described above, even if a screen plate having a substantially fixed pattern is prepared, it is necessary to correct the screen plate to a pattern that finally makes the heat generation performance and antenna performance desired. And when using a glass plate for a motor vehicle window etc., the shape of a glass plate, the pattern shape of a conductive printed line, etc. differ according to the model of a motor vehicle. Therefore, screen plates must be prepared according to the type of automobile, and many screen plates must be stocked. For this reason, development of the manufacturing method of the glass plate with an electroconductive printed wire which does not require correction of a screen plate, and the electroconductive composition for it is calculated | required.

On the other hand, in recent years, an apparatus for applying decoration and / or letters to a glass plate, glass ceramic, or ceramic product using electrophotographic technology has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). By using such an electrophotographic technique, it is possible to flexibly cope with pattern types, design changes, and the like simply by changing the photosensitive pattern.
Japanese Patent No. 3460084

  By the way, when the electrophotographic technique is used, toner (hereinafter referred to as “non-image area toner”) may be transferred onto a print medium in an area other than the area corresponding to the image pattern. This is because it is practically difficult to attach the toner only to the area corresponding to the image pattern, and the toner attached to the area around the area corresponding to the image pattern on the photosensitive drum (remaining on the photosensitive drum). This is because the toner is transferred to the print medium together with the toner attached to the area corresponding to the image pattern. The toner in the non-image area is obviously unnecessary toner, but when the printing medium is an opaque object such as paper, it does not cause any problem in appearance, so it has not been necessary to remove it.

  However, when the printing medium is a transparent glass plate, the toner in the non-image area may be noticeable due to its transparency. That is, when the printing medium is a transparent glass plate, the appearance of the glass plate in the final product state may be deteriorated due to the toner in the non-image area, and the merchantability may be impaired.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a glass plate printing method capable of appropriately removing toner in non-image areas and a method for producing a glass plate with a print pattern using the same.

In order to solve the above-mentioned object, a first invention is a glass plate printing method in which a rotating photosensitive drum is exposed, toner is adhered onto the exposed photosensitive drum, and the adhered toner is transferred onto a glass plate surface. Because
Of the toner transferred from the photosensitive drum to the glass plate surface, the toner in a region corresponding to a predetermined image pattern is temporarily fixed by heating and / or pressure bonding, and after the temporary fixing, the glass plate surface is cleaned by a cleaner. Then, the toner transferred to a region other than the region corresponding to the image pattern on the glass plate surface is removed. The pattern when exposing the photosensitive drum may correspond to the image pattern, or may be larger than the image pattern. In the latter case, toner is wasted, but in principle. The pattern may be such that the entire photosensitive drum is exposed.

In the second invention, the rotating photosensitive drum is exposed, toner is adhered to the exposed photosensitive drum, the adhered toner is transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer member, and transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer member. A method of printing a glass plate, which transfers the toner to the glass plate surface,
Of the toner transferred from the photosensitive drum to the surface of the intermediate transfer member, the toner in the region corresponding to the predetermined image pattern is temporarily fixed by heating and / or pressure bonding, and after the temporary fixing, the surface of the intermediate transfer member Alternatively, the toner is transferred to a region other than the region corresponding to the image pattern on the surface of the intermediate transfer member or the glass plate surface by cleaning the glass plate surface with a cleaner. The pattern when exposing the photosensitive drum may correspond to the image pattern, or may be larger than the image pattern. In the latter case, toner is wasted, but in principle. The pattern may be such that the entire photosensitive drum is exposed.

A third invention is a method of printing a glass plate in which toner is applied to the glass plate with a predetermined image pattern,
A toner is applied to the glass plate surface, and the toner in the region corresponding to the predetermined image pattern is temporarily fixed by heating and / or pressure bonding, and after the temporary fixing, the glass plate surface is cleaned with a cleaner. The cleaning is performed to remove toner applied to a region other than the region corresponding to the image pattern on the glass plate surface.

  The fourth invention is characterized in that the toner is particles containing conductive particles, glass frit and a thermoplastic resin.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the glass plate printing method according to the fourth aspect of the invention, the temporary fixing process of the toner includes melting the thermoplastic resin.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for producing a glass plate with a printed pattern, wherein the glass plate on which toner has been transferred or applied by the glass plate printing method according to any one of the first to fifth aspects A conductive pattern and / or a decorative pattern is formed on the plate surface.

  According to the present invention, only the toner in the region corresponding to the image pattern is temporarily fixed by heating and / or pressure bonding, and after the temporary fixing, the glass plate surface is easily cleaned by the cleaner. Can be removed. Thereby, a high-quality glass plate in which so-called ground covering is prevented can be obtained.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in several embodiments with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a method for printing a glass plate according to Example 1 of the present invention, and is a side conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a series of steps for manufacturing a glass plate with conductive printed lines. 2A to 2C are conceptual diagrams showing a state until the toner is transferred to the glass plate G surface in the printing step ST2, and FIG. 2B shows the toner state at point B in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2C shows the toner state at point C in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 1, the glass plate G is transported to a printing step ST <b> 2 through steps (ST <b> 1) such as cutting, chamfering, and cleaning into a predetermined shape. In the printing step ST2, conductive toner containing conductive fine particles is printed in a predetermined pattern on the surface of the glass plate G by the electronic printing apparatus 10. The glass plate G on which toner is printed in a predetermined pattern is conveyed into the heating furnace 30. In the heating furnace 30, the glass plate G is heated to a predetermined temperature, and the toner is baked on the surface of the glass plate G to produce a glass plate with a conductive pattern of a predetermined pattern. The formed conductive printed lines are conveyed to an inspection process, and resistance values are inspected. The inspection result in the inspection process is transmitted to the computer C, and after determining whether the desired electric heat performance or antenna performance is obtained, it is converted into adjustment information of a predetermined pattern and toner line width, and printing in the printing process ST2 Used for pattern control.

  In the step ST1, a rectangular glass plate is cut into a predetermined shape, and the cut surface is chamfered. Thereafter, the glass plate is washed, preheated as necessary, and conveyed to the printing process ST2 by the conveying roll 20.

  In the printing step ST2, the photosensitive drum 13 is cleaned by the photosensitive drum cleaner 17 while rotating the photosensitive drum 13, and the photosensitive drum 13 is neutralized by the discharger 14, and then the photosensitive drum 13 is charged by the charger 12 to expose the exposure apparatus. 15 is irradiated with exposure light to expose the photosensitive drum 13 in a predetermined pattern (hereinafter referred to as “exposure pattern”). In this example, the exposure pattern is set so as to correspond to the image pattern to be finally transferred to the glass plate G.

  Next, the exposure surface of the photosensitive drum 13 is rotated to the toner supply device (developing device) 11, and the toner is attached to the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 by attaching the toner to the photosensitive drum 13. At this time, in reality, unnecessary toner may be attached to the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 not only in the region corresponding to the exposure pattern on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 but also in other regions. This unnecessary toner includes toner that cannot be completely removed by the photosensitive drum cleaner 17 and remains on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13, and toner that is attached when the toner is supplied from the toner supplier.

  FIG. 2A shows the state of toner attached on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13. In FIG. 2A, the exposure pattern is indicated by a one-dot chain line, and a state in which unnecessary toner is attached to the peripheral area P ′ and the other area Q ′ of the exposure pattern is shown. This unnecessary toner causes “ground fogging” described later.

  The toner attached to the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 is transferred to the intermediate drum 16 that rotates as the photosensitive drum 13 rotates. Next, the toner transferred to the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is transferred to the surface of the glass plate G that has been conveyed along with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 13. At this time, the toner is transferred to the surface of the glass plate G in a pattern corresponding to the exposure pattern, but unnecessary toner may be transferred along with it.

  Next, the glass plate G surface is irradiated with light (laser or the like) from the toner fixing device 18 in a predetermined pattern (hereinafter referred to as “temporary fixing pattern”). Thereby, only the toner in the region corresponding to the temporary fixing pattern among the toner transferred onto the surface of the glass plate G is temporarily fixed by heating. This temporary fixing pattern is set so as to correspond to the image pattern to be finally transferred to the glass plate G.

  In FIG. 2B, the temporarily fixed toner is indicated by hatching different from other toners. That is, the toner fixed in the temporary fixing pattern, that is, the toner in the area corresponding to the image pattern is indicated by hatching different from the toner in the other areas. As the light source of the toner fixing device 18, an LED array or a semiconductor laser may be used as in the light source of the exposure device 15. The irradiation of light from the toner fixing device 18 is preferably controlled so that a temperature (for example, 200 degrees) that melts the toner resin half is generated at the irradiation portion on the surface of the glass plate G. Thereafter, the glass plate G surface is cleaned by an unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19. At this time, the toner that is temporarily fixed on the surface of the glass plate G and the unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19 are not removed, and only the toner that is not temporarily fixed is removed as shown in FIG. Is removed. As a result, it is possible to remove unnecessary toner attached to other regions while leaving only the toner attached to the region corresponding to the image pattern. That is, it is possible to remove the toner transferred to the peripheral area P of the area corresponding to the image pattern and the toner transferred to the area Q other than the peripheral area P of the area corresponding to the image pattern.

  The unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19 may include a brush and a vacuum device, and the toner peeled off from the glass plate G surface by the brush is sucked out by the vacuum device, so that unnecessary toner is cleanly removed from the glass plate G surface. . In this case, the brush is arranged over substantially the entire length in the width direction of the glass plate G (perpendicular to the plane of the drawing) so that it acts in contact with substantially the entire surface of the glass plate G. That is, the brush is configured to act on the entire contact area between the intermediate drum 16 and the glass plate G.

  The computer C stores exposure pattern information when the exposure light is irradiated from the exposure device 15. Therefore, in response to a command from the computer C, exposure light is emitted from the exposure device 15 in the commanded exposure pattern. When the glass plate G is used for an automobile window, the shape of the glass plate, the pattern shape of the conductive printed lines, and the like differ depending on the type of the automobile. Therefore, by changing the command signal based on these data corresponding to the model of the automobile, it is possible to easily change from the production of one type of glass plate to the production of another type of glass plate.

  Further, the computer C stores temporary fixing pattern information when light is emitted from the toner fixing device 18. Accordingly, in response to a command from the computer C, light from the toner fixing device 18 is irradiated onto the glass plate G surface with the commanded temporary fixing pattern. The timing of irradiating light from the toner fixing device 18 is synchronized with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 13 and the intermediate drum 16 and the conveyance of the glass plate G. In this example, since the exposure pattern and the temporary fixing pattern both correspond to the image pattern as described above, the light from the toner fixing device 18 is in the region corresponding to the exposure pattern in the toner transferred to the glass plate G surface. It is controlled so that it only hits the toner.

  The glass plate G from which unnecessary toner has been removed by the unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19 is conveyed into the heating furnace 30 and heated to a predetermined temperature, usually about 600 to 740 ° C. Thus, the toner is baked on the glass plate G surface, and a conductive printed line having a pattern corresponding to the image pattern is provided on the glass plate. Since glass plates for automobile windows are usually curved, when a glass plate with a conductive printed wire manufactured as described above is used for an automobile window, it is heated in the firing step ST3 and subjected to a strengthening process after bending. Is done. In some cases, not the tempering treatment but the slow cooling treatment is performed (bending of a glass plate for laminated glass).

  By the way, when the electronic printing technique is used as described above, the toner may be transferred onto the glass plate G in a region other than the region corresponding to the image pattern as described above. Hereinafter, an area other than the area corresponding to the image pattern is referred to as a “non-image area”. The adhesion of the toner to the non-image area is also called “ground fog” and can occur in a local and random area. That is, as the toner adhering to the non-image area, as shown in FIG. 2B, not only the toner that protrudes from the peripheral area P of the area corresponding to the image pattern but also the peripheral area P of the area corresponding to the image pattern. The toner adhered to the region Q other than the above is also included. When the toner in the non-image area is transferred to the transparent glass plate G, it is noticeable due to the transparency of the glass plate G, and the appearance of the glass plate in the final product state may be deteriorated to impair the merchantability. There is.

  In contrast, according to the present embodiment, as described above, the toner transferred from the photosensitive drum 13 to the surface of the glass plate G is only transferred to the region corresponding to the image pattern by the toner fixing device 18. Since it is temporarily fixed by heating, only the toner adhering to the non-image area can be removed from the glass plate G surface by cleaning the glass plate G surface with the unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19 after the temporary fixing. FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C). Therefore, according to the present Example, a glass plate with high commercial property can be manufactured using an electronic printing technique.

  The conductive toner suitable for use in this embodiment includes a thermoplastic resin (A) introduced with a carboxyl group, T100 of 300 to 450 ° C., polypropylene (B) introduced with a carboxyl group, and T100. 1 or more selected from the group consisting of 300 to 450 ° C. thermoplastic resin (C) (hereinafter simply referred to as “resins (A) to (C)”), conductive fine particles, and particles containing glass frit. . Here, T100 means a thermogravimetric analyzer (TG) that is heated from room temperature at a heating rate of 10 ° C./min, and the weight change of the resins (A) to (C) is measured to determine the weight. Shows the temperature at which the change disappeared. In this case, the conductive toner is fixed on the glass plate surface by the adhesiveness of the resins (A) to (C) before heating. Thereafter, in the printing process, the resin is melted by the heat of light emitted from the toner fixing device 18 and temporarily fixed to the glass plate surface. Thereafter, in the heating process, the resins (A) to (C) are first decomposed. The decomposed resins (A) to (C) are volatilized from the glass plate by heating. After most of the resins (A) to (C) are volatilized, the glass frit starts to melt and the conductive toner is fixed on the glass plate surface mainly by the glass frit. In these processes, the resin (A) to (C) are completely decomposed and volatilized until the glass frit is completely melted, whereby the amount of residual resin in the conductive printed line after firing can be reduced. Finally, when the glass plate is heated to a temperature exceeding 600 ° C., the conductive fine particles are sintered, the conductive fine particles are contact-bonded with each other, and the gap between the conductive fine particles is melted.

  Examples of the conductive fine particles include metal fine particles and conductive oxide fine particles. As the metal fine particles, fine particles of gold, platinum, silver or copper are preferable. The conductive oxide fine particles are preferably ITO (indium doped tin oxide) or ATO (antimony doped tin oxide) fine particles. When a glass plate with a conductive printed line is used for an automobile window, the line width of the conductive printed line cannot be made too large because it is necessary to prevent the provided conductive printed line from blocking the view. Therefore, in order to obtain a desired resistance value with a narrow line width, it is particularly preferable to select silver fine particles as the conductive fine particles.

  In the printing step ST2, not only the conductive toner but also the colored toner can be printed on the glass plate surface. For example, the rear window of the automobile illustrated in FIG. 3 is provided with a conductive printed wire (defogger 1, antenna wire 2, bus bar 3) in the central region of the glass plate G, and a dark ceramic fired body 4 in the peripheral region. . By printing a colored toner having a pigment in a predetermined pattern on the photosensitive drum shown in FIG. 1, the colored toner can be printed on the glass plate surface together with the conductive toner. Similar to the conductive toner, conventionally, the colored toner is also printed by screen printing. Thus, by performing electronic printing of the colored toner together with the conductive toner, a manufacturing method suitable for mass production can be obtained. The colored toner is particles containing a pigment, glass frit and a thermoplastic resin, and the color of the pigment used to form the ceramic fired body 4 can be appropriately selected depending on the design, black, dark brown, etc. A highly concealing color is preferred.

  Here, in this embodiment, in order to keep the amount of toner used to the minimum necessary, both the exposure pattern and the temporary fixing pattern correspond to the image pattern, but only the temporary fixing pattern corresponds to the image pattern, The exposure pattern may be set to a larger pattern including the image pattern. The technical significance of this is as follows. From the viewpoint of keeping the amount of toner used to the minimum necessary, it is desirable that both the exposure pattern and the temporary fixing pattern correspond to the image pattern. In some cases, the light from 18 cannot be accurately applied to the toner in the entire region corresponding to the exposure pattern. In this case, since the amount and range of the toner to be temporarily fixed are insufficient, there is a possibility that a conductive printed line having the desired performance cannot be obtained. On the other hand, if only the temporarily fixed pattern is made to correspond to the image pattern and the exposure pattern is set to a larger pattern including the image pattern, even if there is an error in the synchronism of the apparatus, the exposure pattern can be handled. It is easy to irradiate light from the toner fixing device 18 so that the entire area corresponding to the temporary fixing pattern is completely within the area to be applied. In this case, although the amount of unnecessary toner to be removed increases, according to the present embodiment, substantially all of the unnecessary toner is removed as described above, so that it is affected by the accuracy of the synchronism of the apparatus. Therefore, an image pattern with toner attached can be obtained without excess or deficiency. In addition, since an image pattern with toner attached can be obtained without excess or deficiency, electrical advantages such as reduced variation in the cross-sectional area of the formed conductive printed line, reduced disconnection, and stable resistance are also expected. it can.

  In this embodiment, the intermediate drum 16 is used as the intermediate transfer member. However, instead of the intermediate drum 16, a belt, a film, a sheet, or the like can be used as the intermediate transfer member. Further, the intermediate drum 16 can be omitted, and the image can be directly transferred from the photosensitive drum 13 to the glass plate surface.

  FIG. 4: is a figure which shows the printing method of the glass plate by Example 2 of this invention, and is a side surface conceptual diagram which shows an example of a series of processes which manufacture a glass plate with an electroconductive printed wire. The electronic printing apparatus 10 ′ according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the arrangement positions of the toner fixing device 18 and the unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19. In the following description, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, the description thereof is omitted, and the components unique to the second embodiment are mainly described.

  FIGS. 5A to 5C are conceptual diagrams showing a state until the toner is transferred to the glass plate G surface in the printing step ST2 ′ according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5B shows the toner state at point A, FIG. 5B shows the toner state at point D in FIG. 4, and FIG. 5C shows the toner state at point E in FIG.

  In the printing step ST2 ′, the photosensitive drum 13 is cleaned by the photosensitive drum cleaner 17 while rotating the photosensitive drum 13, and the photosensitive drum 13 is neutralized by the discharger 14, and then the photosensitive drum 13 is charged by the charger 12 and exposed. The photosensitive drum 13 is exposed with a predetermined pattern (exposure pattern) by irradiating exposure light from the apparatus 15. Also in this example, the exposure pattern is set so as to correspond to the image pattern to be finally transferred to the glass plate G.

  Next, the exposure surface of the photosensitive drum 13 is rotated to the toner supply unit 11, and the toner is attached to the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 by attaching the toner to the photosensitive drum 13. At this time, in reality, unnecessary toner may be attached to the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 not only in the region corresponding to the exposure pattern on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 but also in other regions. FIG. 5A shows the state of the toner adhered on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13. In FIG. 5A, the exposure pattern is indicated by a one-dot chain line, and a state in which unnecessary toner is attached to the peripheral area P ′ and the other area Q ′ of the exposure pattern is shown. This unnecessary toner causes “ground fogging” described later.

  The toner attached to the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 is transferred to the intermediate drum 16 that rotates as the photosensitive drum 13 rotates. At this time, toner is transferred to the intermediate drum 16 in a pattern corresponding to the exposure pattern, and unnecessary toner is transferred.

  Next, the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is irradiated with light (laser or the like) from the toner fixing device 18 in a predetermined pattern (temporary fixing pattern). Thereby, only the toner in the area corresponding to the temporary fixing pattern among the toner transferred onto the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is temporarily fixed by heating. This temporary fixing pattern is set so as to correspond to the image pattern to be finally transferred to the glass plate G.

  In FIG. 5B, the temporarily fixed toner is indicated by hatching different from other toners. The irradiation of light from the toner fixing device 18 is preferably controlled so that a temperature (for example, 200 degrees) at which the resin of the toner is half melted is generated at the irradiation portion on the surface of the intermediate drum 16. Thereafter, the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is cleaned by an unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19. At this time, the toner adhering to the area corresponding to the image pattern on the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is temporarily fixed, so that only unnecessary toner adhering to the non-image area is present as shown in FIG. It is removed by an unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19.

  The unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19 may include a brush and a vacuum device, and the toner removed from the surface of the glass plate G by the brush is sucked by the vacuum device, so that unnecessary toner is cleanly removed from the surface of the intermediate drum 16. . In this case, the brush is arranged over substantially the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the intermediate drum 16 (perpendicular to the paper surface) so as to act in contact with substantially the entire surface of the intermediate drum 16. That is, the brush is configured to act on the entire contact area between the intermediate drum 16 and the glass plate G.

  The toner adhering to the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is transferred to the surface of the glass plate G that has been conveyed along with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 13 after unnecessary toner is removed by the unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19. At this time, a secondary transfer plate such as an intermediate transfer belt may be interposed between the photosensitive drum 13 and the glass plate G surface.

  The computer C stores exposure pattern information when the exposure light is irradiated from the exposure device 15. Therefore, in response to a command from the computer C, exposure light is emitted from the exposure device 15 in the commanded exposure pattern. Further, the computer C stores temporary fixing pattern information when light is emitted from the toner fixing device 18. Accordingly, in response to a command from the computer C, light from the toner fixing device 18 is irradiated onto the surface of the intermediate drum 16 with the commanded temporary fixing pattern. The timing of irradiating light from the toner fixing device 18 is synchronized with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 13 and the intermediate drum 16. In this example, since the exposure pattern and the temporary fixing pattern both correspond to the image pattern as described above, the light from the toner fixing device 18 is in the area corresponding to the exposure pattern in the toner transferred to the surface of the intermediate drum 16. It is controlled so that it only hits the toner.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, as described above, the toner transferred from the photosensitive drum 13 to the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is only transferred to the area corresponding to the image pattern by the toner fixing device 18 by heating. Since the toner is temporarily fixed, after the temporary fixing, the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is cleaned by the unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19 so that only the toner transferred to the region corresponding to the image pattern is transferred to the surface of the glass plate G. (See FIGS. 5B and 5C). That is, as shown in FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C, the toner that protrudes from the peripheral region P of the region corresponding to the image pattern and the region other than the peripheral region P of the region corresponding to the image pattern The toner transferred to Q can be removed. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to manufacture a glass sheet with high merchantability using the electronic printing technique.

  Also in this embodiment, in order to keep the amount of toner used to the minimum necessary, both the exposure pattern and the temporary fixing pattern correspond to the image pattern, but only the temporary fixing pattern corresponds to the image pattern, and the exposure pattern is changed. Alternatively, a larger pattern including the image pattern may be set.

  In this embodiment, the intermediate drum 16 is used as the intermediate transfer member. However, instead of the intermediate drum 16, a belt, a film, a sheet, or the like can be used as the intermediate transfer member.

  FIG. 6: is a figure which shows the printing method of the glass plate by Example 4 of this invention, and is a side surface conceptual diagram which shows an example of a series of processes which manufacture the glass plate with a conductive printed line. The electronic printing apparatus 10 ″ according to the third embodiment is different from the above-described first embodiment in the arrangement position of the toner fixing device 18. In the following description, the same reference numerals are used for the same configurations as in the first embodiment. The description specific to the fourth embodiment will be mainly described.

  FIGS. 7A to 7C are conceptual diagrams showing a state until the toner is transferred to the glass plate G surface in the printing process ST2 ″ according to the third embodiment. FIG. 7B shows the toner state at point A, FIG. 7B shows the toner state at point D in FIG. 6, and FIG. 7C shows the toner state at point F in FIG.

  In the printing step ST2 ″, the photosensitive drum 13 is cleaned by the photosensitive drum cleaner 17 while rotating the photosensitive drum 13, and the photosensitive drum 13 is discharged by the discharging machine 14, and then the photosensitive drum 13 is charged by the charger 12 and exposed. The photosensitive drum 13 is exposed with a predetermined pattern (exposure pattern) by irradiating exposure light from the apparatus 15. Also in this example, the exposure pattern is set so as to correspond to the image pattern to be finally transferred to the glass plate G. Is done.

  Next, the exposure surface of the photosensitive drum 13 is rotated to the toner supply unit 11, and the toner is attached to the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 by attaching the toner to the photosensitive drum 13. At this time, in reality, unnecessary toner may be attached to the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 not only in the region corresponding to the exposure pattern on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 but also in other regions. FIG. 7A shows the state of the toner attached on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13. In FIG. 7A, the exposure pattern is indicated by a one-dot chain line, and a state in which unnecessary toner is attached to the peripheral area P ′ and the other area Q ′ of the exposure pattern is shown. This unnecessary toner causes “ground fogging” described later.

  Next, the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is irradiated with light (laser or the like) from the toner fixing device 18 in a predetermined pattern (temporary fixing pattern). Thereby, only the toner in the area corresponding to the temporary fixing pattern among the toner transferred onto the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is temporarily fixed by heating. This temporary fixing pattern is set so as to correspond to the image pattern to be finally transferred to the glass plate G.

  In FIG. 7B, the temporarily fixed toner is hatched differently from the other toners. The irradiation of light from the toner fixing device 18 is preferably controlled so that a temperature (for example, 200 degrees) at which the resin of the toner is half melted is generated at the irradiation portion on the surface of the intermediate drum 16.

  Next, the toner on the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is transferred to the surface of the glass plate G that has been conveyed along with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 13. Next, the glass plate G surface is cleaned by an unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19. At this time, since the toner in the region corresponding to the temporary fixing pattern on the glass plate G surface is temporarily fixed to the glass plate G surface, it adheres to the non-image region as shown in FIG. Only the toner thus removed is removed by the unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, as described above, the toner transferred from the photosensitive drum 13 to the surface of the intermediate drum 16 is only transferred to the area corresponding to the image pattern by the toner fixing device 18 by heating. Since it is temporarily fixed and transferred to the glass plate G surface, after the temporary fixing and transfer, the glass plate G surface is cleaned with an unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19 so that only the toner transferred to the area corresponding to the image pattern is transferred. It can be transferred onto the glass plate G surface (see FIGS. 7B and 7C). That is, as shown in FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C, the toner that protrudes from the peripheral region P of the region corresponding to the image pattern and the region other than the peripheral region P of the region corresponding to the image pattern The toner transferred to Q can be removed. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to manufacture a glass sheet with high merchantability using the electronic printing technique.

  Also in this embodiment, in order to keep the amount of toner used to the minimum necessary, both the exposure pattern and the temporary fixing pattern correspond to the image pattern, but only the temporary fixing pattern corresponds to the image pattern, and the exposure pattern is changed. Alternatively, a larger pattern including the image pattern may be set.

  FIG. 8: is a figure which shows the printing method of the glass plate by Example 4 of this invention, and is a side surface conceptual diagram which shows an example of a series of processes which manufacture a glass plate with an electroconductive printed wire. In the following description, the same configurations as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. The configurations unique to the fourth embodiment are mainly described.

  FIGS. 9A to 9C are conceptual diagrams showing a state until the toner is transferred to the glass plate G surface in the printing step ST20 according to the fourth embodiment, and FIG. 9B shows the toner state at point I, FIG. 9B shows the toner state at point J in FIG. 8, and FIG. 9C shows the toner state at point K in FIG.

  In the printing step ST20, as shown in FIG. 9A, the toner application device 110 uniformly applies toner to substantially the entire surface of the glass plate G that has been conveyed. Next, the glass plate G surface is irradiated with light (laser or the like) from the toner fixing device 18 in a predetermined pattern (temporary fixing pattern). Thereby, only the toner in the region corresponding to the temporary fixing pattern among the toner transferred onto the surface of the glass plate G is temporarily fixed by heating. This temporary fixing pattern is set so as to correspond to the image pattern to be finally transferred to the glass plate G. In FIG. 9B, the temporarily fixed toner is indicated by hatching different from other toners. The irradiation of light from the toner fixing device 18 is preferably controlled so that a temperature (for example, 200 degrees) that melts the toner resin half is generated at the irradiation portion on the surface of the glass plate G. Thereafter, the glass plate G surface is cleaned by an unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19. At this time, since only the toner in the region corresponding to the temporary fixing pattern is temporarily fixed on the glass plate G surface, as shown in FIG. 9C, the region other than the region corresponding to the temporary fixing pattern. Only the toner adhering to the toner is removed by the unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19.

  The unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19 may include a brush and a vacuum device, and the toner peeled off from the glass plate G surface by the brush is sucked out by the vacuum device, so that unnecessary toner is cleanly removed from the glass plate G surface. . In this case, the brush is arranged over substantially the entire length in the width direction of the glass plate G (perpendicular to the plane of the drawing) so that it acts in contact with substantially the entire surface of the glass plate G. That is, the brush is configured to act on the entire area of the glass plate G to which the toner is applied by the toner applying device 110.

  The computer C stores temporary fixing pattern information when light is emitted from the toner fixing device 18. Accordingly, in response to a command from the computer C, light from the toner fixing device 18 is irradiated onto the glass plate G surface with the commanded temporary fixing pattern. When the glass plate G is used for an automobile window, the shape of the glass plate, the pattern shape of the conductive printed lines, and the like differ depending on the type of the automobile. Therefore, by changing the command signal based on these data corresponding to the model of the automobile, it is possible to easily change from the production of one type of glass plate to the production of another type of glass plate.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, as described above, only the toner applied to the region corresponding to the image pattern is temporarily fixed by heating by the toner fixing device 18. Therefore, after the temporary fixing, only the toner applied to the non-image area can be easily removed by cleaning the glass plate G surface with the unnecessary toner removing cleaner 19 (FIGS. 9B and 9). (See (C)). Therefore, according to the present Example, a glass plate with high merchantability without ground covering can be manufactured using a simple method.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Can be added.

  In the above-described embodiment, the toner in the region corresponding to the image pattern is temporarily fixed using heat via the toner fixing device 18, but instead of or in addition to the heating method, the image is bonded by pressure bonding. The toner in the area corresponding to the pattern may be temporarily fixed. For example, the toner in the region corresponding to the image pattern has a thickness obtained by laminating the toner more than the toner in the non-image region. Therefore, using the difference in thickness, for example, the intermediate drum 16 and the glass plate G By the nip portion between the two, a nip pressure may be applied only to the toner in a region corresponding to the image pattern to realize the pressure bonding.

  In the above-described embodiment, the necessary toner is temporarily fixed and the unnecessary toner is removed once for each glass plate G, but 2 times for each glass plate G. It may be executed more than once.

  In addition, as a glass plate, the shape is a flat plate or a curved shape, and the configuration is ordinary single plate glass, tempered glass, multi-layer glass, laminated glass, glass with metal wire, etc. In addition, so-called organic transparent resin glasses such as polycarbonates, polystyrenes, polymethylmethacrylates, etc., or single or two or more kinds of laminates thereof can be used.

  The present invention relates to a method for providing a conductive printed wire on a glass plate surface and a conductive toner therefor, and is particularly applicable to a method for producing a glass plate with a conductive printed wire for an automobile window.

It is a figure which shows the printing method of the glass plate by Example 1 of this invention. 2A to 2C are conceptual diagrams showing states until the patterned toner is transferred onto the glass plate G surface in the printing step ST2. It is a front view which shows an example of a motor vehicle rear window. It is a figure which shows the printing method of the glass plate by Example 2 of this invention. FIGS. 5A to 5C are conceptual diagrams showing states until the patterned toner is transferred onto the glass plate G surface in the printing step ST2 '. It is a figure which shows the printing method of the glass plate by Example 3 of this invention. FIGS. 7A to 7C are conceptual diagrams showing a state until the patterned toner is transferred to the glass plate G surface in the printing step ST2 ″. It is a figure which shows the printing method of the glass plate by Example 4 of this invention. FIGS. 9A to 9C are conceptual diagrams showing states until the patterned toner is transferred onto the glass plate G surface in the printing step ST20.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Defogger 2 Antenna wire 3 Bus bar 4 Dark color ceramic sintered body 10 Electronic printing apparatus 11 Toner supply machine 12 Charging machine 13 Photosensitive drum 14 Electrification machine 15 Exposure apparatus 18 Toner fixing apparatus 19 Unnecessary toner removal cleaner 20 Transport roll 30 Heating furnace 110 Toner application Equipment G Glass plate C Computer ST1 Chamfering process ST2 Printing process ST3 Baking process

Claims (6)

A glass plate printing method in which a rotating photosensitive drum is exposed, toner is deposited on the exposed photosensitive drum, and the deposited toner is transferred to a glass plate surface.
Of the toner transferred from the photosensitive drum to the glass plate surface, the toner in a region corresponding to a predetermined image pattern is temporarily fixed by heating and / or pressure bonding, and after the temporary fixing, the glass plate surface is cleaned by a cleaner. And removing the toner transferred to a region other than the region corresponding to the image pattern on the glass plate surface. The rotating photosensitive drum is exposed, toner is adhered onto the exposed photosensitive drum, the adhered toner is transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer member, and the toner transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer member is transferred to the glass plate. A method of printing a glass plate to be transferred to a surface,
Of the toner transferred from the photosensitive drum to the surface of the intermediate transfer member, the toner in the region corresponding to the predetermined image pattern is temporarily fixed by heating and / or pressure bonding, and after the temporary fixing, the surface of the intermediate transfer member Alternatively, the glass plate surface is cleaned with a cleaner to remove the toner transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer member or the region other than the region corresponding to the image pattern on the glass plate surface. . A glass plate printing method in which toner is applied to a glass plate with a predetermined image pattern,
A toner is applied to the glass plate surface, and the toner in the region corresponding to the predetermined image pattern is temporarily fixed by heating and / or pressure bonding, and after the temporary fixing, the glass plate surface is cleaned with a cleaner. A method for printing a glass plate, comprising: cleaning and removing toner applied to a region other than a region corresponding to the image pattern on the glass plate surface.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the toner is a particle containing conductive particles, glass frit, and a thermoplastic resin.   The method according to claim 4, wherein the temporary fixing process of the toner includes melting the thermoplastic resin.   A glass plate on which toner is transferred or applied by the method according to claim 1 is heated to a predetermined temperature to form a conductive pattern and / or a decorative pattern on the surface of the glass plate. A method for producing a patterned glass plate.

Images