JP2010066524A - Image removing device, image forming apparatus, and image forming and removing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To excellently remove and recover an image forming material transferred to a peeling member from a material to be recorded from the peeling member at a high speed and to maintain both excellent image-removing properties and separating properties between the material to be recorded and the peeling member, even when continuous image-removing processing or image removing processing for a large number of materials to be recorded is performed. <P>SOLUTION: The image removing device for transferring the image forming material on the material to be recorded to the peeling member, to remove an image formed on the material to be recorded is provided with a cleaning member having a concave and convex pattern formed on the surface thereof, so as to move the image forming material transferred onto the peeling member from the material to be recorded in such a state that it exhibits plasticity in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the peeling member along the surface of the peeling member. Thus, the image forming material can be excellently recovered at a high speed and even when continuous image-removing processing or image removing processing for a large number of materials to be recorded is performed, excellent image removing properties and separating properties between the material to be recorded and the peeling member can be maintained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image removal apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and an image formation removal system, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile, and a magnetic recording process for forming an image using a thermoplastic thermoplastic image formed product. The present invention relates to an image removing apparatus for peeling and removing an image formed on a recording material by a thermal transfer image recording process, an ink jet method using a heat-meltable solid ink, or the like.

  In recent years, printers, analog copying machines, digital copying machines, and printing machines using electrophotographic methods, ink jet recording methods, and thermal transfer recording methods have become widespread, and a large amount of paper has been used. Paper generally used as a recording material is made from pulp obtained from wood, which is a renewable resource. However, much energy is consumed in the pulping process of extracting cellulose fibers from wood for producing paper and the process of drying the paper.

  Also, in some of these paper manufacturing processes, biomass-derived fuels such as black liquor, which is a residue extracted from wood, are used as energy sources for paper manufacturing, and fossil fuels are used. Efforts are being made to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the plant. However, biomass-derived fuels are not used in all paper manufacturing processes, and a large amount of fossil fuels are currently used. Carbon dioxide generated from the use of fossil fuels is considered to be a causative substance that causes global warming. In order to prevent the depletion of fossil fuel resources, reducing the amount of paper used is environmental conservation. From the viewpoint of. In addition to reducing the consumption of fossil fuel, if the amount of fuel derived from biomass can be reduced, it can be used for purposes other than the paper manufacturing process.

  On the other hand, in recent years, there has been a decrease in the timber harvesting of paper to produce paper, but not all paper is taken from managed forests and made from wood, reducing paper consumption. Protecting forests, maintaining ecosystems and preventing deterioration of the global environment are also important social issues. In addition, it is common for paper to contain inorganic components that do not burn or spoil as additives. However, even if paper is discarded or incinerated at a garbage collection plant, it must be landfilled at a certain rate. However, in recent years it has become difficult to find a landfill site for waste, and from this point of view, it has become a challenge to reduce paper consumption.

  In order to cope with these problems, a method of collecting information recording paper that is no longer necessary, and once collecting the collected paper to a pulp state at a paper mill and reusing it has been performed. However, this method does not require any new wood resources, but uses almost the same energy as when paper is made from fresh pulp for transporting, repulping and re-papering paper for recovery. Furthermore, since paper using recycled pulp has problems in quality such as reduced stiffness and whiteness and blurring when printed, high-quality paper generally used as information recording paper has a mixed rate of recycled pulp. It is necessary to keep it at about 30%. However, in order to produce high-quality information recording paper with high whiteness, it is necessary to keep the ratio of pulp extracted from waste paper low, or to produce pulp from unused waste paper. It becomes more expensive than it does, and the environmental burden becomes large. Furthermore, the recovery and use of the recording material on which information is recorded causes the recording material on which information is recorded to be distributed outside the home or outside the home, which is problematic from the viewpoint of maintaining confidentiality and privacy. .

  Therefore, as a method for solving the problem of collecting paper once used and recycling it as recycled paper, it is possible to recycle the recording material by removing the image on the recording material once used. Several methods and apparatuses for removing a recording material and an image from the recording material have been proposed.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, plastic, metal, non-penetrable paper, ceramics, or the like is used as a recording material, and a heat-meltable release member is applied to a heat-meltable image formed on these recording materials. There has been proposed a method in which an image is peeled and removed by heating by interposing. Patent Document 2 discloses an apparatus for transferring and removing an image formed by electrophotography on a recording material treated with a release agent by using an endless belt having a heat-meltable resin on the surface. Proposed. By using a release member having a hot-melt composition layer or a thermoplastic composition layer on the surface, as in these Patent Documents 1 and 2, compared to the case where there is no such layer, on the recording material Removal of the image forming material is performed satisfactorily.

  Further, in Patent Document 3, as a means for removing the image forming substance transferred from the recording material onto the peeling member from the peeling member, this member is used as a roller-like cleaning member having a spiral edge on the outer peripheral portion. A device has been proposed in which the outer peripheral portion of the spiral edge is rotated so as to slide on the surface of the peeling member while pressing the peeling member.

  In Patent Document 4, the image forming substance is once transferred from the recording material to the peeling member, and then transferred to the peeling cleaning member that presses and slides on the peeling member at a speed higher than the conveying speed of the peeling member. Means have been proposed for removing the image forming material transferred to the cleaning member with a blade or the like. According to Patent Document 4, it is not necessary to cool the image forming substance on the peeling member, and the image forming substance on the peeling member is left on the peeling member while leaving the thermoplastic composition layer and the image forming substance at a certain thickness. There is an advantage that can be removed.

  Further, Patent Document 5 uses a peeling member having a heat-meltable layer on the surface, and removes the image forming material transferred from the recording material to the peeling member while keeping the heat-meltable layer at a constant thickness. As a means to do this, a layer thickness regulating member that has a heating means and is arranged at a predetermined interval from the peeling member has been proposed. The layer thickness regulating member proposed in Patent Document 5 has a substantially flat shape facing the peeling member over the entire effective width of the layer thickness regulating member, and the flat surface and the peeling member By keeping the distance of the constant, the image forming substance on the peeling member that is higher than the distance is scraped off by the layer thickness regulating member.

Patent Document 6 proposes an image removal apparatus having a plurality of stages of image peeling means. The image removing apparatus of Patent Document 6 has a surface peeling member that does not exhibit plasticity at a temperature in a process of adhering to an image on a recording material, that is, a thermoplastic composition layer, in an upstream image removing unit. No peeling member is used, and a peeling member having a plastic surface on the downstream side is used. Then, as a means for removing the image forming substance from the peeling member having the thermoplastic composition layer on the downstream side, a cleaning roller having a central diameter in the width direction larger than that of the end is pressed against and driven by the peeling member, Means have been proposed for bringing the image forming material transferred from the recording material to the end of the peeling member and collecting the image forming material at the end surface of the peeling member. This method has an advantage that the image forming substance can be easily collected because the image forming substance can be collected only at the end of the peeling member.
JP-A-1-297294 JP-A-4-64472 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-335012 JP 2007-279619 A JP-A-11-219073 JP 2006-251726 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-74025 JP-A-9-204060 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-240661

  However, although Patent Documents 1 and 2 show means for removing the image on the recording material, they do not show any processing means for the member to which the image on the recording material is transferred. Practically, if the image forming material transferred from the recording material accumulates on the peeling member, the heat capacity of the peeling member increases or the heat conduction deteriorates. It is necessary to remove the image forming material transferred from the recording material from the peeling member.

  In order for the cleaning means to work effectively as in Patent Document 3, after the image forming substance on the peeling member is thermally transferred and attached to the peeling member, it is sufficiently cooled to a temperature equal to or lower than the softening temperature. If the cleaning process is not executed in this state, the image forming substance on the peeling member cannot be scraped off. For this reason, for example, when using an endless belt type peeling member having a long circumference of about 500 mm and a thickness of about 200 μm, the cleaning process may be performed while the image forming material on the peeling member is cooled. Although it was possible, for example, when using a peeling member having a small circumference and a large heat capacity, such as a roller-type peeling member having a diameter of about 40 mm, even if the spiral edge is slid, The imaging substance could not be removed. In addition, there is a limit to the cooling speed of the peeling member, so that the image removal processing cannot be performed at high speed, and after cooling and cleaning processing, heating is performed again to adhere the image forming substance on the recording material. Since a heat cycle is necessary, there is a problem that a large amount of power consumption is required. Further, this cleaning means basically scrapes off the image forming substance from the interface between the peeling member and the image forming substance, and a thermoplastic composition layer having a certain thickness or a thermoplastic image forming substance on the peeling member. It was difficult to remove the image forming material transferred from the recording material while leaving the layer. Further, in order to scrape off the image forming substance adhering to the peeling member, it is necessary to hold a sharp edge, and both the peeling member and the cleaning member require high wear resistance and durability. Manufacturing has the problem that it is expensive and lacks durability.

  Further, according to Patent Document 4, in order to remove the image forming substance once transferred to the transfer cleaning member from the transfer cleaning member, it is necessary that the blade is uniformly applied in the width direction of the transfer cleaning member. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to keep the uniformity constant at all times. Furthermore, if a means for removing the image forming material adhering to the blade for removing the image forming material on the transfer cleaning member is not provided, the function of the blade is liable to be deteriorated, or the waste toner is spread over the entire width of the blade. Since this occurs, there is a problem that the recovery is likely to be difficult.

  Further, the layer thickness regulating member as in Patent Document 5 has an advantage that the structure is relatively simple. However, an image forming substance generally used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus has viscoelasticity. Therefore, even if it is attempted to control the film thickness of a layer mainly composed of a heat-meltable resin on the peeling member using a member having a flat surface facing the peeling member, peeling after passing through the layer thickness regulating member The surface of the member did not become flat, and it was difficult to avoid the occurrence of a certain degree of irregularities in order to remove the image. Also in this image forming substance removing means, since the image forming substance to be removed from the peeling member adheres over the entire width of the layer thickness regulating member, the configuration of the means for removing the image forming substance from the layer thickness regulating member is complicated. As a result, there is a problem that the structure of the cleaning means as a whole is complicated and it is difficult to remove the image forming substance from the layer thickness regulating member.

  Further, according to Patent Document 6, the method in which the cleaning roller having a large diameter at the center is pressed and driven so that the image forming substance moves toward the end on the peeling member has a speed at which the image forming substance on the peeling member approaches. slow. For this reason, in an image removing apparatus having a plurality of stages of image peeling means, as in the case of the image peeling means on the downstream side, when there is very little image forming material transferred to the peeling member, or intermittently on the peeling member In the case of executing the process of removing the image forming substance, no problem occurs, but in the case of the image removing apparatus having only one stage of image peeling means, when the image forming substance is continuously removed from the peeling member along with the image removing process. However, the removal of the image forming substance is not in time, and the image forming substance is excessively accumulated on the peeling member, which deteriorates the image removal characteristics. For this reason, there is a problem that it is difficult to apply the cleaning means proposed in Patent Document 6 to a general image removal apparatus, or it is necessary to extremely slow the image removal processing. .

  The present invention is intended to solve these problems. The image forming material transferred from the recording material to the peeling member can be removed and recovered from the peeling member satisfactorily and at a high speed. An object of the present invention is to provide an image removal apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and an image formation removal system capable of maintaining good image removal characteristics and separation characteristics between a recording material and a peeling member even after image removal processing of a recording material is performed. To do.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image removing apparatus according to the present invention includes a heating unit that heats a thermoplastic image forming material to a temperature at which the recording material exhibits plasticity, and an image forming material on the recording material. A state in which the image forming material on the recording material is heated and plasticized by the heating member and the overlapping member that superimposes the peeling member for transferring, the surface on which the image of the recording material is formed, and the peeling member And a separating means for separating the superposed recording material and the peeling member, and an image on the recording material. The forming substance is transferred to the peeling member, and the image formed on the recording material is removed. The image removing apparatus of the present invention moves the image forming material transferred from the recording material in a plastic state onto the peeling member in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the peeling member along the surface of the peeling member. As described above, a cleaning member having a concavo-convex pattern formed on the surface is provided. Therefore, the recovery of the image-forming substance can be performed well and at high speed, and good image removal characteristics and separation characteristics between the recording material and the peeling member can be maintained even when image removal processing is performed continuously or on many recording materials. it can.

  Further, the cleaning member is fixed so as to contact the contact surface of the peeling member with the recording material, and the peeling member and the cleaning member are slid by being conveyed relative to the cleaning member. To do. Moreover, it is preferable that the uneven | corrugated pattern is formed diagonally with respect to the conveyance direction of a peeling member along the surface of a cleaning member. Furthermore, it is preferable that a means for heating the cleaning member is provided. Therefore, it is possible to satisfactorily and rapidly move the predetermined amount of the image forming material transferred from the recording material onto the peeling member to a portion other than the contact surface of the peeling member. In addition, since the basic principle is based on the extrusion effect of the image forming substance by the pattern and it is not necessary to have a sharp edge, it is possible to avoid damaging or wearing the surface of the peeling member. The life of the peeling member can be extended and the durability of the cleaning member is also improved.

  Further, the surface of the cleaning member that faces the surface of the image forming substance transferred onto the peeling member is formed substantially parallel to the surface of the facing peeling member. Therefore, it is possible to satisfactorily and rapidly move the predetermined amount of the image forming material transferred from the recording material onto the peeling member to a portion other than the contact surface of the peeling member.

  In addition, a thermoplastic composition layer is provided on the surface of the peeling member, and a gap member is provided to keep the distance between the peeling member and the surface of the cleaning member constant. The thickness of the physical layer can be maintained within a predetermined range, and the removal property of the image-forming substance on the recording material and the separation property between the recording material and the peeling member are improved and maintained even after repeated image removal processing. Can do.

  Furthermore, by providing a removing member for removing the image forming material that has been moved to other than the contact surface of the peeling member by the cleaning member, the image forming material can be efficiently collected.

  Another image forming and removing system according to another invention is characterized in that it includes an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material by performing an electrophotographic recording process and the image removing apparatus described above. Therefore, by using a specific reusable recording material, image forming apparatus, and image removing apparatus as a system, the same reusable recording can be performed with stable image removal characteristics and separation characteristics between the recording material and the peeling member. The material can be used repeatedly.

  Further, a plurality of compositions for storing both a reusable recording material and a general recording material to which information for identifying the composition is applied to the surface, and a composition that reduces fixability to an image forming substance is provided. An image forming apparatus provided with a recording material supply container, which is selected and used in accordance with a user instruction, a means for detecting identification information given to a reusable recording material, and an image removal process is controlled by the detection result. And the above image removing apparatus provided with means. Therefore, by using a reusable recording material as the recording material, a device for applying the image removal accelerating liquid to the image removal device becomes unnecessary, and the image removal device can have a simple configuration. In addition, since a specific reusable recording material can be used in the image forming apparatus and the image removing apparatus, a jam or a peeling member caused when a recording material that cannot remove an image is mixed in the image removing apparatus. Only the recording material that can prevent damage and that has successfully removed the image is reused. Further, even when a reusable recording material is used in the image forming apparatus, high quality image quality can be obtained.

  In addition, a plurality of compositions for holding both a reusable recording material and a general recording material to which information for identifying the composition is applied to the surface, which reduces the fixability to an image forming substance. Means for detecting identification information indicating that the recording material supply container and the reusable recording material are provided, and a plurality of printing modes to be selected and used from both the recording materials according to a user instruction are provided. In the mode selected by the user when the recorded recording material is predicted to be reused, image formation is permitted only when identification information indicating that it is a reusable recording material is detected, and A digital image forming apparatus provided with a means for providing identification information indicating that an image has been formed in a mode in the same manner as other images, and the recording material on which the image has been recorded is expected to be reused In this case, there is provided means for detecting identification information indicating that an image has been formed in a mode selected by the user, and image removal provided with means for performing image removal processing only when the identification information is detected. Device. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus, the identification information indicating that the printing is performed on the specific reusable recording material in the specific image forming mode and the image is formed in the specific image forming mode. The image removal apparatus performs image removal processing only when identification information indicating that an image is formed in a specific image formation mode is detected. By using a reusable recording material as the recording material, a device for applying the image removal accelerating liquid to the image removal device becomes unnecessary, and the image removal device can have a simple configuration. In addition, it is possible to use a specific reusable recording material in the image forming apparatus and the image removing apparatus, and it is detected that the image is formed in a process (mode) in which the image forming apparatus can easily remove the image. Since the image removal process is performed only by the image removal device, a recording material that cannot be removed from the image is mixed in the image removal device, or a recording material that is imaged in a process in which the image is difficult to remove, Recording material on which an image formed by an image forming apparatus other than a specific image forming apparatus model is not mixed, jamming and peeling member damage can be prevented, and an image can be satisfactorily removed Only the material is reused. Further, even when a reusable recording material is used in the image forming apparatus, high quality image quality can be obtained. In addition, since identification information indicating that an image has been formed in a specific image formation mode is formed by a process similar to that for a normal image, the identification information can be erased by an image removal device, so that identification is possible even after image removal processing. There is no problem with information remaining.

  An image forming apparatus that forms an image with an image forming substance containing at least 2% by weight of wax as a release agent, and a release member provided with a thermoplastic composition layer on the outermost surface, the thermoplasticity of the surface of the release member The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the composition layer is formed of the image forming substance. Therefore, when the wax is contained in the thermoplastic composition layer on the peeling member, separation between the recording material and the peeling member becomes good, and a roller-type peeling member is used, and the curvature of the peeling member ( Even when it is difficult to reduce the radius), it is possible to separate well, and by using the roller-type peeling member, the problem of the deviation of the peeling member that occurs when using the endless belt-type peeling member is obviated. In addition, the image removing apparatus can be made small and simple. In addition, by using an image forming material used in a specific image forming apparatus model as the thermoplastic composition layer of the peeling member, the heat on the peeling member can be maintained even if the image removal process is repeated or the image removal process is performed for a long time. There is little change in the composition of the plastic composition layer, in particular, the change in the wax content ratio in the thermoplastic composition layer, and stable image removal characteristics and separation characteristics between the recording material and the release member can be obtained.

  In the image removing apparatus of the present invention, the image forming substance transferred from the recording material to the peeling member can be moved to the vicinity of the end face in the width direction other than the contact surface of the cleaning member and recovered by the removing means. The substance can be easily collected and the structure of the removing means is simplified. In addition, good image removal characteristics can be obtained, and it is possible to effectively prevent reverse transfer of the image-forming substance or thermoplastic composition from the thermoplastic composition layer on the release member to the recording material. The removal of the image forming substance can also be carried out satisfactorily.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the image removing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the image removing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment shown in the figure, a recording material 101 that is no longer needed after an image is formed by an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic system is fed with the image forming surface facing downward. It is set in the cassette 102. As the recording material 101, a reusable recording material to which a composition that lowers the fixability to an image forming substance is applied in advance is used. Then, the recording material 101 is separated and fed one by one from the sheet feeding cassette 102 by the sheet feeding roller 103, and is conveyed to the transfer separation unit by the conveying roller pair 104 and the conveying roller 105 through the guide plate 106.

  Here, the transfer peeling portion mainly includes the roller-type peeling member 110, the heating / pressure roller 120, the separation member 130, the first cleaning member 140, the second cleaning member 150, the collected image forming substance container 160, and the like. It is configured to include. The roller-type peeling member 110 includes a peeling member base 111, a rubber elastic body layer 112, an organic polymer compound layer 113, and a thermoplastic composition layer 114.

  Further, a heating halogen lamp 121 is provided inside the heating / pressure roller 120. Instead of using a halogen lamp as the heater, a coil for generating an eddy current in the roller and heating it may be provided. The heating / pressurizing roller 120 is a hollow roller made of a metal such as aluminum, iron, stainless steel, etc., and has a low surface energy such as polytetrafluoroethylene or perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether resin on its surface. The material is coated so that the thermoplastic composition, the image forming material on the surface of the peeling member, and the image forming material attached to the back surface of the recording material to be processed are not attached. The surface of the heating / pressurizing roller 120 is provided with a temperature sensor such as a thermocouple, a platinum resistor, a thermistor, or an infrared sensor type for measuring the surface temperature of the roller (not shown). Feedback is performed, and a controller (not shown) controls on / off of the heating halogen lamp 121 so that the surface temperature of the heating / pressure roller 120 is kept constant. The appropriate temperature range depends on the physical properties of the image-forming substance and the speed of the image removal process. However, the image-forming substance on the recording material is different from the image-forming substance showing thermoplasticity that is generally used. The temperature is preferably set to 80 to 130 ° C., and the temperature of the heating roller surface is preferably 80 to 180 ° C., particularly preferably 90 to 150 ° C. Heated to 80-130 ° C. by the heating / pressurizing roller 120, the image forming material on the recording material 101 and the thermoplastic composition layer 114 of the roller-type peeling member 110 are softened and become fluid.

  Further, a nip is formed between the roller-type peeling member 110 and the heating / pressurizing roller 120 by applying a pressing force by a spring, a hydraulic pressure, a pneumatic device or the like (not shown). The heating / pressure roller 120 is conveyed at a peripheral speed substantially equal to the peripheral speed of the roller-type peeling member 110 by a frictional force generated by a nip pressure formed between the roller-type peeling member 110 and the heating / pressure roller 120. Is done. The pressure applied between the roller-type peeling member 110 and the heating / pressurizing roller 120 can be improved by setting the surface pressure of the nip to 1 × 10 5 to 6 × 105 Pa and the nip width to 3 to 13 mm. The thermoplastic image formed material on the recording material can be transferred to the peeling member.

  Further, the separation member 130 is a separation claw or a separation plate, and separates the recording material 101 from the roller-type peeling member 110. Further, the first cleaning member 140 abuts the thermoplastic composition layer 114 on the surface of the roller-type peeling member 110 to which the thermoplastic image-formed material transferred and peeled from the recording material 101 adheres, and transfers the image-forming substance to the roller. This is a member for approaching one or both ends of the mold peeling member 110, and is fixed to a side plate or unit of the image removing apparatus. Further, the contact surface of the first cleaning member 140 is a curved surface that is substantially parallel to the contact surface of the roller-type peeling member 110. Further, since the first cleaning member 140 is fixed as described above, the contact surface of the first cleaning member 140 is contacted with the roller-type peeling member 110 by the rotation of the roller-type peeling member 110. It will slide relative to the contact surface.

  The second cleaning member 150 is a member for removing and collecting the image forming substance brought to one or both ends of the roller-type peeling member 110 from the roller-type peeling member 110. The first cleaning member 140 is pressed against the roller-type peeling member 110 by a pressure member (not shown).

  Then, the recording material 101 conveyed to the transfer peeling unit having such a configuration is heated while being conveyed in the nip formed by the roller type peeling member 110 and the heating / pressure roller 120, so that the roller type It is pressed against the peeling member 110. The thermoplastic image forming material on the recording material is softened in the nip and adheres to the surface of the thermoplastic composition layer 114 in the roller-type peeling member 110. After that, the recording material 101 in close contact with the roller-type peeling member 110 is separated from the surface of the thermoplastic composition layer 114 in the roller-type peeling member 110 by the separation member 130, and image formation on the recording material is performed when separated. The substance is transferred to the roller type peeling member 110 side. Here, the separation position may be a position rotated at least 15 ° or more from the nip outlet formed by the heating / pressurizing roller 120 and the roller-type peeling member 110 as in the example of the image removing apparatus of FIG. In particular, it is important when a peeling member having the thermoplastic composition layer 114 is used. By having the separation position as described above, the image forming substance on the recording material and the thermoplastic composition on the peeling member softened in the nip formed by the heating / pressurizing roller 120 and the roller-type peeling member 110. Layer 114 is cooled to increase cohesion. For this reason, the image forming substance on the recording material and the thermoplastic composition layer 114 do not cause internal cohesive failure at the time of separation, so that the image forming substance remains on the recording material or the thermoplastic on the peeling member. It is possible to prevent the composition layer 114 and the image forming material from being reversely transferred to the recording material and contaminating the recording material.

  Then, the image forming material transferred to the roller type peeling member 110 by the first cleaning member 140 is brought close to one or both ends of the roller type peeling member 110. Then, the second cleaning member 150 removes and collects the image forming substance brought to one or both ends of the roller-type peeling member 110 and accumulates it in the collected image forming substance container 160. The recording material 101 from which the image forming material has been transferred and removed is transported to the paper discharge tray 108 by the transport roller pair 107 and stocked.

  Next, the configuration and operation of the first cleaning member shown in FIG. 1 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first cleaning member includes an image forming material transferred from the recording material 101 of FIG. 1 to the roller type peeling member 110 along the surface of the roller type peeling member 110. An uneven pattern is formed on the surface so as to move in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the mold release member 110. Further, as can be seen from FIG. 2B which is a side view, the first cleaning member 140 has a contact surface 141 that contacts the surface of the thermoplastic composition layer in a roller-type peeling member (not shown). It is formed so as to have an arc having the same radius of curvature as the outer peripheral surface of the mold release member or a slightly larger radius of curvature than the radius of curvature of the outer peripheral surface of the roller type release member. Further, as shown in FIG. 2A which is a front view, the contact surface 141 of the first cleaning member 140 is formed on the circumferential surface of the roller-type peeling member 110 along the surface of the roller-type peeling member 110. A recess 142 is formed at an angle α with respect to the transport direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 2C, which is a cross-sectional enlarged view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. The first cleaning member 140 is formed by cutting or the like so that the angle β formed with the outer surface 143 of the first cleaning member 140 is approximately 90 ° and the groove opening angle θ is approximately 60 °. According to the first cleaning member 140 having such a configuration, the roller-type peeling member is rotated and driven during the image removal process, and the outer peripheral surface of the roller-type peeling member moves at the peripheral speed V. A relative speed difference is generated with the cleaning member 1 and the image forming material transferred from the recording material to the roller-type peeling member is moved toward one end of the roller-type peeling member. Specifically, in FIG. 2, the outer peripheral surface of the roller-type peeling member is conveyed at a peripheral speed V in the direction of the arrow with respect to the fixed first cleaning member 140, thereby forming an image on the peeling member. The substance is brought in the direction of arrow K. As described above, it is the outer surface 143 on the upper side of the recess 142 that contributes to bringing the image forming material on the roller-type release member.

  As described above, when the image forming material on the roller type peeling member is formed in only one direction as shown in FIG. 2, the image forming material on the roller type peeling member is brought close to only one end of the roller type peeling member. It may take an excessive amount of time to complete the gathering. Therefore, when it is desired to move the image forming substance closer to the end portion more quickly, both patterns having different angles of the concave portion 142 are formed near the center in the width direction of the first cleaning member 140 or at an arbitrary position as shown in FIG. By forming it toward the edges (in the directions of arrows K1 and K2), it is possible to cause the edges of both ends of the roller-type peeling member to be shifted, and to complete the gathering of the image forming substance in a short time. it can.

  In addition, in the cross-sectional shape of the recess, as shown in FIG. 2C, an angle formed by the groove inner surface 144 contributing to attracting the thermoplastic image formed product and the opposite surface to the outer surface 143 of the first cleaning member. Although an example in which β is different is shown, the angles on both sides may be substantially the same as shown in FIG. Further, the concave / convex pattern can be formed by placing a wire-shaped member 144 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 on the base 145 of the first cleaning member 140, for example, instead of forming a groove from the material. Each of the wire-shaped members 144 may be fixed by a method such as adhesion of the first cleaning member 140 to the base 145 or fusion of the first cleaning member 140 to the base 145. However, as long as it is fixed to the extent that it does not move during the cleaning operation as a whole, the mesh member is connected between the wire-shaped members 144, and the mesh member is simply placed on the base 145 of the first cleaning member 140. It can also be set as this structure.

  Here, the method for forming the concave / convex pattern on the first cleaning member is not limited to the present invention. However, a concave portion may be provided by cutting, etching, pressure plastic working, or the like as shown in FIG. And a method of forming a convex portion by providing a filament on a substrate by adhesion, fusion, or the like. Moreover, it can also manufacture by shape | molding an uneven | corrugated pattern and the whole curved surface using a type | mold, or embedding a wire in resin by shaping | molding. More specifically, for example, after forming a spiral groove with a bit on the inner surface of an aluminum vipe having an inner diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the roller-type peeling member, the pipe is divided and cut in the axial direction of the hype. A plurality of first cleaning members can be obtained.

  Further, in order to bring the image forming substance on the roller-type release member toward one or both ends, it is not essential that the concave / convex pattern forms a continuous concave portion or convex portion, and it is discontinuous or intermittent. It is also possible to have an angle even if the direction of the concave portion or the convex portion with respect to the conveying direction of the peeling member is not uniform. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, not only recesses in only one direction are formed, but recesses and projections in the opposite direction may be provided, such as a twill shape or a net shape. In this case, if the number of streaks and the shape of the recesses (angles α, β, the depth of the recesses, and the height of the protrusions) are different in the approaching direction, the image forming substance on the release member contributes more strongly to the approaching direction. Move in the direction where the force is applied. Therefore, for example, in order to support the wire-shaped member 144 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the shifting direction is opposite, but the wire-shaped member 144 and the net are formed with a wire thinner than the wire-shaped member 144, the wire It is also possible to use the first cleaning member that has a mesh shape with a smaller number of meshes than the shape member 144.

  Further, the pattern of the contact surface of the first cleaning member with the peeling member does not have to be uniform as a whole surface, and the physical properties of the image forming substance to be image-removed and the recording target also for proper parameters. The appropriate value is appropriately designed depending on the adhesion amount of the image forming substance per unit area of the material, the speed of the image removal process, the elasticity in the vicinity of the peeling member surface, and the like. However, it is intended for image forming materials used in electrophotographic image forming apparatuses that are generally used, and the preferable uneven pattern parameters when performing image removal processing at a peripheral speed of 10 to 120 mm / sec are as follows. is there. That is, the concave or convex pitch is preferably 0.1 to 3 mm, particularly preferably 0.2 to 1.0 mm, in the width direction of the first cleaning member. When the pitch is smaller than this range, if the depth of the concave portion is set to a suitable depth, the width of the convex portion becomes extremely narrow, which causes a problem in durability of the first cleaning member. In addition, when the pitch is larger than this range, the shifting speed becomes too slow, and when the image removal process is continuously performed, the image forming substance accumulates on the peeling member, making it difficult to remove the image forming substance. Troubles such as difficulty in separating the recording material from the peeling member occur.

  Furthermore, the angle α of the uneven pattern with respect to the conveying direction of the peeling member is preferably 10 to 60 °, and particularly preferably 30 to 50 °. Whether it is smaller or larger than this range, the shifting speed of the image forming substance on the peeling member becomes slow. If the moving speed of the image forming material on the peeling member is too slow, the image forming material accumulates on the peeling member when image removal processing is performed continuously, making it difficult to remove the image from the recording material. And troubles such as difficulty in separating the recording material from the peeling member occur. On the other hand, if it is larger than this range, the resistance force when the surface of the peeling member slides becomes too large, so the driving of the peeling member becomes unstable or it is necessary to use an electric motor with a large output torque. become.

  Moreover, 0.02-1.0 mm is preferable and, as for the depth (height of a convex part) of a recessed part, 0.05-0.5 mm is especially preferable. When it is smaller than this range, the shifting speed of the image forming substance becomes too small. If it is too large, processing such as cutting becomes difficult, an appropriate pitch cannot be obtained, the strength of the first cleaning member becomes too weak, or the heat transfer becomes poor, and the shifting speed decreases. Cause problems.

  Furthermore, the angle β between the surface contributing to attract the image forming substance and the outer surface of the first cleaning member is preferably 30 ° to 150 °. In the case of forming a recess by grooving, 50 to 90 ° is particularly preferable. If the angle is smaller than this range, the shifting speed becomes slow. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the example in which the wire-shaped member 144 is provided on the base 145 of the first cleaning member 140, the angle β is 180 ° at the contact point with the base 145, but the smooth base The angle β is in the above range when the first cleaning member is manufactured by the manufacturing method in which the convex portion is provided on the surface, or when the surface contributing to the deviation is a curved surface even in the case of manufacturing by grooving. There is no meaning.

  In addition, since it is restricted by other parameters, it is usually difficult to independently change the length L of the outer surface 143 with the peeling member shown in FIG. 2, but when grooving, the length L of the outer surface 143 is The pitch is preferably 1/2 to 1/20, and particularly preferably 0.02 to 0.5 mm. If the length L of the outer surface 143 is smaller than this range, pressure due to pressurization is concentrated, so that the outer surface is likely to be deformed or worn, and machining may be difficult. On the other hand, when the length L of the outer surface 143 is larger than this range, the shifting speed of the image forming substance becomes too small.

  Furthermore, the width in the conveying direction of the first cleaning member to the peeling member (uneven pattern forming surface length) is preferably 1 to 70 mm, and particularly preferably 10 to 50 mm. When it is smaller than this range, the shifting speed of the image forming substance becomes too small. When it is larger than this range, the resistance force when the peeling member surface slides becomes too large, so that the driving of the peeling member becomes unstable or it is necessary to use an electric motor with a large output torque. There arises a problem that a problem arises or the amount of heat radiation becomes too large when the first cleaning member is heated.

  Next, the material of the first cleaning member will be outlined. The material of the first cleaning member is required to have heat resistance in order to process the thermoplastic image formed product in a softened state during the cleaning process. Therefore, metal materials such as aluminum, stainless steel, iron, steel, and copper, and heat-resistant organic polymer materials such as polyimide, polyether ether ketone, phenol resin, and urea resin can be used.

  Further, as will be described later, the first cleaning member is preferably provided with heating means, and the material of the first cleaning member has a higher thermal conductivity and the first cleaning member has a higher thermal conductivity. Since it becomes easy to uniformly heat the entire effective surface and heat can be transferred to the thermoplastic image formed on the surface of the peeling member more quickly, it is possible to cope with high-speed image removal processing. Therefore, it is preferable to use an organic polymer compound to which a pigment for increasing the thermal conductivity is added. Among the above materials, aluminum is particularly preferable because it has high thermal conductivity and heat resistance and is easy to cut. Although ceramics can also be formed, although ceramics are excellent in abrasion resistance, generally, there is a problem that it is difficult to cope with high-speed image removal processing because of low thermal conductivity.

  Further, the contact surface of the first cleaning member with the roller-type peeling member may be good or poor in wettability with respect to the image forming substance. That is, even if a material having relatively good wettability with the image forming substance such as a metal such as aluminum or stainless steel is used as it is, the effect of bringing the image forming substance toward the end of the peeling member can be obtained. It is also preferable to use a material having low surface energy and low wettability with an image forming substance such as fluoroethylene and perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether resins.

Next, the wear resistance processing of the first cleaning member will be outlined. During the cleaning process, the surface of the first cleaning member is rubbed with the image forming material transferred from the recording material to the peeling member. Usually, the image forming material has a colorant such as carbon black or phthalocyanine as a coloring agent. Contains pigments. In addition, the image forming substance often contains a white pigment such as silica or titanium oxide as a fluidity imparting material. The surface of the first cleaning member is worn by rubbing with these pigments and the resin in the image forming substance. Therefore, it is preferable to coat the surface of the first cleaning member with a highly wear-resistant ceramic. In particular, a pattern is formed on a metal material such as aluminum, stainless steel, or copper having high thermal conductivity, and ceramic is provided on the surface on which the peeling member slides, thereby performing high-speed image removal processing with high thermal conductivity. It is possible to obtain the first cleaning member having high wear resistance. Examples of the ceramic material described above include TiN, TiCN, TiAlN, CrN, ZrN, Al ₂ O ₃ , and diamond. As a coating method, a plasma CVD method, a thermal CVD method, a sputtering method, a deposition method such as ion plating, or a spraying method can be used.

Next, the taper portion of the first cleaning member will be outlined.
As shown in FIG. 6A, the first cleaning member 140 is provided with a tapered portion at a portion surrounded by a dotted circle that is an upstream side end portion for conveyance to the peeling member, or as shown in FIG. The first cleaning member and the roller mold are gradually bent on the upstream side of the conveyance to the roller-type peeling member by bending in the direction opposite to the curvature of the peeling member in the portion surrounded by the dotted circle that is the upstream end as shown in FIG. A configuration in which the pressure with the peeling member is increased is preferable because it is possible to prevent the accumulation of the image forming substance in the vicinity of the end of the cleaning member surrounded by the dotted circle. When the accumulation occurs, the thickness of the image forming substance transferred from the thermoplastic composition layer or the recording material on the surface of the peeling member tends to be non-uniform. In addition, the arrow in the figure of FIG. 6 has shown the conveyance direction of the peeling member.

  A certain degree of unevenness occurs on the surface of the peeling member due to, for example, transfer of the image forming material on the recording material. If the end of the part surrounded by the dotted circle keeps the same curvature as the downstream side, the convex part of the release member such as a thermoplastic composition layer or image-forming substance that has been cooled to some extent and has increased cohesion is surrounded by a dotted circle. Since it collides perpendicularly with the end of the ridge, a large resistance is generated, and the driving of the roller-type peeling member becomes unstable, or a thermoplastic image formed material accumulates on the end surface of the E portion of the first cleaning member. Therefore, the cleaning process tends to be difficult. In particular, in the example of the image removing apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, the thermoplastic image formed on the roller-type peeling member is softened in the nip formed with the heating / pressurizing roller 120 to increase the fluidity. However, at the separation position where the separation member 130 is installed, the thermoplastic image formed product is cooled to such an extent that it is not coherently broken. Therefore, at the end of the portion surrounded by the dotted circle where the thermoplastic image formed from the recording material enters the first cleaning member, the thermoplastic image formed between the heating and pressure roller 120 It is cooler than the temperature heated in the nip to be formed and has low fluidity. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the temperature of the thermoplastic image-forming substance or the thermoplastic composition layer on the roller-type release member after entering the end of the portion surrounded by the dotted circle of the first cleaning member If the pressure is gradually applied to the peeling member until the temperature rises, the temperature of the thermoplastic image forming material or the thermoplastic composition layer is increased and the fluidity is increased to some extent, and then a large pressure is applied. Therefore, an increase in driving resistance can be avoided.

Next, the heating means for the first cleaning member will be outlined.
In the example of the image removing apparatus according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the roller-type peeling member does not have a heating source. At the position where the recording material is separated from the roller type peeling member, the temperature of the thermoplastic image formed material on the recording material is lower than the temperature in the nip formed by the roller type peeling member and the heating / pressure roller 120. Thus, the cohesive strength of the thermoplastic image forming material and the thermoplastic composition layer is increased. Therefore, when the recording material is separated from the peeling member, internal cohesive failure is prevented from occurring in the thermoplastic image forming material or the thermoplastic composition layer, and the image on the recording material is completely transferred to the roller type peeling member side. In order to produce such an effect, a heating source is not provided inside the roller-type peeling member.

  As described above, in the configuration in which the image removal characteristic is enhanced, the temperature of the image forming substance is lowered in the E portion of the first cleaning member. Of the image forming material does not occur, or the driving resistance force of the roller-type peeling member becomes too large. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, the first cleaning member is provided with a heating member 146, and it is necessary to heat the first cleaning member. As the heating member 146, a metal wire having a relatively high electrical resistivity serving as a heating element such as a nichrome wire is embedded in a planar body of silicon rubber or fluorine rubber, or a conductive ceramic is molded so as to have a desired shape. It can be molded or cut with a heater. The heating temperature of the first cleaning member is appropriately designed according to factors such as the characteristics of the image forming substance on the recording material and the speed of the image removal process, but is formed by a general electrophotographic image forming apparatus. When removing the formed image at a conveyance speed of 10 to 60 mm / sec, it is preferable to heat the surface temperature of the first cleaning member to 100 to 220 ° C., particularly 120 to 170 ° C.

Next, the configuration and operation of the second cleaning member in the image removal apparatus of the present embodiment will be outlined.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of the second cleaning member in the image removing apparatus of the present embodiment. (A) of the figure is a front view, (b) of the figure is a schematic sectional view. The image forming material transferred from the recording material to the roller type peeling member by the first cleaning member is brought close to the end of the roller type peeling member and / or the first cleaning member. Most of the image forming material brought to the end adheres to the roller-type peeling member and hardly adheres to the first cleaning member. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the second cleaning member 150 removes the thermoplastic image forming material that has been brought to the end of the roller-type peeling member 110 by the first cleaning member 140 from the roller-type peeling member 110, It is a member for collecting. The second cleaning member 150 shown in FIG. 7A is composed of a disk-like blade member pressed against the end face of the roller-type peeling member 110 by a spring (not shown), and is not shown. It is rotated by driving means.

  As described above, since the image forming material transferred from the recording material to the roller-type peeling member 110 is brought close to the end face of the roller-type peeling member 110 by the first cleaning member 140, as shown in FIG. Then, it is easily cut off from the end face of the roller-type peeling member 110 by the second cleaning member 150 constituted by a disk-shaped blade member and collected in the collected image forming substance container 160.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the second cleaning member 150 made of a disk-shaped blade member is rotated, the second cleaning member 150 made of a disk-shaped blade member is cleaned as necessary. Therefore, the second cleaning member 150, which is always composed of a disk-shaped blade member, can be used in a cleaned state, or the second cleaning member 150, which is composed of a disk-shaped blade member, can be used. Since the cutting portion of the image forming substance of the cleaning member 150 is constantly changed, there is an advantage that the second cleaning member 150 formed of a disk-shaped blade member can have a long life. Further, the second cleaning member 150 formed of a disk-shaped blade member does not need to be continuously rotated, and is rotated intermittently according to a cycle that requires cleaning, or is configured of a disk-shaped blade member. Alternatively, the second cleaning member 150 may be set so as to rotate only when the image forming substance cutting portion of the second cleaning member 150 deteriorates.

  Another structure of the 2nd cleaning member for removing the image forming substance which approached the edge part vicinity of a peeling member from a peeling member is shown. In this example, as shown in FIG. 8, the second cleaning member is constituted by a plate-like blade member 151 and pressed against the end face of the roller-type peeling member 110. Since the plate-like blade member 151 itself can be pressed against the end surface of the peeling member as a spring member, a mechanism pressed by a spring or the like is not required, and the configuration can be further simplified.

  FIG. 9 is a front view showing a modification of the second cleaning member shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the plate-shaped blade member 151 is inclined with respect to the end face of the roller-type peeling member 110, that is, the edge of the plate-like blade member 151 is raised, so that the roller-type peeling is performed. Not only can the image forming material on the end face of the member 110 be scraped off, but the image forming material that has been cut off is separated from the side surface of the roller-type peeling member 110 along the inclination of the edge, so It can be set as the structure which prevents adhering to the side surface of the roller-type peeling member 110 again. Further, when the width of the roller type peeling member is designed to be wider than the effective portion for image removal, as shown in FIG. 10, a blade that contacts the peripheral surface near the end face of the roller type peeling member 110 This can be dealt with by providing the member 152.

  In addition, although the example which provided the 2nd cleaning member in the end surface of the roller type | mold peeling member or the end surface vicinity was shown, the 2nd similar 2nd was also provided in the end surface of the 1st cleaning member, and / or the end surface vicinity as needed. A cleaning member can be provided. However, even when a material having a relatively high wettability with an image forming substance such as metal is used as the first cleaning member, when a commonly used image forming substance is used, the image forming substance is used as the first cleaning member. Even if it adheres, it is a minute amount, and it is not always necessary to remove the image forming substance from the end face or the vicinity of the end of the first cleaning member. The reason why the image forming material does not adhere to the end of the cleaning member is not necessarily clear, but due to the viscoelasticity of the image forming material, the image forming material is transported while adhering to the peeling member that is transported at a predetermined speed. It is presumed that the cleaning member that is fixed to the side plate or the unit and does not move does not transfer.

  In particular, the contact surface of the first cleaning member with the roller-type peeling member is made of a material having low surface energy such as polytetrafluoroethylene or perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether resin and low wettability with the thermoplastic image-formed product. Thus, if the thermoplastic image forming product is prevented from adhering to the first cleaning member, the image forming substance adhering to the first peeling member can be remarkably reduced, and the thermoplastic resin from the first cleaning member can be reduced. A configuration in which means for removing the image forming substance is not provided can also be adopted.

  The roller-type peeling member is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 by a drive system (not shown). In the image removing apparatus of the present invention, a roller-shaped member is used as the peeling member. 1 is a thermosetting resin composition such as a metal such as aluminum, stainless steel, iron, copper, titanium, brass, phenol resin, urea resin, polyimide resin, aramid, or the like. Rubber member made of acrylic rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, natural rubber, butyl rubber, urethane rubber, silicon rubber, fluorine rubber, etc. A layer 112, an organic polymer compound layer 113 having a Young's modulus of 400 to 6000 MPa, such as polyethersulfone, polysulfone, polyetherimide, polyphenylene sulfide, polycarbonate, polyarylate, polyimide, polyetheretherketone, and the outermost layer A thermoplastic composition layer 114; Consists of.

  The thickness of the rubber elastic layer may be relatively thin when the pressure member facing the peeling member has rubber elasticity, but when the pressure member is a rigid body such as a metal roller, The rubber elastic layer is 0.5 mm or more, preferably 2 mm or more and 10 mm or less in order to generate an adhesive force sufficient to remove an image between the image forming substance on the recording material and the peeling member. It is preferable. As the rubber hardness, it is preferable to use a rubber having a hardness of 10 to 80 ° according to JIS K6301A as long as it is a non-foamed solid rubber, and particularly a rubber of 25 to 50 ° is used. preferable. Furthermore, when foamed sponge rubber is used, it is preferable to use rubber having a hardness according to JIS S6050 of 10 to 90 °, particularly 20 to 60 °. When the rubber hardness is too low, pressure is applied to the recording material, and it is difficult to apply the pressure necessary to adhere the image forming substance on the recording material to the peeling member. A sufficient nip width cannot be obtained when pressurizing with the material, and the temperature of the image forming substance is hardly increased to a temperature at which the image forming substance can be bonded to the peeling member, and high-speed processing becomes difficult.

  The thickness of the organic polymer compound layer 113 is preferably 2 to 120 μm, and particularly preferably 10 to 90 μm. On the other hand, the thermoplastic composition layer is a layer for improving the adhesion with the image forming substance on the recording material, and by providing the thermoplastic composition on the surface of the peeling member, during the image removal process, When heated, it becomes plastic and can be deformed in accordance with the unevenness of the recording material and the unevenness of the image on the recording material, and the removal characteristics of the image on the recording material are improved. Therefore, the thickness of the thermoplastic composition layer is preferably 2 to 120 μm, particularly preferably 5 to 70 μm, and more preferably 10 to 50 μm.

  If the thermoplastic composition layer is too thin, the image on the recording material and the image forming substance adhering to the background cannot be completely removed. In particular, it is difficult to remove an image from a recording material on which an image having relatively large unevenness is formed, such as a color electrophotographic image that is usually commercialized. Further, in order to improve the fixability of the image forming substance, it is difficult to completely remove the image even when the smoothness is not extremely increased and a certain degree of unevenness is left on the surface of the recording material. When the thermoplastic composition layer is too thick, the recording material, particularly the recording material, is transported when the recording material and the peeling member are superposed and pressed in order to perform image removal processing of the recording material. The tip in the direction is easily embedded in the thermoplastic composition layer of the peeling member, and separation of the peeling member and the recording material tends to be difficult. When a thermoplastic composition layer is provided on the surface of the peeling member, the image removal characteristics can be remarkably improved. However, in the image removing apparatus of the present invention, the peeling member provided with the thermoplastic composition layer on the outermost surface as described above is used. It is not essential to do. If a release member that does not have a thermoplastic composition layer is used, it is difficult to remove low-density gradation images and background fogging, but image forming substances on most recording materials such as solid images and character images It is possible to remove. Accordingly, there is no thermoplastic composition layer by using a recording material with high smoothness, or by reducing the amount of image forming material adhering per unit area of the recording material and reducing the unevenness of the image. Even if a peeling member is used, the image removal characteristics can be increased to a practically usable level.

  However, when a thermoplastic composition layer is provided on the surface of the peeling member in order to improve the image removal characteristics, the thickness of the image after the continuous image removal treatment or long-term image removal treatment Must be maintained within the aforementioned range. As a specific example for maintaining the thickness of the thermoplastic composition layer within a predetermined range, as shown in FIG. 11, a gap D with a first cleaning member (not shown) is formed on the shaft of the roller-type peeling member 110. A bearing 115 can be provided that can be maintained constant. That is, using the bearing 115 having an outer diameter larger than the diameter excluding the thermoplastic composition layer of the roller-type peeling member 110, the roller-type peeling member 110 is moved while the bearing is brought into contact with the surface of the first cleaning member. By rotating, the image forming substance transferred from the recording material can be removed while maintaining the thickness of the thermoplastic composition layer of the roller-type peeling member 110 within a predetermined range.

  Furthermore, as another specific example for maintaining the thickness of the thermoplastic composition layer within a predetermined range, a spacer 147 is provided on the contact surface 141 of the first cleaning member 140 with the peeling member as shown in FIG. It is arranged. The roller-type peeling member 110 is rotated while sliding the portion excluding the thermoplastic composition layer on the spacer 147 and the peeling member, whereby the effective portion of the first cleaning member 140 is An image forming substance transferred from a recording material in which a predetermined gap is maintained with a portion excluding the thermoplastic composition layer, and the thickness of the thermoplastic composition layer of the roller-type release member 110 is maintained in a predetermined range. Can be removed.

  Next, recording materials that can be used in the present invention will be outlined. In order to remove the image provided on the plain paper by the thermal transfer method, a method of applying a liquid composition containing a surfactant, water, an organic solvent, etc. to the plain paper on which the image is formed prior to the thermal transfer process, Many proposals have been made. However, an image removing apparatus using such a method has a complicated structure and requires maintenance such as liquid supply. In addition, the image removing device must be installed horizontally and power consumption is high. Furthermore, when a film of an image forming substance is formed on a recording material without a gap as in a color image, it is difficult to permeate the liquid composition between the image forming substance and the recording material. There are a number of drawbacks, such as difficulty in removing images.

  The image removing apparatus of the present invention can be applied as an apparatus for removing an image from plain paper by adding a means for applying a liquid composition to plain paper. Use of the image formed on the reusable recording material to which the composition for reducing the color reduction is applied without removing the liquid composition described above, the configuration of the image removal apparatus becomes simple, and the color The image is also preferable in that it can be removed from the recording material. In order to remove the image without applying an image removal accelerating composition such as a liquid composition in order to remove the image, a composition for reducing adhesion to an image forming substance was applied at least near the surface. Many proposals for reusable recording materials have already been made. One example of a composition for reducing the adhesion to an image forming substance is a surfactant.

  For example, Patent Document 7 is provided with a fluorine-containing surfactant, a silicon-based surfactant, and a surfactant containing a linear or branched alkyl group having a total number of carbon atoms of 8 or more in the molecule. Paper is disclosed. More specifically, fluorosurfactants include anionic surfactants such as fluoroalkylcarboxylates and fluoroalkylsulfonates, amphoteric surfactants such as fluoroalkyl-introduced betaines, and epoxy-modified surfactants such as silicon surfactants. , Alkyl-modified, aralkyl-modified, amino-modified, carboxyl-modified, alcohol-modified, fluorine-modified, polyether-modified silicone oil, etc., containing a linear or branched alkyl group having a total number of carbon atoms of 8 or more As an agent, alkyl carboxylate, alkyl sulfate ester salt, alkyl sulfonate salt, alkyl phosphate ester salt and the like anion, alkylamine salt, alkylamine derivative, quaternary ammonium salt, imidazoline, imidazolium salt, etc. Cationic system reduces adhesion with image forming substances It is disclosed as compound.

  In addition, examples of the recording material provided with a silicon compound on the surface as a composition for reducing the adhesion to an image forming substance are disclosed in Patent Documents 8 and 9 and the like, and specific examples of the silicon compound include Silicon resins and silane coupling agents are mentioned.

  Further, even if a fluororesin, an olefin resin, a wax or the like is applied to the recording material, it has an effect of reducing the adhesive force of the image forming substance.

  In addition, as a compound that reduces the adhesive force with an image forming substance, an olefin component, in particular, an olefin that has a double bond at the α-position and is polymerized using an olefin monomer having 10 to 20 carbon atoms. -Maleic anhydride polymers can also be used.

  The reusable recording material preferably used in the image removing apparatus, the image forming apparatus, and the image forming / removing system of the present invention is a paper whose base is a compound capable of reducing the fixability to the image forming substance as exemplified above. Or added to the film.

  When using a material with relatively large irregularities on the surface such as paper as a substrate, in order to reduce the irregularities of the reusable recording material, not only simply adding a compound that lowers the fixability to the image forming substance, White pigments such as calcium carbonate, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, barium sulfate, latex, styrene-butadiene polymer emulsion, polymers such as acrylic resin, polyvinyl alcohol, starch, vinyl acetate polymer emulsion, carboxymethylcellulose, alginic acid, gum arabic The compound is applied by mixing with the compound for reducing the fixing property to the image forming substance described above, or is applied before the composition for reducing the fixing property to the image forming substance is applied to the substrate. Can do.

  In addition, as a characteristic of the image-forming substance that can be used in the present invention, it is necessary to have thermoplasticity and to have adhesiveness to the peeling member. In other words, in order to heat and pressurize the peeling member and the recording material, and to adhere to the peeling member, it is necessary to soften the image-forming substance at the temperature at the time of heating and pressurizing and exhibit plasticity. It is necessary to bond. A specific example of the image forming substance that can be removed from the recording material by the image removing apparatus of the present invention is a powder toner used in a general electrophotographic image forming apparatus. In addition, even an image formed by another process of electrophotography such as a thermal transfer process, an image forming substance having physical properties of the image forming substance is used, and the adhesion amount of the image forming substance per unit area of the recording material It is obvious that the toner can be removed from the recording material by the image removing apparatus of the present invention as long as it is substantially equivalent to the powder toner used in a general electrophotographic image forming apparatus. .

  Here, the composition of the image forming substance that can be removed from the recording material in the image removing apparatus of the present invention will be described more specifically. The main component of the image forming substance is a thermoplastic resin, the thermoplastic resin is a carboxylic acid, , Terephthalic acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, pimelic acid, suberic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, brassylic acid, pyromellitic acid, citraconic acid, glutaconic acid, mesaconic acid, itaconic acid, One or more of teraconic acid, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, hemimellitic acid, merophanic acid, trimesic acid, planitic acid, trimellitic acid, etc. are used. As polyhydric alcohols, bisphenol A, hydrogenated bisphenol A, ethylene Glycol, propylene glycol, butanediol, neopentyldiol, hex 1 such as methylenediol, heptanediol, octanediol, pentaglycerol, pentaerythritol, cyclohexanediol, cyclopentanediol, pinacol, glycerin, etherified diphenol, catechol, resorcinol, pyrogallol, benzenetriol, phloroglucinol, benzenetetraol Polyester resin polycondensed using two or more species, polymers of styrene and its substitutes such as polystyrene, poly p-chlorostyrene, polyvinyltoluene, styrene-p-chlorostyrene copolymer, styrene-propylene copolymer Styrene-vinyltoluene copolymer, styrene-vinylnaphthalene copolymer, styrene-methyl acrylate copolymer, styrene-ethyl acrylate copolymer, styrene -Butyl acrylate copolymer, styrene-octyl acrylate copolymer, styrene-methyl methacrylate copolymer, styrene-ethyl methacrylate copolymer, styrene-butyl methacrylate copolymer, styrene-glycidyl methacrylate copolymer Polymer, styrene-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate copolymer, styrene-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate copolymer, styrene-diethylaminopropylacrylate copolymer, styrene-ethylene glycol methacrylate copolymer, styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, styrene- Vinyl methyl ketone copolymer, styrene-butadiene copolymer, styrene-isoprene copolymer, styrene-acrylonitrile-indene copolymer, styrene-maleic acid copolymer, styrene-maleic Styrene copolymer such as acid ester copolymer, polymethyl methacrylate, polybutyl methacrylate, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, epoxy resin, epoxy polyol resin, polyurethane, polyamide, polyvinyl butyral, poly Acrylic acid resin, rosin, modified rosin, terpene resin, aliphatic or alicyclic hydrocarbon resin, aromatic petroleum resin, and the like can be used. These thermoplastic resins are preferably used in the range of 50 to 98% by weight in the composition of the image forming substance.

  Examples of the colorant include the following colorants that are used as image forming substances in general electrophotographic image forming apparatuses. That is, black pigments such as carbon black and iron oxide, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 12, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 13, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 14, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 15, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 17, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 93, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 94, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 138, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 155, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 156, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 180, C.I. I. Pigment yellow 185, and the like, C.I. I. Pigment Red 2, C.I. I. Pigment red 3, C.I. I. Pigment Red 5, C.I. I. Pigment red 16, C.I. I. Pigment red 48: 1, C.I. I. Pigment red 53: 1, C.I. I. Pigment red 57: 1, C.I. I. Pigment red 122, C.I. I. Pigment red 123, C.I. I. Pigment red 139, C.I. I. Pigment red 144, C.I. I. Pigment red 166, C.I. I. Pigment red 177, C.I. I. Pigment red 178, C.I. I. Pigment red 222, and the like, C.I. I. Pigment blue 15, C.I. I. Pigment blue 15: 2, C.I. I. Pigment blue 15: 3, C.I. I. Pigment blue 16, C.I. I. Known colorants can be listed as colorants for toner for electrophotography, such as cyan colorants such as CI Pigment Blue 60. These colorants are preferably used in the range of 1 to 15% by weight in the composition of the image forming substance.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the image forming material removed by the image removing apparatus of the present invention contains a release agent, particularly wax. As the mold release agent and the wax component, the mold release agent and wax added to the image forming substance used in the electrophotographic apparatus can be used as they are, like the thermoplastic resin and the colorant. Further, by containing a release agent and wax, separation of the peeling member and the recording material is facilitated. Further, in the conventional cleaning means for removing the image forming substance transferred from the recording material to the peeling member from the peeling member, when a release agent such as wax comes to the surface of the peeling member, the image forming substance on the cleaning member There is a problem that the adhesiveness is lowered, or the frictional force between the cleaning member and the peeling member is lowered, and the cleaning ability is lowered. However, when the cleaning means of the present invention is used, the principle of the first cleaning member is This is because the image forming substance is pushed out to the end by the uneven pattern formed on the surface, and even when the image forming substance containing the release agent is removed, the image forming substance can be removed well from the release member. Can do. The release agent and wax are preferably added in the range of about 1 to 10% by weight of the entire image forming substance. Specific examples of the release agent and wax that can be contained in the image forming substance include fluorine-based and silicon-based polymer compounds, organic polymer compounds having a long-chain alkyl group in the side chain, carnauba wax, montan wax, Examples include waxes, paraffin waxes, microcrystalline waxes, higher alkyl alcohols, higher fatty acids, higher fatty acid esters, higher alkyl amides, etc., polymer compounds and waxes having a melting point of 60 to 110 ° C. Can do.

  FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an image removing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 denote the same components. In the image removing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment shown in the same figure, as a component different from the image removing apparatus 100 of the first embodiment of FIG. 1, instead of the rubber elastic layer on the roller-type peeling member 110, A rigid thermal insulator layer 116 is provided. Further, a rubber elastic body layer 122 is provided on the heating / pressure roller 120, and a nip is provided between the roller-type peeling member 110 and the heating / pressure roller 120. The rigid thermal insulator layer 116 is made of a material having a thermal conductivity equal to or lower than that of a general polymer compound, and can be processed with an accuracy of a diameter of ± 30 μm or less by cutting, molding, etc., and image removal processing. Even if it repeats or it uses for a long period of time, what is necessary is just a material which has the rigidity which can maintain the precision. Examples of the material of the rigid heat insulating layer 116 are organic polymer compounds with high heat resistance such as polyimide and polyetheretherketone, glass, ceramics, etc., and air can be contained in order to improve heat insulation, It is preferable that the formed microballoon is mixed or foamed with nitrogen gas, air, water, carbon dioxide gas or the like. The reason why it is preferable to use a material having a high heat insulating property is that only a portion near the surface of the peeling member is formed in the nip formed by the roller-type peeling member 110 and the heating / pressure roller 120 by using a material having a high heat insulating property. Even if the temperature rises and the amount of heat supplied is small, the image forming substance on the recording material can be raised to a predetermined temperature necessary for adhering to the peeling member. Here, at the position where the temperature only in the vicinity of the surface of the roller-type peeling member rises and the recording material and the roller-type peeling member are separated, the image forming substance on the recording material or the peeling member The temperature of the thermoplastic composition layer is likely to cool, and image removal failure due to cohesive failure in the image forming substance or the thermoplastic composition layer and reverse transfer from the thermoplastic composition layer to the recording material are less likely to occur. When the rubber elastic body layer 112 is provided as in the image removing apparatus of FIG. 1, it is difficult to manufacture a roller type peeling member having a high diameter accuracy, or it is difficult to maintain the diameter accuracy. There is. If the roller-type peeling member is a rigid body as shown in FIG. 13, it is easy to process with high diameter accuracy. When a rigid roller-type peeling member as shown in FIG. 13 is used, it is necessary to use a member having a rubber elastic body as a heating / pressurizing member. From the viewpoint of thermal conductivity, it is not always necessary to speed up image removal processing. Although not advantageous, in the case of a release member having the thermoplastic composition layer 114 in order to enhance the image removal characteristics, the release member, the cleaning member, and the like are used in order to keep the thickness of the thermoplastic composition layer at a predetermined thickness. By using the gap member for determining the gap amount between the two, there is an advantage that the thickness of the thermoplastic composition layer on the peeling member can be easily maintained at a predetermined value.

  FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an image removing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 denote the same components. In the image removing apparatus 300 of the present embodiment shown in the figure, the constituent elements different from those of the image removing apparatus 100 of the first embodiment of FIG. 1 include an endless belt type as a peeling member instead of a roller type peeling member. A peeling member 301 is used. The endless belt type peeling member 301 has a thickness of 100 to 100 made of an organic polymer compound having high heat resistance such as polyethersulfone, polysulfone, polyetherimide, polyphenylene sulfide, polycarbonate, polyarylate, polyimide, polyetheretherketone. It is an endless belt of about 300μm, manufactured by a molding method, manufactured by joining film-like members by adhesives, ultrasonic melting, etc., applied to a mold by a centrifugal method or a dipping method, and then extracted from the mold. The Further, a metal belt such as nickel may be manufactured by an electroforming method or the like. Furthermore, in order to improve image removal characteristics, a thermoplastic composition layer may be provided on the endless belt described above.

In the image removing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the endless belt type peeling member 301 is inscribed in the pressure roller 302, the driven separation roller 303, and the roller 304, and the heating / pressure roller 120, It is stretched so as to circumscribe the driven tension roller 305. Further, a nip is formed between the pressure roller 302 and the heating / pressure roller 120 by applying a pressing force by a spring, a water pressure, a pneumatic device or the like (not shown). The heating / pressure roller 120 is rotated in the direction shown in the figure by a driving means (not shown). The endless belt-shaped peeling member 301 is conveyed at a speed substantially equal to the peripheral speed of the heating / pressure roller 120 by a frictional force caused by a nip pressure formed between the pressure roller 302 and the heating / pressure roller 120. The The pressure roller 302 is also driven to rotate by friction due to the pressure of the nip formed with the heating / pressure roller 120 and rotates so that its peripheral speed is substantially equal to the peripheral speed of the heating / pressure roller 120. To do. The pressure applied between the pressure roller 302 and the heating / pressure roller 120 is set so that the surface pressure of the nip is 1 × 10 ^{5 to} 6 × 10 ⁵ Pa and the nip width is 3 to 13 mm. As a result, the image forming substance on the recording material adheres well to the endless belt-like peeling member 301, and the image forming substance is transferred from the recording material to the endless belt-like peeling member 301.

  Further, according to the image removing apparatus 300 of the third embodiment, the pattern in which the first cleaning member 310 is a flat member and the image forming substance on the endless belt-like peeling member 301 is brought close to the end of the peeling member. The flat heater 311 is also used as a heating means for the first cleaning member. In order to apply pressure to the endless belt-type peeling member 301 for the first cleaning member 310, a backup member composed of a planar rubber elastic body 312 made of silicon rubber or the like and a base 313 made of metal or the like is provided. Is provided.

  According to the image removing apparatus of the third embodiment having such a configuration, the recording material 101 is sandwiched between the heating / pressurizing roller 120 and the endless belt-type peeling member 301 in the nip portion, By being heated and pressurized, the thermoplastic image forming material on the recording material 101 is softened and adhered to the surface of the endless belt type peeling member 301. The driven separation roller 303 is a roller having a diameter of 10 mm or less. When the endless belt-type peeling member 301 is conveyed along the driven separation roller 303, the recording material is affected by the rigidity of the recording material 101 itself and the separation member 130. 101 is separated from the endless belt-type peeling member 301. At that time, the thermoplastic image formed material on the recording material 101 is transferred to the endless belt type peeling member 301, and the image forming material on the recording material 101 is removed. Thereafter, the image forming material on the endless belt-type peeling member 301 is brought closer to the widthwise end of the endless belt-type peeling member 301 by the planar first cleaning member 310. The image forming substance brought near the end of the endless belt type peeling member 301 is removed from the endless belt type peeling member 301 by the disk-shaped blade member 151 provided in the vicinity of the roller 304, and is collected in the collected image forming substance container 160. Accumulated.

  FIG. 15 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an image removing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 14 denote the same components. In the image removing apparatus 400 of the present embodiment shown in the same figure, the constituent elements different from the image removing apparatus 300 of the third embodiment of FIG. 14 are the image removing apparatus 100 of the first embodiment of FIG. The first cleaning member 140 having a curved contact surface is provided in the same manner as described above. The first cleaning member 140 is pressurized toward the backup roller 401 having a rubber elastic layer. The image forming substance on the endless belt type peeling member 301 conveyed in contact with the backup roller 401 is applied to the end of the endless belt type peeling member 301 in the width direction by the first cleaning member 140 fixed at the opposite position. It is approached. The image forming substance brought near the end of the endless belt type peeling member 301 is removed from the endless belt type peeling member 301 by a plate-like blade 402 provided near the end of the endless belt type peeling member 301. The collected image forming substance container 160 is accumulated.

  FIG. 16 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of another invention. The image forming apparatus 500 of the present embodiment shown in the figure has an image forming unit 510 that forms an image by an electrophotographic recording process, and the image removing unit 550 having the image removing apparatus of the present invention described above forms an image. It is an example accommodated in the housing | casing of an apparatus. The image forming unit 510 is a known tandem type digital color electrophotographic type. In other words, in the image forming unit 510, yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk) images are formed on different photoconductors 511 to 514, and formed at each of those stations. The image formed of the powder image forming material is transferred by transfer rollers 516 to 519 to which a bias voltage is applied to the intermediate transfer member 515. The image transferred to the intermediate transfer member 515 is further secondarily transferred to a recording material 522 or 523 conveyed from the recording material tray 520 or 521 by a transfer roller 524 to which a bias voltage is applied. The toner image formed on the recording material is heated and fixed by fixing means 527 including a fixing roller 525 and a pressure roller 526. The recording material on which the image is fixed is discharged onto a discharge tray 529 through a discharge roller pair 528.

  Note that yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk), each image forming station includes the following elements of a known electrophotographic apparatus. A photoconductor 511 including a drum or belt-like photoconductors 511 to 514 provided with a photoconductor layer or a protective layer thereof on a conductive substrate such as metal, a charging roller or a wire charger not shown. Means for uniformly charging 514, exposure means for exposing the photoreceptors 511 to 514 uniformly charged in accordance with the image to be formed, and electrostatic latent image formed according to the image by the exposure means with a powder image forming substance Developers 519 to 522 having a magnetic roller and a toner conveying roller for making a visible image therein, and conductive rollers 516 to 519 for transferring an image formed on the photoreceptors 511 to 514 to the intermediate transfer member 515, It includes a cleaning means (not shown) for removing the powder image forming material remaining on the photoconductor after the transfer.

  Further, it is preferable that the image forming material used in the developing device contains wax as a release agent, and the fixing roller 525 is not provided with silicone oil. When the thermoplastic composition layer on the peeling member of the image removing apparatus is formed of the same or substantially the same composition as the image forming substance containing wax, and the image forming substance containing wax is used in the image forming apparatus, Image separation, and even if the image removal process is repeated or the image removal device is used for a long period of time, the change in the composition of the thermoplastic composition layer on the peeling member can be reduced. It is possible to stabilize the characteristics and the separation characteristics between the recording material and the peeling member. In addition to these image forming components, appropriate known elements can be added as necessary. For example, in order to remove the charges on the photoconductors 511 to 514 after the image is transferred, a charge removing unit such as an AC charger or a light irradiator is provided, or a powder image formed on the photoconductor is recorded on the recording material. Deterioration due to environmental fluctuations and repeated use by providing a corona discharger for uniform charging before transfer to the photosensor, a means for detecting the charging voltage to the photoconductor and a means for controlling the voltage applied to the charger. Even if there is, control means for keeping the surface potential charged on the photosensitive member constant can be provided. Conversely, if it is not necessary to remove the toner on the photoreceptor after image transfer, cleaning can be eliminated.

  The intermediate transfer belt 515 is provided so as to inscribe the rollers 530 and 531 and is given appropriate tension by a tension applying mechanism (not shown). In addition, the intermediate transfer belt 515 is provided with a means for removing powder adhered to the surface, such as a brush or a roller, if necessary, and charges remaining on the intermediate transfer belt after the image is transferred to the recording material. It is also possible to provide static elimination means and charging means for making them uniform.

  The image forming unit 510 of FIG. 16 has two recording material storage containers 520 and 521. The recording material storage container 520 stores a general recording material 522 such as fine paper, and stores the recording material. The container 521 stores a reusable recording material 523 to which a composition that reduces fixability to an image forming substance is applied. Furthermore, in order to increase the number of recording materials with different sizes, the number of paper types that can be used, and the storage of recording materials with different feeding directions (vertical feed, horizontal feed), the number of storage containers for recording materials is increased. Can do. In FIG. 16, the user can use the reusable recording material 523 on a user interface displayed on an operation panel (not shown) or a display connected to a computer (not shown) connected to the image forming apparatus. It is possible to select whether to form an image in the first image formation mode in which image formation is performed, or to form an image in the second image formation mode in which image formation is performed on a general recording material 522 such as fine paper. Control means, display means, control software, input means such as buttons, etc. are provided so as to be able to.

  Specifically, the first image forming mode is an image forming mode that is selected when printing is performed on the premise that the user reproduces the recording material in advance, and, for example, “reuse”, It is selected by providing buttons and options that are displayed as “paper reuse”, “reuse mode”, “dedicated paper”, “reuse paper”, “resource saving”, “short-term browsing”, “short-term use”, and the like. In the first image forming mode, the reusable recording material 523 is supplied from the paper feed cassette 521 through the recording material conveyance path 532, and an image is formed on the reusable recording material 523.

  Here, in the image removing apparatus of the present invention described above, there is no means for reducing the adhesive force between the recording material and the image forming substance, for example, means for supplying an image removal accelerating liquid. When the recording material is mixed, it becomes impossible to separate the peeling member from the recording material, which inevitably causes a conveyance jam of the recording material or causes an irreparable failure of the peeling member. .

  In view of this, the image forming apparatus 500 according to the present embodiment is provided with a sensor 533 that is attached to the reusable recording material and reads the presence / absence of identification information for identifying the reusable recording material. Examples of attaching this identification information to a reusable recording material include one or a plurality of notches 601 in FIGS. 17A and 17B and one or a plurality of notches 601 in FIGS. 17C and 17D. The hole 602 is provided in the recording material 600 in advance, or the barcode 603 shown in FIG. The sensor 533 detects information for determining the presence / absence of the identification information, and transmits a signal to a print control unit (not shown). Even if a command for printing the first image forming mode is issued, the printing control means does not execute the printing in the first image forming mode on the recording material to which the identification information is not attached. Information for notifying the user that a recording material without identification information is directly discharged to the paper discharge tray 529 or that a recording material inappropriate for printing in the first image forming mode is supplied. To display on the control panel, display, etc.

  As described above, the sensor for optically detecting the identification information for identifying the reusable recording material is provided in the image forming apparatus, thereby fixing the recording material printed in the first image forming mode to the thermoplastic image formed material. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a general recording material that is not on the reusable recording material whose performance has been lowered from being mixed. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of the jam of the recording material and the problem of the failure of repairing the peeling member.

  As another means for identifying a reusable recording material, in addition to providing visible information as described above, a readable / writable contact or non-contact IC chip is used as the recording material. In this IC chip, identification information such as being a reusable recording material is stored, and the identification information stored in the IC chip is read to determine whether the recording material is a reusable recording material. There is a way to identify.

  Further, the first image forming mode is set as the priority mode, and the user does not perform any operation and is controlled so that the first image forming mode is automatically selected, and the user performs the second image forming mode. The second image forming mode can also be set to be selected only when an image is formed with

  In the color image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 16, the identification mark indicating that the image is formed in the first image forming mode does not have to be formed in all colors, and is formed so as to be readable by the image removing apparatus. This is very important. When it is formed in multiple colors, it may be difficult to read with an image removing device due to color misregistration or the like. For example, when the identification pattern is formed only with black, there is no problem of color misregistration and the contrast is large, so that the image removal apparatus can be easily read.

  On the other hand, when the second image forming mode is selected on the operation panel or the user interface, a general recording material 522 such as high-quality paper is supplied from the paper feed cassette 520, and an image is formed on the recording material. Is done. In the second image forming mode, information indicating that an image has been formed in the second image forming mode is not recorded on the recording material. The second image forming mode is, for example, “fixing mode”, “high fixing”, “fixing mode”, “plain paper”, “new paper”, “document storage”, “external distribution” on the operation panel or user interface. It is selected by providing buttons and options that are displayed.

  On the other hand, the image removing unit 550 in the image forming apparatus 500 of the present embodiment includes the recording material storage container 535 that stores the reusable recording material 534 from which the image is to be removed, and the reusable recording material 534 described above. A pair of paper feed rollers 537 sent to the image removing device 536 of the present invention, a sensor 538 for detecting identification information indicating that printing has been performed in the first image forming mode, and printing in the first image forming mode. The recording unit 534 for transporting the recording material 534 in which the identification information indicating that it has not been detected to the recording material storage container 539 and the reusable recording material subjected to the image removal processing to the recording material storage container 521 of the image forming apparatus. And a conveying means 541 for conveying.

  In this image forming apparatus 500, when identification information indicating that printing has been performed in the first image forming mode is not detected on the recording material to be supplied to the image removing apparatus 536, a branching unit (not shown) By the control means, the recording material is conveyed by the conveying means 540 and the recording material is conveyed to the recording material storage container 539 and not conveyed to the image removing device 536.

  As described above, the image forming unit 510 and the image removing unit 550 are provided with means for recording information for identifying that the image forming unit 510 and the image removing unit 550 are printed in the first image forming mode. By providing the means to read the identification information that formed the image in the mode and to control the image removal process, it is possible to solve the problem of the failure of the image removal apparatus and the image forming apparatus such as the jam occurring in the image removal apparatus and the breakage of the peeling member. This can be solved and the quality of image removal can be ensured. That is, the image removing apparatus of the present invention is used in combination with a specific recording material, a specific image forming material, and a specific image forming apparatus type that provides a means for identifying that the first image forming mode is printed. Thus, stable image removal characteristics and separation characteristics between the peeling member and the recording material can be obtained.

  In addition, by using a specific reusable recording material as a system so that the adhesive force between the reusable recording material and the image forming substance is constant, stable image removal characteristics and separation of the peeling member and the recording material can be achieved. Characteristics are obtained.

  When the first image forming mode is selected manually or automatically to form an image, an identification mark indicating that the image has been formed in the first image forming mode is formed. The identification mark is printed by a removable image forming process like other image information. That is, in the case of an image forming apparatus based on an electrophotographic image forming method, the identification pattern signal generating means controls the opening and closing of shutter elements such as lasers, LED emission and liquid crystal, and the electrostatic pattern of the identification pattern on the photoreceptor. After the latent image is formed, it is developed with a developing device to form a visible identification pattern.

  FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing a system configuration of an image forming and removing system according to the first embodiment of another invention. As shown in the figure, the image forming / removing system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses 700-1 to 700-n (n is an integer of 2 or more) and at least one image removing apparatus 100. That is, this system is a system in which the image forming apparatus and the image removing apparatus are separated. According to the image forming / removing system of the present embodiment, by using a specific reusable recording material, a plurality of image forming apparatuses, and an image removing apparatus as a system, the image removal characteristics and the relationship between the recording material and the peeling member can be reduced. The same reusable recording material can be repeatedly used in a state where the separation characteristics are stable.

  FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing a system configuration of an image forming and removing system according to the second embodiment of another invention. As shown in the figure, the image forming / removing system according to the present embodiment includes at least a plurality of image forming apparatuses 700-1 to 700-n (n is an integer of 2 or more) and an image removing unit as shown in FIG. One image forming apparatus 500 is included. That is, this system is a system in which the image forming apparatus and the image removing apparatus are integrated. According to the image forming / removing system of the present embodiment, by using a specific reusable recording material, a plurality of image forming apparatuses, and an image removing apparatus as a system, the image removal characteristics and the relationship between the recording material and the peeling member can be reduced. The same reusable recording material can be repeatedly used in a state where the separation characteristics are stable.

Hereinafter, examples and comparative examples of the image removal apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail.
<Example>
(Image forming substance)
Thermoplastic resin: 100 parts by weight of polyester resin Release agent: 4 parts by weight of carnauba wax Charge control agent: 1 part by weight of zinc salicylate Colorant: 12 parts by weight of carbon black Preliminary kneading was carried out with a mixer at the above prescribed amount. . The pre-kneaded material was melt-kneaded with a two-roll mill.

  Next, the kneaded product was cooled, roughly crushed to 0.5 to 3 mm with a hammer mill, pulverized with a jet pulverizer, and classified to obtain a toner having an average particle size of 6.3 μm. . 6 parts by weight of silica fine powder having an average particle size of 0.140 μm was mixed with 100 parts by weight of the toner, stirred with a Henschel mixer, and sieved to obtain a black image forming substance (toner). The softening temperature of this image forming substance was measured with a flow tester and found to be 85 ° C. In place of carbon black in the above formulation, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 180: 6 parts by weight, C.I. I. Pigment Red 122: 7 parts by weight, C.I. I. Except for using Pigment Blue 15: 3: 6 weight, the same operation as described above was carried out to obtain yellow, magenta and cyan image forming substances, respectively. The softening point of the image forming material other than black was 85 ° C.

(Peeling member)
A shaft was fitted into a steel pipe member having a thickness of 3 mm, an outer diameter of 31 mm, and a width of 320 mm to obtain a roller-shaped metal core. This roller is set in the center of the mold, and a thermosetting epoxy resin is poured between the mold and the roller, cured at 80 ° C. for 2 hours, then removed from the mold, and an epoxy resin having a thickness of 2 mm. A roller with a layer was obtained. The toner prepared above and the carrier were mixed and set in a developer of imgio NeoC285 manufactured by Ricoh. A release paper having a silicone resin applied on both sides of the paper was prepared, and this release paper was set in the above-mentioned imgio NeoC285 paper feed cassette to form a blue solid image.

  And the roller in which the said epoxy resin was formed as a roller type peeling member before providing a thermoplastic composition layer of the image removal apparatus (image removal apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention) of FIG. After setting and heating the heating / pressure roller at 120 ° C. and heating, the release paper on which the blue solid image was formed was passed at a speed of 40 mm / sec. The solid image on the release paper was completely The image was transferred to a roller provided with an epoxy resin layer. Subsequently, when the release paper on which five solid images were formed was passed, all the solid images were transferred to a roller provided with an epoxy resin layer.

  In this way, a roller-type release member was obtained in which a thermoplastic composition layer having a thickness of 65 μm was formed from an image forming substance.

(Reusable recording material and image formation)
A coating solution was prepared by mixing 4 parts by weight of a 25% by weight aqueous solution of saponified olefin-maleic anhydride polymer and 10 parts by weight of a 15% by weight aqueous solution of oxidized starch. This coating solution is applied to both sides of commercially available plain paper (Ricoh copy paper Type 6200) using a wire bar so that the dry coating amount on one side is 2.3 g / m ^2, and dried at 120 ° C. for 5 minutes. Then, smoothing processing was performed with a super calendar to obtain a reusable recording material.

  When this reusable recording material was used and a full color pattern having a gradation image, a secondary color and a single color solid image, and a character image was printed using the above-mentioned imagio Neo C285, the printed image was clear. .

(Repeat image removal process and image formation)
The image was removed from the reusable recording material on which the image was formed as described above, using the image removing apparatus shown in FIG.
The conditions for image removal were as follows.
Process linear speed (peeling member peripheral speed): 20 mm / sec
Heating and pressure roller set temperature: 120 ° C
Heating / pressure roller / peeling member pressing force: A force of 120 cN is applied to each side of the shaft of the heating and pressure roller.
First cleaning member: Effective length (peeling member conveyance direction) 40 mm, groove processing with concave / convex pattern pitch 0.4 mm, groove angle α45 °, edge angle β90 °, groove depth (deepest part) 0.16 mm, ceramic coating processing TiAlN processing Cleaning heating set temperature: 150 ° C
Gaps between roller-type peeling member / first cleaning member: 35 μm

  As a result of the image removal process under the above conditions, the image forming material on the recording material has been completely removed, including the low density gradation image, the toner scattered around the image, and the toner that has been removed. It was.

  Further, a large number of recording materials on which images were formed in the same manner as described above were prepared, and the image removal apparatus continued to run to perform image removal processing on 1000 recording materials.

  The image forming substance transferred from the recording material to the peeling member during the running was well removed from the peeling member, and no separation failure or jamming occurred between the recording material and the peeling member during the running. . Also, at the end of running, the toner on the recording material was completely removed, including the low-density gradation image, the toner scattered around the image, and the removed fogging toner, as in the initial running. .

<Comparative example>
A roller type cleaning member (spiral blade roller) having ten spiral blade edges is used in place of the first cleaning member of the image removing apparatus in FIG. 13, and the blade edge slides in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the peeling member. The same evaluation as in the example was performed except that the rotating member rotated at a speed twice the peripheral speed of the peeling member.

  Immediately after forming the thermoplastic composition layer by transferring the blue solid image onto the peeling member before forming the thermoplastic composition layer, the image on the recording material can be removed well, and the recording material and the peeling member Separation was also good.

  However, the image-forming substance transferred from the recording material onto the peeling member cannot be removed at all, accumulates on the peeling member, and starts to produce a residual image around the fifth running sheet. After the image removal processing, a trouble occurred in which the recording material passed through the separation plate while sticking to the peeling member, and it was difficult to separate the recording material.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It cannot be overemphasized that various deformation | transformation and substitution are possible if it is description in a claim.

It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of the image removal apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the pattern of the 1st cleaning member of FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of the pattern of the 1st cleaning member of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows an example of the 1st cleaning member using a wire-shaped member. It is sectional drawing which shows an example of the 1st cleaning member using a wire-shaped member. It is sectional drawing which shows the example of a shape of the edge part of a 1st cleaning member. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 2nd cleaning member in the image removal apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows another structure of the 2nd cleaning member in the image removal apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a front view which shows another structure of the 2nd cleaning member in the image removal apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows another structure of the 2nd cleaning member in the image removal apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a front view which shows the structure of the gap member which maintains the gap between the roller type peeling member and the 1st cleaning member in the image removal apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows another structure of the gap member which maintains the gap between the roller type peeling member and the 1st cleaning member in the image removal apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of the image removal apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of the image removal apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of the image removal apparatus which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of another invention. It is a top view which shows the example which attaches identification information to a reusable recording material. It is the schematic which shows the system configuration | structure of the image formation removal system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of another invention. It is the schematic which shows the system configuration | structure of the image formation removal system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of another invention.

Explanation of symbols

100, 200, 300, 400; image removal device,
101; recording material; 110; roller-type peeling member;
111; release member base; 112; rubber elastic body layer;
113; organic polymer compound layer; 114; thermoplastic composition layer;
115; bearing; 116; rigid insulator layer;
120; heating / pressure roller; 121; halogen lamp for heating;
130; separation member, 140, 310; first cleaning member,
142; concave portion; 144; wire-shaped member; 146; heating member;
147; spacer, 150; second cleaning member,
151, 152; blade member, 160; recovered image-formed product container,
301; an endless belt-like peeling member;
500, 700-1 to n; image forming apparatus, 510; image forming unit,
533, 538; sensor, 550; image removing unit,
601; Notch, 602; Hole, 603; Bar code.

Claims (11)

An image of the recording material is formed on the recording material by a heating means for heating the image forming material having thermoplasticity to a temperature at which it exhibits plasticity, a peeling member for transferring the image forming material on the recording material, and a recording material. A superimposing unit that superimposes the surface to be peeled off and the peeling member, and the peeling of the recording material superimposed by the superimposing unit in a state where the image forming substance on the recording material is heated by the heating unit and exhibits plasticity. A pressurizing unit that pressurizes the member; and a separating unit that separates the overlapped recording material and the peeling member, and the image forming material on the recording material is transferred to the peeling member to record the material In the image removing apparatus for removing the image formed on the top,
An uneven pattern is formed on the surface so that the image forming material transferred from the recording material in a plastic state onto the peeling member is moved in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the peeling member along the surface of the peeling member. An image removing apparatus comprising a cleaning member on which is formed.   The cleaning member is fixed so as to come into contact with a contact surface of the peeling member with the recording material, and the peeling member is conveyed relative to the cleaning member, whereby the peeling member and the cleaning member are conveyed. The image removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member slides.   The image removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the concavo-convex pattern is formed obliquely with respect to a conveying direction of the peeling member along a surface of the cleaning member.   The image removing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a means for heating the cleaning member.   2. The surface of the cleaning member that faces the surface of the image forming substance transferred onto the peeling member is formed substantially parallel to the surface of the facing peeling member. The image removal apparatus of any one of -4.   The thermoplastic resin layer is provided on the surface of the peeling member, and a gap member is provided for keeping the distance between the peeling member and the surface of the cleaning member constant. 6. The image removing device according to any one of 5 above.   The image removing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a removing member for removing the image forming substance on the peeling member moved by the cleaning member.   An image forming / removing system comprising: an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material by performing an electrophotographic recording process; and the image removing apparatus according to claim 1.   A plurality of recording materials for storing both a reusable recording material and a general recording material to which information for identifying the composition is imparted on the surface, and a composition that reduces fixability to an image forming material is provided. An image forming apparatus provided with a material supply container, which is selected and used according to a user instruction, means for detecting identification information given to a reusable recording material, and means for controlling image removal processing based on the detection result The image forming / removing system according to claim 8, comprising the image removing device according to claim 1.   A plurality of substrates for holding both a reusable recording material and a general recording material to which information for identifying the composition is imparted on the surface, and a composition that reduces fixability to an image forming substance is applied. Means for detecting identification information indicating a recording material supply container and a reusable recording material are provided, and a plurality of printing modes to be selected and used from both recording materials according to a user's instruction are provided and image recording is performed. In the mode selected by the user when the recording material is predicted to be reused, image formation is permitted only when the identification information indicating the reusable recording material is detected, and in this mode It is expected that the digital image forming apparatus provided with means for giving identification information indicating that the image has been formed in the same manner as other images, and the recording material on which the image has been recorded will be reused. An image removal apparatus having means for detecting identification information indicating that an image has been formed in a mode selected by the user, and provided with means for performing image removal processing only when the identification information is detected The image forming and removing system according to claim 8 or 9.   At least an image forming apparatus for forming an image with an image forming material containing 2% by weight or more of wax as a release agent, and a release member provided with a thermoplastic composition layer on the outermost surface, the thermoplasticity of the surface of the release member The image formation removal system which consists of an image removal apparatus of any one of Claims 1-7 in which the composition layer is formed with the said image forming substance.

Images