JP2012242668A - Lenticular lens forming device and three-dimentional image forming device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lenticular lens forming device excellent in lens forming efficiency and a 3D image forming device using the lenticular lens forming device.SOLUTION: The lenticular lens forming device comprises: a transparent toner layer forming unit for forming a transparent toner layer having a thickness D1 on an object by applying transparent toner onto the object and giving quantity of heat H1 per unit area to fix the toner; and a lens forming unit for forming a plurality of convex lenses having a maximum thickness D2 arranged at a predetermined pitch by giving quantity of heat H2 per unit area to the transparent toner layer to heat the layer, and pressure-molding the transparent toner layer by using a groove-shaped mold. The lens forming unit includes a heat quantity determination unit for determining the quantity of heat H1, and determining the quantity of heat H2 on the basis of the difference between the thicknesses D2 and D1.

Description

  The present invention relates to a lenticular lens forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system and a 3D image forming apparatus using the lenticular lens forming apparatus.

  Since an electrophotographic image forming apparatus can form high-quality images with good reproducibility and operability at low cost, it is widely used as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction machine having two or more of these functions. However, it can also be used to form lenticular lenses.

  The lenticular lens sheet is a sheet in which thin and fine convex lenses (lenticular lens LL) are arranged on the surface of a transparent sheet TS as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 24B, a lenticular image LI (an image in which two or more images are divided into strips and are alternately arranged according to the pitch of the lenticular lens) printed on the back surface of the sheet. Due to the refractive effect of the convex lens, the images are switched depending on the viewing angle.

  For example, in FIG. 24B, when the lenticular image LI is viewed from the viewpoint α through the lenticular lens LL, the paths 1α and 2α in which the light emitted from the image 4 of the lenticular image LI is indicated by solid lines due to the refracting action of the lenticular lens LL. , 3α, 4α, the viewpoint α is entered, so that only the image 4 is visible. On the other hand, when the lenticular image LI is viewed from the viewpoint β through the lenticular lens LL, the light emitted from the image 2 of the lenticular image LI passes through the paths 1β, 2β, 3β, and 4β indicated by dotted lines by the refraction action of the lenticular lens LL. Since only the viewpoint β is entered, only the image 2 is visible.

  In this way, when the lenticular image LI is viewed from different viewpoints, different images can be seen depending on the viewing angle, so that a plurality of images can be switched. Furthermore, since the visible images differ depending on the difference between the viewpoints of the left and right eyes, by using the parallax of the eyes, it is possible to realize a stereoscopic image without using a special device such as 3D glasses. Because of these advantages, lenticular lens sheets are widely used for applications such as posters and signboards.

  As an example of a method for producing such a lenticular lens sheet, for example, a thermoplastic resin layer for forming a lenticular lens on one side of a translucent transparent sheet, and image formation with toner on the other side An image having a lens layer on the surface by forming a lens on a resin layer for forming a lenticular lens LL after forming an image with toner using a transparent sheet provided with a thermoplastic image-receiving layer for performing (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In the prior art, while an electrophotographic method is used for image formation with toner, another process such as hot pressing with a mold is used for forming a lenticular lens, and a separate manufacturing apparatus is required. Therefore, there has been a demand for a lenticular lens forming apparatus that can be easily manufactured with a single apparatus by performing all the steps from the formation of the transparent toner layer to the formation of the lenticular lens by the electrophotographic method.

  In addition, a 3D image forming apparatus that can be easily manufactured with a single apparatus by using such a lenticular lens forming apparatus has been desired.

JP 2008-26477 A

  In the conventional lenticular lens forming apparatus, it is difficult to set the heating conditions in the lens forming portion so that a high-quality lenticular lens can be formed. Generally, the surface of a member such as a roller for use in forming a lens is processed into a shape corresponding to the lens shape. When the toner is melted in the nip and the toner is molded so as to match the shape of the lens, it is necessary to have a so-called hard roller structure in which a rubber layer is not provided on the surface of the roller member. Therefore, it is difficult to widen the nip, and in order to fix the transparent toner layer transferred to one surface of the recording medium, it is necessary to heat the transparent toner layer at a high temperature. In order to melt and fix the toner completely with a narrow nip width of the hard roller structure, it is necessary to make the roller temperature extremely high. However, the viscosity of the transparent toner layer heated at a high temperature decreases, The offset property is lowered, and the surface smoothness of the lens layer is lowered. On the other hand, in order to suppress the occurrence of hot offset, it is necessary to lower the heating temperature of the transparent toner layer. In this case, however, since the adhesive strength of the lens layer to the recording medium is also lowered, for example, it is lightly touched with a finger. As a result, the lens layer peels off.

  Therefore, in the conventional lenticular lens forming apparatus, the lens forming unit fixes the transparent toner layer to the recording medium and at the same time forms the lens layer by forming it into a concavo-convex shape. The degree of heating was low, making it difficult to set the heating conditions in the lens forming portion.

  In addition, when such an electrophotographic lenticular lens is used in a 3D image forming apparatus, alignment between the lenticular image and the lenticular lens is indispensable. However, if there is variation in the mold of the lens forming portion, the conventional alignment is performed. It was difficult to achieve matching with this method.

  Further, in the 3D image forming apparatus, there is a problem that hinders the formation of a good lens layer when there is variation in the thickness of the lenticular image.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems.

  According to a first aspect, the lenticular lens forming apparatus according to the present invention applies a transparent toner on an object, fixes it by applying a heat amount H1 per unit area, and forms a transparent toner layer having a thickness D1 on the object. A transparent toner layer forming section for heating the transparent toner layer and applying a heat amount H2 per unit area to the transparent toner layer and heating the transparent toner layer, and pressing the transparent toner layer in a groove shape and arranging the transparent toner layer at a predetermined pitch. A lens forming unit for forming a convex lens, and the lens forming unit includes a heat amount determining unit for determining the heat amount H2 based on the heat amount H1 and the thickness difference D2-D1. A lenticular lens forming apparatus characterized by the following.

  According to a second aspect, the first 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an image forming unit for applying an image toner on a substrate surface to form a lenticular image, and a transparent toner on the lenticular image. And a lenticular lens forming device for forming a plurality of convex lenses in which the transparent toner layer is pressure-molded in a groove shape and arranged at a predetermined pitch, and the lenticular lens forming device includes the lenticular image The 3D image forming apparatus is characterized in that a 3D image is formed by forming each convex lens on the substrate surface on which the lens is formed at a position aligned with the lenticular image.

  According to a third aspect, a second 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an image forming unit for forming an lenticular image by applying an image material on a substrate surface, and a transparent toner on the lenticular image. A lenticular lens forming apparatus for forming a plurality of convex lenses in which a transparent toner layer is pressure-molded in a groove shape and arranged at a predetermined pitch, and an image layer thickness detecting unit for detecting the thickness of the lenticular image And a transparent toner application amount adjusting unit for adjusting the application amount of the transparent toner on the substrate surface, the image forming unit forming the lenticular image on the substrate surface, and the lenticular lens The forming apparatus forms a 3D image by forming the convex lenses on the base material surface on which the lenticular image is formed at a position aligned with the lenticular image. The transparent toner coating amount adjusting unit adjusts the coating amount of the transparent toner according to the thickness of the lenticular image, and uniformizes the total thickness of the lenticular image and the transparent toner layer. This is a 3D image forming apparatus.

  According to the lenticular lens forming apparatus according to the present invention, even if the variation in the optimum temperature condition due to the change in the thickness of the transparent toner layer occurs due to the pressure molding during the convex lens formation, it is based on the amount of heat applied at the time of fixing and the change in the thickness. Since the limit value of hot offset can be predicted, a lenticular lens forming apparatus having good lens forming efficiency can be realized.

  According to the first 3D image forming apparatus of the present invention, even if there is a variation in the mold of the lens forming unit, by changing the formation state of the lenticular image according to the shape of the mold of the lens forming unit, A 3D image forming apparatus capable of preventing deviation from the lenticular image can be realized.

  According to the second 3D image forming apparatus of the present invention, the transparent toner layer can be obtained by adjusting the coating amount of the transparent toner according to the distribution of the thickness of the lenticular image even when there is a normal variation in the thickness of the lenticular image. It is possible to realize a 3D image forming apparatus capable of forming a uniform lens surface and forming a good lens layer.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the lenticular lens formation apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a fixing unit illustrated in FIG. 1. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the lens formation part shown in FIG. It is a principal part perspective view of the lens formation part shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part when viewed from the conveyance direction of the recording medium of the lens forming unit shown in FIG. 4. It is a block diagram of calorie | heat amount control of the lenticular lens formation apparatus shown in FIG. It is a flowchart of the calorie | heat amount control of the lenticular lens formation apparatus shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of calculation of the change of the thickness of the transparent toner layer before and behind lens formation. It is explanatory drawing which shows the correlation with the result of fixation by the Example of the lenticular lens formation apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and lens formation, and calorie | heat amount. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the 1st modification of the lenticular lens formation apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 of the lens forming portion shown in FIG. 10. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the 2nd modification of the lenticular lens formation apparatus shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the 1st 3D image forming apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the image formation part shown in FIG. FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a fixing unit illustrated in FIG. 13. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the lens formation part shown in FIG. It is a principal part perspective view of the lens formation part shown in FIG. It is a principal part cross-sectional enlarged view seen from the roller axial direction of the lens formation part shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the 2nd 3D image forming apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of control of the lenticular lens formation apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 20 is a flowchart of heat amount control of the lens forming unit shown in FIG. 19. FIG. FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship between an image formed before lens formation and transparent toner and a lens formation result of the 3D image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 19 and the 3D image forming apparatus according to the related art. FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram illustrating configurations of first and second modifications of the 3D image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 19. It is explanatory drawing which shows the refractive effect of a lenticular lens and its light.

  According to a first aspect, the lenticular lens forming apparatus according to the present invention applies a transparent toner on an object, fixes it by applying a heat amount H1 per unit area, and forms a transparent toner layer having a thickness D1 on the object. A transparent toner layer forming section for heating the transparent toner layer and applying a heat amount H2 per unit area to the transparent toner layer and heating the transparent toner layer, and pressing the transparent toner layer in a groove shape and arranging the transparent toner layer at a predetermined pitch. A lens forming unit for forming a convex lens, and the lens forming unit includes a heat amount determining unit for determining the heat amount H2 based on the heat amount H1 and the thickness difference D2-D1. It is characterized by.

  According to a second aspect, the first 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an image forming unit for applying an image toner on a substrate surface to form a lenticular image, and a transparent toner on the lenticular image. A lenticular lens forming apparatus for forming a plurality of convex lenses in which a transparent toner layer is pressure-molded by a groove mold and arranged at a predetermined pitch, and a detection for detecting the groove uneven shape And an image control unit, wherein the detection unit detects the groove-shaped uneven shape, the image forming unit forms the lenticular image corresponding to the uneven shape on the substrate surface, The image control unit adjusts the relative positions of the groove mold and the base material to align the uneven shape with the corresponding lenticular image, and the lenticular lens forming device And forming a 3D image by forming each convex lens in the corresponding position of the image.

  Note that the second 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention may include the lenticular lens forming apparatus according to the first aspect having an adjustment mechanism for fluctuations in the optimum temperature condition during lens formation.

  According to a third aspect, a second 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an image forming unit for forming an lenticular image by applying an image material on a substrate surface, and a transparent toner on the lenticular image. A lenticular lens forming apparatus for forming a plurality of convex lenses in which a layer is formed, the transparent toner layer is pressure-molded in a groove shape, and arranged at a predetermined pitch, and an image for detecting a thickness per unit area of the lenticular image A layer thickness detection unit; and a transparent toner application amount adjustment unit that adjusts a coating amount per unit area of the transparent toner on the substrate surface, wherein the image forming unit displays the lenticular image on the substrate surface. The lenticular lens forming device forms the convex lens on the base material surface on which the lenticular image is formed and aligns the convex lens with the lenticular image. The transparent toner application amount adjustment unit adjusts the application amount of the transparent toner according to the thickness of the lenticular image, and combines the lenticular image and the transparent toner layer. Further, the entire thickness is uniform.

  Note that the second 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention may include the lenticular lens forming apparatus according to the first aspect having a mechanism for adjusting an optimum temperature condition with respect to a variation in the thickness of the transparent toner layer. Since the second 3D image forming apparatus according to the third aspect forms the transparent toner layer on the recording medium provided with the lenticular image, the variation in the thickness of the transparent toner layer due to the variation in the thickness of the lenticular image is taken into consideration. This makes it possible to form a good lenticular lens. Therefore, in the problem of realizing the formation of a good lenticular lens, the inventions of both are common in that the problem is solved by providing an adjustment mechanism for fluctuation (variation, etc.) of the object (thickness, etc.). .

  In addition, the 3D image forming apparatus according to the second aspect having an adjustment mechanism for the variation in the mold of the lens forming unit and the 3D image forming apparatus according to the third aspect having an adjustment mechanism for the variation in the thickness of the lenticular image are: In the problem of realizing the formation of a good lenticular lens, there is a common point in that the problem is solved by providing an adjustment mechanism for fluctuation (variation, etc.) of the object (thickness, etc.). A single 3D image forming apparatus including both the adjustment mechanism according to the third aspect may be used.

In the lenticular lens forming apparatus according to the present invention, the heat quantity determination unit may determine the heat quantity H2 based on a preset correlation between the heat quantity H1 and the thickness difference D2-D1.
In this way, even if the change in the optimum temperature condition due to the change in the thickness of the transparent toner layer is caused by the pressure molding during the convex lens formation, the amount of heat applied during the fixing and the change in the thickness of the transparent toner layer before and after the lens formation Since the limit value of the hot offset can be predicted based on the correlation, the lenticular lens forming apparatus having better lens forming efficiency can be realized.

In the lenticular lens forming apparatus according to the present invention, the lens forming unit further includes a lens layer thickness calculating unit for calculating the thickness D2, and the lens layer thickness calculating unit includes the thickness D1 and a groove-shaped cross-sectional shape. The thickness D2 may be calculated from the above.
In this case, the thickness of the transparent toner layer after lens formation is measured by calculating the thickness of the transparent toner layer after lens formation from the thickness of the transparent toner layer before lens formation and the cross-sectional shape of the groove shape. Without changing the thickness of the transparent toner layer, the change in thickness of the transparent toner layer before and after lens formation can be obtained.

In the first 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the image control unit adjusts the position of the groove mold in a direction parallel to the substrate surface and perpendicular to the groove with reference to a predetermined position of the substrate. Accordingly, the groove-shaped concave portion or convex portion may be aligned with the corresponding position of the lenticular image.
In this way, it is possible to output a good 3D image by preventing the deviation between the convex lens formed by the lens forming unit and the interlaced image.

In the first 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the image forming unit may form the lenticular image according to the shape of the groove mold and the pitch.
In this way, the formation position of the convex lens formed on the recording medium can be controlled by forming a lenticular image for a 3D image based on the shape of the groove, and a favorable 3D image can be output. Further, by shifting the position of the lens, it is possible to prevent an image that should originally be distinguished from the left and right eyes from being captured and a good 3D image cannot be obtained.

In the second 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the transparent toner application amount adjusting unit may adjust the overall thickness according to a maximum value of the thickness of the lenticular image layer.
In this way, when the maximum thickness of the image layer is small, the total thickness is set small so that the amount of transparent toner applied when only one or two colors of transparent toner image toner is used. Can save a lot.

In the second 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the total thickness may be larger than at least the unevenness of the lenticular image layer.
In this way, when the image layer has a surface roughness, the thickness of the transparent toner layer can be made uniform by having a sufficient thickness than the surface roughness.

In the second 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the image material may be toner.
In this way, by using toner as an image material, a 3D image can be obtained by a mechanism common to lenticular lens formation.

In the second 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the image material may be ink.
In this way, when ink is used as an image material, the thickness of the ink when it adheres to the recording medium is smaller than that of toner, so the effect of unevenness due to the amount of image adhesion is reduced, and a stable 3D image can be obtained. It becomes easy to obtain.

In the second 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the lens forming section may be formed in a roller shape.
In this way, by using a roller shape for the lens forming portion, the space occupied by the lens forming portion can be made compact and compatible with A3 paper.

In the second 3D image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the transparent toner layer forming section may change the amount of heat at the time of forming the convex lens in accordance with the amount of image material constituting the lenticular image layer. Good.
In this way, a stable lens layer can be formed by forming the lens layer in consideration of the adhesion amount of the image material.

The various preferable aspects shown here can also be combined.
Hereinafter, a lenticular lens forming apparatus, first and second 3D image forming apparatuses, and an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the following description is an illustration in all the points, Comprising: It should not be understood as limiting this invention.

  It should be noted that the drawings are schematic, and the ratio of dimensions and the like of each drawing is different from the actual one. Similarly, it should be noted that the ratios of dimensions and the like differ between drawings. Therefore, specific dimensions and the like should be determined in consideration of the following explanation or technical common sense.

<< First Embodiment >>
A lenticular lens forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 is an apparatus that forms a lenticular lens in which a lens layer having an uneven shape is formed on the surface of a recording medium by an electrophotographic method. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 includes a transparent toner layer forming unit 1, a transfer unit 2, a recording medium supply unit 3, a fixing unit 4, a lens forming unit 5, and a recording medium discharge unit 6.

  The transparent toner layer forming unit 1 includes a photoconductor drum 11, a charging unit 12, an optical scanning unit 13, a developing unit 14, a developer supply container 15, a drum cleaner 16, and a photoconductor neutralizing unit 17. The charging unit 12, the developing unit 14, the transfer unit 2, the drum cleaner 16, and the photosensitive member neutralizing unit 17 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 11 in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 11. The Here, the unit 10 includes a transparent toner layer forming unit 1, a transfer unit 2, a registration roller 34, and a fixing unit 4.

  The lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 11 by the charging unit 12 and the optical scanning unit 13, and develops the electrostatic latent image by using the transparent toner by the developing unit 14, thereby forming a transparent toner layer. Form. Subsequently, transparent toner is supplied to the developing unit 14 by the developer supply container 15, the transparent toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 11 is removed by the drum cleaner 16, and the photosensitive drum 11 is discharged by the photosensitive member discharging unit 17. Do. Next, the recording medium is supplied to the transfer unit 2 by the recording medium supply unit 3, and the transparent toner layer formed on the photosensitive drum 11 is transferred to the surface of the recording medium by the transfer unit 2. Subsequently, the fixing unit 4 heats and presses the recording medium to which the transparent toner layer is transferred, thereby fixing the transparent toner layer to the recording medium. Next, the lens forming unit 5 forms the transparent toner layer fixed on the recording medium into a concavo-convex shape to form a lens layer. The recording medium on which the lens layer is formed is discharged from the recording medium discharge unit 6.

  Next, the configuration of each part of the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 will be described in detail.

  The photosensitive drum 11 is a roller-like member that is supported by a driving unit (not shown) so as to be rotatable around an axis. The photoconductor drum 11 is a photoconductor that includes a photoconductive layer and carries an electrostatic latent image and thus a transparent toner image on the surface of the photoconductive layer. As the photosensitive drum 11, for example, a photosensitive drum formed of a conductive base made of aluminum or the like and a photosensitive layer formed on the surface of the conductive base can be used. As the conductive substrate, a cylindrical, columnar, or sheet-shaped conductive substrate can be used, and among them, a cylindrical conductive substrate can be preferably used. Examples of the photosensitive layer include an organic photosensitive layer and an inorganic photosensitive layer.

  The organic photosensitive layer is a laminate of a charge generation layer, which is a resin layer containing a charge generation material, and a charge transport layer, which is a resin layer containing a charge transport material, or a charge generation material and charge transport in one resin layer. Examples thereof include a resin layer containing a substance. Examples of the inorganic photosensitive layer include a resin layer containing one or more selected from zinc oxide, selenium, amorphous silicon and the like. An underlayer may be interposed between the conductive substrate and the photosensitive layer. A surface layer (protective layer) for protecting the photosensitive layer may be provided on the surface of the photosensitive layer.

  The charging unit 12 is a member that charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 to a predetermined polarity and potential. The charging unit 12 is installed at a position facing the photosensitive drum 11 along the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 11. The charging unit 12 may be a charging device of either a contact charging method or a non-contact charging method. The charging unit 12 is disposed so as to be in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 in the case of a contact charging type charging device, and is disposed so as to be separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 in the case of a non-contact charging type charging device.

  As the charging unit 12, a brush-type charging device, a roller-type charging device, a corona discharge device, an ion generating device, or the like can be used. The brush type charging device and the roller type charging device are contact charging type charging devices. As the brush type charging device, there are a type using a charging brush and a type using a magnetic brush. The corona discharge device and the ion generator are non-contact charging devices. Corona discharge devices include those using wire-like discharge electrodes, those using sawtooth discharge electrodes, and those using needle-like discharge electrodes.

  The optical scanning unit 13 irradiates the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 in a charged state with laser light corresponding to image information composed of a digital signal, and forms an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image information on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. Form. A semiconductor laser device or the like can be used for the optical scanning unit 13.

  The developing unit 14 includes a developing tank 141, a developing roller 142, and a stirring roller 143. The developing tank 141 is a container-like member that contains a two-component developer containing transparent toner and a carrier. The developing roller 142 is a roller-like member that is supported so as to be rotatable about an axis. The developing roller 142 is provided so that a part of the developing roller 142 protrudes outward from an opening formed on the surface facing the photosensitive drum 11 and is close to the surface of the photosensitive drum 11.

  The developing roller 142 includes a fixed magnetic pole (not shown), and the developer is carried on the surface of the developing roller 142 by the fixed magnetic pole. The developing roller 142 supplies the carried developer to the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 at a proximity portion (developing nip portion) between the developing roller 142 and the photosensitive drum 11, and is transparent on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. A toner image is formed. The developing roller 142 is driven to rotate in the direction opposite to that of the photosensitive drum 11. Accordingly, in the developing nip portion, the surface of the developing roller 142 and the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 move in the same direction. The developing roller 142 is connected to a power source (not shown), and a DC voltage (developing voltage) is applied from the power source. As a result, the developer on the surface of the developing roller 142 is smoothly supplied to the electrostatic latent image.

  The developing unit 14 is a container-like member having an internal space with an opening formed on a surface facing the photosensitive drum 11. The developing unit 14 includes a stirring roller 143 in its internal space and stores the developer. As the developing unit 14, a developer usually used in the field of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus can be used. The developing unit 14 is not limited to a system that develops an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 using a two-component developer including transparent toner and a carrier. It is good also as a system developed using the one-component developer which consists of these. In the case of using the developing roller 142 incorporating the fixed magnet as described above, a two-component developer composed of toner and carrier is usually used. On the other hand, in a one-component developer that does not use a carrier, a roller such as a rubber roller or a metal roller that does not have a fixed magnet inside is used.

  The stirring roller 143 is a screw-like member that is supported inside the developing unit 14 so as to be rotatable around an axis. The stirring roller 143 feeds the developer in the developing unit 14 to the periphery of the surface of the developing roller 142 by rotational driving.

The developer supply container 15 is a container-like member that stores the developer therein. The developer replenishing container 15 replenishes the developing unit 14 with the developer according to the consumption state of the developer in the developing unit 14.
The drum cleaner 16 removes and collects the developer remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 after the developer on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 is transferred to the recording medium by the transfer unit 2 by the developing unit 14.
The photosensitive member neutralizing unit 17 neutralizes the photosensitive drum 11 after the developer is collected by the drum cleaner 16. An illuminating member such as a lamp can be used for the photoreceptor charge eliminating portion 17.

  The transfer unit 2 includes a transfer roller 21 that can be driven to rotate about an axis by a drive unit (not shown). The transfer roller 21 is provided in pressure contact with the photosensitive drum 11. A pressure contact portion between the transfer roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 11 is referred to as a transfer nip portion. The transfer roller 21 transfers the transparent toner layer formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 onto the surface of the recording medium supplied by the recording medium supply unit 3 described later at the transfer nip portion. The transfer roller 21 conveys a recording medium carrying an unfixed transparent toner layer to the fixing unit 4.

For the transfer roller 21, for example, a roller-shaped member including a metal shaft body and a conductive layer covering the surface of the metal shaft body is used. The metal shaft body is formed of a metal alloy such as stainless steel. The conductive layer is formed of a conductive elastic body or the like. As the conductive elastic body, an elastic body generally used in the field of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses can be used. For example, ethylene / propylene / diene rubber (EPDM), foamed EPDM, foamed material containing a conductive agent such as carbon black. Examples include urethane. Further, the surface may be covered with a tube material such as PFA.
The transfer roller 21 is connected to a high voltage power source (not shown). A high voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the transparent toner layer formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 is applied to the transfer roller 21 from a high voltage power source. As a result, the transparent toner layer formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 is smoothly transferred to the surface of the recording medium.

  The recording medium supply unit 3 includes a recording medium conveyance path 30, a plurality of recording medium accommodation trays 311, 312, 313 that accommodate recording media, pickup rollers 321, 322, 323, a conveyance roller 33, and a registration roller 34. including. Here, the recording medium is a sheet made of resin such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and having a thickness of about 100 to 600 μm. The sizes include A4, B5, B4, postcard size, and the like, and are stored in a recording medium storage tray corresponding to the size.

  The recording medium transport path 30 feeds recording media stored in the recording medium storage trays 311, 312, 313 one by one to the recording medium discharge unit 6 via the transfer unit 2, the fixing unit 4, and the lens forming unit 5. It is a route for sending. The pickup rollers 321, 322, and 323 are roller-like members that feed the recording media in the recording medium storage trays 311, 312, and 313 one by one into the recording medium conveyance path 30. The conveyance rollers 33 are a pair of roller-like members provided so as to be in pressure contact with each other, and convey the recording medium fed by the pickup rollers 321, 322, and 323 toward the registration rollers 34. The registration rollers 34 are a pair of roller-like members provided so as to be in pressure contact with each other. The registration roller 34 feeds the recording medium to the transfer nip portion in synchronization with the transfer of the transparent toner layer formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 to the transfer nip portion.

The fixing unit 4 includes a fixing roller 40, a pressure roller 41, and a fixing cleaning unit 42. The detailed configuration of the fixing unit 4 will be described later.
The lens forming unit 5 includes a lens forming roller 50 and a lens forming pressure roller 51. The detailed configuration of the lens forming unit 5 will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the recording medium discharge unit 6 is provided downstream of the lens forming unit 5, and a lenticular lens sheet having a lens layer formed on one surface of the recording medium in the lens forming unit 5 is discharged from the recording medium. It is conveyed to the section 6. The recording medium discharge unit 6 includes a pair of discharge rollers 60 and 61 that are in pressure contact with each other. The lenticular lens sheet passes through the pressure contact portion between the pair of discharge rollers 60 and 61 and is discharged to the outside of the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100.

  Next, a detailed configuration of the fixing unit 4 according to the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the fixing roller 40 is a roller-like member that is rotatably provided around an axis line by a support unit (not shown), and is rotationally driven by a drive unit (not shown) at a predetermined peripheral speed. The fixing roller 40 and the pressure roller 41 are driven to rotate in the directions of arrows DFR and DPR, respectively, and the recording medium RS carrying the transparent toner layer TL enters the fixing nip portion FN (fixing nip width WFN) from the direction of the arrow DRS. Be transported. In the fixing nip FN, the fixing roller 40, together with the pressure roller 41, heats and melts the transparent toner layer TL transferred onto one surface of the recording medium RS and fixes it.

  As the fixing roller 40, a roller-shaped member including a cored bar 401, an elastic layer 402, and a surface layer 403 can be used. As the metal forming the cored bar 401, a metal having high thermal conductivity can be used. For example, aluminum, iron, or the like can be used. Examples of the shape of the cored bar 401 include a cylindrical shape or a columnar shape.

  The material constituting the elastic layer 402 is not particularly limited as long as it has rubber elasticity, and is preferably excellent in heat resistance. Specific examples of such a material include silicon rubber, fluorine rubber, or fluorosilicon rubber. Among these, silicon rubber having excellent rubber elasticity is particularly preferable.

  The material constituting the surface layer 403 is not particularly limited as long as it is excellent in heat resistance and durability and has a weak adhesion to the transparent toner. Specific examples of such materials include fluorine resin materials such as PFA (copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether) and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), or fluorine rubber.

  The fixing roller 40 includes an internal heater lamp 43 inside the roller. Further, the internal heater lamp 43 is disposed along the central axis of the fixing roller 40 (here, the same as the rotation axis). In the first embodiment, a halogen lamp is used as the internal heater lamp 43. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any heating means for heating the fixing roller 40 may be used.

  The pressure roller 41 is rotatably provided in a state of being pressed against the fixing roller 40 by a pressure mechanism (not shown). A pressure contact portion between the fixing roller 40 and the pressure roller 41 is a fixing nip portion FN. The pressure roller 41 rotates following the rotation of the fixing roller 40. When the fixing roller 40 heat-fixes the transparent toner layer TL onto the recording medium RS, the pressure roller 41 presses the transparent toner in a molten state against the recording medium RS, thereby recording the recording medium RS of the transparent toner layer TL. Promote settlement.

  As the pressure roller 41, a roller-shaped member including a metal core 411, an elastic layer 412 and a surface layer 413 can be used. As materials constituting the core metal 411, the elastic layer 412, and the surface layer 413, the same materials as those constituting the core metal 401, the elastic layer 402, and the surface layer 403 of the fixing roller 40 can be used, respectively. Further, the shape of the cored bar 411 is the same as that of the cored bar 401 of the fixing roller 40.

  The pressure roller 41 includes an internal heater lamp 44 inside. The internal heater lamp 44 transfers heat to the recording medium RS at the time of fixing the transparent toner layer TL in order to shorten the startup time from when the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 is turned on until the transparent toner layer TL can be formed. This is intended to prevent a sudden drop in the surface temperature of the pressure roller 41 caused by this. In the first embodiment, a halogen lamp is used as the internal heater lamp 44.

  Next, a detailed configuration of the fixing cleaning unit 42 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the fixing cleaning unit 42 includes a web 421, a web delivery roller 422, a web pressing roller 423, and a web winding roller 424, and the pressing portion between the web 421 and the surface of the fixing roller 40. The offset toner or the like attached to the surface of the fixing roller 40 is removed by friction with the web 421 in the cleaning nip portion CN.

  The web 421 is fed from the web feed roller 422 toward the web pressure roller 423, wound around the web pressure roller 423, pressed against the surface of the fixing roller 40, and then wound around by the web wind roller 424. It is done.

As the web 421, for example, a heat resistant nonwoven fabric can be used. Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular as a heat resistant nonwoven fabric, For example, the nonwoven fabric etc. which have an appropriate softness | flexibility and mechanical strength including aromatic polyamide fiber and the polyester fiber softened at high temperature are mentioned. Such heat-resistant nonwoven fabrics are commercially available, and examples thereof include Nomex (registered trademark) and Himeron (registered trademark). The thickness of the web 421 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 30 to 100 μm. In the first embodiment, the web 421 having a thickness of 40 μm is used. Further, the web 421 may be impregnated with oil having a releasing effect. As the oil, those commonly used in the field of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses can be used, and examples thereof include silicone oils such as dimethyl silicone oil, amino-modified silicone oil, mercapto-modified silicone oil, and fluorine-modified silicone oil. In the first embodiment, the web 421 is impregnated with silicon oil having a viscosity of about 0.01 m ² / s (10000 centistokes, 25 ° C.).

  The web feed roller 422 is supported so as to be able to be driven and rotated around the axis, and the web 421 is wound around and held on the surface thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, in the first embodiment, the web feed roller 422 is configured to rotate following the direction of the arrow DW and feed the web 421.

  The web pressure roller 423 is a roller-like member that is axially supported at both ends in an axial direction so as to be driven and rotated by a bearing (not shown). The web pressure roller 423 is provided so as to be in pressure contact with the surface of the fixing roller 40 via the web 421 by a spring pressing means (not shown). The web pressure contact roller 423 is driven and rotated during the winding operation of the web 421 by the web winding roller 424. As the web pressure roller 423, for example, a roller-shaped member including a metal core and an elastic layer formed on the surface of the metal core is used. Examples of the elastic material constituting the elastic layer include heat-resistant rubber such as silicon rubber, foams thereof, and the like.

The surface hardness of the elastic layer is not particularly limited, but is preferably 20 ° to 30 ° (Asker-c, Asker C hardness). For example, a spring member or the like is used as the pressing means. The pressing force to the fixing roller 40 is preferably 3793.6 Pa (0.039 kgf / cm ² ) to 18967.9 Pa (0.19 kgf / cm ² ).

  The length of the web pressing roller 423 in the axial direction may be larger than the maximum width of the transparent toner layer TL to be formed in the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100. Further, the width of the cleaning nip portion CN (cleaning nip width WCN) has a great influence on the cleaning performance of the fixing cleaning portion 42, and therefore it is preferable to design the width within an appropriate range. The cleaning nip width WCN is mainly determined by the pressing force of the web pressure roller 423 against the fixing roller 40, the roller diameter of the web pressure roller 423, and the like. In the first embodiment, the web pressing roller 423 has an axial width of 310 mm longer than the maximum width of the transparent toner layer TL and a roller diameter of 20 mm.

  The web take-up roller 424 is provided so as to be rotatable around an axis by driving means (not shown), and takes up the web 421 after coming into contact with the fixing roller 40. When the web winding roller 424 is driven to rotate, the web 421 is fed out from the web feeding roller 422, and a cleaning operation is started.

  The operation of the fixing cleaning unit 42 is controlled by a control unit (not shown). The controller rotates the web winding roller 424 when the number of recording media RS that have passed through the fixing nip portion FN (fixing nip width WFN) or the rotation speed of the fixing roller 40 exceeds a predetermined threshold. A control signal for starting the cleaning operation is sent to driving means (not shown) (here, a motor provided inside the main body of the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100). Upon receiving the control signal, the driving means rotates the web winding roller 424 to wind the web 421 by a certain amount. By this winding, the web 421 is fed from the web feed roller 422 in the direction of the arrow DW. The fed web 421 is cleaned by taking in offset toner or the like on the surface of the fixing roller 40. Although an example of the operation of intermittently winding the web 421 by the web winding roller 424 has been shown, the present invention is not limited to this, and the winding is continuously performed at the timing when the recording medium RS passes through the fixing nip FN. May be performed.

  Next, temperature control of the fixing roller 40 and the pressure roller 41 according to the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 will be described.

  In the first embodiment, a fixing roller side thermistor 47 is provided so as to be close to the fixing roller 40. The fixing roller side thermistor 47 detects the surface temperature of the fixing roller 40. The detection result by the fixing roller side thermistor 47 is input to the control means. The control unit determines whether or not the surface temperature of the fixing roller 40 is within a predetermined set temperature (fixing temperature) based on the detection result of the fixing roller side thermistor 47. When the surface temperature of the fixing roller 40 is lower than a predetermined fixing temperature setting range, the control unit sends a control signal to a power source connected to the internal heater lamp 43 to supply power to the internal heater lamp 43. Encourage fever. Further, when the surface temperature of the fixing roller 40 is higher than a predetermined fixing temperature setting range, the control unit sends a control signal to a power source connected to the internal heater lamp 43 to supply power to the internal heater lamp 43. Stop.

  In the first embodiment, the pressure roller side thermistor 48 is provided so as to be close to the pressure roller 41. The pressure roller side thermistor 48 detects the surface temperature of the pressure roller 41. The detection result by the pressure roller side thermistor 48 is input to the control means. The control means determines whether the surface temperature of the pressure roller 41 is within a predetermined set temperature (fixing temperature) based on the detection result of the pressure roller side thermistor 48. When the surface temperature of the pressure roller 41 is lower than a predetermined fixing temperature setting range, the control unit sends a control signal to a power source connected to the internal heater lamp 44 to supply power to the internal heater lamp 44. To encourage fever. In addition, when the surface temperature of the pressure roller 41 is higher than a predetermined fixing temperature setting range, the control unit sends a control signal to a power source connected to the internal heater lamp 44 so that the electric power for the internal heater lamp 44 is reduced. Stop supplying.

  In the fixing unit 4, the fixing roller 40 and the pressure roller 41 are heated to the respective set temperatures, and the thermistors 47 and 48 provided in the vicinity of the fixing roller 40 and the pressure roller 41 reach the set temperatures. And the detection result is input to the control means. When the detection result is input, the control unit sends a control signal to a driving unit that rotationally drives the fixing roller 40 to rotate the fixing roller 40. Accordingly, the pressure roller 41 is driven to rotate. In this state, the recording medium RS on which the transparent toner layer TL is formed is conveyed from the transfer portion 2 to the fixing nip portion FN. When passing through the fixing nip portion FN, the transparent toner layer TL is heated and pressurized and fixed on one surface of the recording medium RS. In the first embodiment, the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL formed on one surface of the recording medium RS is preferably 20 to 40 μm.

  Next, based on FIGS. 3-5, the detailed structure of the lens formation part 5 which concerns on the lenticular lens formation apparatus 100 is demonstrated.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the lens forming unit 5 presses the transparent toner layer TL formed on one surface of the recording medium RS to form a concavo-convex shape by applying pressure under heating, and forms a concavo-convex lens layer on one surface of the recording medium RS. Form. The lens forming unit 5 includes a pair of rollers including a lens forming roller 50 and a lens forming pressure roller 51.

  The lens forming roller 50 is a roller-like member supported at both ends in the axial direction and rotatably provided around the axis, and is driven to rotate at a predetermined peripheral speed by a driving unit (not shown). The lens forming roller 50 is heated so as to reach a predetermined lens forming temperature, and detects that the lens forming roller side thermistor 57 provided in the vicinity of the lens forming roller 50 has reached the predetermined lens forming temperature. The result is input to the control means. And a control means sends a control signal to the drive means which rotationally drives the lens formation roller 50, and rotates the lens formation roller 50 in the direction of arrow DLR. Accordingly, the lens forming pressure roller 51 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow DLPR.

  The lens forming nip portion LN (lens forming nip width WLN) formed by the lens forming roller 50 and the lens forming pressure roller 51 is set so that the recording medium RS carrying the transparent toner layer TL contacts the lens forming roller 50. pass. The transparent toner layer TL formed on the recording medium RS is heated by the heat from the heating source (internal heater lamp 53) inside the lens forming roller 50 and the pressure on the outer peripheral surface of the lens forming roller 50 at the lens forming nip portion LN. It is heat-molded to form an uneven lenticular lens.

  The lens forming roller 50 includes a core metal 511 and a surface layer 513. As a material constituting the metal core 511, for example, aluminum, iron, stainless steel, or the like can be used. The shape of the cored bar 511 is a right cylindrical shape, and both ends of the cored bar 511 in the axial direction may or may not have a drawing structure.

  The surface layer 513 is a layer coated on the surface of the cored bar 511 and ensures the releasability of the transparent toner. Examples of the material constituting the surface layer 513 include fluorine-based resin materials such as PFA (copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether) and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). Alternatively, a DLC (diamond-like carbon) material containing these fluororesins may be used. In addition, the thickness of the surface layer 513 is preferably about 50 nm to 30 μm. If the thickness of the surface layer 513 is extremely thin, durability becomes a problem. If the surface layer 513 is too thick, the groove shape of the cored bar 511 may be buried, and as a result, the lens formation may not be successful. Because.

  Instead of forming the surface layer 513 on the surface of the lens forming roller 50, a release agent such as silicone oil may be applied to secure the release property of the transparent toner. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which apply | coats mold release agents, such as a silicone oil, on a surface layer. As the silicone oil, an oil having a viscosity of about 1,000 CS to 10,000 CS can be used.

  The lens forming roller 50 includes an internal heater lamp 53 inside the roller. The internal heater lamp 53 is arranged along the central axis (here, the same as the rotation axis) of the lens forming roller 50. In the first embodiment, a halogen lamp is used as the internal heater lamp 53. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any heating means for heating the lens forming roller 50 may be used.

  The lens forming pressure roller 51 contacts the surface opposite to the surface on which the transparent toner layer TL of the recording medium RS conveyed to the lens forming portion 5 in the direction of the arrow DRS is formed. The lens forming pressure roller 51 is supported at both ends in the axial direction, and is rotatably provided in a state where the lens forming roller 50 is pressed by a pressure mechanism (not shown). The pressure contact portion between the lens forming roller 50 and the lens forming pressure roller 51 forms a lens forming nip portion LN (lens forming nip width WLN). Ball bearings are inserted into both end portions of the lens forming pressure roller 51 in the axial direction, and the lens forming pressure roller 51 rotates following the rotation of the lens forming roller 50. The lens forming pressure roller 51 presses the transparent toner layer TL against the recording medium RS when the lens forming roller 50 heat-molds the transparent toner layer TL into the uneven shape, thereby forming the uneven shape of the transparent toner layer TL. Promote molding into The lens forming pressure roller 51 presses the lens forming roller 50 with a pressing force having a uniform pressing force in the axial direction and a total load of 400 N by a pressing mechanism. As the lens forming pressure roller 51, a normal pressure roller used in a fixing unit of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus can be used.

  The lens forming pressure roller 51 includes a cored bar 521, an elastic layer 522, and a surface layer 523. As a material constituting the metal core 521, for example, aluminum, iron, stainless steel, or the like can be used. The shape of the cored bar 521 is a right cylindrical shape, and both ends of the cored bar 521 in the axial direction may or may not have a drawing structure.

  The elastic layer 522 is provided to enlarge a region of the lens forming nip portion LN (lens forming nip width WLN) formed by the lens forming roller 50 and the lens forming pressure roller 51. Provided on the outer peripheral surface. As a material constituting the elastic layer 522, a material having rubber elasticity, more preferably a material having rubber elasticity and excellent in heat resistance can be used. Specific examples of such a material include silicon rubber, fluorine rubber, or fluorosilicon rubber. Moreover, although it is good also as a foam of these materials, especially the silicon rubber which is excellent in rubber elasticity is preferable. The lens formation nip width WLN is preferably 7 mm, for example.

  The surface layer 523 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the elastic layer 522. As a material constituting the surface layer 523 formed on the surface of the lens forming pressure roller 51, a material having excellent heat resistance and durability and weak adhesion to the transparent toner can be used. Specific examples of the material constituting the surface layer 523 include fluorine-based resin materials such as PFA (copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether) and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), and fluorine rubber. It is done. When PFA or PTFE is used as the surface layer 523, a tube made of these materials may be covered or coated. Note that the thickness of the surface layer 523 is preferably 10 μm to 50 μm.

  The temperature control of the lens forming roller 50 uses the lens forming roller side thermistor 57 as in the case of the fixing roller 40 and the pressure roller 41. Here, the surface temperature of the lens forming roller 50 is set to a temperature range higher by 0 to 80 ° C., preferably 140 to 200 ° C. than the softening temperature of the binder resin constituting the transparent toner.

  Next, based on FIG. 4, the detailed shape of the lens formation part 5 which concerns on 1st Embodiment is demonstrated.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a plurality of grooves are formed on the surface of the lens forming roller 50 at a predetermined pitch so that the transparent toner layer TL formed on one surface of the recording medium RS can be formed into an uneven lens layer. Is formed. The recording medium RS is formed such that the surface of the transparent toner layer TL formed on the recording medium RS is pressed into a lens shape by the shape of each groove of the groove GP formed on the surface layer 513 of the lens forming roller 50. Is conveyed to the lens forming nip portion LN.
FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG. As shown in these drawings, in the first embodiment, the groove is formed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction DLRA of the lens forming roller, that is, along the rotational direction DLR of the lens forming roller 50. Examples of such a groove processing method include machining with a metal cutting tool or the like, or processing with a laser.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the groove GP formed on the surface layer 513 of the lens forming roller 50 is formed in the transparent toner layer TL so as to press-mold the surface of the transparent toner layer TL formed on the recording medium RS. Contact the surface of the. FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of a portion B in FIG.
Here, HRS is the thickness of the recording medium RS, WRS is the width of the recording medium RS, WGP is the width of the groove GP on the surface of the lens forming section 5, PLR is the pitch interval of the grooves on the surface of the lens forming roller 50, HLG Indicates the depth of the groove of the lens forming roller 50, and HTL indicates the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL.

  5A and 5B show the recording medium RS and the surface layer 513 for easy understanding of the relative positional relationship in the axial direction of the lens forming roller 50 between the groove and the transparent toner layer TL before forming the lens. Shown apart. However, actually, as shown in FIG. 5C, in the lens forming nip portion LN, the transparent toner layer TL is pressed by the surface layer 513 and deformed into the shape of a lens-shaped lenticular lens LL. As a result of the deformation, the thickness HTL of the transparent toner layer TL changes to the thickness HLL of the lenticular lens LL. An example of calculating the thickness change will be described later.

  Next, the components of the transparent toner according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The transparent toner is a light-transmitting toner, and is composed of the same components as those normally used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus except that it does not contain a colorant. The transparent toner contains a binder resin, and a release agent is added as necessary. Further, in addition to the binder resin and the release agent, a general toner additive such as a charge control agent and an external additive may be contained.

  As binder resin, polystyrene resin, resin made of homopolymer of substituted styrene, styrene copolymer resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, polyethylene resin, polypropylene resin, polyester resin, polyurethane resin, cyclic Examples thereof include olefin resins. These binder resins may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  Among these binder resins, the binder resin for transparent toner is preferably a binder resin having a softening point of 100 to 150 ° C. and a glass transition point of 50 to 80 ° C. in consideration of storage stability and durability. Polyester resins having the above softening point and glass transition point are also preferred. Moreover, a cyclic olefin resin is also favorable from the viewpoint of transparency.

  The release agent is not particularly limited, and for example, wax can be used. As the wax, a wax usually used in the field of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses can be used. For example, polyethylene wax, polypropylene wax, paraffin wax, ester wax and the like can be mentioned. In addition, if content of a mold release agent is a range normally used, it will not specifically limit.

  The charge control agent is not particularly limited as long as it can charge the transparent toner or control its chargeability. However, it is preferable that the toner does not affect the transparency of the transparent toner. Examples of such charge control agents generally include nigrosine dyes, quaternary ammonium salts, triphenylmethane derivatives, zinc salicylate complexes, zinc naphtholates, metal oxides of benzylic acid derivatives, and the like. These charge control agents may be used alone or in combination of two or more charge control agents. In addition, the content of the charge control agent is not particularly limited as long as it is in a normally used range.

  The transparent toner can be produced according to a known toner base particle method. Examples of the production method include a pulverization method, a suspension polymerization method, and an emulsion aggregation method. The volume average particle diameter of the transparent toner is not particularly limited, but is preferably 2 μm to 10 μm. This is because when forming the lenticular lens, the transparent toner layer TL having a uniform thickness as much as possible including the edge portion of the region is formed. When the volume average particle size is smaller than 2 μm, the fluidity of the transparent toner is lowered. For this reason, during the developing operation in the developing unit 14, the supply, stirring and charging of the transparent toner become insufficient, and problems such as insufficient amount of transparent toner and an increase in reversely charged toner occur. As a result, there is a possibility that problems such as inability to form a favorable transparent toner layer may occur. On the other hand, when the volume average particle size of the transparent toner exceeds 10 μm, the surface smoothness of the transparent toner layer TL formed on the surface of the recording medium RS, and thus the surface smoothness of the lens layer generated by molding of the transparent toner layer TL decreases. There is a risk. Further, as described later, there is a possibility that a sharp image is difficult to be obtained when a line image is printed.

  The external additive is for the purpose of imparting functions such as powder flowability improvement, triboelectric chargeability improvement, heat resistance improvement, long-term storage stability improvement, cleaning property improvement, and abrasion property control of the photoreceptor surface to the transparent toner. Added. As the external additive, an external additive usually used in the field of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses can be used. For example, an external additive such as silica, alumina, titanium oxide, acrylic fine powder, or metal soap fine particles Is mentioned. The addition amount of the external additive is not particularly limited as long as it is a range that is usually used.

  The transparent toner produced as described above can be used as a one-component developer as it is, and can also be used as a two-component developer by mixing and stirring with a carrier. The carrier used together with the transparent toner as the two-component developer is not particularly limited, and a carrier usually used in the field of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus can be used. As the carrier, for example, a carrier made of a magnetic material such as iron, nickel, or cobalt, or a magnetic oxide such as ferrite or magnetite, is preferably used. Alternatively, a resin-coated carrier in which these carriers are coated as a core particle with a resin material and a coating layer is formed on the surface of the core particle may be used. Whether to use a carrier without a coating layer or a resin-coated carrier is preferably selected according to the transparent toner component, and one kind may be used alone, or two or more kinds may be used. May be used in combination. The volume average particle diameter of the carrier is not particularly limited, but in order to form the transparent toner layer TL having good surface smoothness, the carrier volume average particle diameter is preferably 30 μm to 100 μm.

  The production method of the two-component developer is not particularly limited, and can be produced by a known method. The transparent toner of the present invention is preferably contained so as to have a concentration of 3% by weight to 20% by weight with respect to the total amount of the two-component developer.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a fixing unit 4 that forms a transparent toner layer TL on one surface of a recording medium RS, and the transparent toner layer TL is uneven. A lens forming portion 5 that forms a lens layer by molding into a shape is provided separately. Therefore, the degree of freedom in setting the heating conditions in the fixing unit 4 and the lens forming unit 5 can be improved, the hot offset resistance is excellent, and the adhesive strength of the lens layer to the recording medium RS is sufficiently secured. The lens sheet can be produced with one apparatus.

<Example>
Next, an example using the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 of the first embodiment will be described in detail.

  The surface temperature of the fixing roller 40 and the pressure roller 41 and the peripheral speed of the fixing roller 40 were changed to form a transparent toner layer TL having a thickness of 20 μm on one surface of the recording medium RS.

[Two-component developer]
<Transparent toner>
Binder resin: 28 parts by weight of cyclic olefin resin A (softening temperature 140 ° C.)
66 parts by weight of cyclic olefin resin B (softening temperature 105 ° C.) ・ Charge control agent: 1.0 part by weight of metal oxide of benzylic acid derivative ・ Release agent: 5 parts by weight of polyethylene wax Here, the softening temperature is a flow tester ( Shimadzu Corporation: CFT-100D) refers to an intermediate temperature between the melting start temperature and the melting end temperature.
<External additive>
Silica: 1 part by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of transparent toner Titanium oxide: 1.5 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of transparent toner <Carrier>
-Ferrite carrier was added so that the concentration of the transparent toner in the two-component developer was 8% by weight.

[recoding media]
An A4 size PET sheet having a thickness of 550 μm was used.

[Fixing part]
<Fixing roller>
As the fixing roller 40, an outer core having a 2 mm thick silicon rubber layer formed as an elastic layer 402 on an iron core bar 401 having an outer diameter of 36 mm and a wall thickness of 2 mm, and a 40 μm thick PFA tube layer as a surface layer 403 is provided. A roller with a diameter of approximately 40 mm was used.
<Pressure roller>
As the pressure roller 41, an outer layer having an outer diameter of 38 mm and a thickness of 1 mm on an iron cored bar 411 having a 1 mm thick silicon rubber layer as an elastic layer 412 and a 40 μm thick PFA tube layer as a surface layer 413 is provided. A roller with a diameter of approximately 40 mm was used. The pressure contact load of the pressure roller 41 to the fixing roller 40 was 600N. The fixing nip width WFN at this time was about 6 mm.

  The following evaluation was performed on the transparent toner layer TL formed on one surface of the recording medium RS, and the fixability of the transparent toner layer TL was confirmed. The evaluation results are shown in Table 1. The calculation result of the amount of heat supplied from the fixing roller 40 and the pressure roller 41 to the toner side at the fixing nip portion FN is also shown.

  From the results shown in Table 1, when fixing, a good fixed image was obtained under the condition of 3.5 to 4.1 kJ in terms of conversion per A4 sheet.

  Next, the surface temperature and peripheral speed of the lens forming roller 50 are changed to form a transparent toner layer TL having a thickness of about 20 μm formed on one surface of the recording medium RS, and the lens is formed on the transparent toner layer TL. A lens having a thickness of about 30 μm was formed by the roller 50.

[Lens forming part]
<Lens forming roller>
As the lens forming roller 50, the surface of a metal core 511 made of aluminum having an outer diameter of 40 mm, a wall thickness of 2 mm, and a body length (length in the axial direction) of 315 mm is machined to have a pitch of 254 μm in the roller circumferential direction. A roller in which a groove having a depth of 30 μm was formed with a width of 300 mm and a fluororesin coat layer having a thickness of 50 nm was provided as the surface layer 513 was used.
<Pressure roller for lens formation>
As the pressure roller 51 for lens formation, a silicon rubber (JIS-A hard) having a thickness of 5 mm is formed as an elastic layer 522 on an iron core bar 521 having an outer diameter of 29.76 mm, an inner diameter of 23.76 mm, and a wall thickness of 3 mm. A roller having an outer diameter of about 40 mm and a PFA tube layer having a thickness of 50 μm provided as a surface layer 523 was used. Further, the axial length of the metal core 521 of the lens forming pressure roller 51 is 313 mm, and the axial length of the elastic layer 522 is 312 mm. The pressure contact load of the lens forming pressure roller 51 to the lens forming roller 50 was 400N. The nip width at this time was about 2 mm.

  The following evaluation was performed on the lens layer formed on one surface of the recording medium RS, and the lens forming portion state was evaluated. The evaluation results are shown in Table 2. A 3D evaluation image having a lens-to-lens pitch of 254 μm was prepared, and the lens formation state was visually evaluated by superimposing it on the created lens sheet.

  From the results shown in Table 2, the conditions under which lenses can be formed relatively well are 2.0 to 2.8 kJ in terms of conversion per A4 sheet. Can no longer be reproduced.

  From the results of Tables 1 and 2, in the fixing step of fixing the transparent toner on the recording medium RS, the condition of 3.5 to 4.1 kJ was favorable in terms of conversion per A4 sheet, but the fixing In the lens forming process following the process, it is necessary to make the heat amount 2.0 to 2.8 kJ, which is smaller than the amount of heat given at the time of fixing.

By the way, in the fixing step, it is necessary to melt the toner surface and sufficiently raise the interface temperature between the recording medium RS and the transparent toner layer TL so that the recording medium RS and the transparent toner layer TL are sufficiently bonded. There is. On the other hand, when the lens is formed, it is not necessary to apply heat more than necessary because the adhesiveness between the recording medium RS and the transparent toner layer TL has already been secured in the fixing process. In addition, in the process of forming the lens, the transparent toner layer TL that has been smoothly formed is melted again and molded into a shape that follows the shape of the lens forming roller. Therefore, the transparent toner before formation is formed on the convex portion of the lenticular lens LL. Since the thickness of the toner is increased as compared with the layer TL, the offset is further facilitated.
For this reason, at least the amount of heat given to the transparent toner layer TL during lens formation needs to be less than the amount of heat given in the fixing step.

  Next, based on FIGS. 6-8, the calorie | heat amount conditions for the time of favorable lens formation are explained in full detail.

  The amount of heat control of the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is performed by three control units including a fixing information measuring unit 600, a control unit 610, and a lens forming heat amount control unit 620.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the fixing information measuring unit 600 includes a fixing temperature measuring unit 601, a fixing time measuring unit 602, a fixing heat amount recording unit 603, and a toner layer thickness measuring unit 604. The control unit 610 includes a toner layer thickness change amount calculation unit 611, a lens formation heat amount determination unit 612, a lens formation heat amount adjustment unit 613, and a fixing heat amount information storage unit 614. The lens formation heat amount control unit 620 includes a lens formation temperature control unit 621 and a lens formation time control unit 622.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the fixing temperature measuring unit 601 and the fixing time measuring unit 602 measure the amount of heat applied to the fixing unit 4 shown in FIG. 3, and the fixing heat amount recording unit 603 records the amount of heat, and the fixing heat amount. The information is stored in the information storage unit 614 (step S1). Subsequently, the toner layer thickness measurement unit 604 measures the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL after fixing, and the toner layer thickness change amount calculation unit 611 calculates a change in the thickness of the transparent toner layer before and after lens formation (step S2). ). Next, based on the recorded fixing heat amount and toner layer thickness change amount, an upper limit value of the heat amount that the lens forming heat amount determining unit 612 gives to the lens forming portion is determined (step S3). Finally, the lens formation heat amount adjustment unit 613 adjusts the amount of heat given to the lens formation unit 5 shown in FIG. 3 based on the upper limit value of the heat amount, and the lens formation temperature control unit 621 and the lens formation time control unit 622 form the lens. Temperature control in the unit 5 is performed (step S4).

  As a specific heat quantity control means, as shown in FIG. 3, a lens forming roller side thermistor 57 is provided so as to be close to the lens forming roller 50. The lens forming roller side thermistor 57 detects the surface temperature of the lens forming roller 50. The detection result by the lens forming roller side thermistor 57 is input to the control means. The control means determines whether or not the surface temperature of the lens forming roller 50 is within a predetermined set temperature (lens forming temperature) based on the detection result of the lens forming roller side thermistor 57. When the surface temperature of the lens forming roller 50 is lower than a predetermined lens forming temperature setting range, the control unit sends a control signal to a power source connected to the internal heater lamp 53 to supply power to the internal heater lamp 53. To encourage fever. In addition, when the surface temperature of the lens forming roller 50 is higher than the predetermined lens forming temperature setting range, the control unit sends a control signal to a power source connected to the internal heater lamp 53 to supply power to the internal heater lamp 53. Stop supplying.

  In the lens forming unit 5, the lens forming roller 50 is heated to a predetermined lens forming temperature, and the lens forming roller side thermistor 57 provided in the vicinity of the lens forming roller 50 has reached the predetermined lens forming temperature. And the detection result is input to the control means. Then, the control unit sends a control signal to a driving unit that drives the lens forming roller 50 to rotate, thereby driving the lens forming roller 50 to rotate. Accordingly, the lens forming pressure roller 51 is driven to rotate. In this state, the recording medium RS on which the transparent toner layer TL is formed is conveyed from the fixing unit 4 to the lens forming nip LN. When passing through the lens forming nip portion LN, the transparent toner layer is heated and pressed to be formed into an uneven shape, and a lens layer is formed on one surface of the recording medium.

As the amount of change in the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL, the amount of change in thickness due to pressure applied by the groove of the lens forming unit 4 is calculated. The amount of change in the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL before and after lens formation can be generally calculated from the cross-sectional area of the groove and the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL before fixing.
The thickness of the transparent toner layer TL before fixing can be obtained by estimating from the toner layer forming conditions such as development / transfer, or by measuring the toner layer on the recording medium with an optical sensor (not shown). . Note that the measurement with the optical sensor has no problem either before or after the fixing process. When the measurement is performed before entering the fixing process, the thickness of the toner layer is reduced in the fixing process, so that the amount may be corrected.

Next, an example of calculation of a change in the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL will be shown based on FIG.
8A shows the cross-sectional area of the grooves and the transparent toner layer TL per unit pitch before lens formation, and FIG. 8B shows the unit pitch after lens formation (pitch interval PLR of the grooves of the lens forming roller). FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a cross-sectional area of a groove and a transparent toner layer TL.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL before lens formation is HTL, the sectional area of each groove is SG, and the groove pitch is PLR, The total cross-sectional area SATL per groove pitch of the transparent toner layer of
(I) SATL = HTL × PLR (total cross-sectional area per pitch of groove of transparent toner layer)
It is. Here, when the thickness HTL of the transparent toner layer is sufficiently thicker than the groove depth HLG (HTL> HLG), only a partial cross-sectional area SVTL of the total cross-sectional area SATL per groove pitch of the transparent toner layer is a groove. The remaining cross-sectional area SNTL is not deformed by lens formation. Here, when the cross-sectional area SVTL subjected to deformation by the groove is equal to the cross-sectional area SG of the corresponding groove, the cross-sectional area SNTL of the undeformed portion that is not affected by the lens formation is
(Ii) SNTL = SATL-SG = HTL × PLR-SG
It is. Therefore, the thickness HRTL of the undeformed portion is
(Iii) HRTL = SNTL / PLR = HTL-SG / PLR
It becomes. Here, when the thickness HTL of the transparent toner layer before forming the lens, the pitch interval PLR of the groove of the lens forming roller, and the cross-sectional area SG of the groove are all known, the thickness of the undeformed portion from the relationship of the above formula (iii) HRTL is required.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8B, the height of the cross-sectional area SVTL of the transparent toner layer TL changes to the groove depth HLG due to deformation by the grooves. As a result, the maximum value HLL of the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL after lens formation (that is, the lenticular lens LL) is
(Iv) HLL = HLG + HRTL = HLG + HTL−SG / PLR
It becomes. Therefore, the change amount ChHTL of the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL before and after the lens formation is
(V) ChHTL = HLL-HTL = HLG-SG / PLR
It becomes. When the groove depth HLG, the groove cross-sectional area SG, and the groove pitch interval PLR of the lens forming roller are all known, the change amount ChHTL of the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL before and after the lens formation can be calculated from the previous equation.

  The above-described calculation method is merely an example. For example, the calculation method may be analogized based on data on the amount of change in the thickness of the transparent toner layer due to past lens formation, or may be transparent using other methods. The amount of change in the thickness of the toner layer may be estimated.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the heat amount upper limit HOlimit due to hot offset changes depending on the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL. Note that the data on the upper limit HOlimit of hot offset for each thickness may be stored in advance in the fixing heat quantity information storage unit 614. In this way, the amount of heat for forming the lens can be appropriately adjusted according to the change in the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL at the time of lens formation. On the other hand, the lower limit of the amount of heat may be a smaller amount of heat than that at the time of fixing because the adhesive force between the recording medium RS and the transparent toner layer TL has already been secured at the time of fixing. Also in this case, it is possible to estimate the amount of heat for forming the lens more accurately by storing in advance the data of the processability due to the adhesiveness or softening for each thickness in the fixing heat amount information storage unit 614.

  As described above, the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment includes the fixing unit 4 that forms the transparent toner layer TL on one surface of the recording medium RS, and the transparent toner layer TL is formed into a concavo-convex shape to form a lenticular lens. Since the lens forming part 5 for forming LL is provided separately, the degree of freedom in setting the heating conditions in the fixing part 4 and the lens forming part 5 can be improved, and the hot offset resistance is excellent. In addition, a lenticular lens sheet in which the adhesive strength of the lens layer to the recording medium RS is sufficiently secured can be manufactured with one apparatus.

Hereinafter, based on FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the 1st and 2nd modification of the lenticular lens formation apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated, respectively.
1 is similar to the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1, and corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

≪First modification≫
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100a according to the first modification. The lenticular lens forming apparatus 100a includes a plurality of units 10 included in the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 described above. In each unit 10, a transparent toner is sequentially formed, and a plurality of transparent toner layers are laminated on one surface of the recording medium RS. To form. In the first modification, the two units 10 and 10a are provided in series along the conveyance direction of the recording medium RS.

  In the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100a, two units 10 and 10a are formed by laminating two transparent toner layers (transparent toner lower layer TL1 and transparent toner upper layer TL2) on one surface of the recording medium RS. In the units 10 and 10a, a transparent toner layer (transparent toner lower layer TL1 and transparent toner upper layer TL2) having a relatively small thickness can be formed and laminated to form a transparent toner layer TL having a large thickness. Therefore, the heating temperature in the fixing unit 4 of each unit 10, 10a can be set to a low value to suppress the occurrence of hot offset, and the thick transparent toner layer TL can be formed with high quality. Therefore, the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100a can produce a lenticular lens sheet on which a thick lens layer is formed with high quality.

  11 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 of the lens forming portion shown in FIG. FIG. 11B is an enlarged view of a portion B in FIG. After the two transparent toner layers TL1 and TL2 as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B are sequentially formed by the two units 10 and 10a, as shown in FIG. 11C, the laminated transparent toners are stacked. Lens formation is performed on the layer TL.

≪Second modification≫
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration of a lenticular lens forming apparatus 100b according to the second modification. The lenticular lens forming apparatus 100b is similar to the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 described above, and corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. The lenticular lens forming apparatus 100b is configured in the same manner as the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 except that the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100b includes a non-contact type fixing unit 4b instead of the fixing unit 4 described above.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the fixing unit 4b included in the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100b includes two plate-like heaters 40b and 41b facing each other with a predetermined interval. As the heaters 40b and 41b, for example, ceramic heaters can be used.

  The recording medium RS onto which the transparent toner layer TL has been transferred in the transfer unit 2 passes between the two heaters 40b and 41b. Thereby, the transparent toner layer TL formed on one surface of the recording medium RS is heated and melted and fixed without contact, and the transparent toner layer TL is formed on one surface of the recording medium RS.

  As described above, in the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100b according to the second example, the transparent toner layer TL transferred to one surface of the recording medium RS in the fixing unit 4b is heated in a non-contact manner, and the recording medium RS Since the transparent toner layer TL is formed on one side, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of hot offset in the fixing unit 4b. Therefore, the heating temperature in the fixing unit 4b can be set to a high value, and the fixing unit 4b can form a thick transparent toner layer TL with high quality. Therefore, the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100b can produce a lenticular lens sheet on which a thick lens layer is formed with high quality.

  By doing so, since the heat fixing is performed in a non-contact manner, the hot offset phenomenon that occurs in the contact fixing can be prevented. When the thickness of the lens is increased, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL, and it is necessary to increase the fixing temperature. Therefore, high temperature offset is likely to occur in contact fixing, but hot offset phenomenon occurs in non-contact fixing. Therefore, it is possible to form a lenticular lens sheet having a large lens thickness with high quality.

  In addition, in a lenticular lens sheet on which a lens layer having a constant pitch between lenses and a large thickness, that is, a lens layer having a high convex portion of the lens, is formed, the thickness of the recording medium RS is made relatively thin. Can do. As a result, for example, the fixing roller breakage (tube breakage or rubber breakage) due to excessive stress applied to the fixing roller when passing through the fixing nip portion is reduced, and the transparent toner layer forming portion and the lens forming portion are reduced. It is possible to reduce the load on the conveyance-related rollers such as the conveyance roller provided between the two, and it is possible to form a lenticular lens sheet on which a good lens layer is formed with a long life.

  In a lenticular lens sheet on which a lens layer with a constant pitch between lenses and a large thickness, that is, a lens layer with a high convex portion of the lens is formed, the thickness of the recording medium RS is relatively thin. Can do. As a result, it is possible to reduce the load on the conveyance-related rollers such as the conveyance roller 33, the fixing roller 40, and the lens forming roller 50, so that a lenticular lens sheet on which a good lens layer is formed can be formed in a long life. . The groove shape of the lens forming roller 50 is appropriately set so as to have a desired lens layer thickness.

<< Second Embodiment >>
Next, a first 3D image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The first 3D image forming apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is an image forming apparatus including a lenticular lens forming apparatus, and forms a 3D image with a single apparatus. On the other hand, a normal image can be printed by not forming a lenticular lens on the recording medium. Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the 3D image forming apparatus 200 will be described.
Note that the 3D image forming apparatus 200 may include the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. The 3D image forming apparatus 200 is partially similar to the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100, and corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals. A description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the 3D image forming apparatus 200. The 3D image forming apparatus 200 includes an image forming unit 1y, 1m, 1c, 1b, a transparent toner layer forming unit 1w, a transfer unit 2y, 2m, 2c, 2b, 2w, a recording medium supply unit 3, and a fixing unit. A fixing unit 4c, a lens forming unit 5a that forms a lenticular lens on an image, an intermediate transfer unit 7, a secondary transfer unit 8, an optical scanning unit 13, a recording medium discharge unit, a display unit, and an operation (not shown) And a control unit.

  The image forming units 1y, 1m, 1c, and 1b, which are image forming means, form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to a digital signal of each hue (hereinafter referred to as “image information”), and the electrostatic latent image Development is performed to form a lenticular image LI with each color toner. When individually indicating the transfer portion 2y corresponding to each color, the alphabetic subscripts are: y (yellow color), m (magenta color), c (cyan color), b (black color), w (transparent color). It is attached. The image forming portions 1y, 1m, 1c, 1b and the transparent toner layer forming portion 1w are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the moving direction (sub-scanning direction) of the intermediate transfer belt 70 described later, that is, the direction of the arrow DTB. Are arranged in a line.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming unit 1y illustrated in FIG. The image forming unit 1y includes a photosensitive drum 11y, a charging unit 12y, an optical scanning unit 13y, a developing unit 14y, and a drum cleaner 16y. The charging unit 12y, the optical scanning unit 13y, the developing unit 14y, and the drum cleaner 16y are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 11y around the photosensitive drum 11y. Is done.

The photosensitive drum 11y is an image carrier on which a yellow toner image is formed, and is supported so as to be rotatable around an axis. The photosensitive drum 11y has a cylindrical shape, a cylindrical shape, or a thin film sheet shape (preferably a cylindrical shape). And a photosensitive layer formed on the surface of the conductive substrate.
The photosensitive drum 11y is rotated by a driving unit (not shown) in the counterclockwise direction toward the paper surface of FIG. 14, for example, at a peripheral speed of 220 mm / s. The driving unit for the photosensitive drum 11y is controlled by an image forming unit control unit to be described later, and the rotational speed of the photosensitive drum 11y is controlled by the image forming unit control unit.
As the photoreceptor drum 11y, those commonly used in the field of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses can be used. For example, an aluminum base tube which is a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer formed on the surface of the aluminum base tube. A photoreceptor drum connected to a GND (ground) potential including an organic photosensitive layer or an inorganic photosensitive layer can be used.

  The developing unit 14y is provided to face the photosensitive drum 11y, and supports the yellow toner out of the yellow toner and the carrier contained in the two-component developer on the surface of the developing roller 142, and is formed by the layer thickness regulating member 144y. It is a developing unit that regulates the thickness to a predetermined amount, conveys it to the surface of the photosensitive drum 11y, and develops and visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11y. As the developer, a one-component developer not containing a carrier can also be used.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the developing unit 14y includes a developing tank 141y, a developing roller 142y, stirring rollers 143ya and 143yb, a two-component developer 140y, and a layer thickness regulating member 144y. The developing tank 141y is a container-like member that stores a two-component developer containing yellow toner and a carrier. The developing roller 142y is a roller-like member provided to be rotatable around an axis. The developing roller 142y is provided so that a part of the developing roller 142y protrudes outward from an opening formed on the surface of the developing tank 141y facing the photosensitive drum 11y and is close to the surface of the photosensitive drum 11y.

  In the image forming unit 1y, the surface of the photosensitive drum 11y is charged to, for example, 600V by applying and discharging, for example, 1200V to the charging unit 12y from a power source (not shown) while rotating the photosensitive drum 11y about its axis. . Next, the surface of the photosensitive drum 11y in a charged state is irradiated with laser light corresponding to yellow image information from the optical scanning unit 13y, and an electrostatic latent of −70V exposure potential corresponding to yellow image information is obtained. Form an image.

  Next, the surface of the photosensitive drum 11y and the yellow toner carried on the surface of the developing roller 142y are brought close to each other. A DC voltage of −450 V is applied as a developing potential to the developing roller 142y, and yellow toner adheres to the electrostatic latent image due to a potential difference between the developing roller 142y and the photosensitive drum 11y, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 11y. Thus, a yellow toner image is formed. As will be described later, this yellow toner image is intermediately transferred to an intermediate transfer belt 70 that is pressed against the surface of the photosensitive drum 11y and driven in the direction of the arrow DTB. The yellow toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11y is removed and collected by the drum cleaner 16y. Thereafter, the yellow toner image forming operation is repeatedly performed in the same manner.

  Hereinafter, the two-component developers 140y, 140m, 140c, and 140b according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. The two-component developers 140y, 140m, 140c, and 140b include toner and a carrier.

  The toner is composed of toner particles containing a binder resin, a colorant, and a release agent. As the binder resin, those usually used in the field of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses can be used. For example, polystyrene, styrene-substituted homopolymers, styrene copolymers, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, Examples include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, and polyurethane. Binder resin can be used individually by 1 type, or can use 2 or more types together.

  Among these binder resins, for color toners, a binder resin having a softening point of 100 to 150 ° C. and a glass transition point of 50 to 80 ° C. is preferable from the viewpoint of storage stability and durability. Polyesters having a softening point and a glass transition point within the range are particularly preferred. Polyester exhibits high transparency in a softened or molten state. When the binder resin is polyester, when a multicolor toner image in which toner images of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are superimposed is fixed on the recording medium RS by the fixing unit 4c described later, the polyester itself becomes transparent. Sufficient color development can be obtained by subtractive color mixing.

  As the colorant, pigments for toners and dyes conventionally used in electrophotographic image forming techniques can be used. Examples of the toner pigment include azo pigments, benzimidazolone pigments, quinacridone pigments, phthalocyanine pigments, isoindolinone pigments, isoindoline pigments, dioxazine pigments, anthraquinone pigments, perylene pigments, and perinone pigments. Pigments, organic pigments such as thioindigo pigments, quinophthalone pigments, metal complex pigments, inorganic pigments such as carbon black, titanium oxide, molybdenum red, chrome yellow, titanium yellow, chromium oxide and Berlin blue, and aluminum powder Metal powder and the like. Toner pigments can be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  As the release agent, for example, wax can be used. As the wax, those usually used in the field of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses can be used, and examples thereof include polyethylene wax, polypropylene wax, and paraffin wax.

In addition to the binder resin, the colorant, and the release agent, the toner contains one or more of general toner additives such as a charge control agent, a fluidity improver, a fixing accelerator, and a conductive agent. May be.
The toner can be produced by a known method such as a pulverization method, a suspension polymerization method, or an emulsion aggregation method. In the pulverization method, a toner is obtained by melting and kneading a colorant, a release agent, and the like with a binder resin. In the suspension polymerization method, monomers such as a binder resin, a colorant, and a release agent are uniformly dispersed, and then these monomers are polymerized to obtain a toner. In the emulsion aggregation method, a toner is obtained by aggregating a binder resin, a colorant, a release agent, and the like with an aggregating agent, and heating fine particles of the obtained aggregate.

The volume average particle diameter of the toner is not particularly limited, but is preferably 2 μm or more and 7 μm or less. Further, when the volume average particle diameter of the toner is appropriately small as described above, the coverage with respect to the recording medium RS becomes high, so that it is possible to achieve a high image quality with a low adhesion amount and a reduction in toner consumption.
When the volume average particle diameter of the toner is less than 2 μm, the fluidity of the toner is lowered, and the toner supply, agitation, and charging become insufficient during the developing operation. Therefore, the amount of toner supplied to the photosensitive drum 11y and the like Insufficient toner or an increase in reverse polarity toner may occur, and a high-quality image may not be obtained. If the volume average particle diameter of the toner exceeds 7 μm, toner particles having a large particle diameter that is difficult to soften to the central portion at the time of fixing increase, so that the fixability of the toner image on the recording medium RS is lowered and the color of the image is reduced. In particular, in the case of fixing to an OHP sheet, the image becomes dark.

The toner according to the second embodiment of the present invention is a negatively chargeable insulating nonmagnetic toner having a glass transition point of 60 ° C., a softening point of 120 ° C., and a volume average particle size of 6 μm. In order to obtain an image density having a reflection density measurement value of 1.4 by X-Rite 310 using this toner, a toner amount of 5 g / m ² is required on the surface of the recording medium RS.
The toner contains polyester having a glass transition point of 60 ° C. and a softening point of 120 ° C. as a binder resin, 12% by weight of each color pigment as a colorant, and a glass transition point as a release agent. A low molecular weight polyethylene wax having a softening point of 70 ° C. at 50 ° C. is contained by 7% by weight of the total amount of toner. The low molecular weight polyethylene wax used as a release agent for this toner is a wax having a lower glass transition point and softening point than polyester used as a binder resin.

As the carrier, magnetic particles can be used. Examples of the magnetic particles include metals such as iron, ferrite and magnetite, and alloys of these metals with metals such as aluminum or lead. Among these, ferrite is preferable.
Further, a resin-coated carrier in which magnetic particles are coated with a resin, or a resin-dispersed carrier in which magnetic particles are dispersed in a resin may be used as the carrier. The resin for coating the magnetic particles is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include olefin resins, styrene resins, styrene acrylic resins, silicon resins, ester resins, and fluorine-containing polymer resins. The resin used for the resin-dispersed carrier is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include styrene acrylic resin, polyester resin, fluorine-based resin, and phenol resin.

The volume average particle diameter of the carrier is not particularly limited, but is preferably 30 μm or more and 50 μm or less in consideration of high image quality. Furthermore, the resistivity of the carrier is preferably 10 ⁸ Ω · cm or more, more preferably 10 ¹² Ω · cm or more.
The carrier resistivity is determined by placing the carrier in a container having a cross-sectional area of 0.50 cm ² and tapping it, then applying a load of 1 kg / cm ² with the weight packed in the container, This is a value obtained by reading the current value when a voltage generating an electric field of 1000 V / cm is applied between them. When the resistivity of the carrier is low, charges are injected into the carrier when a bias voltage is applied to the developing roller 142y, and the carrier particles easily adhere to the photosensitive drum 11y. Further, breakdown of the bias voltage is likely to occur.
The magnetization strength (maximum magnetization) of the carrier is preferably 10 emu / g or more and 60 emu / g or less, more preferably 15 emu / g or more and 40 emu / g or less. Although the magnetization strength depends on the magnetic flux density of the developing roller 142y, under the general magnetic flux density conditions of the developing roller 142y, if the magnetic strength is less than 10 emu / g, the magnetic binding force does not work, causing carrier scattering. There is a risk of becoming. On the other hand, if the magnetization strength exceeds 60 emu / g, it is difficult to maintain a non-contact state with the photosensitive drum 11y in the non-contact development in which the carrier spikes are too high. Further, in the contact development, there is a risk that a sweep is likely to appear in the toner image.
The shape of the carrier is preferably a spherical shape or a flat shape.

  The mixing ratio of the toner and the carrier in the two-component developers 144y, 144m, 144c, and 144b is not particularly limited, and may be appropriately selected depending on the types of the toner and the carrier.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the intermediate transfer unit 7 includes an intermediate transfer belt 70, transfer rollers 21 y, 21 m, 21 c, 21 b, 21 w, support rollers 22 a, 22 b, 22 c, and a belt cleaner 18. In the second embodiment, the intermediate transfer unit 7 and a secondary transfer unit 8 described later constitute a transfer unit.

  The intermediate transfer belt 70 is an endless belt-like image carrier that is stretched between support rollers 22a and 22b and a support roller 22c described later to form a loop-shaped movement path. The image bearing surface facing the photosensitive drums 11y, 11m, 11c, 11b, and 11w at the circumferential speed substantially the same as 11c, 11b, and 11w, that is, facing the photosensitive drums 11y, 11m, 11c, 11b, and 11w, from the photosensitive drum 11y to the photosensitive drum 11w. It is rotationally driven so as to move toward.

  For the intermediate transfer belt 70, for example, a polyimide film having a thickness of 100 μm can be used. The material of the intermediate transfer belt 70 is not limited to polyimide, and a film made of synthetic resin such as polycarbonate, polyamide, polyester and polypropylene, or various rubbers can be used.

  In the film made of synthetic resin or various rubbers, a conductive material such as furnace black, thermal black, channel black and graphite carbon is blended in order to adjust the electric resistance value of the intermediate transfer belt 70. Further, the intermediate transfer belt 70 may be provided with a coating layer made of a fluororesin composition having a low adhesion to toner or fluororubber. Examples of the constituent material of the coating layer include PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) and PFA (copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether). A conductive material may be blended in the coating layer.

  The image carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 70 is in pressure contact with the photosensitive drums 11y, 11m, 11c, 11b, and 11w in this order from the upstream side in the rotational driving direction of the intermediate transfer belt 70. The positions where the body drums 11y, 11m, 11c, 11b, and 11w are in pressure contact are the intermediate transfer positions of the respective color toner images.

  The transfer rollers 21y, 21m, 21c, 21b, and 21w are provided so as to face the photosensitive drums 11y, 11m, 11c, 11b, and 11w via the intermediate transfer belt 70, respectively, and the image carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 70 Is a roller-like member provided in pressure contact with the opposite surface and capable of being rotationally driven around its axis by driving means (not shown).

As the transfer rollers 21y, 21m, 21c, 21b, and 21w, for example, a roller-shaped member including a metal shaft body and a conductive layer formed on the surface of the metal shaft body is used.
The metal shaft is made of a metal such as stainless steel. The diameter of the metal shaft is not particularly limited, but is preferably 8 mm or more and 10 mm or less.
The conductive layer is composed of a conductive elastic body or the like. As the conductive elastic body, those commonly used in the field of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses can be used. For example, ethylene / propylene / diene rubber (EPDM), foamed EPDM, foamed urethane, etc. containing a conductive agent such as carbon black. Is mentioned. Further, the surface may be covered with a tube material such as PFA. A high voltage is uniformly applied to the intermediate transfer belt 70 by the conductive layer.

  The transfer rollers 21y, 21m, 21c, 21b, and 21w are charged with toner in order to transfer toner images formed on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 11y, 11m, 11c, 11b, and 11w onto the intermediate transfer belt 70. An intermediate transfer bias having a reverse polarity is applied by constant voltage control. As a result, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toner images formed on the photosensitive drums 11y, 11m, 11c, 11b, and 11w are sequentially superimposed on the image carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 70 and transferred. A toner image and a transparent toner layer are formed. However, when image information of only a part of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black colors is input, image formation corresponding to the color of the input image information among the image forming units 1y, 1m, 1c, and 1b. A toner image is formed only at the portion.

  The support rollers 22a, 22b, and 22c are provided so as to be rotatable around an axis by a driving unit (not shown), and the intermediate transfer belt 70 is stretched and rotated in the direction of an arrow DTB. For the support rollers 22a, 22b, and 22c, for example, an aluminum cylindrical body (pipe roller) having a diameter of 30 mm and a thickness of 1 mm is used. Among these, the support roller 22c is pressed against a later-described secondary transfer roller 23 via the intermediate transfer belt 70 to form a secondary transfer nip portion, and is electrically grounded.

  The belt cleaner 18 is a member that removes the toner remaining on the image carrying surface after the toner image on the image carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 70 is transferred to the recording medium RS in the secondary transfer unit 8 described later. It is provided so as to face the support roller 22a through the transfer belt 70.

  According to the intermediate transfer unit 7, the toner images formed on the photosensitive drums 11y, 11m, 11c, 11b, and 11w have a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the toner on the transfer rollers 21y, 21m, 21c, 21b, and 21w. By uniformly applying a high voltage, the toner image is superimposed on a predetermined position on the image carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 70 and is intermediately transferred to form a multicolor toner image. As will be described later, the toner image is secondarily transferred to the recording medium RS at the secondary transfer nip portion. Toner remaining on the image carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 70 after the secondary transfer, paper dust, and the like are removed by the belt cleaner 18, and a multicolor toner image is transferred again to the image carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 70.

  The secondary transfer unit 8 includes a support roller 22 c and a secondary transfer roller 23. The support roller 22c has a function of stretching the intermediate transfer belt 70 and a function of secondarily transferring a multicolor toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 70 to the recording medium RS. The secondary transfer roller 23 is a roller-like member that is in pressure contact with the support roller 22 c via the intermediate transfer belt 70 and is rotatably driven in the axial direction.

The secondary transfer roller 23 includes, for example, a metal shaft body and a conductive layer formed on the surface of the metal shaft body. The metal shaft body is formed of a metal such as stainless steel. The conductive layer is formed of a conductive elastic body or the like.
As the conductive elastic body, those usually used in the field of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses can be used, and examples thereof include EPDM, foamed EPDM and foamed urethane containing a conductive material such as carbon black. A power supply (not shown) is connected to the secondary transfer roller 23, and a high voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the toner is applied uniformly. A pressure contact portion between the support roller 22c, the intermediate transfer belt 70, and the secondary transfer roller 23 is a secondary transfer nip portion.

  According to the secondary transfer unit 8, two recording media RS fed from a recording medium supply unit 3 described later are synchronized with the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 70 being conveyed to the secondary transfer nip portion. It is conveyed to the next transfer nip. The multi-color toner image and the recording medium RS are overlapped at the secondary transfer nip portion, and a high voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the toner is uniformly applied to the secondary transfer roller 23, whereby unfixed. The toner image is secondarily transferred to the recording medium RS. Then, the recording medium RS carrying the unfixed toner image is conveyed to the fixing unit 4c.

The recording medium supply unit 3 includes a recording medium storage tray 311a, a pickup roller 321a, a conveyance roller 33, and a conveyance path 30. The recording medium accommodation tray 311a accommodates the recording medium RS.
The conveyance path 30 is a path for finally sending the recording medium RS accommodated in the recording medium accommodation tray 311 a to the recording medium discharge trays 9 a and 9 b via the secondary transfer unit 8. The pickup roller 321a is a roller-like member that feeds and carries out the recording medium RS accommodated in the recording medium accommodation tray 311a one by one to the conveyance path 30. The transport rollers 33 are a pair of roller members provided so as to be in pressure contact with each other, and transport the recording medium RS fed by the pickup roller 321a to the secondary transfer unit 8.
Here, the recording medium RS is a sheet made of a resin such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and having a thickness of about 10 to 600 μm, and its size includes A4, B5, B4, postcard size and the like. In the second embodiment of the present invention, an A4 size PET sheet having a thickness of about 130 μm is used as the recording medium RS.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of the fixing unit 4c according to the second embodiment. The fixing unit 4 c includes a fixing belt 46, a fixing roller 45, a heating roller 49, and a pressure roller 41.
The fixing belt 46 is an endless belt-like member that is stretched between the fixing roller 45 and the heating roller 49 to form a loop-shaped movement path. The fixing belt 46 is provided so as to come into contact with the pressure roller at a pressure contact between the fixing roller 45 and the pressure roller 41, and heats and melts the toner constituting the lenticular image LI carried on the recording medium RS. It is fixed on the recording medium RS. The fixing belt 46 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow DFB by the rotational driving of the pressure roller 41 in the direction of the arrow DPR. Note that arrows DHR and DFR indicate the rotation directions of the heating roller and the fixing roller, respectively.

  The fixing belt 46 according to the second embodiment of the present invention uses an endless belt formed in a cylindrical shape having a diameter of 50 mm and having a three-layer structure including a base layer 461, an elastic layer 462, and a release layer 463. To do.

  The material for forming the base material layer 461 is not particularly limited as long as it is excellent in heat resistance and durability, but a heat-resistant synthetic resin can be raised. Among them, polyimide (P1), polyamideimide (PAI), Nickel electroforming, SUS and the like are preferable. These materials are excellent in strength and heat resistance and are inexpensive. The thickness of the base material layer 461 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 30 to 200 μm.

The material constituting the elastic layer 462 is not particularly limited as long as it has rubber elasticity, but is preferably superior in heat resistance. Specific examples of such a material include silicon rubber, fluorine rubber, and fluorosilicon rubber. Among these, silicon rubber having excellent rubber elasticity is particularly preferable.
The elastic layer 462 preferably has a JIS-A hardness of 1 to 60 degrees. Within this JIS-A hardness range, it is possible to prevent poor toner fixability while preventing a decrease in strength and poor adhesion of the elastic layer 462. Specifically, one-component, two-component or three-component or more silicone rubber, LTV type, RTV type or HTV type silicone rubber, condensation type or addition type silicone rubber can be used as this silicone rubber. .
Moreover, it is preferable that the thickness of the elastic layer 462 is 100-200 micrometers. By setting the thickness of the elastic layer to 200 μm or less, the deformation amount of the elastic layer is suppressed, and the occurrence of wrinkling of the tube can be prevented. Moreover, if it is the range of this thickness, heat insulation can be restrained low, maintaining the elastic effect of the elastic layer 462, and an energy saving effect can be exhibited. In the second embodiment of the present invention, silicon rubber having a JIS-A hardness of 5 degrees was used.

The release layer 463 is made of a fluororesin tube. Since the release layer 463 formed on the outer peripheral side of the fixing belt 46 is composed of a fluororesin tube, the release layer is formed more than the release layer formed by applying a resin containing a fluororesin and firing it. Excellent durability.
Further, the material of the fluororesin tube constituting the release layer 463 is not particularly limited as long as it is excellent in heat resistance and durability and weak in adhesion to the toner. For example, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) And fluorine resin materials such as PFA (copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether).
The thickness of the release layer 463 is preferably 5 to 50 μm. Within this thickness range, it is possible to follow a change in minute unevenness of the recording medium RS while having an appropriate strength and utilizing the elasticity of the elastic layer.

The fixing roller 45 is a roller-like member that is rotatably supported by a support unit (not shown) and is driven to rotate at a predetermined speed in the direction of the arrow DFR by rotational driving of the pressure roller 41 and the fixing belt 46.
In the second embodiment of the present invention, as the fixing roller 45, a roller-like member formed in a cylindrical shape with a diameter of 30 mm including a cored bar 451, an elastic layer 452, and a surface layer 453 is used.
As the metal forming the cored bar 451, a metal having high thermal conductivity can be used, and examples thereof include aluminum and iron. Examples of the shape of the core metal 451 include a cylindrical shape and a columnar shape, but a cylindrical shape with a small amount of heat released from the core metal 451 is preferable.

  The material constituting the elastic layer 452 is not particularly limited as long as it has rubber elasticity, but is preferably superior in heat resistance. Specific examples of such a material include silicon rubber, fluorine rubber, and fluorosilicon rubber. Among these, liquid thermosetting silicone rubber is particularly preferable. In order to correct the deviation of the fixing belt 46, a surface layer 453 may be provided on the elastic layer. As a result, the slidability of the surface of the fixing roller 45 is improved, and the deviation of the fixing belt 46 can be easily corrected.

  The material constituting the surface layer 453 is not particularly limited as long as it is excellent in heat resistance and durability and has high slidability. For example, PFA (a copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether), A fluorine-based resin material such as PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), fluorine rubber, or the like may be used.

  Further, a heating unit may be provided inside the fixing roller 45. This is because the start-up time from when the 3D image forming apparatus 200 is turned on until the image can be formed is shortened, the surface temperature of the fixing roller 45 is reduced due to the transfer of heat to the recording medium RS when fixing the toner image, and the like. It is for preventing.

  The heating roller 49 is a roller-like member that is rotatably supported and is provided so that tension can be applied to the fixing belt 46 by a pressure unit (not shown). The heating roller 49 rotates following the rotation of the fixing belt 46 in the arrow DFB direction. As the heating roller 49, a metal roller made of a metal core 491 having a high thermal conductivity such as aluminum or iron can be used. The metal roller may have a fluororesin layer formed on the surface thereof as necessary.

The heating roller 49 has internal heater lamps 43a and 43b as heating means. As a result, the fixing belt 46 is heated. A power supply (not shown) is connected to the internal heater lamps 43a and 43b, and power for heating the internal heater lamps 43a and 43b is supplied. A general heating means can be used for the internal heater lamps 43a and 43b. Further, it is possible to heat the heating roller 49 by induction heating from the outside of the heating roller 49 or to heat the fixing belt itself.
In the second embodiment of the present invention, halogen lamps are used as the internal heater lamps 43a and 43b.

  The pressure roller 41 is pressed against the fixing roller 45 via the fixing belt 46 by a pressure mechanism (not shown) on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the fixing roller 45 with respect to the lowest vertical point of the fixing roller 45, and the fixing nip portion FN. (Fixing nip width WFN) is formed. The pressure roller 41 is rotationally driven by a driving means (not shown). The pressure roller 41 promotes fixing of the toner image to the recording medium RS by pressing the toner in the molten state against the recording medium RS when the fixing roller 45 heat-fixes the toner image to the recording medium RS. To do.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, a roller-shaped member having a diameter of 30 mm including a cored bar 411, an elastic layer 412, and a surface layer 413 is used as the pressure roller 41. As a material for forming the cored bar 411, the elastic layer 412, and the surface layer 413, the same metal or material as that used for forming the cored bar 451, the elastic layer 452, and the surface layer 453 of the fixing roller 45 can be used. The shape of the core metal 411 is the same as that of the fixing roller 45.

  Inside the pressure roller 41, an internal heater lamp 44 as a heating means is provided. This is because the start-up time from when the power of the 3D image forming apparatus 200 is turned on until the image can be formed is shortened, and the surface temperature of the pressure roller 41 is abruptly caused by the transfer of heat to the recording medium RS when fixing the toner image. This is to prevent an excessive decrease. In the second embodiment of the present invention, a halogen lamp is used as the internal heater lamp 44.

  The fixing belt thermistor 47 a is provided so as to be close to the fixing belt 46 at a position facing the heating roller 49 via the fixing belt 46, and detects the temperature of the fixing belt 46. A detection result by the fixing belt thermistor 47a is input to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown). The CPU determines whether the temperature of the fixing belt thermistor 47a is within the set range from the detection result of the fixing belt thermistor 47a. When the temperature of the fixing belt 46 is lower than the set range, a control signal is sent to the power supply connected to the internal heater lamps 43a and 43b, and electric power is supplied to the internal heater lamps 43a and 43b to promote heat generation. When the temperature of the fixing belt 46 is higher than the set range, the presence / absence of power supply to the internal heater lamps 43a and 43b is confirmed. When the power supply is continued, a control signal for stopping the power supply is sent.

Further, the fixing belt 46 is provided at a position facing the fixing roller 45 through the fixing belt 46 and downstream of the fixing belt thermistor 47a in the rotation direction of the fixing belt 46 so as to be close to the fixing belt 46. A thermostat (not shown) for detecting abnormal temperature rise is provided. The detection result by the thermostat is input to the CPU. The CPU stops the power supply from the power source connected to the internal heater lamps 43a and 43b according to the detection result of the thermostat.
Further, a thermistor may be provided so as to be close to the pressure roller 41.

  As described above, the fixing mechanism including the fixing roller 45, the heating roller 49, the fixing belt 46, and the pressure roller 41 is controlled by a CPU (not shown) that controls the entire operation of the 3D image forming apparatus 200.

  When receiving an image formation instruction, the CPU sends a control signal to a power source (not shown) that supplies power to the internal heater lamps 44, 43 a, and 43 b provided inside the heating roller 49 and the pressure roller 41. The image formation instruction is input from an operation panel (not shown) provided on the top surface in the vertical direction of the 3D image forming apparatus 200 or an external device such as a computer connected to the 3D image forming apparatus 200. The power supply that has received the control signal supplies power to activate the internal heater lamps 44, 43a, and 43b.

  The internal heater lamps 44, 43a, and 43b heat the surfaces of the fixing roller 45, the heating roller 49, the pressure roller 41, and the fixing belt 46 to the respective set temperatures. When a temperature detection sensor (not shown) provided in the vicinity of the fixing roller 45 and the pressure roller 41 detects that the temperature has reached a set temperature and the detection result is input to the CPU, the CPU rotates the fixing roller 45. A control signal is sent to the drive means that does not, and the pressure roller 41 is rotated in the direction of the arrow DPR. Accordingly, the fixing belt 46, the fixing roller 45, and the heating roller 49 are driven to rotate. In this state, the recording medium RS carrying the unfixed toner image is conveyed from the secondary transfer roller 23 (see FIG. 13) to the fixing nip portion FN. When the recording medium RS passes through the fixing nip portion FN (fixing nip width WFN), the toner is heated and pressurized and fixed on the recording medium RS to form a lenticular image LI.

As shown in FIG. 13, the recording medium RS on which the image is formed passes through the fixing unit 4c via the conveyance path 30a and is then switched back so that the toner image forming surface is formed. The sheet is returned to the secondary transfer unit 8 through the conveyance path 30b so as to be the upper surface. A transparent toner layer TL is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 70 by the transparent toner layer forming portion 1w. The transparent toner layer TL is transferred onto the surface on which the lenticular image LI is formed on the recording medium RS. The recording medium RS to which the transparent toner is transferred is sent to the lens forming portion 5a so that a lenticular lens sheet is formed.
When the recording medium RS is a transparent sheet such as an OHP sheet, the recording medium RS is switched back so that the transparent toner layer TL is formed on the surface opposite to the surface on which the lenticular image LI is formed on the recording medium RS. You may let them.

As shown in FIG. 16, the lens forming portion 5a includes a lens forming roller 50a and a lens forming pressure roller 51 that are heated by internal heater lamps 53 and 54 as heating sources, respectively.
A large number of concave grooves are formed on the surface of the lens forming roller 50a in the axial direction of the lens forming roller 50a so that the transparent toner layer TL on the recording medium RS can be formed in a lens shape. However, the groove may be formed either in the axial direction of the lens forming roller 50a or in the circumferential direction as in the lens forming roller 50 according to the first embodiment. Examples of the groove processing method include mechanical processing using a metal cutting tool, processing using a laser, and the like.

The lens forming roller 50a according to the second embodiment of the present invention mechanically processes the surface of an aluminum roller having an outer diameter of 40 mm, a wall thickness of 2 mm, and a body length of 315 mm in the circumferential direction of the roller. Grooves having a pitch of about 250 μm and a depth of about 30 μm were formed with a width of about 300 mm. Further, the surface of the lens forming roller 50a was coated with fluorine in order to ensure toner releasability. The thickness of the fluorine coat was about 10 μm.
The lens forming portion 5a may have a belt shape. Since the heat capacity can be reduced by using the belt shape, the warm-up time can be shortened.

  The pressure roller 51 according to the second embodiment of the present invention has an outer diameter of 29.76 mm, an inner diameter of 23.76 mm, and a thickness of 3 mm as an elastic body on the outer peripheral surface of an iron cored bar made of iron and having no drawing structure. A 5 mm silicon rubber layer was provided. The silicon rubber had a JIS-A hardness of 30 °. The product outer diameter is a 40.0 mm roller. Moreover, the axial direction length of a metal core is 313 mm, and the axial direction length of an elastic layer is 312 mm.

Note that the thickness of the surface layer 523 is preferably 10 μm to 50 μm. A 50 μm PFA tube was used as the surface layer 523 of the lens forming pressure roller 51 used this time.
The lens forming pressure roller 51 presses the lens forming roller 50a by a pressing mechanism (not shown) with a pressing force uniform in the axial direction and a total load of 400N.

  Hereinafter, the detailed shape of the lens formation part 5a which concerns on 2nd Embodiment is demonstrated.

  As shown in FIG. 17A, on the surface of the lens forming roller 50a, a plurality of grooves are formed at a predetermined pitch so that the transparent toner layer TL formed on one surface of the recording medium RS can be formed into an uneven lens layer. Is formed. FIG. 17B is an enlarged view of a portion E in FIG. As shown in these drawings, in the second embodiment, the groove formation direction is formed along the axial direction DLRA of the roller of the lens forming roller 50a. Examples of such a groove processing method include mechanical processing using a metal tool or the like, processing using a laser, and the like.

  In the lens forming section 5a, the sheet on which the lenticular lens LL is formed on one surface of the recording medium RS is conveyed to the recording medium discharge tray 9b via the conveying path 30c as shown in FIG. 13, and 3D image formation is performed. It is discharged outside the device 200. On the other hand, when only a normal image is formed on the recording medium RS without forming the lenticular lens LL, only the normal image is formed on the recording medium RS by the image forming units 1y, 1m, 1c, 1b and the fixing unit 4c. Instead of switching back to the transport path 30b, it may be transported to the recording medium discharge tray 9a through the transport path 30a as it is.

In the 3D image forming apparatus 200, adjustment is performed so that the contact position between the lenticular image LI on the recording medium RS and the groove on the surface of the corresponding lens forming roller 50a is not shifted.
For example, a registration mark is formed on the recording medium RS, and when the recording medium RS on which the transparent toner layer TL is formed passes a predetermined position, the position of the registration mark is read and the position of the lens forming roller is adjusted. To do. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 18, the position of the groove is calculated on the surface of the lens forming roller 50a that contacts the predetermined position of the recording medium RS, and the portion (i) of the groove of the surface layer 513a of the lens forming roller is calculated. Are adjusted to match the corresponding image portion.

  On the other hand, for the lenticular image LI, an image processing device such as a personal computer is used to divide the image so as to correspond to the number of lenses of the lenticular lens, and the divided image is converted into a linear image so as to correspond to the width of the lenticular lens. Process. In the 3D image forming apparatus 200, when processing into a linear image, the image is processed according to the shape of the lens forming member. For example, when the shape of the lens forming member is as shown in FIG. 18 (A), as shown in FIG. 18 (B), according to the widths d1, d2, d3 of the grooves, Matching linear images t1, t2, and t3 are formed. In the second embodiment, a linear image is formed so as to correspond to d1, d2, d3, etc. from the rear end of the image. Thereafter, the images are arranged at a pitch corresponding to the arrangement of the lenticular lenses, and each linear image is shifted and superimposed in the order in which the images change. In this way, it is possible to form the lenticular image LI corresponding to the shape variation of the groove on the surface of the lens forming roller 50a.

  As a specific method of adjusting the image position, it is possible to cope with adjustment of writing timing in the sub-scanning direction. Electrostatic latent images are formed on the photosensitive drums 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11b by the optical scanning units 13y, 13m, 13c, and 13b, respectively. When the writing optical system has a resolution of 1200 dpi, it is possible to control at a pitch of about 21 μm, and by providing an adjustment mechanism of ± 6 steps at a pitch of 21 μm, it is possible to adjust at a pitch of 21 μm even if “deviation” occurs. It becomes.

  On the other hand, the marking which shows the unevenness | corrugation of the groove | channel is performed on the lens formation roller 50a. The position of the mark may be a position indicating a convex portion or a position indicating a concave portion. Here, a reflection type photosensor (not shown) is installed on the surface of the lens forming roller 50a facing the groove, and the reflected light from the groove is read while rotating the lens forming roller 50a. Based on the reflected light information. By detecting irregularities in the groove on the surface of the lens forming roller 50a and controlling the writing position based on the detected information, it is possible to correct “deviation” in the sub-scanning direction. The adjustment mechanism can be displayed on the operation panel so that the user can make adjustments.

«Third embodiment»
Finally, a second 3D image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The second 3D image forming apparatus 200a according to the third embodiment of the present invention is an image forming apparatus including a lenticular lens forming apparatus, and forms a 3D image with a single apparatus. On the other hand, a normal image can be printed by not forming a lenticular lens on the recording medium. Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the 3D image forming apparatus 200a will be described.
Note that the 3D image forming apparatus 200a may include the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. The 3D image forming apparatus 200a is partially similar to the lenticular lens forming apparatus 100 or the 3D image forming apparatus 200. Are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a configuration of a 3D image forming apparatus 200a according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The 3D image forming apparatus 200a includes an image forming unit 1y, 1m, 1c, 1b, a transparent toner layer forming unit 1w, a transfer unit 2y, 2m, 2c, 2b, 2w, a recording medium supply unit 3, 3b, and a lens. A forming unit 5b, a recording medium discharge unit 6, an intermediate transfer unit 7, a secondary transfer unit 8, an optical scanning unit 13, a display unit, an operation unit, and a control unit (not shown) are provided.
The recording medium accommodation tray 314 is a tray connected to the outside of the 3D image forming apparatus 200a, and the pickup roller 324 is a roller that feeds the recording medium in the recording medium accommodation tray 314 one by one into the recording medium conveyance path 30. It is a member. The recording medium RS is sent to the secondary transfer section via the transport rollers 33a, 33b, 33c and the registration roller 34. The conveyance rollers 35a and 35b are paths for switching back the recording medium RS.

  The configuration of the second 3D image forming apparatus 200a according to the third embodiment of the present invention is basically the same as the configuration of the first 3D image forming apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment. In the 3D image forming apparatus 200a, the lenticular image LI is formed with the image toner, and then the transparent toner layer TL is formed, and then the fixing is performed at once by the lens forming portion 5b. However, as in the case of the second embodiment, the lenticular image LI may be fixed once, then the transparent toner layer TL may be formed thereon, and then fixed again. Further, a fixing device for forming the lenticular image LI and a fixing device for fixing the transparent toner layer TL may be provided separately, and the progress of the recording medium may be changed as necessary. With such a configuration, it is possible to print only a normal image. Alternatively, the fixing roller and the lens forming roller may be switched in a revolver type. In this case, when fixing including the transparent toner, the fixing temperature may be set higher than when fixing only the image toner. For example, when the fixing temperature of normal toner is 180 ° C., and when the transparent resin layer is also fixed, the fixing temperature is 190 ° C. or higher. The reason is that a larger amount of toner is attached when the transparent material is attached than when only the image toner is used, and thus more heat is required.

Next, the configuration of the control system of the 3D image forming apparatus 200a according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 20, the control system according to the third embodiment includes a control unit 201, a transparent toner layer formation control unit 202, an input unit 203, a display unit 204, a reading unit 205, and an image processing unit. 206, an image forming unit 207, a peripheral device control unit 208, an image information detection unit 209, a calculation unit 210, and a storage unit 211.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of the heat amount control of the lens forming unit 5b according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 21, the control unit 201 causes the reading unit 205 to read a document image, causes the image processing unit 206 to convert the document image into an appropriate electrical signal, and generate image data. A lenticular image LI corresponding to the image data is formed on the recording medium RS (step S11). Next, the control unit 201 causes the image information detection unit 209 to detect image information for each pixel based on the image data (step S12). Subsequently, the control unit 201 causes the calculation unit 210 to calculate the thickness of the lenticular image LI for each pixel based on the image information (step S13), and in the subsequent step S14, the thickness of the transparent toner layer TL to be applied for each pixel. And the development amount of the transparent toner for each pixel is determined (step S14). Finally, the control unit 201 causes the transparent toner layer formation control unit 202 to control the development amount of the transparent toner, and controls the writing laser for transparent toner for each pixel (step S15).
By the way, in 3rd Embodiment of this invention, although the example processed for every pixel was shown, you may process for every other unit according to the resolution etc.

  The control unit 201 causes the input unit 203 and the output unit 204 to input and output the scanner, respectively. The control unit 201 also causes the peripheral device control unit 208 to control peripheral devices such as finishers and sorters that are post-processing devices. Further, the control unit 201 determines the time that the recording member reaches the laser irradiation unit in the fixing device after receiving the print start signal based on the process speed and the signal of the actuator that detects the paper conveyance start signal in the storage unit 211. Remember me.

Example 1
Next, Example 1 using the 3D image forming apparatus 200a of the third embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

<Toner>
Resin: Polyester resin (94.5 parts)
Charge control agent: benzylic acid derivative metal oxide (0.5 parts)
Wax: Polyethylene wax (5.0 parts)
External additives: The following were used.
1.0 part for small particle size silica toner 1.5 part for titanium oxide toner In the case of image toner, an optimum pigment is selected for each of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black. It is used in the range of about 8 parts.
(Developer)
A two-component developer was produced with a toner ratio of 8% with respect to the developer.

<Lens forming roller>
The lens forming roller was an iron thin core bar having an outer diameter of 39.6 mm, an inner diameter of 38.3 mm, a wall thickness of 0.65 mm, and both ends narrowed down.
The surface of an aluminum roller with an outer diameter of 40 mm, a wall thickness of 2 mm, and a body length of 315 mm is mechanically processed to form a groove with a pitch of about 250 μm and a depth of about 30 μm in the circumferential direction of the roller. Formed with.
The surface was coated with fluorine to ensure the releasability of the toner. The thickness of the fluorine coat was about 10 μm.

<Pressure roller>
A silicon rubber layer having a thickness of 5 mm was provided as an elastic body on the outer peripheral surface of an iron cored bar made of iron having an outer diameter of 29.76 mm, an inner diameter of 23.76 mm, and a wall thickness of 3 mm and having no drawing structure. The silicon rubber had a JIS-A hardness of 30 °. The surface layer was a 50 μm PFA tube layer. The product outer diameter is a 40.0 mm roller. Moreover, the axial direction length of a metal core is 313 mm, and the axial direction length of an elastic layer is 312 mm.
The weight was 400N.
<Lamp>
A halogen lamp was provided inside the fixing roller in order to heat the roller from the inside.

  Here, after forming the lenticular image LI according to 3D image information on the recording medium RS used in a normal multifunction peripheral, the thick portion of the image layer has a lot of transparent toner according to the image information. By forming a large amount of transparent toner in the thin portion of the transparent toner layer, the transparent toner layer TL is formed to have a uniform thickness of 50 μm or more as a whole. When the thickness is 50 μm or less, it is easily affected by the unevenness of the lenticular image LI layer. In addition, 80 μm or more and 150 μm or less are preferable because of the influence of the unevenness of the image layer and the relationship with the lenticular lens. This time, it was set to 100 μm. Fixing was performed at a lens forming roller temperature of about 150 ° C. and a speed of 50 mm / sec to form a lens on the recording medium RS. A cross-sectional view of the image in this state is shown in FIG. In Example 1, a good lenticular lens having a pitch of 250 μm and a height of about 30 μm could be formed on the entire surface of the A4 sheet.

In the prior art, as shown in FIG. 22A, when the transparent toner TT is uniformly applied onto the recording medium RS, the distribution of the image toner GT formed before the application of the transparent toner TT is performed. Depending on the surface uniformity of the surface may be impaired. Therefore, when the lens is formed by the lens forming portion 5b, a lenticular lens LL having a non-uniform portion UE of the lens is formed in the vicinity of the image toner GT.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 22B, in the third embodiment, the transparent toner TT is formed so that the surface is uniform according to the distribution of the image toner GT formed on the recording medium RS. Thereafter, since the lens is formed by the lens forming portion 5b, a good lenticular lens LL without unevenness can be formed.

  If only one or two colors of image toner are used and the maximum adhesion amount portion is small, the thickness may be uniformly 100 μm or less after the transparent toner is formed. By doing so, the consumption of transparent toner can be reduced.

<< Example 2 >>
Next, Example 2 using the 3D image forming apparatus 200a of the third embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  In the second embodiment, ink for an ink jet printer is used instead of the image toner. As shown in FIG. 23A, 3D image ink INK is ejected from the nozzles of the inkjet head IJH to the recording medium RS conveyed by the conveyance belt TB in accordance with 3D image information, as in a normal inkjet printer. Thereafter, a transparent resin is applied to a thickness of 100 μm with the application roller CR, and then fixed by the uneven lens forming portion 5b used in the examples. TRT is a transparent resin tank. In this embodiment, the application roller CR is used for applying the transparent resin. However, as shown in FIG. 23B, a transparent resin head TRH heated from about 80 ° C. to about 150 ° C. may be used. In this case, the transparent material can be applied only to a part of the recording medium RS. Ink jet heads IJH and TRH and ink INK itself can be general ones.

The application roller CR is made of a felt material having an outer diameter of Φ30. The contact / separation mechanism (not shown) is disposed so as to contact the recording medium RS only at the time of application, and rotates in accordance with the movement of the recording medium RS.
On the other hand, when only a normal image is output without performing 3D printing, the application roller is separated by a mechanism (not shown), and the lens forming portion 5b is also separated by a configuration (not shown).
Note that the image forming layer is not limited to transparent toner or ink for an ink jet printer, and may be ink for printing or sublimation although the apparatus is complicated.

<Transparent resin>
As the transparent resin, the resin for toner can be used, and among them, crystalline polyester is particularly excellent.
Resin: Crystalline polyester resin (95 parts)
Wax: Polyethylene wax (5.0 parts)
Melting point 80 ° C
<Coating roller>
A heat-resistant fiber is coated on an iron (SUM24) shaft having a diameter of about 10 mm. The outer diameter of the application roller CR is about 30 mm. At the time of application, the transparent resin tank is heated to 150 ° C. or higher, and is heated to 150 ° C. or higher by a halogen heater having a built-in application roller.

  The transparent resin is more preferably a WAX resin. This is because the melt viscosity is lower than that of polyester resins and the like, and it becomes possible to easily perform ejection from the nozzle and coating with the application roller CR. Specific examples of WAX resins include paraffin wax, petroleum wax, vegetable wax, polyethylene wax, higher fatty acids such as stearic acid and behenic acid, ketones such as higher alcohols, stearones and laurones, fatty acid ester amides, saturated Or unsaturated fatty acid amide, fatty acid ester, etc. are mentioned.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims. That is, embodiments obtained by combining technical means appropriately modified within the scope of the claims are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1, 1a, 1w: Transparent toner layer forming section 1b, 1c, 1m, 1y: Image forming section 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2m, 2w, 2y: Transfer section 3, 3b: Recording medium supply section 4, 4a, 4b, 4c: Fixing section 5, 5a, 5b: Lens forming section 6: Recording medium discharge section 7: Intermediate transfer section 8: Secondary transfer section 9a, 9b: Recording medium discharge tray 10, 10a, 10b: Units 11, 11a , 11b, 11c, 11m, 11w, 11y: photosensitive drums 12, 12a, 12b, 12c, 12m, 12w, 12y: charging units 13, 13a, 13b, 13c, 13m, 13w, 13y: optical scanning units 14, 14a , 14b, 14c, 14m, 14w, 14y: Developing unit 15, 15a: Developer supply container 16, 16a, 16b, 16c, 16m, 16w, 16y: Drum cleaner 17, 17 : Photoconductor neutralizing unit 18: Belt cleaner 21, 21a, 21b, 21c, 21m, 21w, 21y: Transfer roller 22a, 22b, 22c: Support roller 23: Secondary transfer roller 30, 30a, 30b, 30c: Recording medium conveyance Paths 33, 33a, 33b, 33c, 35a, 35b: transport rollers 34, 34a: registration rollers 40, 40a, 45: fixing rollers 41, 41a: pressure rollers 40b, 41b: heaters 42, 42a: fixing cleaning unit 43 43a, 43b, 44, 53, 54: Internal heater lamp 46: Fixing belt 47: Fixing roller side thermistor 47a: Fixing belt thermistor 48: Pressure roller side thermistor 49: Heating roller 50, 50a: Lens forming roller 51: Lens forming pressure roller 57: Lens forming roller side support Mister 60, 61: Discharge roller 70: Intermediate transfer belt 100, 100a, 100b: Lenticular lens forming device 130: Light source 140b, 140c, 140m, 140y: Two-component developer 141, 141a, 141y: Developer tank 142, 142a, 142y : Developing roller 143, 143a, 143ya, 143yb: Stirring roller 144y: Layer thickness regulating member 200, 200a: 3D image forming apparatus 201: Control unit 202: Transparent toner layer formation control unit 203: Input unit 204: Display unit 205: Reading Unit 206: Image processing unit 207: Image forming unit 208: Peripheral device control unit 209: Image information detection unit 210: Calculation unit 211: Storage unit 311, 311a, 312, 313, 314: Recording medium storage tray 321, 321 a, 322 , 323, 324: Pick Up roller 401, 411, 451, 491, 511, 511a, 521: Core metal 402, 412, 452, 462, 522: Elastic layer 403, 413, 453, 513, 513a, 523: Surface layer 421: Web 422: Web Delivery roller 423: Web pressure roller 424: Web winding roller 461: Base layer 463: Release layer 600: Fixing information control unit 601: Fixing temperature measuring unit 602: Fixing time measuring unit 603: Fixing heat quantity recording unit 604: Toner Layer thickness measurement unit 610: Control unit 611: Toner layer thickness change calculation unit 612: Lens formation heat amount determination unit 613: Lens formation heat amount adjustment unit 614: Fixation heat amount information storage unit 620: Lens formation heat amount control unit 621: Lens formation temperature Control unit 622: Lens formation time control unit α, β: viewpoint 1α, 2α, 3α, 4α, β, 2β, 3β, 4β: Light path ChHTL: Change amount of toner layer thickness before and after lens formation CN: Cleaning nip CR: Application roller DFB: Fixing belt rotation direction DFR: Fixing roller rotation direction DHR: Heating Roller rotation direction DLPR: Lens formation pressure roller rotation direction DLR: Lens formation roller rotation direction DLRA: Lens formation roller axial direction DPR: Pressure roller rotation direction DRS: Recording medium transport direction DTB: Intermediate transfer belt Rotating direction DW: Web feed direction d1, d2, d3, d4: Width of each groove constituting the groove on the surface of the lens forming roller FN: Fixing nip GP: Groove GT: Image toner HLG: Lens forming roller groove Depth HLL: Maximum value of lenticular lens thickness HOlimit: Heat offset upper limit H RS: Thickness of recording medium HRTL: Thickness of the transparent toner layer that is not deformed by the groove HTL: Thickness of the transparent toner layer IJH: Inkjet head INK: Ink LI: Lenticular image LL: Lenticular lens LN: Lens formation nip part PLR : Pitch interval of grooves of lens forming roller RS: recording medium SATL: total cross-sectional area per pitch of grooves in transparent toner layer SG: cross-sectional area of grooves per pitch SNTL: portion of the transparent toner layer not subject to deformation by grooves Cross-sectional area per pitch SVTL: Cross-sectional area per pitch of the portion of the transparent toner layer subjected to deformation by the groove TB: Conveying belt TL: Transparent toner layer TL1: Transparent toner lower layer TL2: Transparent toner upper layer TRH: Transparent resin head TRT: Transparent Resin tank TS: Transparent sheet TT: Transparent toner t1 , T2, t3, t4: Each linear image constituting the lenticular image UE: Lens non-uniform portion WCN: Cleaning nip width WFN: Fixing nip width WGP: Lens formation nip width WLN: Lens formation nip width WRS: Recording Media width

Claims (13)

A transparent toner is applied on an object, fixed by applying an amount of heat H1 per unit area, and a transparent toner layer forming unit for forming a transparent toner layer having a thickness D1 on the object; and a unit on the transparent toner layer A lens forming portion for heating by applying a heat amount H2 per area and pressing the transparent toner layer with a groove mold to form a plurality of convex lenses having a maximum thickness D2 arranged at a predetermined pitch;
The lens forming unit includes a heat quantity determining unit for determining the heat quantity H2 based on the heat quantity H1 and the thickness difference D2-D1.   2. The lenticular lens forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heat amount determining unit determines the heat amount H <b> 2 based on a preset correlation between the heat amount H <b> 1 and the thickness difference D <b> 2-D <b> 1. The lens forming unit further includes a lens layer thickness calculating unit for calculating the thickness D2.
3. The lenticular lens forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lens layer thickness calculation unit calculates the thickness D <b> 2 from the thickness D <b> 1 and a groove-shaped cross-sectional shape. An image forming unit for applying image toner on the substrate surface to form a lenticular image; a transparent toner layer is formed on the lenticular image; A lenticular lens forming device for forming a plurality of convex lenses arranged at a pitch of, a detection unit for detecting the groove-shaped uneven shape, and an image control unit,
The detection unit detects the groove-shaped uneven shape,
The image forming unit forms the lenticular image corresponding to the uneven shape on the substrate surface,
The image control unit adjusts the relative position of the groove mold and the base material to match the uneven shape with the corresponding lenticular image,
The lenticular lens forming apparatus forms a 3D image by forming the convex lenses at positions corresponding to the lenticular image.   The image control unit adjusts the position of the groove mold in a direction parallel to the substrate surface and perpendicular to the groove with reference to a predetermined position of the substrate, thereby forming the groove-shaped recess or protrusion. The 3D image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the 3D image forming apparatus is aligned with a corresponding position of the lenticular image.   The 3D image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image forming unit forms the lenticular image according to the shape of the groove shape and the pitch. An image forming portion for forming an image material on the substrate surface to form a lenticular image, a transparent toner layer is formed on the lenticular image, and the transparent toner layer is pressure-molded with a groove mold to obtain a predetermined A lenticular lens forming apparatus for forming a plurality of convex lenses arranged at a pitch of: an image layer thickness detecting unit for detecting a thickness per unit area of the lenticular image; and a unit of the transparent toner on the substrate surface A transparent toner application amount adjusting unit for adjusting the application amount per area,
The image forming unit forms the lenticular image on the base material surface, and the lenticular lens forming device aligns the convex lenses with the lenticular image on the base material surface on which the lenticular image is formed. To form a 3D image by forming
The transparent toner application amount adjustment unit adjusts the application amount of the transparent toner according to the thickness of the lenticular image, thereby uniformizing the entire thickness of the lenticular image and the transparent toner layer. A characteristic 3D image forming apparatus.   The 3D image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the transparent toner application amount adjusting unit adjusts the overall thickness according to a maximum value of the thickness of the lenticular image layer.   9. The 3D image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the overall thickness is greater than at least a difference in unevenness of the lenticular image layer.   The 3D image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image material is toner.   The 3D image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image material is ink.   The 3D image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the lens forming unit has a roller shape.   13. The 3D image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the transparent toner layer forming unit changes a heat amount at the time of forming the convex lens in accordance with an amount of an image material constituting the lenticular image layer. .

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