JP2627534B2 - Color electrostatic plotter - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrostatic plotter that prints and outputs drawing data processed by a computer.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention provides a color electrostatic plotter of a multi-color printing type having one electrostatic head, a plurality of developing units, and reciprocatingly transporting a recording sheet a plurality of times. By arranging the developing unit on the circumference and appropriately rotating the unit integrating the developing unit with a rotation driving means such as a motor,
A small, inexpensive electrostatic plotter is realized by bringing only the necessary developing units into contact with the recording paper and not contacting any of the developing units when recording paper is fed back. is there.

(Prior art)

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, there has been known a color electrostatic plotter in which a single electrostatic head and a plurality of developing units are arranged in parallel and multi-color printing is performed by reciprocating a recording sheet.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In a color electrostatic plotter having one electrostatic head,
In general, in order to prevent multiple toners from mixing, only the developing unit to which the necessary toner has been supplied is brought into contact with recording information, and the developing units supplied with other toners are not brought into contact with recording information. Take. Also, since the recording paper needs to be reversely fed to print the next color, all the developing units are kept out of contact with the recording paper during this operation to prevent the recording paper from being stained. As shown in FIG. 5, in a color electrostatic plotter in which a plurality of developing units are arranged in parallel, in order to realize this operation, all the developing units need to be able to be arbitrarily moved up and down. Although such an operation is realized by a motor, a solenoid, and the like (not shown), the mechanism is complicated, the price is increased, and the reliability is reduced. Furthermore, a full-color electrostatic plotter requires cyan, magenta, and yellow toners, and generally uses four color toners with black added thereto. Therefore, if four developing units for supplying these toners are arranged in parallel. This also caused the equipment to become larger.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to solve the conventional problem, the present invention arranges a plurality of developing units on a circumference, makes them an integrated unit, and appropriately rotates the developing unit by a rotation driving unit such as a motor. Only the uppermost developing unit was in contact with the recording paper.

[Action]

With this configuration, only the necessary developing unit can be selectively brought into contact with the recording paper with a simple rotation transmission mechanism, and any of the developing units can be stopped by stopping the motor at an appropriate position. It is also possible not to contact the recording paper. In a color electrostatic plotter using four developing units, such as a full-color electrostatic plotter, by arranging them on the circumference, the size of the apparatus can be reduced.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a recording paper 1 is rotatably supported by a housing (not shown) and is rotatable by a motor (not shown). The electrostatic head 2 is fixed to a housing,
A print signal is applied by a driver circuit (not shown) to form an electrostatic latent image on the recording paper 1. A developing unit for cyan development (hereinafter referred to as (C) developing unit) 3a is supplied with cyan toner by a toner circulating mechanism (not shown) and causes the toner to adhere to the electrostatic latent image formed by the electrostatic head 2. , Forming a visible image. Magenta developing unit (hereinafter referred to as (M) developing unit) 3b, yellow developing unit (hereinafter referred to as (Y) developing unit) 3c, black developing unit (hereinafter referred to as (B) developing unit)
In 3d, magenta, yellow, and black toners are respectively supplied by independent toner circulation mechanisms.
(C) developing unit 3a, (M) developing unit 3b, (Y)
The developing unit 3c, (B) The developing unit 3d is integrated, is rotatably supported by the housing, and is driven to rotate by the pulse motor 7 via the pulley 4, the belt 5, and the pulley 6.

According to this configuration, first, at the time of cyan printing, as shown in FIG. 2, the driving roller 8 is driven to rotate counterclockwise by a pulse motor or the like (not shown), thereby feeding the recording paper 1 while feeding the recording paper 1. 1 to form an electrostatic latent image for cyan printing, and then supply (C) cyan toner to the developing unit 3a by a toner circulation mechanism (not shown), and pass the recording paper 1 over the cyan toner. A cyan toner is attached to the electrostatic latent image to form a visible image.

When the cyan printing is completed, the driving roller 8 is stopped, and after the cyan toner is collected from the developing unit (C) by a toner collecting mechanism (not shown), as shown in FIG.
(C), (M), (Y), (B) developing units 3a, 3b, 3
The pulse motor 7 shown in FIG. 1 is rotated clockwise by a predetermined amount by a control / drive circuit (not shown) by a control / drive circuit (not shown) to stop any of the developing units without contacting the recording paper 1.
Thereafter, if the recording paper 1 is fed backward by rotating the recording paper 1 clockwise by a motor (not shown), the recording paper 1 is not stained with toner.

After the reverse feed by the length of the cyan print, the pulse motor 7 shown in FIG. 1 is rotated clockwise by a predetermined amount, and the (M) developing unit 3b is brought into contact with the recording paper 1 as shown in FIG. Stop. Next, the drive roller 8 is again rotated in the counterclockwise direction by a pulse motor (not shown), and an electrostatic latent image for magenta printing is formed by the electrostatic head 1 while feeding the recording paper 1. Next, (M) magenta toner is supplied to the developing unit 3b by a toner circulating mechanism (not shown), and the magenta toner is caused to adhere to the developing unit 3b by passing the recording paper 1 thereon, thereby forming a visible image.

The above operation is repeated to perform printing from yellow to black. When printing of the next drawing is performed again after all printing is completed, the printed portion of the recording paper 1 is discharged, and then the pulse motor 7 shown in FIG. ), (M), (Y), (B) The developing unit is rotated and stopped in the state shown in FIG. In addition, since these developing units are generally connected with respective toner supply and recovery tubes, in this case, the tubes are sufficiently flexible and have a sufficient length enough to make one rotation. It is necessary that there be.

In the present embodiment, an example in which printing is performed in the order of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black has been described. However, it is needless to say that the same applies to other orders or, if necessary, other colors.

Further, in this embodiment, an example is shown in which a pulse motor is used to rotationally drive each developing unit. However, it goes without saying that other controllable rotational driving means such as a servomotor may be used.

[Effects] As described above, according to the present invention, by arranging a plurality of developing units on the circumference, it is possible to reduce the size of the apparatus as compared with the case where the developing units are arranged in parallel, and to selectively apply them to the recording paper. The contact operation can be realized only by a simple rotation transmission drive, and low cost and high reliability can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

 1 is an overall perspective view of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing a cyan printing state of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a side view showing a reverse feeding state of paper, and FIG. 4 is a magenta printing state of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a side view of a conventional color electrostatic plotter. 1 ... Recording paper, 2 ... Electrostatic head, 3a ... (C) developing unit, 3b ... (M) developing unit, 3c ... (Y) developing unit, 3d ... (B) developing unit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A multi-stylus-type electrostatic head (hereinafter, referred to as an electrostatic head) and a plurality of developing units;
By transporting the electrostatic recording paper (hereinafter referred to as recording paper) a plurality of times in a reciprocating manner, an electrostatic plotter capable of printing with various types of toner (hereinafter referred to as a color electrostatic plotter) is provided with a plurality of developing units. By arranging the unit integrated on top and rotating it appropriately by a rotation driving means such as a motor,
A color electrostatic plotter characterized in that only necessary developing units are brought into contact with recording paper.