JP2853172B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus suitable for recording optical image information input using a solid-state imaging device on a recording medium surface. It is about.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, for example, in a copying machine such as an electrophotographic system, an optical scan obtained by scanning a document surface is input to a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and the input optical signal is used as bitmap image information. Once stored in a take-out memory, for example, a laser beam is converted into a signal based on the memory information, and the photosensitive drum surface is scanned by the signal light to form an optical latent image on the drum surface. Surface to which toner is applied, and further the toner image is recorded on a recording medium (sheet).
A device that records an image by transferring it to a surface is already known.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional image forming apparatus,
Since a step of scanning the surface of the photosensitive drum separately from the scanning of the original surface is included, it takes time to record an image. Further, since the document surface and the photosensitive drum surface are respectively scanned, two exposure systems are required, and there is a disadvantage that the apparatus becomes complicated.

In the solid-state imaging device of the copying machine, the surface to which laser light or the like is irradiated (exposure surface) is the same as the development surface on which an optical latent image is formed and toner is adhered. There is a problem that the conductive material portion is easily deteriorated by erosion or abrasion due to toner application, and the life of the solid-state imaging device is short.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, and an image information input to a photoelectric conversion element is charged to each storage battery cell of a storage battery element provided corresponding to each pixel on the photoelectric conversion element surface. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that achieves image recording by accumulating toner as a toner and electrostatically applying toner to a charged surface of each storage battery cell.

Image recording is performed by a single exposure system, thereby shortening the time required for image recording, and achieving simplification, compactness, and long life of the solid-state imaging device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve this object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
A photoelectric conversion unit in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are arranged in a row on a light irradiation surface to which optical image information is input, and a plurality of storage battery cells connected in parallel corresponding to each of the photoelectric conversion elements on the back surface of the photoelectric conversion unit A solid-state imaging body comprising a storage battery element in which
Opposite to the back side of the solid-state imaging body, the opposite polarity due to electrophoresis and electrophoretic effects associated with the discharge phenomenon of the charge stored in each of the storage battery cells when light is irradiated to the photoelectric conversion unit surface. A toner applying means for simultaneously applying toner to each of the storage battery cell surfaces; and a toner image transferring means for applying the toner image applied to the storage battery cell surface by the toner applying means to a recording medium surface.

[Operation] According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration,
For example, when light image information from the original surface is irradiated on the photoelectric conversion unit of the solid-state imaging body, electric charges are generated in the photoelectric conversion element irradiated with the light on the photoelectric conversion unit surface. It is stored in the corresponding storage battery cell of the storage battery element arranged in parallel with the photoelectric conversion element. Therefore, a toner (for example, carbon black) having an opposite polarity charge is simultaneously applied to the charged surface of each storage battery cell of the storage battery element by the electrophoresis and the electrodeposition effect. The initial image recording is achieved by transferring the toner image applied to the storage battery element surface to the recording medium surface.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a solid-state imaging body 10 used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention. The solid-state imaging body 10 includes a photoelectric conversion unit 20 and a storage battery element 30 integrally connected to a back surface thereof as shown in the drawing. The photoelectric conversion unit 20 is of a so-called PIN junction type, and has a P-type silicon layer 2.
1, an I-type silicon layer 22 and an N-type silicon layer 23 are sequentially formed in an accumulation state, and a large number of aluminum (Al) surface electrodes 24 are arranged on the N-type silicon layer 23 in a matrix in a vertical and horizontal direction. In addition, silicon dioxide (Si
O ₂ ) is coated with an anti-reflection film 25 for light.
Each element arranged in this row becomes a photoelectric conversion element. On the other hand, the storage battery element 30 is composed of a cathode layer 32 made of lithium (Li), a solid electrolyte layer 33 composed of LiBrP ₄ O, and a composite type composed of V ₆ O ₁₃ on a cathode current collector substrate 31 made of nickel (Ni). The anode current collector substrate 35 is formed in this order from the anode layer 34 and the Ni material. The P of the photoelectric conversion unit 20
Current collector of the silicon substrate 21 and the battery element 30
35 is the joint surface. In this case, a polyimide resin material which is a non-conductor is used so that a region including one of each of the surface electrodes 24 is formed as one pixel, and a plurality of storage cells 36 corresponding to each pixel are formed in a row. The separator 37 is inserted over the front and back surfaces.

The manufacturing process of the solid-state imaging member 10 will be described in more detail as shown in FIG. That is, the Ni material as the cathode current collector substrate 31 is formed on a thin sheet-shaped plastic substrate 101 by various thin film forming techniques such as an evaporation method, a sputtering method, an ion plating method, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, and a plating method. (FIGS. 7A and 7B). Next, the cathode current collector substrate 31 was patterned by a well-known pattern etching method to form
36 bases are created ((c) in the same figure). Then, after covering the entire surface with a polyimide resin as a material of the separator 37, each battery cell 36 is covered by photolithography.
Remove the resin from the base surface of the
And a Li cathode 32, a solid electrolyte 33, and a V ₆ O ₁₃ anode 34 are successively formed on the base by using a thin film forming technique and a pattern etching method (FIG. 3D). . Then, on the anode current collector substrate 35, Ni
A material layer is formed (FIG. (E)), and pattern etching is performed to form the storage battery element 30 (FIG. (F)). Next, the photoelectric conversion unit 20 is formed on the storage battery element 30. First, a P-type silicon layer is formed on the pattern etching layer of the anode current collector substrate 35.
21, an I-type silicon layer 22, and an N-type silicon layer 23 are sequentially formed, and then pixels formed in rows and columns are formed by thin film forming technology and pattern etching method. The mask portion 26 is formed by filling a resin material (FIG. 9G). Further, a surface electrode layer made of aluminum is formed thereon, and a surface electrode 24 corresponding to each pixel is formed by pattern etching of the surface electrode layer. The solid-state imaging body 10 is manufactured by coating the film 25. FIG. 3 (a) to (c)
Are plan views of FIGS. 2 (c), (f), and (h), respectively. In practice, a large number of such pixels and storage battery cells are arranged in rows and columns, and The surface electrode 24 of the photoelectric conversion element of the pixel and the cathode current collector 31 are connected. That is, the photoelectric conversion element and the storage battery element are connected in parallel.

Next, a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus using the solid-state image pickup device configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 places a document 41 on a transparent document table 40 and irradiates light from a light source 42 to the surface of the document table 41 through the document table 40, and the reflected light passes through a lens 50. Irradiation is performed on the upper surface side of the solid-state imaging body 10, which is disposed so as to substantially face the document table 40 at a predetermined interval, that is, the surface of the optical conversion unit 20. Therefore, in this case, for example, if a monochrome original is used, the light is reflected on the white background and irradiates the surface of the optical conversion unit 20 of the solid-state imaging body 10, and is not irradiated on the black background. Is generated only in the 20 pixels of the optical conversion unit corresponding to. Then, the electric charge is converted into electric energy and stored in the corresponding storage battery cell 36 of the storage battery element 30 joined to the back surface of the optical conversion unit 20.

On the other hand, a toner spray gun 43 is arranged on the lower surface side of the solid-state imaging body 10 with a small space from the storage battery element 30 via an electrolytic solution 56. Then, after the solid-state imaging member 10 is irradiated with image light, the toner spray gun 43 is operated, and as shown in a detailed view in FIG. Pixel (photoelectric conversion element)
The toner is applied to the surface of the storage battery cell 36 corresponding to the above by the electrophoresis and the electrodeposition effect accompanying the discharge of the electrode of the cell. Thereafter, the ordinary recording paper 44 as a recording medium is sent to the lower surface side of the solid-state imaging body 10 via the conveying roller 45, and the toner transfer unit 46 is formed by a corotron method or the like similar to a conventional electrophotographic copying machine. As a result, the toner image is transferred onto the recording paper 44 surface. Thereby, image recording is achieved on the recording paper 44 surface.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a recorded image can be obtained by a single exposure, so that the speed of image recording can be increased and at the same time, a single image can be obtained. Since this is achieved by the exposure system, there is also an advantage that the exposure system phenomenon can be simplified due to the configuration.

The structure of the solid-state imaging device is such that the photoconductive surface is an exposed surface, the back surface of the storage battery cell side is a phenomenon surface, and toner is applied to a highly durable cathode current collector on the storage battery cell side and developed. Is performed, the exposed surface (particularly, a photoconductive substance) is not damaged by erosion or abrasion due to toner application, and the life of the solid-state imaging device is extended.

Furthermore, since the solid-state imaging device includes a storage battery cell having a large holding electric energy, it is possible to perform a development process using the energy of only the storage battery cell by the electrophoresis and the electrophoretic effect. Therefore, there is no need to separately provide a bias power supply for applying a high bias voltage during development, and the configuration of the development system can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a solid-state imaging body used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (h) are schematic illustrations of manufacturing steps, and FIG. 3 (a) is FIG. 3 (b) is a plan view of FIG. 2 (f), FIG. 3 (c) is a plan view of FIG. 2 (h), and FIG. 4 is an image formation of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the schematic configuration of the apparatus, and FIG. In the figure, 10 is an individual imaging body, 20 is a photoelectric conversion unit, 30 is a storage battery element, 36 is a storage battery cell, 41 is a document, 42 is a light source, 43 is a toner spray gun, 44 is recording paper, and 46 is toner transfer means. It is.

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03G 15/05

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A photoelectric conversion unit in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are arranged in a row on a light irradiation surface to which optical image information is input, and a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are connected in parallel on a back surface of the photoelectric conversion unit in correspondence with the respective photoelectric conversion elements. A plurality of storage battery cells arranged in a row, and a solid-state imaging device comprising: a plurality of storage battery cells arranged in a row; and each of the storage battery cells provided opposite to the back surface of the solid-state imaging body and corresponding when the photoelectric conversion unit surface is irradiated with light. Toner applying means for simultaneously applying toner of opposite polarity to each of the storage battery cell surfaces by electrophoresis and folding effect caused by a discharge phenomenon of electric charges stored in the toner, and toner applied to the storage battery cell surface by the toner applying means An image forming apparatus comprising: a toner image transfer unit that applies an image to a recording medium surface;