JP3483955B2 - Solvent coating device for image formation - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming solvent coating device for appropriately coating an image recording material with an image forming solvent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image recording apparatus for performing image recording processing using two kinds of image recording materials, for example, a photosensitive material and an image receiving material is known.

An image forming apparatus of this type is provided with an image forming solvent applying section for applying an image forming solvent to a photosensitive material, and further, a heating drum and an outer periphery of the heating drum are brought into pressure contact with each other to heat them. A thermal development transfer section, which is an endless pressure contact belt that rotates together with the drum, is arranged.

The photosensitive material on which the image is exposed while being nipped and conveyed in the image recording apparatus is sent to the heat development transfer section after water as an image forming solvent is applied in the image forming solvent applying section. On the other hand, the image receiving material is sent to the heat development transfer section in the same manner as the photosensitive material.

In the heat development transfer section, the light-sensitive material coated with water is superposed on the image-receiving material, and in this state, it is closely wound around the outer periphery of the heating drum. Further, both materials are sandwiched and conveyed between the heating drum and the endless pressure contact belt, the photosensitive material is thermally developed, an image is transferred to the image receiving material, and a predetermined image is formed (recorded) on the image receiving material.

[0006]

On the other hand, as a device technology for adhering a liquid such as water to an adherend, conventionally, a spray type atomizer, a piezoelectric fuel injection device, a coating device, an ink jet printer, a humidifier, etc. Atomizers, felt type applicators, dip type applicators and the like are known. When an apparatus for adhering a liquid to an adherend is used for applying an image forming solvent to an image recording material, there are various drawbacks as described below.

For example, in the spray type atomizer, the liquid and the gas are mixed at the time of jetting, so that the gas is mixed in the fine particles forming the atomized mist and the particle size is varied, and this adheres to the coating surface. To impede the homogeneity of the liquid. And
Since it is not possible to finely control the landing position of the fine particles forming the mist, the uniformity of the liquid adhering to the application surface is further impaired when a small amount is applied.

Further, since the humidifying atomizer is atomized at random, it has the drawback that the particle size and the landing position vary, like the spray type atomizer.

Further, in the piezoelectric fuel injection device and the ink jet printer, since the nozzles are concentrated in a narrow area, it is necessary to scan the liquid injection head having the nozzles in a two-dimensional plane, and thus the application of the coating liquid can be prevented. Therefore, it takes a lot of time. Further, since the ink jet printer is turned on and off independently for each nozzle, there is a drawback that integration technology is indispensable for realizing a liquid jet head having a large number of nozzles and the liquid jet head becomes expensive. .

On the other hand, in the coating apparatus and the immersion type applicator, since the apparatus itself contacts the application surface via the liquid, and in the felt type application apparatus, the felt contacts the application surface via the liquid, There is a possibility that the substance on the coated surface may be mixed in the coating device to cause clogging and contamination, and the durability is low.

Further, in order to apply a large area with a felt type applicator, the felt must be lengthened.
As a result, when it is attempted to make the coating uniform, the requirement for felt alignment accuracy with respect to the coating surface becomes strict.

In consideration of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to obtain an image forming solvent coating device which improves the uniformity of the liquid on the coating surface.

[0013]

An image forming solvent coating device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a tank which is arranged so as to face a conveyance path of an image-exposed image recording material and which stores an image forming solvent; A plurality of nozzle holes, which are arranged in the previous term tank as a part of the wall surface of the tank facing the conveying path of the recording material, and in which a plurality of nozzle holes for injecting the image forming solvent are arranged at regular intervals in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the image recording material. Nozzles that are arranged in a straight line along the line and are made of highly rigid plates
Characterized in that comprises a plate, an actuator for displacing along said nozzle plate in the normal direction of the nozzle plate, the.

An image forming solvent coating device according to a second aspect of the present invention is provided with a tank which is arranged so as to face an image-exposing image-recording material conveying path and which stores an image-forming solvent, and an image-recording material conveying path. A plurality of nozzle holes arranged in the tank as a part of the wall surface of the tank facing each other and ejecting the image forming solvent are arranged in a straight line along a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the image recording material at regular intervals. The nozzle rows that have been formed are arranged in a zigzag pattern, and with a highly rigid plate
And configured nozzle plate, characterized in that said nozzle plate having, an actuator for displacing along the normal direction of the nozzle plate.

[0015]

The operation of the image forming solvent coating apparatus according to the first aspect will be described below.

Installed in the tankHigh rigiditynozzleBoard
To spray the image forming solvent stored in the tank.
A number of nozzle holes are arranged. And actuary
The nozzleBoardThe nozzleBoardDisplacement along the normal direction of
It

Therefore, with the displacement of the nozzle plate , the image forming solvent is ejected from each of the plurality of nozzle holes and adheres onto the image recording material.

At this time, since the plurality of nozzle holes for ejecting the image forming solvent are arranged in a straight line along the direction intersecting the conveying direction of the image recording material at a constant interval,
It is possible to deposit the image forming solvent over a wide range on the conveyed image recording material by a single displacement by the actuator.

From the above, the particle size is determined by the nozzle hole,
Further, since the gas is not mixed with the liquid, there is no variation in the particle diameter, and further, since the nozzle holes are arranged in a straight line at regular intervals, there is no variation in the landing position. Therefore, these variations do not hinder the uniformity of the liquid on the coated surface.

Further, since the plurality of nozzle holes are arranged in a straight line along the direction intersecting the conveying direction of the image recording material at a constant interval, it is not necessary to scan the nozzle plate on a two-dimensional plane. A large area can be coated in a short time.

Further, the nozzle plate having the nozzle holes does not come into contact with the image recording material, clogging and contamination are eliminated, durability is improved, and required accuracy of alignment is low.

On the other hand, since it is only necessary to form a plurality of nozzle holes in the nozzle plate , no integration technology is required, and the coating apparatus can be manufactured at low cost.

The operation of the image forming solvent coating device according to the second aspect will be described below. The present invention also has the same effect as that of claim 1, but a nozzle row in which a plurality of nozzle holes are linearly arranged at a constant interval along a direction intersecting the conveyance direction of the image recording material is staggered on the nozzle plate . Since it is arranged in a plurality of rows in a row, it is possible to adhere a large number of droplets onto the image recording material with a small number of displacements and perform closest packing or apply multiple times.
The coating amount can be increased and the uniformity can be improved.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic overall configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. See also FIG.
The external view of the image recording apparatus 10 is shown in FIG.

A photosensitive material magazine 14 is arranged in the machine base 12 of the image recording apparatus 10 shown in these figures.
The widthwise dimension in the sensitive material magazine 14 is, for example, 224 m.
The photosensitive material 16 of m is wound into a roll and stored. The photosensitive material 16 has a photosensitive silver halide, a binder, a dye-donating substance, and a reducing agent on a support, and its photosensitive (exposure) surface is wound toward the lower side of the apparatus. There is.

A nip roller 18 and a cutter 20 are arranged in the vicinity of the photosensitive material take-out port of the photosensitive material magazine 14 so that the photosensitive material 16 can be pulled out from the photosensitive material magazine 14 by a predetermined length and then cut. The cutter 20
For example, it is a rotary type cutter composed of a fixed blade and a movable blade, and the movable blade can be moved up and down by a rotating cam or the like to mesh with the fixed blade to cut the photosensitive material 16. After the operation of the cutter 20, the nip roller 18
Is reversed, and the tip of the photosensitive material 16 is rewound by the nip roller 18 to such an extent that it is slightly nipped.

A plurality of conveying rollers 19, 21, 23, 24, 26 and a guide plate 27 are arranged on the side of the cutter 20, and the photosensitive material 16 cut to a predetermined length is sent to the exposure section 22. Can be transported.

The exposure unit 22 includes an upstream side transport roller 23 and a downstream side transport roller 2 which are a pair of transport rollers, respectively.
4 is located between the transfer rollers 23, 2 and
4 has an exposure point, and the photosensitive material 16 is sandwiched between the transport rollers 23 and 24 and passes over the exposure point. The transport speed of the photosensitive material 16 by the transport rollers 23 and 24 (passing speed of the exposure unit 22) is, for example, 1
It is 2 mm / sec.

An exposure device 38 is provided directly above the exposure unit 22.
Is provided. The exposure device 38 is provided with three types of LDs, a lens unit, a polygon mirror, and a mirror unit (all are not shown).

Further, a switchback section 40 is provided on the side of the exposure section 22, and an image forming solvent coating device 310 is provided below the exposure section 22. still,
Water is used in this embodiment. Sensitive Material Magazine 14
Material 16 that has been raised in the lateral direction of
After being once fed to the switchback unit 40, the water is applied to the water applying unit 62 of the applying device 310 by the reverse rotation of the carrying roller 26 via the carrying path provided below the exposing unit 22.
It is configured to be sent to.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, an injection tank 312 is arranged at a position of the water coating section 62 facing the conveyance path A of the photosensitive material 16. A pair of conveying rollers 6 is provided on the upstream side of the ejection tank 312 in the conveying direction of the photosensitive material 16.
6 is disposed, and two pairs of transport rollers 68 and 69 are disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction of the photosensitive material 16 with respect to the injection tank 312.

Above the injection tank 312,
A pool tank 314 filled with water serving as an image forming solvent is arranged, and a pipe 316 in which the injection tank 312 is arranged is connected to the lower side of the pool tank 314 in a loop shape.

An upper valve 318 and a lower valve 320 are arranged at the positions of the pipe 316 above and below the injection tank 312, and the pair of valves 318 and 320 open and close the flow path in the pipe 316. You will get it. Then, the water sent by gravity from the pool tank 314 is stored in the injection tank 312 via the pipe 316.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4 in which the jetting tank 312 is enlarged, a part of the wall surface of the jetting tank 312 facing the conveying path A of the photosensitive material 16 is elastically deformable. A head plate 322 which is a nozzle formed of a thin plate is installed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the head plate 322 has a plurality of nozzle holes 324 (for example, a diameter of several tens μm) for jetting water stored in the jet tank 312.
m) are arranged in a straight line along a direction intersecting the conveyance direction of the photosensitive material 16 at regular intervals. Therefore, each of the nozzle holes 324 causes the injection tank 31 to
The water in 2 can be discharged.

Further, a monomorph or bimorph piezoelectric element 326 serving as an actuator is adhered to the head plate 322, and a power source (not shown) is connected to the piezoelectric element 326.

Therefore, when the piezoelectric element 326 is energized from the power source, the piezoelectric element 326 bends the head plate 322 and displaces the central portion of the head plate 322 toward the photosensitive material 16 on the transport path A (that is, , The head plate 322 is displaced along the direction of the arrow B, which is the normal direction of the head plate 322. Then, as the head plate 322 is displaced toward the photosensitive material 16 side, as shown in FIG. 6 which is a simplified representation of the jet tank 312, water droplets L are ejected from the plurality of nozzle holes 324.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, a tank valve 328 is installed at a position slightly lower than the nozzle hole 324 of the injection tank 312, and the inside of the injection tank 312 is opened and closed by opening and closing the tank valve 328. It is designed so that it can communicate with and close to the outside air. Then, the upper valve 318, the lower valve 320, and the tank valve 32.
8 is a controller 332 as shown in FIG.
The controller 332 controls opening / closing operations of the respective valves 318, 320, 328.

An air reservoir 330 surrounded by a tubular rib 331 is formed on the inner wall surface of the injection tank 312 on the upper side.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
A receiving material magazine 106 is arranged on the machine base 12 on the side of the No. 4, and the image receiving material 108 is wound and stored in a roll shape. A dye fixing material having a mordant is applied to the image forming surface of the image receiving material 108, and the image forming surface is wound toward the upper side of the apparatus.

A nip roller 110 is arranged in the vicinity of the image receiving material outlet of the material receiving magazine 106, and the image receiving material 108 can be pulled out from the material receiving magazine 106 and the nip can be released.

A cutter 11 is provided on the side of the nip roller 110.
2 are arranged. The cutter 112 is, for example, a rotary type cutter composed of a fixed blade and a movable blade, similar to the above-described photosensitive material cutter 20, and the movable blade is moved up and down by a rotating cam or the like to engage with the fixed blade. Thus, the image receiving material 108 drawn from the receiving material magazine 106 is cut into a length shorter than the photosensitive material 16.

On the side of the cutter 112, the photosensitive material magazine 1
An introduction end portion of the image receiving material transporting portion 180 located on the side of 4 is provided. Conveying rollers 186, 190, 114 and a guide plate 182 are arranged in the image receiving material conveying section 180, and the image receiving material 108 cut into a predetermined length can be conveyed to the heat development transfer section 104.

As shown in FIG. 7, the heat development transfer section 104 is composed of a heating drum 116 and an endless pressure contact belt 118, and further, the heating drum 11 on the water application section 62 side.
A laminating roller 120 is arranged on the outer circumference of the roller 6.

The laminating roller 120 and the water application section 6
A guide plate 122 is provided at a position on the conveyance path of the photosensitive material 16 between the second conveyance roller 69 and the back surface (the side opposite to the image forming surface) of the photosensitive material 16 fed from the conveyance roller 69. It is disposed and guides the photosensitive material 16 to the bonding roller 120.

The laminating roller 120 is connected to the drum motor 200 via a drive system (not shown), and the driving force of the drum motor 200 is transmitted to rotate the laminating roller 120.

The photosensitive material 16 conveyed to the heat development transfer section 104 is sent between the bonding roller 120 and the heating drum 116. Further, the image receiving material 108 is conveyed in synchronism with the conveyance of the photosensitive material 16, and is fed between the bonding roller 120 and the heating drum 116 in a state where the photosensitive material 16 precedes by a predetermined length (20 mm in this embodiment). And then overlap. In this case, the image receiving material 108
Has a widthwise dimension and a longitudinal dimension smaller than the photosensitive material 16, and therefore the peripheral portion of the photosensitive material 16 is overlapped with all four sides protruding from the peripheral portion of the image receiving material 108. .

Inside the heating drum 116, a pair of halogen lamps 132A and 132B are arranged. Each of the halogen lamps 132A and 132B has, for example, 400
The outputs are W and 450 W, and the surface of the heating drum 116 can be heated to a predetermined temperature (for example, about 82 ° C.). In this case, the two halogen lamps 132A and 132B are used together at the start of temperature increase, and one of the halogen lamps 13A and 132B is used during the subsequent normal operation.
Only 2A is used.

The endless pressure contact belt 118 has five winding rollers 134, 135, 136, 138, 140.
The outer peripheral surface side between the winding roller 134 and the winding roller 140 is pressed against the outer periphery of the heating drum 116.

On the other hand, the winding roller 140 is connected to the drum motor 200 via a drive system (not shown), and the driving force of the drum motor 200 is transmitted to rotate the winding roller 140. ing. When the winding roller 140 is rotated, the endless pressure contact belt 118 wound around the winding roller 140 is rotated, and the rotational force of the endless pressure contact belt 118 is generated between the endless pressure contact belt 118 and the heating drum 116. The frictional force is transmitted to the heating drum 116, and the heating drum 116 is driven to rotate.

The drum motor 200 has a plurality of driving portions, that is, a winding roller 140, a laminating roller 120, conveying rollers 68 and 69, and a bending guide roller 142 and sensitive material discharge rollers 158 and 160, which will be described later. The material receiving and discharging rollers 172, 173, and 175 are driven together.

The photosensitive material 16 and the image receiving material 108 superposed by the laminating roller 120 are kept in the superposed state, and the heating drum 116 and the endless pressure contact belt 11 are kept.
8 and the heating drum 116 is sandwiched and conveyed over approximately 2/3 of the heating drum 116 (between the winding roller 134 and the winding roller 140). Further, the light-sensitive material 16 and the image-receiving material 108, which are superposed on each other, form a heating drum 116
When the space between the endless pressure contact belt 118 and the endless pressure contact belt 118 is completely set, the heating drum 116 stops rotating (for example, 5
For about 15 seconds), the sandwiched photosensitive material 16 and image receiving material 108
To heat. When the photosensitive material 16 is heated during the nip and conveyance and when stopped, it releases a movable dye, and at the same time, the dye is transferred to the dye fixing layer of the image receiving material 108 to obtain an image.

A bending guide roller 142 is arranged below the heating drum 116 downstream of the endless pressure contact belt 118 in the material supply direction. The bending guide roller 142 is
It is a rubber roller made of silicon rubber and is rotated by transmitting the driving force of the drum motor 200. Further, the bending guide roller 142 is pressed against the outer periphery of the heating drum 116 with a predetermined pressure, and the photosensitive material 16 and the image receiving material 108 conveyed by the heating drum 116 and the endless pressure contact belt 118 can be further nipped and conveyed.

A peeling claw (not shown) is disposed below the heating drum 116 downstream of the bending guide roller 142 in the material supply direction. The peeling claw is connected to the endless pressure contact belt 118 and the heating drum 116. Among the photosensitive material 16 and the image receiving material 108 that are nipped and conveyed between them, only the tip of the photosensitive material 16 can be engaged and the tip can be peeled from the outer periphery of the heating drum 116.

Photosensitive material discharge rollers 158 and 160 and a plurality of guide rollers 162 are arranged below the bending guide roller 142 and the peeling claw, and the photosensitive material 16 is moved downward while being wound around the bending guide roller 142. To
Further, it can be transported and accumulated in the waste photosensitive material storage box 178. The sensitive material discharge rollers 158 and 160
As described above, the driving force of the drum motor 200 for driving the heat development transfer unit 104 is transmitted to rotate.

A drying fan 165 is arranged near the guide roller 162 to promote the drying of the photosensitive material 16.

In FIG. 1, a receiving material guide 170 is disposed below the heating drum 116 and on the right side of the bending guide roller 142, and receiving material discharging rollers 172, 173, 17 are provided.
5 is arranged, and a peeling claw (not shown) different from the one described above
Receiving material 10 separated from heating drum 116 by
8 can be guided and conveyed.

A drum fan 168 is arranged below the heating drum 116. Therefore, the heating drum 11
The image receiving material 108 moving along 6 is the heating drum 11
Not only is it dried by the heat of No. 6, but also this drum fan 168 accelerates the drying. Further, a ceramic heater 210 is arranged in the material receiving guide 170 to further accelerate the drying of the conveyed image receiving material 108.

The image receiving material 108 peeled from the outer periphery of the heating drum 116 by the peeling claws while being accelerated in drying by the drum fan 168 is conveyed by these receiving guides 170 and receiving discharge rollers 172, 173, 175, and is transferred to the tray. It is discharged to 177.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the image recording apparatus 10 having the above structure, the nip roller 18 is operated after the photosensitive material magazine 14 is set, and the photosensitive material 1
6 is pulled out by the nip roller 18. When the photosensitive material 16 is pulled out by a predetermined length, the cutter 20 operates,
The photosensitive material 16 is cut into a predetermined length.

After the cutter 20 is actuated, the cut photosensitive material 16 is conveyed by the conveying rollers 19, 21, 23, 24, and 26, and is inverted so that its photosensitive (exposure) surface faces upward. Be transported to. When the photosensitive material 16 is nipped by the conveying roller 23, the driving of the conveying roller 23 is temporarily stopped, and the photosensitive material 16 is in a standby state immediately before the exposure unit 22.

Then, the driving of the conveying rollers 23 and 24 is started, and the photosensitive material 16 passes through the exposure section 22 at a predetermined speed. At the same time when the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed (passes through the exposure section 22), the exposure device 38 is operated to scan and expose an image on the photosensitive material 16 located in the exposure section 22.

After the exposure, the photosensitive material 16 after the exposure is exposed.
Is sent to the water application unit 62. In the water coating section 62, the conveyed photosensitive material 16 is fed to the jet tank 312 side by the driving of the conveying roller 66, and is further conveyed while being sandwiched by the conveying rollers 68 and 69.

Water is adhered to the photosensitive material 16 conveyed along the conveyance path A by the jet from the jet tank 312. The operation and action in this case will be described below.

First, the controller 332 opens the upper valve 318 and the lower valve 320, and
With the tank valve 328 closed, the pipe 316
Pool tank 314 by gravity to injection tank 312 via
More water is supplied, and the water is stored in the injection tank 312.

Therefore, in the state where water is stored in this way, the piezoelectric element 326 is deformed by the energization from the power source and the head plate 322 of the injection tank 312 is displaced. With this displacement, a plurality of nozzle holes 324 are used. The water jumps out in the direction of arrow B and adheres onto the photosensitive material 16 being conveyed.
Then, water is continuously sprayed from the nozzle holes 324 to apply water over the entire surface of the photosensitive material 16.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of nozzle holes 324 for injecting water are arranged in a straight line along a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the photosensitive material 16 at regular intervals. The single displacement of the head plate 322 by the piezoelectric element 326 makes it possible to attach water to the photosensitive material 16 in a wide range.

From the above, since the particle size is determined by the nozzle hole 324 and the gas is not mixed with the liquid, there is no variation in the particle size, and the nozzle holes 324 are linearly arranged at regular intervals. Since they are arranged, there is no variation in the landing position. Therefore, these variations do not hinder the uniformity of the liquid on the surface of the photosensitive material 16 which is the coating surface.

Further, since the plurality of nozzle holes 324 are linearly arranged along the direction intersecting the conveying direction of the photosensitive material 16 at regular intervals, the head plate 322 is scanned on the two-dimensional plane. There is no need, and a large area can be applied in a short time. Further, the photosensitive material 16 has nozzle holes 3
Since the head plate 322 having 24 does not contact,
This eliminates clogging, contamination, etc., improves the durability of the coating apparatus 310, and lowers the required accuracy of alignment.

On the other hand, since it is sufficient to simply form a plurality of nozzle holes 324 in the head plate 322, integration technology is not required, and the coating apparatus 310 can be manufactured at low cost.

When the water is sprayed from the nozzle hole 324, the controller 332 closes the upper valve 318 and the lower valve 320, and the tank valve 32.
By leaving 8 open, the injection tank 312
A negative pressure is applied to a portion in the vicinity of the nozzle hole 324. Along with this, liquid leakage from the nozzle hole 324 can also be prevented.

After that, the photosensitive material 16 coated with water as the image forming solvent in the water coating section 62 is sent to the thermal development transfer section 104 by the transport rollers 68 and 69.

On the other hand, as the scanning exposure of the photosensitive material 16 is started, the image receiving material 108 is also pulled out from the receiving material magazine 106 by the nip roller 110 and conveyed. When the image receiving material 108 is pulled out by a predetermined length, the cutter 112 operates and the image receiving material 108 is cut into a predetermined length.

After the operation of the cutter 112, the cut image receiving material 108 is guided by the guide plate 182 of the image receiving material conveying section 180, and the conveying rollers 190, 186, 114.
Transported by. When the leading end of the image receiving material 108 is sandwiched by the transport rollers 114, the image receiving material 108 is in a standby state immediately before the heat development transfer section 104.

In the heat development transfer section 104, when it is detected that the photosensitive material 16 has been fed between the outer periphery of the heating drum 116 and the laminating roller 120 by the transport rollers 68 and 69, the image receiving material 108 is transported. The heating drum 116 is restarted and fed to the bonding roller 120, and the heating drum 116 is operated.

After that, when the photosensitive material 16 and the image receiving material 108 are nipped and conveyed and reach the lower part of the heating drum 116, the peeling claws are operated and the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed by a predetermined length ahead of the image receiving material 108. The peeling claw engages with the tip end of the photosensitive material 16 to peel the tip end of the photosensitive material 16 from the outer periphery of the heating drum 116, and is wound around the bending guide roller 142.
The photosensitive material 16 wound around the bending guide roller 142 is
Further, while being guided by the guide roller 162, it is conveyed by the photosensitive material discharge rollers 158 and 160, and at this time, it is dried by the drying fan 165 to be disposed of the waste photosensitive material storage box 17.
Collected in 8.

On the other hand, the image receiving material 108 separated from the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed by the material receiving discharge rollers 172, 173, 175 while being guided by the material receiving guide 170, and is dried by the drum fan 168 and the ceramic heater 210 at this time. While being discharged, it is discharged to the tray 177.

When carrying out the image recording process for a plurality of sheets, the above steps are successively carried out.

In this way, a predetermined image is formed (recorded) by being wound around the heating drum 116 and subjected to heat development transfer processing.
The separated image receiving material 108 is peeled off from the heating drum 116, and then, the drum fan 168 and the ceramic heater 2 are removed.
Drying is accelerated by a drying means such as 10, and is further conveyed by being sandwiched by a plurality of receiving material discharge rollers 172, 173, 175 and taken out of the apparatus.

Next, modified examples of the coating device 310 of the image recording apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention are shown in FIGS. 8 to 11 and described below.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the coating apparatus 310 of the first modified example, the head plate 342, which is a nozzle, is made of a plate having high rigidity, and a seal for preventing water from escaping around the head plate 342. The material 350 is arranged and the wall surface of the injection tank 312 and the head plate 342 are connected by the laminated piezoelectric elements 346.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the coating apparatus 310 of the second modified example, the head plate 342, which is a nozzle, is also made of a plate having high rigidity, and one layer or a layer is formed through a cushioning material 352 such as packing. Two-layer piezoelectric element 356 for injection tank 31
The second wall surface and the head plate 342 are connected to each other.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the coating apparatus 310 of the third modified example, a magnetic steel plate 358 is attached to the head plate 342 which is a nozzle, and the electromagnet 360 is arranged so as to face the steel plate 358. The structure. In this modification, instead of attaching the steel plate 358, the head plate 342 itself may be formed of a steel plate.

With the above structure, the head plate 342 is attracted or repelled by the electromagnet 360.
Can be displaced. Note that this drawing is a cross-sectional view seen from above the injection tank 312, unlike the other modified examples.

As shown in FIG. 11, in the coating apparatus 310 of the fourth modified example, the head plate 342, which is a nozzle, is made of a plate having high rigidity, and the head plate 342 and the wall surface of the injection tank 312 are connected to each other. The movable plate 364 having high rigidity is connected so as to be deformable. Then, the head plate 342 and the movable plate 36
4 and the wall surface of the injection tank 312 and the movable plate 364.
It will be connected to each of the two in a hinge-like manner. In addition, piezoelectric elements such as monomorphs, bimorphs, and laminated layers not shown,
Alternatively, the electromagnet 360 similar to that of the third modification is adopted as the actuator. Then, the position indicated by the solid line and the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in the figure are set as stable points, and the head plate 342 is displaced between these stable points by the actuator.

The head plate 342 is displaced in the same manner as described above by the structure of each modification described above. Therefore, water is ejected from each of the plurality of nozzle holes 324 of each modified example, and water adheres to the photosensitive material 16 as in the case of the operation of the first embodiment described above.

Next, the head plate of the coating apparatus 310 of the image recording apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 12 (A) and will be described below. The same members as those described in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the duplicate description will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 12A, the head plate 372, which is the nozzle of the coating apparatus 310 according to the present embodiment, has a plurality of nozzle holes 324 for jetting water at a constant interval at which the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed. Two nozzle rows 374 arranged in a straight line along a direction intersecting with the direction A are arranged in a zigzag pattern.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. This embodiment also has the same effect as the first embodiment, but the nozzle row 374 in which a plurality of nozzle holes 324 are arranged in a straight line along the direction intersecting the transport direction of the photosensitive material 16 at regular intervals is used as the head. Since a plurality of rows are arranged in a zigzag pattern on the plate 372, a large number of water droplets can be attached onto the photosensitive material 16 with a small number of displacements, and close packing or multiple application can be performed. Will be improved.

Next, modified examples of the coating device 310 according to the second embodiment of the present invention are shown in FIGS. 12 (B) and 12 (C), which will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 12B, in the head plate 372 which is the nozzle of the coating apparatus 310 according to the first modification, a plurality of nozzle holes 324 for jetting water are provided at regular intervals. Nozzle rows 374 arranged in a straight line along a direction intersecting the conveyance direction of are arranged in a zigzag pattern.

As shown in FIG. 12C, a plurality of nozzle holes 324 for jetting water are formed at regular intervals on a head plate 372 which is a nozzle of a coating apparatus 310 according to the second modification. A pattern in which two nozzle rows 374 arranged in a straight line along the direction intersecting the 16 transport directions are arranged in a zigzag pattern is continuously repeated.

According to the structures of the first and second modified examples as described above, by displacing the head plate 372 as described above, the nozzle holes 32 forming the plurality of nozzle rows 374 are formed.
Water jumps out from each of the four layers, and the light-sensitive material 16 can be filled with water at the closest density or can be applied a plurality of times, so that the coating amount can be increased and the uniformity can be improved.

In this embodiment, the photosensitive material 16 and the image receiving material 108 are used as the image recording material, and after exposure, the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed so as to be located outside the image receiving material 108. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied even when the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed inside, and is not limited to these materials, and other sheet-shaped or roll-shaped image recording materials can be used. Is also applicable.

[0095]

As described above, the image forming solvent coating apparatus according to the present invention has an excellent effect that the uniformity of the liquid on the coating surface can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic overall configuration diagram of an image forming solvent coating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the injection tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a simplified injection tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a heating drum of a heat development transfer unit.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a simplified first modified example of the injection tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view schematically showing a second modification of the injection tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a third injection tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is explanatory drawing which simplifies and represents the modification of this.

FIG. 11 is a fourth injection tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is explanatory drawing which simplifies and represents the modification of this.

FIG. 12 is a front view of a head plate of an image forming solvent coating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Image recording device 16 Photosensitive material (image recording material) 62 Water application section 310 coating device 312 injection tank 322 head plate 324 nozzle hole 326 Piezoelectric element 342 head plate 372 head plate 374 nozzle row

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tank, which is arranged so as to face an image-exposed image recording material conveying path and stores an image-forming solvent, and a part of a wall surface of the tank which faces the image-recording material conveying path. A plurality of nozzle holes that are arranged in the tank and that eject the image forming solvent are arranged in a straight line along a direction intersecting the conveyance direction of the image recording material at a constant interval, and are made of a highly rigid plate. and configured nozzle plate, an image forming solvent coating device, characterized in that said nozzle plate having, an actuator for displacing along the normal direction of the nozzle plate. 2. A tank, which is arranged so as to face the transport path of the image-exposed image recording material and stores the image forming solvent, and a part of the wall surface of the tank which faces the transport path of the image recording material. A plurality of nozzle rows arranged in the tank and having a plurality of nozzle holes for ejecting the image forming solvent arranged in a straight line along a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the image recording material at regular intervals in a zigzag shape. Column arrangement and high rigidity
A nozzle plate which is a plate, the image forming solvent coating device, characterized in that said nozzle plate having, an actuator for displacing along the normal direction of the nozzle plate.