JP3504193B2 - Capsule toner and image forming apparatus using the capsule toner - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a capsulated toner and an image forming apparatus using the capsulated toner. More specifically, the present invention relates to a transfer material for forming an image formed of thermo-flexible ink (toner) (used). When reusing the copy paper, it is easy to remove the thermo-flexible ink (toner) already present from the transfer material, and the capsule toner is transferred to the transfer material, and it is unnecessary Apparatus for peeling off various toners.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, due to the widespread use of personal computers and the remarkable OA, a large amount of printer paper and copying paper have been used, and the amount of forests that have been cut down has continued to increase, causing problems of deteriorating the global environment. Oops.
Conventionally, to solve this problem, there is only a method of removing the ink or the like on the used paper, crushing it, and then recycling it to a paper called old paper. However, recently, a method of removing a character image on a used paper and reusing it for copying or printing has been attempted. For example, the following techniques are known as such a method.

First, in the ones disclosed in JP-A-4-64472 and JP-A-4-67043, a mold release agent such as a silicone sealant is applied to the surface of an unused copy paper and dried to reproduce the copy. After forming a printing sheet, image forming copying is performed on the release agent coated surface. To remove the image forming body on the copying / reproducing paper, the image forming body on the copying / reproducing paper is adhered to a heat-melting resin (toner resin of an image forming component) to remove the image, and the copying / reproducing is performed. I'm making a form.

Next, in the methods disclosed in JP-A-1-101576 and JP-A-1-101579, an image forming support in which an image is formed in an organic solvent which dissolves the image forming toner resin on the image forming support is disclosed. Images are removed from the imaged support by immersing the body and sonicating.

In the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-297294, an image forming support made of plastic, metal, paper having poor liquid permeability, ceramics or the like is used. A method of reusing the paper once used is considered, in which the image formed on the sheet is heated with a heat-meltable peeling body interposed and then the image is peeled off from the support.

A method of reproducing the image holding support disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-175254 will be described with reference to FIG. 6. The transfer material 11 in the state (A) to which the transferred toner 14 has been transferred. Stripper 2 as in (B)
7 is soaked in a peeling liquid container 28 filled with 7 to impregnate the transferred toner 14 with the peeling liquid 27, and then the pressure roller 4 and the peeling roller 2 of a dedicated peeling machine separately provided as in (C).
The peeled toner 19 on which the transferred toner 14 is transferred to the roller peeling roller 23 is scraped off by the blade 25, and the peeled toner 19 is peeled off in the container 24, and finally, As shown in (D), the transfer agent 11 soaked with the peeling liquid is dried by the heat roller 26 to reproduce the copy paper without an image.

[0007]

First, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-64
According to the methods described in Japanese Patent No. 472 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-67043, the following problems occur. Since the image is on the release agent, the fixing property is naturally deteriorated. It is impossible to completely remove the toner resin of the image component that has penetrated into the eyes of the paper fibers by adhering it to the toner resin of the image forming component and mechanically peeling off the image in a heated state. Yes, and the quality of recycled paper is not good. From the viewpoint of resource reuse, double-sided copying, that is, double-sided copying of one copy sheet is important, and it is considered that it will become the mainstream in the future. Under such circumstances, the method of applying the release agent on one side becomes very inefficient. Even if a release agent is applied on both sides and dried, the silicone sealant will penetrate into the copy paper, resulting in a translucent copy paper. Therefore, double-sided copying becomes impossible (difficult to see). Erasable paper and plain paper must be distinguished and copied, which is inefficient. It is difficult to make a copy of a mixture of erasable paper and plain paper and in a state where it matches the actual situation.

Next, in the methods described in JP-A-1-101576 and JP-A-1-101577, a large amount of organic solvent is required in order to dissolve and remove the image-forming material in the organic solvent. The device also becomes large in size, and there are problems such as solvent reprocessing, flammability, toxicity and pollution, and there is a difficulty in using it in general offices, homes, etc.

In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-297294, a special paper (erasable paper) whose surface has been subjected to a mold release treatment has to be used, which is generally used in large quantities at present. There is a problem that it cannot be applied to copy paper, printing paper, etc.

Further, in the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 175254/1995, after the copying image paper is once dipped in a peeling liquid (aqueous solution of a surfactant) as a pretreatment for the toner to peel the image. , It is not efficient because it has to shift to full-scale peeling work. In addition to a device such as an electrophotographic copying machine for forming an image, it is necessary to provide a peeling processing device exclusively for peeling off a toner image.

Even if the above peeling processing apparatus is incorporated in an electrophotographic copying machine or the like, it is inevitable that the entire copying apparatus becomes large.
In addition, problems such as deterioration and disposal of the stripping solution will newly occur. Furthermore, if the toner transferred to this peeling body is peeled from the peeling body and the peeling body is reused many times, the function of the peeling body deteriorates. Maintenance and repair such as periodical removal / cleaning of surface deposits on the peeling body is required.

[0012] The present invention has been made to solve the problems above-mentioned conventional techniques have, when erasing the toner image fixed to the copy sheet, the copied <br/> paper On the other hand, a toner image can be easily and simply imaged without the need for special pretreatment with a peeling liquid or the like, and without the addition of a dedicated toner image peeling processing device. the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus using the toner and the toner peeled to can perform reproduction processing of copy already seen paper.

It is an object of the present invention to realize a toner that is safe, inexpensive, and easily reusable without using a dedicated copy / reproduction sheet for copied sheets.

When the invention of claim 2 is carried out, it is an object of the invention to enable reuse of copied paper having good reproduction quality without deteriorating the fixing property of an image. There is.

A third aspect of the present invention has an object of easily peeling a toner image when carrying out the first aspect of the invention without using a pretreatment such as spraying a stripping solution or using a special device. There is.

According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the invention, when the invention of the first aspect is carried out, the image transfer can be performed without pretreatment of the developer regardless of the type of developing system applied. It is intended to be feasible.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the feature of the first aspect of the invention.
It is an object of the present invention to realize a fixing device of an image forming apparatus that enables reuse of copied paper using pseudo toner without using a special mechanism or the like related to reuse of printed paper.

A seventh aspect of the present invention has the object of making it possible to make adjustments corresponding to the properties of the toner when carrying out the sixth aspect of the invention.

It is an object of the inventions of claims 8 and 9 to be realized when carrying out the invention of claim 6 without deteriorating the quality of the conventional printed image.

The inventions of claims 10 and 11 can be realized without implementing a special device for performing new printing on the reused paper when carrying out the invention of claim 6. The purpose is to be.

The invention of claim 12 is, when the invention of claim 6 is carried out, an object of which is that waste or the like due to new printing on the reused paper does not lead to deterioration of the printing quality.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the invention, in the image forming apparatus mounted on the fixing device according to the sixth to twelfth aspects, a special device is provided when the printing paper is once processed into a reusable paper state. It is intended that it can be realized by a simple mechanism without.

[0023]

The present invention is to achieve the above object, and the invention of claim 1 is an image forming apparatus which visualizes image information by applying an electrophotographic process. Capsule toner supplied to the developing process of
It is characterized in that it is composed of a developer for making the image information visible, a release agent for releasing the fixed toner, and a surface coating resin layer containing the developer and the release agent.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the resin forming the surface coating resin layer has a charging characteristic opposite to that of the electrostatic latent image carrier of the image forming apparatus. And is characterized by being transparent or translucent.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the outer peripheral portion of the developer has a release agent composed of alcohols.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, it is applied to the magnetic one-component developing system and the charge polarity of the resin forming the surface coating resin layer and the surface coating resin layer are contained. It is characterized in that the developer and the charging polarity are the same.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the non-magnetic one-component developing method is applied and the charge polarity of the resin forming the surface coating resin layer and the surface coating resin layer are contained. The developer is characterized in that it has the same charge polarity as the developer.

The invention of claim 6 is the cap of claim 1.
A fixing device of an image forming apparatus, which uses a cell toner and applies an electrophotographic process to visualize image information,
The heat source for controlling the fixing temperature is provided on the pressure roller facing the fixing roller for fixing the unfixed capsule toner on the transfer material.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the present invention, the fixing temperature control heat source does not cause the temperature of the fixing roller to soften the unfixed capsule toner and melt the unfixed capsule toner. In order to fix the toner on the transfer material by the surface coating resin of the toner, the temperature of the fixing roller is generally controlled within the range from the softening point temperature to the melting point temperature.

The invention of claim 8 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 6, the cylindrical portion of the fixing roller is thicker than the pressure roller facing the fixing roller. It was done.

According to a ninth aspect of the invention, in the sixth aspect of the invention, the heat capacity of the fixing roller is larger than the heat capacity of the pressure roller facing the fixing roller.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the sixth aspect, the unfixed capsule toner held by the transfer material is fixed by the fixing roller, and at the same time, by the pressure roller facing the fixing roller. It is characterized in that a peeling process of the fixed capsule toner held by the transfer material before transfer is performed.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the sixth aspect, the temperature of the pressure roller, which is opposed to the fixing roller and which performs the peeling process of the fixed capsule toner held by the transfer material, is hot-offset. It is characterized by being held in a region.

According to a twelfth aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the sixth aspect, the pressure roller side facing the fixing roller is provided with:
It is characterized in that a collecting member for collecting the peeled capsule toner is provided.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus equipped with the fixing device according to any of the sixth to twelfth aspects, wherein the image formed on the transfer material is peeled off using the capsule toner. The feature is that a transfer material path for performing only the processing is additionally provided.

[0036]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, a device, a member, a material, and the like relating to the reuse of printing paper will be described, and mainly a toner fixing device will be described. A description of the processing steps until the toner image formed above is transferred to the recording paper and the paper discharge processing after passing through the fixing device will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view showing an encapsulated toner having a different structure as an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1A, the capsule toner has a structure in which a release agent 16 composed of an alcohol such as ethanol and a toner 17 are mixed in a capsule state by a surface coating resin layer 15 in a mixed state. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 1B, the toner 17 is covered with the release agent 16 and the release agent 1
It is conceivable that the resin 6 is filled with resin 18 on the outer side, and the outer side is further encapsulated by the surface coating resin layer 15 in a capsule shape. The toner 17 and the release agent 16 are in contact with the surface coating resin layer 15 in a mixed state, or the toner 1
Since 7 is covered with the release agent 16, the toner does not remain on the surface coating resin layer 15 when the capsule toner is dissolved.

Regarding the capsule toner, the surface coating resin 15, the toner 17, and the resin 18 can be realized by the conventionally known materials and manufacturing methods, and the surface coating resin 15 is also known in the art. It can be formed according to the material and manufacturing method. For example, US Pat. No. 2,800,457 and US Pat. No. 2,
A method for phase separation from an aqueous solution as shown in No. 800458, Japanese Patent Publication No. 42-446 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 42-77.
The interfacial polymerization method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-9, Japanese Patent Publication No. 36-9
No. 168, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 51-9079, an in-situ method by polymerization of a monomer, and a melt dispersion cooling method shown in British Patent No. 952807 and British Patent No. 965074. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

Further, the release agent 16 contained in the capsule toner is composed of alcohols such as ethanol. More specifically, as the components of the release agent, alcohols (methanol, ethanol, Isopropanol), glycols (ethylene glycol, glycerin) and the like. As a result of testing a solvent having high solubility, it was found that a stripping solvent such as ethers, nitrogen compounds and halogenated hydrocarbons is suitable. The following materials can be used as the stripping solvent. Hydrocarbons: toluene, xylene, hexane, kerosene. Halogenated hydrocarbons: carbon tetrachloride, methylene chloride, propyl bromide. Alcohol: ethanol, 2-propanol. Ether: diethylene glycol, monomethyl ether. Ketone: acetone, methyl ethyl ketone. Nitrogen oxide: n-methylpyridinone amines.

When these solvents are narrowed down in terms of flammability, work toxicity, environmental toxicity, cost, etc., all solvents with low work toxicity and environmental toxicity are flammable organic solvents. A method of adding water to a solvent in order to suppress flammability is widely used, but it is not preferable because the dissolving power is lowered.

Further, in order to enhance the peeling force of the peeling agent, the following solvent prepared by adding an alkaline solvent to a nitrogen compound was prepared. n-methylpyridinone and diethylenetriamine, or n-methylpyridinone and 3-amino-1-propanol

In order for this capsule toner to be electrostatically adsorbed to the photoconductor through a developing device (not shown), the charging characteristic of the surface coating resin layer 15 exhibits a polarity opposite to that of the photoconductor.
Also, when the toner is transferred and fixed on the transfer material, the toner 17 inside
In order to be recognized as image information from the outside, the surface coating resin layer 15 must be made of a transparent or translucent material.

Further, since the toner 17 is covered with the surface coating resin layer 15, the toner is not restricted by the charging polarity, and the surface coating resin is used in both the magnetic one-component developing system and the non-magnetic one-component developing system. Since the charging polarities of the layer 15 and the toner 17 can be the same, and the triboelectric charging property can be sufficiently retained, a high quality image can be formed.

2A and 2B are views showing the position of the heat source of the fixing device and the heat capacity of each roller in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of the fixing device, and FIG. 2B is a fixing device. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram regarding a wall thickness and a temperature gradient of a roller member that constitutes the. The operation of the fixing device will be described with reference to FIG.

Image formation using the capsule toner shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is performed based on the conventional technique by applying a conventional electrophotographic process on a transfer material. As shown in FIG. 2, the mechanism in which the unfixed toner 13 on the transfer material 11 is fixed by the fixing roller 3 and the pressure roller 4 is the same as in the conventional example, but in the case of FIG. 7 showing the conventional fixing device. In contrast, the heat source 12 is arranged on the fixing roller 3 side, whereas in the present embodiment, the heat source 12 is arranged on the pressure roller 4 side. This is mainly due to the toner 14 with the pressure roller 4 fixed.
This is because the peeling is performed, but details will be described later.

Since the roller having the heat source 12 is required to quickly transfer heat to the transfer sheet passing therethrough, the roller having a thickness smaller than that of the fixing roller 3 facing the roller or a material having a good heat transfer characteristic is used. It is necessary to keep the heat capacity small by making appropriate selections. On the contrary, since the facing fixing roller 3 is required to stably store the heat from the heat source, the fixing roller 3 having no heat source is thicker than the pressure roller 4 on the heat source side. It is necessary to select a material that is hard to be meat and that does not easily dissipate heat, and to make it stable against the input and output of heat. In the case of FIG. 7 which is a conventional example, the following relationship is established because the heat source 12 is on the fixing roller 3 side. Roller thickness relationship: Pressure roller> Fixing roller Roller heat capacity relationship: Pressure roller> Fixing roller

On the other hand, in the case of FIG. 2 which is the embodiment of the present invention, since the heat source 12 is on the pressure roller 4 side, the relationship between the roller thickness and the heat capacity in the conventional example is completely reversed, and The relationship is established. Roller thickness relationship: Fixing roller> Pressure roller Roller heat capacity relationship: Fixing roller> Pressure roller

In FIG. 3, the capsule toner configured as described above is applied to a conventional electrophotographic process, and after the capsule toner is electrostatically adsorbed to the photoconductor, an unnecessary toner image to be erased is formed on the back surface. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which a new capsule toner image is newly fixed on the front surface of the transfer material and an unnecessary image on the back surface is erased. The state in which the toner image is newly transferred to the front surface of the transfer material 11 on which the unnecessary image is formed on the back surface (the lower surface of the transfer material 11 in FIG. 3) is shown in the right side of FIG. Although the toner is unfixed toner 13, it becomes fixed toner 14 by passing through the fixing device 2. However, in this embodiment, since the heat source 12 is on the pressure roller 4 side as described above, when the unfixed toner 13 is changed to the fixed toner 14, the output of the heat source 12 and the fixing roller are different from the conventional example. Whether or not the capsule toner is fixed to the transfer material 11 is determined not only by the heat capacity of No. 3 but also by the heat capacity of the transfer material 11 and the pressure roller 4. The above problems can be solved by the heat source 12 being a fixing temperature control heat source capable of adjusting the temperature at which the capsule toner is fixed.

Further, in order for the capsule toner to be fixed to the transfer material 11, the fixing roller 3 needs to be maintained within a temperature range above the softening temperature of the capsule toner and below the melting temperature of the capsule toner. When the fixing process is continuously performed, the heat from the heat source 12 remains in the fixing roller 3. Therefore, it is necessary to control the temperature of the fixing roller 3 every time the fixing process is performed. Therefore, in this embodiment, a fixing roller temperature sensor 31 for measuring the temperature of the fixing roller 3 is provided, and the output from the heat source 12 is controlled by the output of the fixing roller temperature sensor 31 to control the fixing temperature of the fixing roller 3. be able to.

In general, there is a form in which the toner is fixed on the transfer material 11 by each roller as shown in FIG. 4, and each fixing form will be described below. In FIG.
(A) shows the toner untransferred only, (B) shows the cold offset fixing, (C) shows the melt fixing, (D) shows the gloss fixing, and (E) shows the hot offset fixing. . Cold offset fixing shown in (B)
In a region where the temperature of the heating roller is low, the toner is not sufficiently melted, and the toner is attached only to the heating roller side. The fusing and fixing shown in (C) is a state where the toner barely adheres to the fused copy paper. In the gloss fixing shown in (D), the melt viscosity of the melt-pressed toner is sufficiently low and the adhesion surface is smooth, and the gloss fixing is most desirable in the adhesion form, and diffuse reflection does not occur. In the hot offset fixing shown in (E), the elasticity of the molten toner is reduced in a region where the temperature of the heating roller is high, and the toner is partially adhered to the copy sheet and the heating roller side, which causes the copy sheet surface to become dirty. Becomes In the present invention, the fixed toner is peeled off by intentionally utilizing hot offset fixing, which is not preferable in the ordinary fixing process.

In the description of FIG. 3, the fixing process in which the unfixed toner 13 is changed to the fixed toner 14 by the fixing device 2 is described.
Is a device configuration for performing a fixing process of the newly transferred toner 13 on the front side of the transfer material 11 and a peeling process of the fixed toner 14 already existing on the back surface side of the transfer material 11 of the transfer material 11.
The peeling process will be described.

In the peeling process, the fixed toner 14 is used as the heat source 1.
2 is heated to a hot offset area as shown in FIG. 4 (E), the surface coating resin layer 15 of the capsule toner of FIG.
And the release agent 16 are adsorbed to the pressure roller 4 and the transfer material 11
This is realized by leaving only the transparent resin 30 on the top.

In order to keep the pressure roller 4 in the temperature range of the hot offset region, the pressure roller temperature sensor 32 for measuring the temperature of the pressure roller 4 is provided similarly to the fixing roller 3, and the pressure roller temperature sensor 32 is provided. This can be easily realized by controlling the output of the heat source 12 based on the detection result of 32.

The peeling toner 1 adsorbed on the pressure roller 4
9 is provided with a peeling toner removing member 21, the peeling toner removing member 21 removes the peeling toner 19 on the pressure roller 4, and the peeled toner collecting device 20 provided under the pressure roller 4 removes the removed toner. By collecting, the peeling process can be continuously performed without the peeling toner 19 attached by the previous roller rotation affecting the peeling process performed by the next roller rotation.

Although FIG. 3 illustrates the case where the fixing process and the peeling process are performed at the same time, a case where only the peeling process is performed may be considered depending on circumstances. Therefore, in this embodiment, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a transfer path for transferring the transfer material 11 is provided with a separation-dedicated path 10 in addition to the normal path 9, and the transfer material 11 conveyed from the separation-dedicated path 10 is subjected to only the separation processing. It can also be configured.

[0056]

Since the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, it has the following effects. According to the first aspect of the present invention, by subjecting the capsule toner to the predetermined image forming step, a desired copy can be obtained with the developer contained in the surface coating resin layer, and at the same time with respect to the copied paper. When mechanical and thermal treatment is performed and the capsule is destroyed,
The release agent contained in the surface coating resin layer flows out to remove the fixed toner from the surface of the paper, and the paper can be reused, which contributes to environmental protection and effective use of resources.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the resin forming the surface coating resin has a charging property opposite to that of the electrostatic latent image bearing member, so that the resin is sufficient for development. Since it has a triboelectrification property, a good copy can be obtained, and by using a transparent or translucent resin for this resin, it is possible to reuse the copied paper after peeling off the fixed image.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the toner image fixed on the copy paper is erased, the copy paper is not subjected to any special pretreatment with a peeling liquid or the like, and a dedicated toner is used. It is possible to easily peel off the toner image and recycle the copied paper without adding an image peeling processing device or the like. In addition, since the reproduction processing of the copied paper is performed only by mechanical processing and thermal processing without chemical processing, it is possible to suppress the reproduction cost and contribute to environmental protection and effective use of resources.

According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the present invention, regardless of the type of developing system applied, since sufficient triboelectrification characteristics are maintained for development, a good copy can be obtained.

[0060] According to the present invention 6, the heat transfer effect from the pressure roller inside of Fixing Temperature control the heat source, since the fixing roller can be maintained at a predetermined temperature range, according to claim 1
By using the encapsulated toner of the present invention, good toner fixing is performed, and a high quality copy can be obtained.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the shape of the fixing roller having no heat source therein is a hollow cylinder thicker than the thickness of the core forming the pressure roller, or a solid cylindrical shape. By forming the toner image, the fixing roller stabilizes against thermal fluctuations even if heat is removed each time the recording material passes, so that the toner image is fixed in the same manner as in the conventional fixing device. be able to.

According to the ninth aspect of the invention, the shape of the fixing roller having no heat source inside is a hollow cylinder thicker than the thickness of the core forming the pressure roller, or is formed into a faithful cylindrical shape. By doing so, even if heat is taken away each time the recording material passes, the heat capacity of the fixing roller becomes larger than that of the pressure roller and is stable against thermal fluctuations. Fixing can be performed.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the fixing roller of the fixing device carries out the fixing process of the unfixed toner, and at the same time, the pressing roller of the device also carries out the peeling process of the fixed toner to form an image. It is not necessary to provide a peeling processing device that only separates the toner image, separately from a device such as an electrophotographic copying machine that performs the same. The inside of the device can be easily designed and can be realized without increasing the size. In addition, it does not require special pre-treatment of the copied paper with peeling liquid, and does not add a dedicated toner image peeling processing device, etc. , The toner image can be easily peeled off and the recycled paper can be recycled.
Since the reproduction processing of the copied paper is performed only by the mechanical processing and the thermal processing without the chemical processing, it is possible to suppress the reproduction cost and contribute to environmental protection and effective use of resources.

According to the invention of claim 11, when the pressure roller of the fixing device is at the temperature of the hot offset region, the fixed capsule toner is peeled off, and the transfer paper is fixed without distortion. The inside of the used capsule toner can be removed, and the reproduction processing of the copied paper is performed only by mechanical heat treatment and thermal treatment without chemical treatment, so that the apparatus can be downsized.

On the pressure roller side of the fixing device of claim 12,
By providing the collecting member for collecting the peeling capsule toner, the peeling capsule toner adhering to the surface of the pressure roller can be immediately removed, so that the surface of the pressure roller is always kept clean. When the recycled paper is reprocessed, the fixed toner is peeled off satisfactorily, and unnecessary substances and wastes obtained when peeling the fixed toner image are not scattered or accumulated in the fixing device. ,
Since unnecessary materials and waste do not adhere to the devices before and after the fixing device, sound image forming work can be performed, and the quality of the copy is improved by preventing re-adhesion of the peeling capsule toner to the copied paper. Can be suppressed.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, since the transfer material path for regenerating the transferred paper is separately provided, the toner image is exclusively peeled apart from the apparatus such as the electrophotographic copying machine for image formation. It is not necessary to provide a peeling processing device for performing only the work, and even if the peeling processing device is incorporated in an electrophotographic copying machine, the copying machine can be downsized, and the specially prepared peeling liquid or the like can be applied to the copied paper. Convenience associated with paper recycling processing can be performed by simply peeling off the toner image and reprocessing the copied paper with an image that is almost the same as the operation of a conventional electrophotographic copying machine without performing preprocessing. Is improved. In addition, since the reproduction processing of the copied paper is performed only by mechanical processing and thermal processing without chemical processing, it is possible to suppress the reproduction cost and contribute to environmental protection and effective use of resources.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of a capsule toner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a position of a heat source of a fixing device and a heat capacity of each roller in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a fixing device that performs a fixing process and a peeling process at the same time according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a type of toner fixing method.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an image forming apparatus provided with a separation-dedicated transport path according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method of removing fixed toner according to the related art.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a position of a heat source of a fixing device and a heat capacity of each roller in a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Photosensitive member, 2 ... Fixing device, 3 ... Fixing roller, 4 ... Pressure roller, 5 ... Developing device, 6 ... Main charger, 7 ... Peeling electrode,
8 ... Transfer electrode, 9 ... Normal path, 10 ... Stripping path, 1
1 ... Transfer material, 12 ... Heat source, 13 ... Unfixed toner, 14 ...
Fixed toner, 15 ... Surface coating resin layer, 16 ... Release agent, 17 ... Toner, 18 ... Resin, 19 ... Release toner, 2
0 ... Peeling toner collecting device, 21 ... Peeling toner removing member,
22 ... Rubber layer, 23 ... Peeling roller, 24 ... Container, 25 ...
Blades, 26 ... Heat rollers, 27 ... Stripping liquid, 28 ... Stripping liquid container, 29 ... Reproducing surface, 30 ... Transparent resin, 31 ... Fixing roller temperature sensor, 32 ... Pressure roller temperature sensor.

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Claims (13)

(57) [Claims] 1. A capsulated toner supplied to a developing step of an image forming apparatus that visualizes image information by applying an electrophotographic process, and a developer for visualizing the image information, A capsule toner comprising a release agent for releasing the fixed toner and a surface coating resin layer containing the developer and the release agent. 2. The capsule toner according to claim 1, wherein the resin forming the surface coating resin layer has a charging characteristic opposite to that of the electrostatic latent image carrier of the image forming apparatus, and A capsule toner which is transparent or translucent. 3. The capsule toner according to claim 1, wherein the outer peripheral portion of the developer has a release agent composed of alcohols. 4. The encapsulated toner according to claim 1, wherein the toner is applied to a magnetic one-component developing system and the charging polarity of a resin forming the surface coating resin layer and the charging of a developer contained in the surface coating resin layer. An encapsulated toner having the same polarity as the polarity. 5. The encapsulated toner according to claim 1, wherein the charge polarity of the resin forming the surface coating resin layer and applied to the non-magnetic one-component developing method, and the developer contained in the surface coating resin layer. An encapsulated toner having the same charge polarity. 6. The capsule toner according to claim 1 is used.
In the fixing device of the image forming apparatus that visualizes image information by applying the electrophotographic process, the fixing temperature is controlled by the pressure roller that faces the fixing roller that fixes the unfixed capsule toner on the transfer material. A fixing device provided with a heat source for use. 7. The fixing device according to claim 6, wherein the fixing temperature control heat source covers the surface of the unfixed capsule toner without softening and melting the temperature of the fixing roller of the unfixed capsule toner. A fixing device characterized in that the temperature of the fixing roller is generally controlled within a range from a softening point temperature to a melting point temperature in order to fix it on the transfer material with a resin. 8. The fixing device according to claim 6, wherein the thickness of the cylindrical portion of the fixing roller is thicker than the thickness of a pressure roller facing the fixing roller. 9. The fixing device according to claim 6, wherein a heat capacity of the fixing roller is larger than a heat capacity of a pressure roller facing the fixing roller. 10. The fixing device according to claim 6, wherein the fixing roller fixes the unfixed capsule toner held by the transfer material, and at the same time, the transfer material is fixed by a pressure roller facing the fixing roller. A fixing device, which performs a peeling process of a fixed capsule toner that is held before transfer. 11. The fixing device according to claim 6, wherein the temperature of the pressure roller, which is opposed to the fixing roller and which performs a peeling process of the fixed capsule toner held by the transfer material, is held in a hot offset region. A fixing device characterized by the above. 12. The fixing device according to claim 6, further comprising a collection member for collecting the peeled capsule toner on the side of the pressure roller facing the fixing roller. 13. An image forming apparatus equipped with the fixing device according to claim 6, wherein the transfer is performed only by peeling an image formed on the transfer material by using the capsule toner. An image forming apparatus having a material path.