JP4827637B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a two-layer image recording medium and an image forming apparatus used for an image forming apparatus for digital camera printing using an electrophotographic technique.

Conventionally, various attempts have been made to obtain glossy photographic image quality.
For example, Patent Document 1 uses a special toner for producing gloss. Then, after carrying out normal image formation on the paper, before going to the fixing unit, a transparent toner is uniformly formed on the entire surface and fixed to obtain photographic image quality. However, this technique has problems such as always supplying uniform transparent toner to the entire surface and a high load on the fixing unit due to the difference in toner thickness between the image area and the non-image area.
In Patent Document 2, a special recording medium is used to give gloss. It is said that a uniform gloss on the surface can be realized by providing a thermoplastic resin layer on the front and back of the paper, fixing the image normally, and then applying pressure and heat. However, in order to use this technique, the effect can be realized together with the special fixing device shown in Patent Document 3 below, and there are problems in terms of configuration, cost, power consumption, and the like.
In Patent Document 3, a special fixing device is used in order to obtain gloss. After normal fixing (first fixing), a second fixing means composed of a belt with high smoothness is provided, and the toner is melted again, and then cooled and peeled off to make uniform gloss using the smoothness of the belt. Is going to be able to get However, there are problems such as configuration, cost, power consumption and the like as in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2.

Moreover, since patent document 4 forms the adhesion layer in a transparent film and adheres a transparent film to an image surface (printing surface), the adhesiveness of an image and a transparent film is bad, and photographic image quality is reproduced. There is a problem that it is not possible.
Patent Document 5 is an image display plate using a light retroreflective sheet material, and it is difficult to print on the light retroreflective sheet material, and is intended to be processed using a transparent film. Could not improve.
Patent Document 6 is an invention relating to a heat-sensitive adhesive that generates adhesiveness by applying heat, but has been studied for obtaining a photographic image with a simple configuration, good storage stability. Absent.
In addition, a recording medium having a transparent portion in part and a non-transparent white medium including an adhesive layer are bonded to form an integrated recording medium, thereby having a simple configuration, good storage stability, and photography. A tone image can be obtained. However, since it has a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, it is necessary to devise a medium stock method and a transport method. Further, since the bonding position is determined when the bonding surface comes into contact with each other, it is necessary to devise positioning of the medium before bonding.

JP 2002-341623 A JP 2004-191678 A JP 2003-270991 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-278183 JP 2004-302044 A JP 2003-206455 A

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the problem is to form an image on a recording medium with a simple configuration, good storage stability and capable of obtaining a photographic image, An object of the present invention is to provide a two-layer image recording medium and an image forming apparatus used in an image forming apparatus excellent in medium stock property, medium setting property, and medium conveyance property.

The features of the present invention, which is a means for solving the above problems, are listed below.
In the image forming apparatus of the present invention , a recording medium having a transparent part at least in part and a second medium having a heat-sensitive adhesive layer on at least one side are arranged in one sheet, An integrated medium by forming an image with a toner in an electrophotographic system on a transparent portion of the recording medium and then bending the image forming surface of the recording medium and the surface with the heat-sensitive adhesive layer of the second medium so as to adhere to each other The image forming apparatus for forming an image on the two-layer image recording medium includes: a folding device that folds the two-layer image recording medium; and a heating device that heats the folded two-layer image recording medium. It is characterized by.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the double-layer image recording medium has a concave line on at least one side of the boundary line between the recording medium and the second medium .
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the two-layer image recording medium has a perforation at a boundary line between the recording medium and the second medium .
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that in the two-layer image recording medium, the second medium is non-transparent .
In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the double-layer image recording medium is characterized in that at least the surface of the image forming surface of the transparent portion of the recording medium is smooth .
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the double-layer image recording medium is formed by inverting the original image horizontally or vertically on the recording medium .
In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the two-layer image recording medium is characterized in that the heat-sensitive adhesive layer has at least a thermoplastic resin and a solid plasticizer .
In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the two-layer image recording medium is characterized in that the heat-sensitive adhesive layer has a tackifier .
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the two-layer image recording medium has a melting point of the thermoplastic resin and the solid plasticizer lower than that of the toner .
In addition, the image forming apparatus of the present invention further includes a medium conveyance path for supplying paper to the next process unit without passing through the bending device and the heating device.
In addition, the image forming apparatus of the present invention further includes a medium conveyance path that supplies the heating device without passing through the bending device.
In addition, the image forming apparatus of the present invention further includes a selection unit that selects a medium conveyance path of the two-layer type image recording medium.
The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is further characterized in that the selection unit selects a medium conveyance path in accordance with a print mode.

  According to the present invention, an image is formed on a recording medium having a simple configuration, good storage stability, and capable of obtaining a photographic image by the means for solving the problems, and the medium stock property, the medium setting property, the medium It has become possible to provide a two-layer image recording medium and an image forming apparatus that are used in an image forming apparatus having excellent transportability.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that it is easy for a person skilled in the art to make other embodiments by changing or correcting the present invention within the scope of the claims, and these changes and modifications are included in the scope of the claims. The following description is an example of the best mode of the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
The image forming apparatus includes four image forming units 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K for forming images of each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). The color order of Y, M, C, and K is not limited to that shown in FIG.
Each of the image forming units 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K includes photosensitive drums 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K as image carriers, and a charging unit, a developing unit, and a cleaning unit. The image forming units 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K are arranged so that the rotation axes of the photosensitive drums 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K are parallel to each other and at a predetermined pitch in the transfer sheet moving direction. So that it is set.
Above the image forming units 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K, a light source, a polygon mirror, an f-θ lens, a reflection mirror, and the like are provided, and on the surface of each photosensitive drum 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K based on image data. An optical writing unit 3 that irradiates while scanning with a laser beam carries a transfer conveyance belt 60 that carries a transfer paper below and conveys it so as to pass through the transfer portions of the image forming units 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K. A transfer unit 6 is disposed as a belt driving device. A cleaning device 85 including a brush roller and a cleaning blade is disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the transfer conveyance belt 60 so as to come into contact therewith. The cleaning device 85 removes foreign matters such as toner adhering to the transfer conveyance belt 60.
On the side of the transfer unit 6, a belt fixing type fixing unit 7, a paper discharge tray 8, and the like are provided. Under the image forming apparatus, paper feed cassettes 4a and 4b on which transfer paper 100 is placed are provided. A manual tray MF that manually feeds paper from the side of the image forming apparatus is also provided.
In addition, a toner replenishing container TC is provided, and a waste toner bottle, a duplex / reversing unit, a power supply unit, and the like (not shown) are also provided in a space S indicated by a two-dot chain line.

The developing devices 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K as the developing means have the same configuration, and are two-component developing type developing devices 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K that differ only in the color of the toner used. A developer composed of toner and a magnetic carrier is contained.
The developing devices 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K include a developing roller that faces the photosensitive drum 11, a screw that conveys and stirs the developer, a toner density sensor, and the like. The developing roller is composed of an outer rotatable sleeve and an inner magnet. In accordance with the output of the toner density sensor, toner is supplied from the toner supply device.
First, a predetermined voltage is applied to the charging roller 14a from a power source (not shown) to charge the surface of the opposing photosensitive drum 11. The surface of the photosensitive drum 11 charged to a predetermined potential is subsequently scanned with laser light based on the image data by the optical writing unit 3 to write an electrostatic latent image. When the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 carrying the electrostatic latent image reaches the developing device 10, toner is supplied to the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 by a developing roller disposed opposite to the photosensitive drum 11, A toner image is formed.
The above operation is performed at a predetermined timing in the same manner for all the photosensitive units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K, and toner images of predetermined colors are formed on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K, respectively. .

The transfer paper 100 is conveyed from any of the paper feed cassettes 4a and 4b or the manual feed tray MF, and stops once when it reaches the registration roller 5. Then, the transfer paper 100 is sent out by the registration roller 5 and conveyed by the transfer conveyance belt 60 in synchronization with the above-described image forming operations of the photosensitive units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K. The toner images are sequentially transferred. The transfer of the toner image onto the transfer paper is performed by a power supply (not shown) from primary transfer rollers 67Y, 67M, 67C, and 67K arranged to face the photosensitive drums 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K with the transfer conveyance belt 60 interposed therebetween. This is done by applying a voltage having a polarity opposite to the polarity of the toner on the photosensitive drum 11.
Then, the transfer paper 100 that has passed through the position facing the photosensitive drum 11K and on which the four color toner images are superimposed is subsequently conveyed to the fixing unit 7, where the image is fixed by receiving heat and pressure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a two-layer image recording medium. The two-layer image recording medium is composed of recording medium parts 102 and 103 having at least a part of a transparent part and a second medium part 101 having a heat-sensitive adhesive layer on at least one side arranged in one sheet. Has been. A part of the recording medium part may be transparent, half may be transparent and half may be non-transparent, or all may be transparent. Thus, since the second medium unit 101 is non-transparent, it becomes possible to facilitate color tone recognition.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing image formation on a recording medium. Image formation is performed on the transparent portion 102 of the recording medium portion, and the second medium portion 101 having the heat-sensitive adhesive layer formed on the image forming surface 104 is folded and integrated to obtain a photographic image. (See FIG. 3). Therefore, the recording surface of the recording medium portion and the heat-sensitive adhesive layer surface 101a of the second medium are on the same side.
Since the second medium has a background color, it is usually white when a full-color photographic image is output. However, if a monotone image is output, it is not particularly necessary to limit to white, and a mode of selection according to the user's preference may be used.
In this way, in the recording medium having a transparent part at least in part, the image is formed by inverting the original image left and right or upside down on the recording medium, so when viewing the image from the non-image surface of the transparent recording medium, That is, it is possible to obtain a normal image that is not inverted when viewing the image after output from the image recording medium.
In the present invention, in a recording medium having a transparent part at least in part, since the surface of at least the image forming surface of the transparent part is smooth, it is possible to obtain a photographic image in which the image is smooth and in close contact. Is possible.

The heat-sensitive adhesive layer formed on the second medium part will be described below.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the second medium. A heat-sensitive adhesive is composed of a solid plasticizer and a thermoplastic resin emulsion as essential components, mixed with a tackifier, etc., and a heat-sensitive adhesive material is obtained by coating these mixtures on a support. (See FIG. 4). The pressure-sensitive adhesive layer surface of the heat-sensitive adhesive material does not show any adhesiveness at room temperature, but develops adhesiveness when heated, and maintains adhesiveness for a while after removing the heat source. First, the solid plasticizer is melted, and the thermoplastic resin and the tackifier are dissolved to develop the tackiness. And in the state which stuck, the adhesion state can be maintained semipermanently. This type of heat-sensitive adhesive material is advantageous in terms of resource saving and environmental problems because it does not use release paper like the above-mentioned general adhesive material. Furthermore, since it can adhere | attach if it heats a heat sensitive adhesive material after making it contact | abut to a to-be-adhered body, a sticking mistake can be prevented.

  It has been found that the use of at least one compound having a benzoate group, a benzophenone group, a phenylenediamine group, or a benzothiazole group as the compound used for the solid plasticizer further promotes the low temperature adhesive force. As specific examples, as shown in Tables 1 and 2, the compound having a benzoate group is compound 1, the compound having a benzophenone group is compound 2, the compound 3, the compound 4, and the compound having a phenylenediamine group is compound 5 and compound 6. Examples of the compound having a benzothiazol group include compound 7, compound 8, compound 9, compound 10, and compound 11, but not necessarily limited thereto. In particular, the compound 1 having a benzoate group, the compound 2 having a benzophenone group, the compound 5 having a phenylenediamine group, and the compound 7 having a benzothiazol group have particularly high compatibility with thermoplastic resins and tackifiers, so High tackiness in the environment.

The thermoplastic resin emulsion constituting the heat-sensitive adhesive layer is listed below, but not necessarily limited thereto. The types of thermoplastic resin emulsion include (meth) acrylic acid ester copolymer, styrene-isoprene copolymer, styrene-acrylic acid ester copolymer, styrene-butadiene copolymer, acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer, ethylene -Vinyl acetate copolymer, vinyl acetate-acrylic acid ester copolymer, ethylene-vinyl chloride copolymer, ethylene-acrylic acid ester copolymer, vinyl acetate-ethylene-vinyl chloride copolymer, vinyl acetate-ethylene- Examples include acrylic ester copolymers, vinyl acetate-ethylene-styrene copolymers, polybutadiene, polyurethane, and other resins. Highly sticky when acrylic ester copolymers are used as the thermoplastic resin emulsion of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer. In particular, among them, 2-ethi Hexyl acrylate was found to be a resin to increase the adhesive strength.
A tackifier can be added to the heat-sensitive adhesive layer in order to improve the adhesive force. Specific examples of the tackifier include terpene resins, aliphatic petroleum resins, aromatic petroleum resins, coumarone indene resins, styrene resins, phenol resins, terpene phenol resins, rosin derivative resins, and the like. These tackifiers are used in a mixture of 2.0 parts or less, preferably 0.2 to 1.5 parts, relative to 1.0 part of the thermoplastic resin. When the added part of the tackifier exceeds 2.0 parts, blocking tends to occur.

By adding an antiblocking agent to the heat-sensitive adhesive layer, blocking in a high temperature environment is further improved. Examples of the anti-blocking agent include wax and inorganic filler, and are listed below, but are not limited thereto.
Examples of the wax include waxes such as animal and vegetable waxes and synthetic waxes, higher fatty acids, N-hydroxymethyl stearic acid amide, higher fatty acid amides other than stearic acid amide, higher fatty acid anilides, acetylated aromatic amines, paraffin wax, wood Wax, carnauba wax, shellac, montan wax, oxidized paraffin, polyethylene wax, oxidized polyethylene and the like, higher fatty acids such as stearic acid and behenic acid, and higher fatty acid amides such as stearic acid amide, oleic acid amide, N- Examples of higher fatty acid anilides include methyl stearamide, erucic acid amide, methylol behenic acid amide, methylol stearic acid amide, methylene bis stearic acid amide, and ethylene bis stearic acid amide. If anilide stearate, anilide linoleic acid, and examples of the acetylated aromatic amines, for example Asetotoruijido like are respectively illustrated. Further, supplementing a heat-meltable material other than wax can include leuco dyes and developers generally used in heat-sensitive recording materials. The heat-meltable material including these waxes preferably has a high melting point as much as possible so as not to affect the adhesive force as much as possible. As inorganic fillers, inorganic pigments containing carbonates such as aluminum, zinc, calcium, magnesium, barium and titanium, oxides, hydroxides, sulfates, and clays such as natural silica, zeolite, carion and calcined carion Is mentioned. These inorganic fillers desirably have a low oil absorption as much as possible so as not to affect the adhesive force as much as possible. These antiblocking agents are used by mixing in an amount of 1.5 parts or less, preferably 0.6 to 1.0 parts, relative to 1.0 part of the thermoplastic resin. If the added part of the anti-blocking agent exceeds 1.5 parts, the adhesive strength tends to decrease.

  The heat-sensitive adhesive layer includes an aqueous polymer binder such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, oxidized starch, for the purpose of increasing the adhesion between the heat-sensitive adhesive layer and the support or the cohesive force in the heat-sensitive adhesive layer. Etherified starch, cellulose derivatives such as carboxymethylcellulose and hydroxyethylcellulose, casein, gelatin, sodium alginate and the like can be added. The mixing ratio of the aqueous polymer binder is added within a range that does not impair the original adhesive strength of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet. Specifically, it is 30% by mass or less, more preferably 10%, based on the total solid content of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer. It is used in the range of mass% or less. In addition to the above components, various additives such as a hardening agent, preservative, dye, developer, pH adjuster, antifoaming agent and the like can be added to the heat-sensitive adhesive layer according to the present invention as necessary. .

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration around a heating device and a bending device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an overall configuration diagram of the apparatus in which the heating device and the bending device are mounted.
Although the heat-sensitive adhesive layer is formed on the second medium portion, it does not exhibit any adhesiveness at room temperature, so that the two-layer image recording medium 110 can be stacked and stocked on the paper feed tray. Also, it is advantageous in that the medium can be easily transported without the need to provide a special release layer.
When image formation is performed using toner that is a normal electrophotographic system, it is necessary to fix the toner image first. Since the fixing is usually performed by heating, only the area on which the toner image is placed on the recording medium portion of the two-layer image recording medium 110 passes through the fixing device 7a, and the second layer on which the heat-sensitive adhesive layer is formed. The media section must not pass.
As an example of the method, the head of the medium conveyance is set as the recording medium portion, and the medium conveyance is reversed when the area on which the toner image is placed passes through the fixing device 7a. In this case, since the fixing device 7a is reciprocated, it goes without saying that the fixing temperature and the like must be optimized in this mode. As another example, when the region where the toner image is placed on the recording medium portion passes through the fixing device 7a, the fixing device 7a is separated and continued to be conveyed (not shown).
Note that when the toner is not heated and is a non-heat-fixing type toner that is not heated, the second medium portion can be easily handled as much as it does not use heat, so the toner passes through the fixing device 7a as it is. It is also possible to make it.

Thereafter, it is guided to the bending device 120. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a bending process. The bending is performed as follows. The recording medium portion and the second medium portion of the two-layer image recording medium 110 are respectively supported by the conveyance roller 123, and the medium is bent by applying a claw 124 to the bending position. Then, the medium is conveyed face-to-face so as to be bent by the conveying roller 123 supporting the two-layer type recording medium 110. Then, the two-layer recording medium 110 is conveyed in a bent state by the guide, and can be completely folded by the folding roller.
As described above, when forming an image on a recording medium using toner, after fixing the toner image on the recording medium having a transparent portion on at least a part of the two-layer image recording medium 110, Since the two-layer image recording medium 110 is bent and the two-layer image recording medium 110 is heated and bonded by the heating device, the two-layer image recording medium 110 is not disturbed. 110 can be folded and bonded.
At this time, at least one surface of the target position to be bent at the boundary between the recording medium portion and the second medium portion of the double-layer recording medium 110 has a concave line 105 (FIG. 8) or has a perforation. Therefore, there is no deviation when folding at the boundary line, and it can be easily folded and overlapped. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a two-layer recording medium having a concave line.
In addition, if a sensor 125 that can detect a boundary line (even if it is detected by the distance from the front end or the rear end of the medium) is provided, it is possible to bend with higher accuracy and a lower defect rate.
After the folding, it is necessary to bond the combined surfaces, so that the heat-sensitive adhesive layer is led to a heating device to activate it. The heating device may be provided separately from the folding device, but the configuration 121 is the easiest if the configuration is such that the folding roller also serves as the heating device.
The melting point of the solid plasticizer and the thermoplastic resin of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer is lower than the melting point of the toner, and the heating is performed at a temperature lower than the melting point of the toner and higher than the melting point of the solid plasticizer and the thermoplastic resin. In this case, the toner can be dissolved and the image can be adhered without being disturbed.

Further, there is also a path for conveying the sheet as it is to the next process unit without passing through the bending apparatus and the heating apparatus. As the next process unit, there are a reversing unit for double-sided printing, a staple, a saddle stitch, a punch hole, a bookbinding function, and the like. This shortcut path is a transport path during normal printing that does not perform photographic print that does not require the second medium. It is also a necessary transport path for machine versatility. Of course, according to the printing mode set by the user, it is determined on the software whether to perform photographic print or normal printing, and according to the determination, the transport path switching claw 122 or the like is operated to set the transport path. Switching.
As described above, since there is also a medium conveyance path for supplying paper to the next process unit without passing through the bending device and the heating device, the two-layer type capable of obtaining the photographic image quality according to the present invention. It is also possible to handle conveyance of media other than image recording media.

On the other hand, the fixing device may also be a heating device. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of serving as a bending device, a heating device, and a fixing device. In this case, the unfixed image is passed as it is through a folding device, and toner fixing and medium adhesion are simultaneously performed by a heating device. Although there is a risk of image distortion due to the use of a folding apparatus, the number of parts can be reduced with an easy configuration, leading to cost reduction. Also, the present invention can be applied when the recording method does not require fixing such as inkjet.
Also in this case, it has a shortcut transport path for normal printing that does not perform photographic print that does not require the second medium. The route is a route for fixing by a heating device without passing through a bending device. As described above, since there is also a medium conveyance path for supplying the heating apparatus without going through the bending apparatus, a medium other than the two-layer image recording medium capable of obtaining the photographic image quality according to the present invention is conveyed. It becomes possible to cope with.

As described above, the recording medium having at least a part of the transparent portion and the second medium having at least one side of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer are arranged side by side on one sheet, and the image is recorded on the recording medium. The two-layer image recording medium 110 that is an integral medium is formed by bending the image-forming surface of the recording medium and the surface of the second medium having the heat-sensitive adhesive layer after bonding. Since the image forming apparatus includes a bending device that bends the image recording medium 110 and a heating device that heats the two-layer image recording medium 110 that is bent by the bending device, The structure is excellent in stock property, medium setting property, and medium transportability.
In addition, since the selection unit that selects the medium conveyance path of an arbitrary medium is provided, it is possible to switch the conveyance path between a medium that requires photographic image quality and a medium that does not.
Furthermore, since the medium conveyance path is selected as the selection unit in accordance with the print mode, it is possible to associate the print mode with the necessity of the photographic image quality.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the two-layer type image recording medium. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating image formation on a recording medium. It is the figure which showed the structure of the 2nd medium. It is the figure which showed an example of the structure around the heating apparatus and bending apparatus concerning this invention. It is the figure which showed the whole apparatus block diagram which mounted the heating apparatus and the bending apparatus. It is the figure which showed the bending process. It is the figure which showed the double layer type recording medium which has a concave line. It is a figure which shows the example which served as the bending apparatus, the heating apparatus, and the fixing device.

Explanation of symbols

1Y, 1M, 1C, 1K Image forming unit 2Y, 2M, 2C, 2K Photosensitive unit 3 Optical writing unit 4a, 4b Paper feed cassette 5 Registration roller 6 Transfer unit 7 Fixing unit 7a Fixing device 8 Paper discharge tray 10Y, 10M 10C, 10K Developing devices 11Y, 11M, 11C, 11K Photosensitive drum 14a Charging roller 60 Transfer conveying belts 67Y, 67M, 67C, 67K Primary transfer roller 85 Cleaning device 100 Transfer paper 101 Second with thermal adhesive layer Medium portion 101a Heat-sensitive adhesive layer surface 102 Transparent portion 103 of recording medium portion Non-transparent portion of recording medium portion 104 Image forming surface 105 Concave line 110 Two-layer recording medium 110a Two-layer recording medium (before fixing)
110b Two-layer type recording medium (fixed recording medium part only)
110c Double-layer recording medium (set in folding device)
110d Double-layer recording medium (folded state)
110e Double-layer recording medium (completed photographic image)
120 Bending Device 121 Bending Device / Heating Device 122 Conveying Path Switching Claw 123 Conveying Roller 124 Claw 125 Sensor 126 Bending Device / Combining Heating Device / Fixing Device 127 Conveying Path Switching Claw for Whether or not Bending Process T Toner Image MF Manual Tray TC Toner Supply Container S Space

Claims (13)

A recording medium having at least a part of a transparent portion and a second medium having a heat-sensitive adhesive layer on at least one side are arranged in one sheet,
After forming an image with toner in an electrophotographic method on the transparent portion of the recording medium, the image forming surface of the recording medium and the surface having the heat-sensitive adhesive layer of the second medium are folded so as to adhere to each other. In an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a two-layer image recording medium as a medium ,
The image forming apparatus includes:
A folding device for folding the two-layer image recording medium;
A heating device for heating the folded two-layer image recording medium
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The two-layer image recording medium has a concave line on at least one surface of a boundary line between the recording medium and the second medium.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The two-layer image recording medium has a perforation at a boundary line between the recording medium and the second medium.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
In the two-layer image recording medium, the second medium is non-transparent
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The two-layer image recording medium is
At least the surface of the image forming surface of the transparent portion of the recording medium is smooth.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The two-layer image recording medium is formed by inverting the original image left and right or upside down on the recording medium.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The two-layer image recording medium is
The heat-sensitive adhesive layer has at least a thermoplastic resin and a solid plasticizer.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7.
The two-layer image recording medium is
The heat-sensitive adhesive layer has a tackifier
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
In the two-layer type image recording medium, the melting point of the thermoplastic resin and the solid plasticizer is lower than the melting point of the toner.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a medium conveyance path that supplies paper to a next process unit without passing through the bending device and the heating device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a medium conveyance path that supplies the heating device without passing through the bending device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image forming apparatus comprising selection means for selecting a medium conveyance path of the two-layer image recording medium . The image forming apparatus according to claim 12.
The image forming apparatus includes:
The image forming apparatus , wherein the selection unit selects a medium conveyance path according to a print mode .

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