JP6900729B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

As an invention for obtaining an image having high gloss, for example, in Patent Document 1 below, a paper feeding means and a toner image formed on an image carrier are transferred onto a recording material fed by the paper feeding means. In an image recording apparatus having an image forming means and a fixing means for fixing a recording material having a transferred toner image, the paper feeding means and the fixing means are operated with the image forming means inoperable to obtain the fixed recording material. The toner surface was made to face the thin film, sandwiched between the thin film and the film support, re-fed by the paper feeding means, and passed through the fixing means again to enable smoothing of the toner image. An image recording apparatus characterized by this is disclosed.

Further, Patent Document 2 below describes an image carrier, a transfer bias applying means for first transferring a toner image formed on the carrier directly or to an intermediate transfer medium, and then transferring the toner image to a recording material, and the subject. It is an image forming apparatus having a feeding means for feeding the recording material to the transfer bias applying means and a heat fixing device for heating and fixing the unfixed toner image transferred on the recorded material as a permanent image. The first recorded material is automatically transported to the feeding means so that the sheet material fed by the feeding means faces the toner image holding surface side of the first recorded material that has passed through the heat fixing device. Disclosed is an invention of an image forming apparatus, which has a conveying means for passing through the transfer bias applying means and / or the heating fixing device in a state where the first recording material and the sheet material are overlapped with each other. There is.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 05-107962 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-145515

When the coating material such as a film supplied on the toner image transferred to the recording medium is peeled off, the toner image may be peeled off together with the film or the like, resulting in an image defect.

In the present invention, it is possible to supply the covering material so as to prevent the image from being peeled off from the recording medium when the covering material is peeled off, as compared with the case where the covering material is supplied so as not to protrude from the image of the recording medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of providing an image forming apparatus.

The present invention according to claim 1 is a transfer unit that transfers an image formed by an image forming unit to a recording medium, and at least a part of the image transferred by the transfer unit for each recording medium to the outside of the image. An image forming apparatus including a supply unit that covers at least a part of the image so as to protrude from the image and supplies a coating material that is detachably adhered to the recording medium.

The present invention according to claim 2 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the covering material protrudes from two adjacent sides of the four sides of the image.

The present invention according to claim 3 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the covering material protrudes from the recording medium to the outside of the recording medium.

The present invention according to claim 4 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the covering material protrudes from two adjacent sides of the four sides of the recording medium.

The present invention according to claim 5 is the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the covering material protrudes from a side other than the front side in the transport direction of the recording member.

The present invention according to claim 6 is the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the covering material has translucency.

The present invention according to claim 7 has a fixing device having a heating unit and a pressurizing unit facing the heating unit, and the supply unit is provided between the transfer unit and the fixing device. The image forming apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 6.

The present invention according to claim 8 has a fixing device having a heating unit and a pressurizing unit facing the heating unit, and the supply unit is provided after the fixing device according to claims 1 to 6. The image forming apparatus according to any one.

The present invention according to claim 9 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein at least one of heating and pressing is performed on the supplied covering material together with the image on the recording medium after the supply unit. ..

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the image is suppressed from being peeled off from the recording medium when the covering material is peeled off, as compared with the case where the covering material is supplied so as not to protrude from the image of the recording medium. A covering material can be supplied.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the present invention according to the first aspect, the width direction of the recording medium is compared with the case where the covering material does not protrude from two adjacent sides of the four sides of the image. Can be peeled off diagonally.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the present invention according to the first aspect, the user can easily grasp the covering material by hand and easily peel it off as compared with the case where the covering material does not protrude from the recording medium. Become.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the present invention according to the third aspect, the width of the recording medium is wider than that of the case where the covering material does not protrude from two adjacent sides of the four sides of the recording medium. It can be peeled off diagonally with respect to the direction.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the present invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the covering material is conveyed as compared with the case where the covering material protrudes from the recording medium in the front side in the conveying direction. It is suppressed from being caught in the rotating member inside.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the present invention according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, a position to be peeled off by the user as compared with the case where the covering material does not have translucency. Will be easier to find.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the present invention according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the recording is performed as compared with the case where the supply unit is not provided between the transfer unit and the fixing device. The coating material supplied to the medium can be heated and pressed by the fixing device, eliminating the need to use another device.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the present invention according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the image can be displayed by the fixing device as compared with the case where the supply unit is not provided after the fixing device. By supplying the covering material after being fixed on the recording medium, it is possible to prevent the image from adhering to the covering material.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the present invention according to the eighth aspect, the image fixed by the fixing device can be an image based on the surface property of the covering material.

It is a side sectional view which shows the image forming apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a side sectional view which shows from the transfer part to the discharge part which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3A is a plan view of a recording medium on which an image common to each embodiment is transferred, FIG. 3B is a plan view of a covering material, and FIG. 3C is a plan view showing a state in which the recording medium is attached to the covering material. Is. FIG. 4A is a side schematic view showing a case where the covering material of the embodiment is peeled off from the image on the recording medium, and FIG. 4B shows a case where the covering material having the same size as the image is peeled off from the image on the recording medium. It is a side schematic diagram. 5A is a plan view showing a deformation example of the covering material, FIG. 5B is a plan view showing another deformation example of the covering material, and FIG. 5C is a plan view showing another deformation example of the covering material. FIG. 6A is a plan view showing another deformation example of the covering material, and FIG. 6B is a plan view showing another deformation example of the covering material. FIG. 7A is a plan view showing other deformation examples of the covering material, and FIG. 7B is a plan view showing other deformation examples of the covering material. It is a side sectional view which shows the image forming apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a side sectional view which shows from the transfer part to the discharge part which concerns on Embodiment 2.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments shown below exemplify an image forming apparatus for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and are not intended to specify the present invention. It is equally applicable to those of other embodiments contained in.

[Embodiment 1]
First, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the embodiment has an image forming apparatus main body 12, and an image forming unit 100K forming a black toner image in the image forming apparatus main body 12 and a yellow toner image. An image forming unit 100Y to be formed, an image forming unit 100M to form a magenta toner image, an image forming unit 100C to form a cyan toner image, a transfer device 200 as a transfer unit, a fixing device 480, and a paper feeding device 400. And are provided. Further, a transport path 500 for transporting a recording medium 700 such as paper is formed in the image forming apparatus main body 12. Further, in the first embodiment, a supply unit 600 for supplying a resin film-like covering material 610 that is detachably adhered to the recording medium 700 is provided between the transfer device 200 and the fixing device 480. There is.

The image forming apparatus main body 12 is formed with a discharge port 14 for discharging the recording medium 700. Further, the image forming apparatus main body 12 is equipped with a discharge tray 16 used as a discharge unit from which the recording medium 700 after image formation is discharged.

Since the image forming units 100K, 100Y, 100M, and 100C have the same configuration, they will be collectively described below as the image forming unit 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming unit 100 employs an electrophotographic method and is used as an image holder for holding an image formed of toner, for example, a cylindrical photoconductor 102 and a photoconductor 102. A charging device 110 as a charging means for charging the toner, and a latent image forming device 120 that irradiates the surface of the photoconductor 102 charged by the charging device 110 with light to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor 102. A developing device 130 as a developing means for developing a latent image formed on the photoconductor 102 with a developer containing toner to form a toner image (also referred to as a toner image or an image) on the surface of the photoconductor 102, and transfer. It has a cleaning device 140 as a cleaning means for cleaning the photoconductor 102 after the toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer body 210 described later by the device 200.

The transfer device 200 has an intermediate transfer body 210 as a member to be transferred that holds an image, and the intermediate transfer body 210 is a band-shaped member, for example, endless, and has, for example, six support rolls 220. , 222, 224, 226, 228, 230 are supported so that they can rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow a in FIG.

At least one of the six support rolls is used as a drive roll that transmits the drive to the intermediate transfer body 210, and in this embodiment, the support roll 230 is used as the drive roll. A drive source 234 such as a motor is connected to the support roll 230. Further, the support roll 226 is used as an opposing roll that faces the secondary transfer roll 250 via the intermediate transfer body 210.

Further, the transfer device 200 has primary transfer rolls 240K, 240Y, 240M, 240C used as the primary transfer member. The primary transfer rolls 240K, 240Y, 240M, and 240C are respectively arranged inside the intermediate transfer body 210 so as to face any of the four photoconductors 102 via the intermediate transfer body 210. A primary transfer bias is applied to each of the primary transfer rolls 240K, 240Y, 240M, and 240C, and the primary transfer rolls 240K, 240Y, 240M, and 240C apply toner of each color from the four photoconductors 102 to the intermediate transfer body 210. The image is transferred. The primary transfer rolls 240K, 240Y, 240M, and 240C may be collectively referred to as the primary transfer roll 240.

Further, the transfer device 200 has a secondary transfer roll 250. The secondary transfer roll 250 is used as a rotating body in contact with the intermediate transfer body 210 so as to form a transfer region N in which the toner image is transferred from the intermediate transfer body 210 to the recording medium 700. A secondary transfer bias is applied to the secondary transfer roll 250, and the secondary transfer roll 250 transfers the toner image from the intermediate transfer body 210 to the recording medium 700. The secondary transfer roll 250 is pressed against the intermediate transfer body 210 by a pressing mechanism (not shown) or the like.

The supply unit 600 supplies a coating material storage container (not shown) for accommodating the coating material 610, which will be described later, and a coating material storage container 700 for supplying the coating material 610 from the coating material storage container onto the recording medium 700 on which the toner image 710 is transferred. A device 602 is provided. The details of the supply unit 600 will be described later.

The fixing device 480 has a heating unit 482 having a heat source inside and a rotatable pressurizing unit 484 that contacts the heating unit 482, and the contact portion between the heating unit 482 and the pressurizing unit 484 is attached to the recording medium 700. The transferred toner image 710 is heated and pressurized to fix the toner image 710 on the recording medium 700.

The paper feeding device 400 supplies the recording medium 700 toward the transfer region N. Further, the paper feeding device 400 has a recording medium storage container 402 in which the recording media 700 are stacked and stored, and a delivery roll 404 that sends out the recording medium 700 from the recording medium storage container 402.

The transport path 500 conveys the recording medium 700 from the paper feeding device 400 toward the transfer region N, conveys the recording medium 700 from the transfer region N toward the fixing device 480, and discharges the recording medium 700 from the image forming apparatus main body 12. This is a transport path for transporting the recording medium 700. In the vicinity of the transport path 500, the feed roll 404, the transport roll 510, the resist roll 520, and the secondary transfer roll 250 described above are arranged in this order from the upstream side in the transport direction of the recording medium 700 along the transport path 500. , The fixing device 480 described above is arranged.

The resist roll 520 temporarily stops the movement of the tip of the recording medium 700 conveyed toward the transfer region N so as to coincide with the timing at which the toner image is conveyed to the transfer region N by the intermediate transfer body 210. The movement of the tip of the recording medium 700 toward the transfer region N is restarted.

Next, the supply unit 600 that supplies the covering material 610 onto the recording medium 700 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. As described above, the supply unit 600 of the covering material 610 has a covering material storage container (not shown) in which the covering material 610 is stored, and a covering material supply device 602 that shares the covering material 610 on the recording medium 700. This is a device that supplies the coating material 610 to the recording medium 700 on which the toner image 710 is transferred by the transfer device 200.

The dressing supply device 602 conveys the dressing 610 stored in the dressing storage device using, for example, a roll member 604 and supplies it onto the toner image 710 of the recording medium 700. At this time, the sensor 630 or the like can be used to detect the position and size of the toner image 710, the size of the recording medium 700, and the like.

Further, the covering material 610 is supplied so as to cover the side to which the toner image 710 of the recording medium 700 is transferred, is conveyed to the fixing device 480 together with the toner image 710, is heated, and is pressurized, and then the recording medium 700. Will be peeled off from. By using the covering material 610 in this way, the toner image 710 after the covering material 610 is peeled off can be made into a glossy image that imitates the surface property of the covering material 610.

The coating material 610 is a film-like member, which has a predetermined desired smoothness and appropriate releasability with respect to toner, and has, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl alcohol, polyester, and polycarbonate. , Polypropylene, Polyimide, Polystyrene, Ethylene / Vinyl Acetate Copolymer, Ethylene / Vinyl Alcohol Copolymer, Ionomer and other films. Further, a polyester, polycarbonate, polyamide, polyimide, or polyethylene terephthalate film is preferably used when mechanical strength, flexibility, heat resistance, and the like are taken into consideration.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the size of the covering material 610 is formed so as to be at least larger than the range of the toner image 710 transferred to the recording medium 700 (see FIG. 3A), and the covering material 610 is formed. Each recording medium 700 is always supplied onto the recording medium 700 so as to protrude outward from the toner image 710. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3C, the covering material 610 has a size such that it protrudes outward from all of the toner image 710.

When the covering material 610 is supplied to the recording medium 700, the recording medium 700 coated with the toner image 710 by the image forming unit 100 is supplied before being conveyed through the transport path 500 and passing through the fixing device 480. The covering material 610 is supplied by the part 600. At this time, the coating material 610 to be supplied is formed larger than the toner image 710 on the recording medium 700 as described above, and is provided so as to protrude from the toner image 710.

Then, after the toner image is transferred from the transfer device 200 to the recording medium 700, the toner image 710 on the recording medium 700 is conveyed to the fixing device 480 in a state of being covered with the coating material 610, heated, and pressurized. Will be. At this time, the toner image 710 on the recording medium 700 is heated and pressed in accordance with the smooth surface property of the coating material 610.

Further, after passing through the fixing device 480, the recording medium 700 is discharged to the discharge tray 16 together with the covering material 610.

Then, the covering material 610 of the discharged recording medium 700 is peeled off after the toner image 710 is cooled. At this time, in the first embodiment, since the covering material 610 is provided so as to protrude from the toner image 710, when the pasted covering material 610 is peeled off, as shown in FIG. 4A, the portion protruding from the toner image 710 is provided. By picking the covering material 610 and moving it diagonally with respect to the toner image 710, the force of the directional component when peeling the covering material 610 from the toner image 710 can be reduced, and the toner image 710 can be transferred from the recording medium 700. It is possible to suppress peeling. With such a configuration, the coating material 610 can be easily peeled off from the toner image 710.

On the other hand, unlike the covering material 610 of the first embodiment, when the covering material 610'attached with the same size as the toner image 710 is peeled off, as shown in FIG. 4B, the peeling direction of the covering material 610' is the toner image. Since the 710 is peeled off from the recording medium 700, that is, in the vertical direction of the recording medium 700, a part of the toner image 710'may be peeled off from the recording medium 700.

The image 710 from which the covering material 610 (here, “Toppan SC film” manufactured by Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.) was peeled off as in the first embodiment has a glossiness of 15 to 30 when the covering material 610 is not provided. As a result, a high glossiness of 80 or more (Handy Gloss Meter GM-268 manufactured by Konica Minolta) can be obtained.

[Modification example]
Further, in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3C, the covering material 610 is formed in a size that protrudes from the toner image 710 in all directions, but the coating material 610 is not limited to this, and the covering material 610 is formed in the toner image. It may be formed so as to protrude outward from a part of the 710.

For example, like the covering material 610a shown in FIG. 5A and the covering material 610b shown in FIG. 5B, the toner image 710 may be formed in a size such that it protrudes outward from only one arbitrary side side.

Further, as in the coating material 610c shown in FIG. 5C, the toner image 710 can be formed in a size such that it protrudes outward from two adjacent sides of the four sides of the toner image 710. That is, in the coating material 610c, the corners protrude from the toner image 710. By doing so, when the covering material 610c is peeled off, it can be peeled off not only in the height direction but also in the width direction of the recording medium 700.

Further, as in the coating material 610d shown in FIG. 6A, it can be formed larger than the recording medium 700, and can be formed not only in the toner image 710 but also in a size such that it protrudes to the outside of the recording medium 700. By doing so, it becomes easy for the user to grasp the covering material 610d by hand, and it becomes easy to peel it off.

As in the coating material 610e shown in FIG. 6B, a part of the coating material 610e can be made to protrude to the outside of the toner image 710 or the recording medium 700. Further, the size may be such that only any one side of the recording medium protrudes so as to correspond to the covering materials 610a and 610b shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, and the covering shown in FIG. 5C. The covering material may be formed so as to protrude from two adjacent sides of the four sides of the recording medium so as to correspond to the material 610c.

Further, from the image 710 on the front side of the recording medium 700, that is, the side first transported to the transport path 500 (see the arrow), such as the coating material 610f shown in FIG. 7A and the coating material 610 g shown in FIG. 7B. It is also possible to prevent the covering materials 610f and 610g from protruding to the outside. That is, the covering material 610f and the covering material 610 g protrude outward from the toner image 710 or the recording medium 700 from both sides parallel to the transport direction and at least one side from the rear side. ing. By doing so, when each recording medium 700 to which the covering material 610f and the covering material 610g are supplied passes through the fixing device 480 to which the covering material 610g is attached, and when exiting from the exit of the fixing device 480, the covering material 610f and the coating material It is possible to prevent the material 610 g from being wound around the heating portion 482 of the fixing device 480 on the passing side. A part of the covering material may protrude from the side other than the side to be transported first in the transport direction.

Further, in the first embodiment, the case where the toner image is completely covered with the covering material has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the covering material may cover a part of the toner image which requires glossiness. Good.

[Embodiment 2]
In the image forming apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, after the coating material 610 is supplied on the recording medium 700, the toner image 710 is heated and pressurized together with the coating material 610 by being conveyed to the fixing device 480. Although the description has been made, the case where the image forming apparatus 10A of the second embodiment is configured such that the supply unit 600A is provided after the fixing apparatus 480 will be described. The same reference numerals are given to the configurations common to those in the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a supply unit 600A is provided after the fixing device 480, and a heating pressing unit 620 is further provided after the supply unit 600A. Then, after the recording medium 700 and the toner image 710 are fixed by the fixing device 480, the coating material 610 is supplied onto the recording medium 700 by the supply unit 600A, and the toner image 710 and the coating material 610 on the recording medium 700 are supplied. Is heated and pressurized by the heating pressing portion 620. Since other configurations are common to the first embodiment, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The supply unit 600A, which is common to the supply unit 600 of the first embodiment, includes a covering material storage container (not shown) in which the covering material 610 is stored, and a covering material supply device 602 sharing the covering material 610 on the recording medium 700. It is a device that supplies the coating material 610 to the recording medium 700 on which the toner image 710 is transferred by the transfer device 200.

Further, the dressing supply device 602 conveys the dressing 610 stored in the dressing storage device using, for example, a roll member 604, and supplies it onto the toner image 710 of the recording medium 700. At this time, the sensor 630 or the like can be used to detect the position and size of the toner image 710, the size of the recording medium 700, and the like.

Further, the heating pressing portion 620 is not provided with the rotatable heating roll 622 provided on the upper side of the transport path 500, that is, on the side through which the covering material 610 passes, and the lower side, that is, the toner image 710. It is composed of a rotatable pressing roll 624 provided on the side. Then, the heating pressing portion 620 is passed through the toner image 710 fixed on the recording medium 700 in a state of being covered with the coating material 610, and the toner image 710 is pressed according to the smooth surface property of the coating material 610. Will be done. The heating pressing portion 620 may have the same configuration as the fixing device 480 described above. After that, the recording medium 700 is discharged to the discharge tray 16 together with the covering material 610.

With such a configuration, after the toner image 710 is fixed to the recording medium 700 by the fixing device 480, the covering material 610 is attached to the toner image 710, so that the toner image 710 is attached to the covering material 610. Adhesion can be suppressed.

Further, since the covering material 610 of the second embodiment is common to the covering material 610 of the first embodiment, when the covering material 610 is peeled off from the recording medium 700 as in the first embodiment, the toner image 710 is released from the recording medium 700. It is possible to suppress peeling.

As for the release material of the second embodiment, 610a to 610 g of each coating material as a modification of the first embodiment can be used, and the above-mentioned effects can be obtained.

Further, in the second embodiment, a pair of heating rolls 622 and pressing rolls 624 are used as the heating pressing portion 620, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the pressing rolls are not limited to this and only press the covering material 610 side. You can also. Further, in the heating pressing portion 620, only heating may be performed without pressing.

10, 10A Image forming device 100 Image forming part 200 Transfer device 480 Fixing device 482 Heating part 484 Pressurizing part 600, 600A Supply part 602 Coating material supply device 604 Roll member 610, 610a to 610g, 610'Coating material 620 Heating pressing part 622 Heating roll 624 Pressing roll 630 Sensor 700 Recording medium 710 Toner image

Claims (5)

A transfer unit that transfers the image formed by the image forming unit to a recording medium,
A coating that covers at least a part of the image so as to protrude from at least a part of the image transferred by the transfer unit to the outside of the image for each recording medium, and is detachably adhered to the recording medium. The supply unit that supplies the material and
A fixing device having a heating unit and a pressurizing unit facing the heating unit, and fixing the image to the recording medium in a state where the coating material is coated on the recording medium containing the image.
Have a,
An image forming apparatus in which the covering material does not protrude from the front side in the transport direction of the recording medium, but protrudes from the front side other than the front side in the transport direction of the recording medium. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the covering material protrudes from two adjacent sides of the four sides of the image. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the covering material protrudes from the recording medium to the outside of the recording medium. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the covering material protrudes from two adjacent sides of the four sides of the recording medium. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the covering material has translucency.

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