JPH01209155A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the generation of the deterioration of an image due to repeating use, by a method wherein the ink layer of an image forming body is transferred and released according to a thermal transfer system to form an image and solid ink is bonded to the place where the ink layer is transferred and released to be transferred to a recording medium from the image forming body. CONSTITUTION:An image forming body 1, wherein a conductive ink layer 3 is laminated to an insulating support 2, is rotated in the direction shown by an arrow 4 and an image 7 is formed on the image forming body 1 by a thermal transfer head 5 and an opposed roller 6. Solid ink 11 composed of the almost same components as the conductive ink layer is supplied to the image 7 from a sleeve 10, to which bias voltage 8 is applied and which is rotated in the direction shown by an arrow 9, to be bonded only to the image 7. A fixing roller 12 is made detachable with respect to the image forming body 1 and, when the solid ink 11 is transferred to a recording medium 13, the fixing roller 12 is separated from the image forming body 1 and, when the image forming body 1 is desired to be regenerated, the fixing roller 12 is brought into contact with the image forming body 1 and the recording medium 13 is inserted between a transfer roller 14 and the image forming body 1.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

[Conventional technology]

As an image forming apparatus, an image is formed on an image forming body using means such as light or heat, and then solid or liquid ink is deposited in correspondence with the image, and the ink is transferred from the image forming body onto a recording medium. An image forming apparatus that obtains a recorded matter by transfer has been put into practical use.

[Invention or problem to be solved]

However, in the above-mentioned image forming apparatus, the image forming body is disposable, and it deteriorates due to light, heat, ions, etc.
It was unusable for a long time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and to provide an image forming apparatus that does not cause image deterioration even after repeated use.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides an image forming apparatus that includes means for forming an image on an image forming body by a thermal transfer method, and means for depositing solid ink corresponding to the image on the image forming body. and a means for transferring the solid ink from the image forming body to the recording medium;
It is characterized by comprising means for reproducing the image forming body.

[For production]

According to the above structure of the present invention, the ink layer of the image forming body is transferred and peeled off using a thermal transfer method to form an image, solid ink is attached to the area where the ink layer has been transferred and peeled off, and recording is performed from on the image forming body. Recorded matter can be obtained by transferring the solid ink to a medium, and when reproducing the image forming body, pressure, heat, etc. are applied onto the image forming body without transferring the solid ink to the recording medium. It can be regenerated by establishing it.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

An image forming body 1 formed by laminating a conductive ink layer 3 on an insulating support 2 is rotating in the direction of arrow 4.

An image 7 is formed on the image forming body 1 by the thermal transfer head 5 and the opposing roller 6. A solid ink 1 made of almost the same components as the conductive ink layer is applied to the image 7 from a screen 10 rotating in the direction of an arrow 9 to which a bias voltage 8 is applied.
1 is supplied, and the solid ink 11 adheres only to the image 7.

The fixing roller 12 is made detachable from the image forming body 1, and when transferring the solid ink 1 to the recording medium 13, the fixing roller 12 is separated from the image forming body 1, and the image forming body 1 is to be recycled. In this case, the fixing roller 12 is brought into contact with the image forming body 1, and the transfer roller 14 and the image forming body 1 are brought into contact with each other.
It is sufficient if the recording medium 13 is not inserted between the two.

In this manner, image formation and reproduction of the image forming body are performed.

In addition, a thermal head, a stylus head, etc. can be used as a thermal transfer head, and as a solid ink adhesion method, methods such as magnetic flage method, fur flage method, pressure development method, etc., which are known as so-called electrophotographic methods, can be used. As a transfer method, a method using a transfer roller or a method using electrostatic transfer can be applied, and as a fixing method, pressure fixing, heat roll fixing, flash fixing, etc. can be applied.

(Example 1) A polyester film with a thickness of 5 gm was used as the insulating support of the image forming body, and the solid ink was used as the conductive ink layer. Carnauba wax 5 wt% Microcrystalline wax 40 wt% Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer 5 wt% triiron tetroxide
40 wt% conductive carbon black
A conductive ink layer with a thickness of 3 gm and a solid ink with an average particle size of 10 pm were prepared by mixing and dispersing 10 wt% of the mixture and coating, or pulverizing and granulating it.

Using this image-forming material, a recorded matter was produced using the image-forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 using the powder ink.

As a thermal transfer head, a thermal head with a resolution of 400 dpi and a printing energy of 0.2 mj/dot was used.
Further, the bias voltage was set to 75V.

The recorded matter produced in this way had good print quality, and the recorded matter after the image forming body was reproduced also had good print quality.

Further, by forming an image on an image forming body using a -degree thermal transfer head, it was possible to easily produce a large number of identical recordings.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes a means for forming an image on an image forming body by a thermal transfer method, and a means for forming an image on the image forming body by a thermal transfer method. An image forming apparatus that does not cause image deterioration due to repeated use because it has a means for attaching solid ink, a means for transferring the solid ink from the image forming body to a recording medium, and a means for recycling the image forming body. was realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an image forming apparatus of the present invention. that's all Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an image forming apparatus, a means for forming an image on an image forming body by a thermal transfer method, a means for depositing a solid ink corresponding to the image on the image forming body, and a means for depositing a solid ink from the image forming body onto a recording medium. An image forming apparatus comprising means for transferring solid ink and means for recycling the image forming body.