JPH02158357A - Ion flow control recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable correction data to be held in a head itself to eliminate the need for adjusting caused by the ununiformity of ion quantity by a method wherein a memory means for holding correction data regardless of the ON/OFF state of a head power source is mounted on a substrate of a control electrode. CONSTITUTION:In a head provided with a correction data memory means 30 storing ion quantity correction data therein mounted on a control electrode substrate 26 of a control part 20, at the time of image wiring, a reference ion quantity Ioi corresponding to a block number (n) and an image density is supplied from an image information source 36 to a CPU 34 as image information. Ion quantity correction data is read from an ion quantity correction data memory means 30, and a control voltage is generated by a control voltage generation circuit 32, whereby a proper control voltage is applied to a control electrode 28 by every block of the head. Therefore, when an ion flow generated in an ion generation part 10 is fed under pressure by an air flow A and passes through a slit 24, the ion flow is controlled so that a stable latent image without density irregularities can be formed on a recording medium 40.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to an ion flow control recording head, and more specifically to an ion flow control recording head that controls the amount of ions to form an image on a recording medium. In particular, the present invention relates to an ion flow control recording head equipped with a control voltage correction data storage means for correcting the amount of ions from the head.

[Prior Art] In general, as a recording device that forms an electrostatic latent image on a recording medium, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 59-190854 and 6213 are known.
An ion flow control recording device as shown in Japanese Patent No. 8250 is known.

As shown in FIG. 4, the head used in this ion flow control recording device has a cylindrical chamber C formed between a pair of grounded conductive shields a and b, and a longitudinal axis within this chamber C. A discharge wire d is stretched along the direction, and a substrate f is attached to the lower part of one shield b so as to cover the shields a and b via an insulating layer e, and the other shield a and the substrate f A slit 9 is formed between the substrate if and a plurality of control electrodes are formed at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the chamber C on the surface of the base if on the slit q side.

In the head configured in this way, ions are generated in the chamber C by applying a high voltage from the wire power supply j to the discharge wire d, and then an air flow A is blown into the chamber C from above the chamber C. By doing so, the ions in the chamber C are allowed to pass through the slit q provided in communication with the chamber C and adhere to the recording medium (not shown). At this time, by applying a voltage according to the image signal from the control circuit i to each control electrode, the ion flow passing through the slit 9 is controlled, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the recording medium. .

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, in the above ion flow control recording device,
In particular, it is not equipped with a correction means for changes in the amount of ions generated due to environmental factors such as humidity, and due to non-uniform slit width and non-uniform slit length in the area where the control electrode is formed, There is a problem in that the amount of ions varies, and as a result, fluctuations in the amount of ions and non-uniformity cause problems such as instability and unevenness in image density.

Here, the relationship between the control voltage applied to the control electrode and the amount of ions from the ion flow control recording device will be discussed.

In the ion flow control recording device, as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to adjust the amount of output ions by increasing or decreasing the number of control electrodes. However, as described above, this characteristic differs depending on the location where the electrode is stretched due to variations in the longitudinal direction of the head. For example, Fig. 6 (a
) In the longitudinal position of the ion flow control recording head x1, the characteristics are as shown in FIG. 6(b), and in the position x2, the characteristics are as shown in FIG. 6(c).

Therefore, if the same control voltage is applied to all electrodes as in the conventional device, the output ion amount will vary in the longitudinal direction of the head as shown in FIG. 7, causing density unevenness in the image.

Therefore, in order to equalize the amount of ions, an ion flow control recording device may be considered that is equipped with an ion amount measuring means that monitors the potential of the electrostatic latent image with a surface electrometer to measure the amount of ions from the head. However, this type of device has the problem that the device is large, and the control voltage of ions is determined by comparing the amount of ions measured with the reference amount of ions during head replacement, maintenance, and inspection. There is a problem that the storage operation of the amount correction data, etc. becomes troublesome. Furthermore, surface electrometers are expensive, leading to problems such as an increase in the cost of the device.

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and in order to solve the above problem, control voltage correction data for equalizing the amount of ions measured in advance is held in a storage means, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ion flow control recording head characterized in that this storage means is provided in a part of the head so that it can be replaced at the same time when the head is replaced.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the ion flow control recording head of the present invention includes an ion generation section, and allows the ions generated in the ion generation section to pass through, and also controls the ion flow according to an image signal. In an ion flow control recording head comprising a control section for controlling the amount of ions from the head, a storage means for retaining the correction data regardless of whether the head is powered on or off. The storage means is provided on the substrate of the control electrode constituting the control section.

In the present invention, the correction data storage means may be of any type as long as it retains the correction data not only when the head power is connected but also when the power is cut off.
Nonvolatile storage means such as fuse ROM and EPROM,
It may be a storage means such as an SRAM backed up by a battery.

Further, the ion amount correction data storage means may be of any type as long as it is provided on the substrate of the control electrode constituting the control section. The memory means may be integrally formed on the substrate, or the memory means may be integrally incorporated on the substrate.

Furthermore, in inputting the correction data into the correction data storage means in advance, the amount of ions detected by the means for detecting the amount of ions from the head is detected on the entire control electrode of the control section, and compared with the reference amount of ions. Although it is possible to store the correction data by dividing the control electrode into a plurality of blocks, it is preferable to measure the control electrode by dividing it into a plurality of blocks and store the correction data for each block. Further, the correction data storage means may be of any type as long as it stores a control voltage corresponding to a predetermined ion flow rate, but preferably corresponds to a predetermined multi-step ion flow rate. It is better to have something that can store each control voltage.

[Function] As described above, the correction data storage section of the control voltage for correcting the amount of ions from the ion flow control recording head is stored in the storage means that retains the correction data regardless of whether the head power is connected or disconnected. By forming this memory means on the substrate of the control electrode constituting the control section, it is possible to hold the correction data of the control voltage measured in advance for equalizing the amount of 7j ions in the head itself. , there is no need to make adjustments for uneven ion amounts. Further, when the head is replaced, the correction data storage means can be replaced at the same time, and the storage means that stores the control voltage specific to each head can be easily replaced.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the ion flow control recording head of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the ion flow control recording head.

In the ion flow control recording head of the present invention, a discharge wire 18 is inserted into a cylindrical chamber 16 formed between a pair of conductive shields 12 and 14 installed on the ground side in the longitudinal direction of the chamber 16. A stretched ion generating section 10,
A control unit in which a control electrode 28 is formed on the slit side of a control 11 electrode substrate 26 which is disposed on the lower surface of one shield 14 via an insulating layer 22 and forms an ion passage slit 24 between it and the other shield 12. 20, and a control voltage correction data storage means 30 mounted on a control electrode substrate 26 extending outward from one shield 14.

In the head of this invention configured as described above,
The second control electrode 28 has bit division electrodes formed along the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper (specifically, the control electrode 28 is wired in a matrix consisting of, for example, 64 pieces by 40 blocks, a total of 2.560 pieces).

A control voltage generation circuit 32, which is image data generation means, is connected to the control electrode 28, and an image information source 36 is connected to the control voltage generation circuit 32 via a CPU 34 (central processing unit). . Further, the correction data storage means 30 is formed of non-volatile storage means such as an EPROM into which predetermined correction data has been inputted in advance at a factory, etc., and is installed in a socket (not shown) provided on the control electrode board 26. control electrode substrate 2 by being connected to
It is installed on 6. Data is exchanged between the correction data storage means 30 and the CPU 34.

The correction data is stored in the correction data storage means 30 in advance at the factory when the ion flow control recording head is manufactured. In order to store the correction data in the correction data storage means 30, for example, a conductive ion amount absorbing member is disposed at the ion outflow portion of the head, and an ion amount detecting means such as an ammeter is attached to this ion amount absorbing member. By connecting and repeatedly measuring the current flowing through one or more bit segment electrodes of the control electrode 28, the unevenness of the amount of ions is measured over all the control electrodes 28, and then stored in the correction pig storage means 30. .

Next, an example of a procedure for creating correction data will be described with reference to flowchart 17 shown in FIG.

Here, the control electrodes 28 are matrix-wired, and 64
An example using a book x40 block consisting of a total of 2,560 books will be explained. Further, in this embodiment, the reference ion amount is I so that five levels of image density including the white level can be obtained. I chose 1-'05. However, the image density is not limited to five levels, and may be set to at least two levels, excluding white. Here, obtaining ion amount correction data for correcting head variations means each reference ion II. The purpose is to obtain control voltages VH1 to vH9 corresponding to 1 to '05 for each block. To create ion amount correction data, first, the block number n=1. Next, the control voltage VH from the control voltage generator 30 is set to O, and the image density is initialized by setting it to =1 (steps A and B).

Next, the reference ion amount I. 1 (step C).

At first I. 1-101. Further, ion writing is performed by the head in accordance with the control voltage VH, and the ion amount I is detected by the ammeter (steps D and F). Note that in the flowchart of FIG. 3, steps D and E are processed by hardware, so they are processed in parallel with step C.

Reference ion amount I. i and the detected ion amount I are compared in a comparison circuit (not shown), and the comparison result is read into a CPU (not shown) in step F. If the two do not match, the control voltage generator 3 is sent from the CPU in step G.
After sending a command to 0 and increasing the control voltage 8 by 0.1V, the process returns to steps C and D. Reference ion amount I. When i matches the detected ion amount I, the control voltage v at that time
H is stored in the ion amount correction data storage means (step H). In step I, it is determined whether all the control voltages vH corresponding to the five levels of image density have been obtained, and if the processing has not been completed, the image density is changed by one level and step C is performed.
Return to D (step J). Furthermore, it is determined in step whether or not the processing of all blocks, that is, 40 blocks, has been completed, and if it has not been completed, processing is performed to obtain the control voltage vH for the adjacent block (step L).

The control voltage VH, which has been reduced by 1q as described above, is stored in the ion amount correction data storage means 30 as ion amount correction data.

In the head in which the correction data storage means 30 in which the ion amount correction data is stored as described above is mounted on the control electrode substrate 26 of the control section 20, the block number n and Reference ion amount I corresponding to image density. 1 is supplied as image information. Then, by reading the ion amount correction data from the ion amount correction data storage means 30 and generating the control voltage VH1 in the control voltage generation circuit 32, an appropriate control voltage is applied to the control electrode 28 for each block of the head. Then, when the ions generated in the ion generating section 10 are forced by the air flow A and pass through the slit 24, the ion flow is controlled to form a stable latent image with no uneven density on the recording medium 40. be done.

In addition, if the head wears out due to long-term use,
By replacing the head, the correction pig storage means 30 can also be easily replaced at the same time.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the ion flow control recording head of the present invention, the correction data storage section of the control voltage for correcting the amount of ions from the ion flow control recording head is connected to the power source of the head. Since it is formed by a storage means that retains the correction data regardless of whether it is connected or disconnected, and this storage means is provided on the control electrode substrate, the following effects can be obtained.

1) Since correction data for the control voltage specific to the head can be incorporated into the head itself when manufacturing the head, adjustments for equalizing the ion amount can be made accurately, and the adjustment for equalizing the ion amount can be made evenly before and after replacing the head. There is no need for adjustment.

2) The apparatus can be made smaller in size compared to an apparatus in which an ion amount detection means and an ion amount correction data storage means are provided separately, and an inexpensive head can be provided.

3) Since the correction data storage means can be replaced at the same time as the head is replaced, parts can be easily replaced and maintenance can be facilitated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the ion flow control recording head of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the head, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the procedure for storing correction data in the correction data storage means of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional ion flow control recording head, FIG. 5 is a control voltage-ion amount characteristic curve, and FIG. Figure 7 is a characteristic curve showing the variation in ion amount due to the difference in the longitudinal position of the head in a conventional ion flow control recording device. be. Description of symbols (10... Ion generation section (18... Discharge wire (20... Control section (26... Control electrode substrate 28... Control electrode 30... Correction data storage means 32... Control voltage generation circuit 34...CPU 36)...Image information source

Claims (1)

[Claims] Control for correcting the amount of ions from this head in an ion flow control recording head consisting of an ion generation section and a control section that allows ions generated in the ion generation section to pass through and controls the ions according to an image signal. The voltage correction data storage section is formed of a storage means that retains the correction data regardless of whether the power source of the head is connected or disconnected, and the storage means is provided on the substrate of the control electrode constituting the control section. An ion flow control recording head characterized by: