JPH03257473A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transfer and fix a toner image with small energy by simple device constitution by forming a colored power image on an image carrier to which releasing liquid which does not make the viscosity of the colored powder low is supplied, making the viscosity of the image low with solvent and transferring it. CONSTITUTION:The releasing liquid which does not make the viscosity of the toner image 4 low is applied on a dielectric drum 2 by an oil applying felt 10, and the layer of the releasing liquid is thinned by an oil amount regulating blade 12. Next, the toner image 4 is formed by an ion irradiating head 1, and a developing device 3 and solvent mist 17 is supplied by a solvent mist generator 5 so as to make the viscosity of the toner image 4 low. Since the transfer and the fixing are simultaneously performed by making the viscosity of the toner image 4 low with the solvent mist 17, the toner image is transferred and fixed with the small energy by the simple device constitution, and a vivid image which is excellent in transfer efficiency is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a recording device such as a facsimile machine that obtains a hard copy by reducing the viscosity of a colored powder image using a solvent and transferring it. Conventionally, electrophotography and electrostatic recording have not been well known as recording methods that use colored powder. The final recorded material is obtained by forming an image and developing it with colored powder charged to the opposite polarity to that of the latent image to obtain a colored powder image, which is then fixed.

Electrostatic recording is a recording method in which an electrostatic latent image is created on electrostatic recording paper using recording electrodes, etc., and this is developed with colored powder, and is configured to function as both the charge holding body and image receptor described above. . Therefore, there is no need for a step of transferring a colored powder image from a charge carrier to an image receptor. However, in electrophotography, a colored powder image on a photoreceptor, which is a charge carrier, is transferred from the photoreceptor to an image receptor. ζ A process of fixing this is necessary.

The present invention relates to an improvement in a process of transferring or fixing a colored powder image using, for example, an electrophotographic method.

In conventional recording apparatuses, a method is widely used in which a powder image formed on an image carrier is electrostatically transferred onto a recording paper using a corona charger or the like, and then the image is thermally fixed using a heat roller. However, these methods had various problems specifically! (a) Electrostatic transfer: (1) There is scattering of toner called scattering, which blurs the recorded image. (2) Transfer efficiency decreases in a high temperature environment. (3) Transfer becomes unstable due to fluctuations in resistance values between toner and recording paper.

(b) Heat fixing (1) Power consumption used as thermal energy is large and uneconomical. (2) It takes a long time to warm up until the temperature of the fixing unit rises when the power is turned on.3)
Due to the high temperature, there is a risk of fire when jamming paper. In order to solve these problems, especially those related to heat fixing, a method of dissolving a powder image with a solvent to reduce its viscosity and transferring it to recording paper was disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-67576. has been done. This method is shown below. First, a toner image is formed on a photoreceptor drum by a normal electrophotographic process. Next, a toner particle dissolving drum (hereinafter referred to as dissolving drum) coated with a solvent capable of dissolving the toner is placed opposite the photoreceptor drum with a gap therebetween. Then, the toner image on the photosensitive drum is electrostatically transferred to the melting drum by a transfer charger disposed inside the melting drum. The toner transferred to the melting drum is dissolved and made viscous by a solvent.

When paper is brought into close contact with the toner image in this state, the toner image is adhesively transferred to the paper by the adhesive force of the viscous toner.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, this type of recording device does not solve the problems that electrostatic transfer has.Furthermore, when the toner is melted and reduced in viscosity on the melting drum, the toner is dissolved. Since the viscosity is lowered from the side that comes into contact with the drum, a large amount of toner adheres to the melting drum, resulting in low transfer efficiency.The present invention has been developed in consideration of the above problems.Simple device structure and low energy toner A first object of the present invention is to provide a recording device which is capable of transferring and fixing an image, can obtain a clear image with good transfer efficiency, and has an excellent cleaning property of an image bearing member. A second object of the present invention is to provide a recording device that produces recorded matter having solvent resistance. Furthermore, a third object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus in which the recording paper is less wetted. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus that can omit a coating mechanism for coating a release liquid onto an image carrier and achieves the above effects with a simpler configuration.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention achieves the first object. A release liquid supplying means for supplying a release liquid that does not reduce the viscosity of the colored powder to the surface of an image carrier; an image forming means for forming a powder image of the colored powder on the image bearing member supplied with the colored powder; a solvent supply means for supplying a solvent for reducing the viscosity of the powder image; A first feature of the apparatus is that it includes a transfer means for transferring the powder image to the recording paper by pressing the powder image and the recording paper.

In order to achieve the second objective, a nonvolatile mold release liquid is applied to an area of the recording paper that includes at least the area to which the powder image has been transferred when the powder image is transferred by the transfer means. The second feature is that at least a portion of the image is transferred.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the third objective, the mold release liquid is repellent to the solvent, and the solvent supply means supplies the vapor of the solvent to the powder image on the image carrier, and condenses the solvent vapor to Ps3 is characterized by supplying a solvent to the powder image.

Further, in order to achieve the fourth object, the present invention is characterized by using an image carrier impregnated with a release liquid that does not reduce the viscosity of the colored powder.

Action.

The first feature uses an image carrier, a colored powder, a solvent that can lower the viscosity of the colored powder, and a release liquid that does not lower the viscosity of the colored powder (\ The release liquid supplies A powder image made of colored powder is formed on the image carrier by an image forming means, and the viscosity of this image is lowered with a solvent. Transfer and fixing are performed simultaneously, and the colored powder is not dissolved. By supplying a release liquid to the surface of the image carrier and reducing the adhesion of the powder image whose viscosity has been reduced with a solvent to the surface of the image carrier, the transfer of the powder image to the recording paper is facilitated. A method that can improve the cleaning performance of transferred powder images A simple device configuration It is possible to transfer and fix toner images with low energy; a clear image with good transfer efficiency can be obtained; It is possible to realize a recording device that improves the cleaning performance of the recording paper.The second feature is that a non-volatile mold release liquid is used to remove at least the powder of the recording paper when transferring the powder image by the transfer means. A sculpture that covers the powder image transferred and fixed to the recording paper by transferring at least a part of the release liquid to an area including the area where the body image has been transferred.A non-volatile mold that does not reduce the viscosity of the powder image. By forming a layer of release liquid, recorded images will not run even if a solvent is applied to the recorded matter.\ To realize a recording device that can obtain a recorded matter having solvent resistance. is possible.

Furthermore, in the third feature, the mold release liquid is liquid repellent to the solvent, and the solvent supply means supplies the vapor of the solvent to the powder image on the image carrier, and the solvent is transferred to the powder image by condensing the solvent vapor. By supplying the solvent to the powder image, the solvent tends to condense on the powder image, whereas the solvent does not condense on the surface of the image carrier coated with a release liquid that is repellent to the solvent. By utilizing the selectivity of condensation of This allows the amount of solvent to be retained to be reduced.
It is possible to realize a recording device in which the recording paper is less wet.

In addition, the fourth feature is that instead of applying a release liquid onto the image carrier, an image carrier pre-impregnated with a release liquid is used, so that the inside of the image carrier is impregnated with the release liquid. Since the mold release liquid gradually seeps out onto the surface, there is always a layer of mold release liquid on the surface. It is clear that this provides the same effect as applying a mold release liquid onto the image carrier, and in such a case, the device configuration is simpler because the release liquid application means can be omitted. Is possible.

Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a recording apparatus which is an embodiment of the present invention.

The present embodiment Lt will be explained by taking as an example a case where an ion head is used as an image forming means for forming a powder image. For ion heads, even if, u, s.

P, 180218, etc. In Fig. 1, 1 is an ion irradiation head that irradiates ions in accordance with an image signal; 2 is a conductive drum made of aluminum or the like and has a dielectric layer supported on its peripheral surface; 3 is a dielectric drum that is an image carrier; A developing device 4 that performs non-contact development using l-component toner is a toner image formed on the dielectric drum 2.

The ion irradiation head 1 and the developing device 3 constitute an image forming means for forming a toner image 4 on the dielectric drum 2. Reference numeral 5 denotes a solvent mist generator, which is a solvent supply means for supplying a mist of a solvent that reduces the viscosity of the toner onto the dielectric drum 2. 6 is a pressure roller which is a transfer means provided in pressure contact with the dielectric drum, and 9 is a recording paper which is an image receptor. As the recording paper 9, for example, PPC paper with a basis weight of 64 g/mQ is used.

In addition, the pressure roller 6 is used together with the dielectric drum 2 to press the toner image 4 of low viscosity α on the dielectric drum 2 and the recording paper 9. The pressure roller 6 is used to press the toner image 4 on the dielectric drum 2 and the recording paper 9. This is a cleaning unit that cleans untransferred toner on the dielectric drum 2 using a metal blade. 8 is a static eliminator for erasing the electrostatic latent image on the dielectric drum 2.

Further, 10 is an oil coating felt, 11 is an oil pan, and 12 is an oil amount regulating blade.
1 is applied onto the dielectric drum 2 by an oil coating felt lO, and this is made into a thin layer by an oil amount regulating blade 12. oil coated felt lO
, oil pan 11 and oil amount regulating blade 12,
This constitutes a mold release liquid supply means. An enlarged view of these mold release liquid supply means is shown in FIG.
5 is an ultrasonic vibrator, 16 is a blower fan, and 17 is a solvent mist. In this example, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as the main binder resin for the toner composition whose viscosity is lowered by the solvent. , Carbon black and magnetic material are dispersed in this and crushed.
1 component is used as a magnetic conductive toner, and the electrostatic latent image on the dielectric drum 2 is developed by the charge induced in the toner facing the electrostatic latent image.Development is performed by the so-called magnetodynamic development method. Adjust the development gap so that the tip of the toner spike and the dielectric drum 2 are not in contact with each other.1. In addition to lowering the viscosity of the binder resin, the solvent used must also be incompatible with oil, which is the release liquid applied to the dielectric drum 2.

In this example, water was used as the solvent and silicone oil was used as the mold release liquid.1. The viscosity of the silicone oil used is 100 to 50,000C8. With this combination, it is possible to take advantage of the electrodynamics in which the mold release liquid and the solvent are incompatible, that is, the water repellency of the mold release liquid.It is also possible to improve the mold release effect.

The operation of the recording apparatus of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained below.

Silicone oil is applied onto the dielectric drum 2 using an oil application felt 10. Next, the amount of silicone oil applied is controlled by the oil amount regulating blade 12 and the ion irradiation head 1 forms an electrostatic latent image according to the image signal. Before this time, a thin layer of silicone oil has been formed on the dielectric drum 2. Silicone oil is highly insulating, so problems with image quality deterioration such as image blur due to charge diffusion do not occur. This electrostatic latent image is developed in a non-contact manner by the developing device 3, so that a toner image 4 is formed on the dielectric drum 2.

On the other hand, the solvent mist generator 5 is connected to a solvent tank 13 , and a solvent is supplied to the solvent mist generator 5 by a solvent supply pump 14 . The solvent supplied to the solvent mist generator 5 is converted into a solvent mist 17 by one or more ultrasonic transducers 15 provided in the solvent mist generator 5.
Here, the solvent mist 17 is generated by the airflow sent by the ventilation fan 16 provided in the housing of the solvent mist generator 5.
B. It is supplied toward the surface of the dielectric drum 2 to reduce the viscosity of the toner image 4 on the dielectric drum 2. As described above, the toner image 4 on the dielectric drum 2 is supplied by the solvent mist generator 5. A solvent mist 17 is supplied to the toner image 4 . The part of the toner image 4, that is, the image area, is highly hydrophilic and is in a state where the solvent mist 17 is very likely to adhere.
In other words, it is in a state where it is easily wetted by the solvent. Moreover, once the solvent C adheres to the toner, it permeates and diffuses inside the toner, reducing its viscosity.Solvent mist on the toner surface17
The viscosity of the toner continues to decrease while maintaining a state where it is easy to adhere to the toner. In this case, α is the supply amount of the solvent mist 17, and ζ is preferably about several g/m'' in the case of a full solid sheet.This varies depending on the quality of the binder resin of the toner. For higher binders, lower viscosity is achieved with lower amounts of solvent.

Next, the dielectric drum 2 and the recording paper 9 are brought into pressure contact with each other by the pressure contact roller 6, and the toner image 4 is formed on the toner image 4 and the dielectric material 2. A portion of the silicone oil layer is transferred onto the recording paper 9.

At this time, since the toner image 4 has a low viscosity due to the solvent, it is clear that the pressure applied to the pressure roller 6 can be much lower than in conventional devices using heat and pressure fixing. be.

The pressure applied to the pressure roller 6 varies depending on the degree to which the viscosity of the toner image 4 is reduced.It is possible to reduce the pressure applied to the pressure roller 6 from a few fractions to several hundred times that of the conventional pressure fixing method. Also, the thin layer of silicone oil on the surface of the dielectric drum 2 acts as a release layer, and a part of the thin layer of silicone oil is transferred to the recording paper 9. 1 for more reliable transcription
5- It is preferable to set the coating thickness of the thin layer of corn oil to be the same as or greater than the toner particle size.Also, if the thin layer of silicone oil is very thin, the thin layer of silicone oil on the plate will release from the mold. However, even if the thin layer of silicone oil is not transferred to the recording paper 9 at all, the surface of the dielectric drum 2 will be affected by the thin layer of silicone oil.
It has a highly water-repellent surface, and the adhesion force of the low-viscosity toner image 4 to the dielectric drum 2 side is extremely small, so the transfer efficiency of the toner image 4 is improved even though there is no thin layer of silicone oil. It is clear that the cost is higher than in the case of

Due to the effects described above, highly efficient transfer with almost no residual toner remaining without being transferred to the dielectric drum 2 can be realized. Further, the toner image 4 is pressed against the recording paper 9 and simultaneously penetrates into the fibers of the recording paper 9 and is transferred. In this state, the solvent contained in the transferred toner is evaporated or permeated and dried, thereby fixing it and obtaining the final recorded matter.

16- Also, during the previous transfer, a part of the silicone oil thin layer was transferred to the recording paper 9 along with the toner image 4 in a state covering the transferred toner image 4.

The surface of the final recorded product is water resistant, so even if water is spilled on it, image disturbances such as smearing will not occur.Finally, the dielectric drum 2 is cleaned by the cleaning unit 7. The silicone oil layer remaining on the dielectric drum 2 and paper powder adhering to the silicone oil layer are removed.

It is not necessary to remove the entire silicone oil layer at this time; it is only necessary to thin the oil layer to the extent that it does not interfere with subsequent recording cycles (X).

In addition, even if untransferred toner or solvent remains on the dielectric drum 2, as long as cleaning is performed by the cleaning unit 7, these are also removed together with the thin layer of silicone oil, making it possible to obtain high cleaning performance. can.

Thereafter, the static electricity is removed by the static eliminator 8, and the electrostatic latent image is erased.

Above, we have described the case where a solvent is supplied to a powder image on an image carrier prior to transfer.According to this embodiment, silicone oil, which is a release liquid that does not reduce the viscosity of the toner image 4, is used. Oil-coated felt 10, which is a releasing liquid supply means to be supplied to the surface of the dielectric drum 2.
Install the oil pan 11 and oil amount regulating blade 12 (
By providing a solvent mist generator 5, which is a solvent supply means for supplying a solvent that lowers the viscosity of the toner image 4, the viscosity of the toner image 4 is lowered with the solvent mist 17, thereby achieving transfer and fixing. This makes it possible to realize a recording device with high speed, low power consumption, and simple configuration. By supplying the toner image 4 to the surface of the recording paper 9, the toner image 4 can be easily transferred to the recording paper 9, and the cleaning performance of the untransferred toner image 4 can be improved. realizable.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, non-volatile silicone oil is used as a release liquid (when transferring the toner image 4 to the recording paper 917-8, it is applied to an area of the recording paper 9 that includes at least the area where the toner image 4 has been transferred). By transferring a portion of the silicone oil, it is possible to realize a recording device that can obtain a water-resistant recorded matter.In this example, the release liquid has liquid repellency to the solvent. This is not necessarily limited to this example, but even in other cases, the release liquid acts as a type of release layer, so it can have effects such as improving transfer efficiency and cleaning performance. Obtainable.

Furthermore, if the mold release liquid is repellent to the solvent, a synergistic effect can be expected between the effect of the mold release liquid as a mold release layer and the effect of preventing the solvent from adhering. In addition, in this example, the case where the mold release liquid is a lipophilic silicone oil and the solvent is water is described. For example, if the solvent supply means generates solvent vapor, the method in which the solvent supply is based on condensation of the solvent vapor may be used. In this case, while the solvent condenses on the powder image, the solvent does not condense on the surface of the image carrier coated with the lipophilic liquid. By selectively supplying the solvent, in which the solvent is preferentially supplied to the image area without being supplied to the image area, it is possible to reduce the amount of solvent retained by the image carrier during transfer. It is possible to realize a recording device with less wetting.

In this embodiment, a dielectric material which is a charge carrier is used as an image carrier, but the image carrier may be a charge carrier other than these, and is not limited to a charge carrier.

Further, in this embodiment, a recording device that forms a powder image using static electricity will be described; however, the present invention is not limited to this, but any recording device that performs recording using colored powder may be used. The present invention can be applied, for example, to so-called magnetography, in which a powder image is obtained by forming a magnetic latent image and developing it. In addition, in this embodiment, a case where a latent image is formed on an image carrier and developed with a colored powder is explained as an example, but the invention is not limited to this example. It is also possible to transfer the lines on the body drum once to the intermediate transfer body and then re-transfer them to the recording paper. In this case, the intermediate transfer body is the image carrier shown in the claims of the present invention. corresponds to

Methods of transferring a powder image onto such an intermediate transfer body include, for example, using a sticky silicone rubber roller as the intermediate transfer body and transferring the powder image using the viscosity of the rubber on the surface, or using insulating colored powder. When used, a method such as transferring a colored powder image to an intermediate transfer member by a method such as corona transfer can be used. Further, in this embodiment, the same effect can be obtained by using an image bearing member impregnated with a mold release liquid, although the case where the mold release liquid is applied onto the image bearing member is explained as an example. For example, if silicone rubber impregnated with silicone oil is used as an image carrier,
The silicone oil that is impregnated inside the rubber gradually seeps out to the surface, so there is always a thin layer of silicone oil on the surface. It is clear that this provides the same effect as applying a mold release liquid onto the image carrier, and in such a case, it is possible to omit the mold release liquid application means. Is possible.

Furthermore, the method of supplying the release liquid and the solvent and the form in which they are supplied are not particularly limited by this example. A plastic film or the like may also be used.

Effects of the Invention According to the first feature of the present invention, the device has a simple structure, enables toner image transfer and fixing with low energy, provides clear images with good transfer efficiency, and improves the cleaning performance of the image carrier. It is possible to realize an excellent recording device. Furthermore, according to the 221st feature of the present invention, it is possible to impart solvent resistance to the resulting recorded material. Furthermore, according to the third feature of the present invention, it is possible to realize a recording apparatus in which the recording paper is less wetted.

According to the fourth feature of the present invention, it is possible to omit the coating mechanism for coating the release liquid onto the image carrier, thereby realizing a recording device that achieves the same effect with a simpler configuration. Is possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the mold release liquid supplying means of the same embodiment. 1...Ion irradiation head, 2...Dielectric drum
3... Developing machine 4... Toner image 5... Solvent mist generation method 6... Pressure roller, 7... Cleaning unit, 8-... Static elimination nucleus 9... Recording paper 10
...Oil coated felt, 11...Oil pan,
12...Oil amount regulating blade, 13...Solvent tank 14...Solvent supply pump, 15...Ultrasonic vibrator, 16...Blower fan, 17...Solvent mist.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A release liquid supply means for supplying a release liquid that does not reduce the viscosity of the colored powder to the surface of the image carrier, and a powder made of the colored powder on the image carrier to which the release liquid has been supplied. an image forming means for forming a body image; a solvent supply means for supplying a solvent that lowers the viscosity of the powder image; and a recording paper by pressing the low viscosity powder image and recording paper and a transfer means for transferring the powder image to the recording apparatus. (2) The release liquid is nonvolatile, and when the powder image is transferred by the transfer means, at least a portion of the release liquid is applied to an area of the recording paper that includes at least the area where the powder image has been transferred. A recording device according to claim 1, which performs transcription. (3) The mold release liquid is liquid-repellent to the solvent, and the solvent supply means supplies solvent vapor to the powder image on the image carrier, and the solvent supply means supplies the solvent vapor to the powder image on the image carrier. 2. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a solvent is selectively supplied to said powder image by utilizing condensation. (4) Image formation in which a powder image made of the colored powder is formed on an image carrier impregnated with a release liquid that does not reduce the viscosity of the colored powder, and an image carrier supplied with the release liquid. means, and a solvent supply means for supplying a solvent that lowers the viscosity of the powder image;
A recording apparatus comprising: a transfer unit that transfers the powder image to the recording paper by pressing the low-viscosity powder image and the recording paper.