JPH0355316B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for recording paper,
The present invention relates to a recording method and a recording apparatus for depositing liquid ink onto a recording surface such as metal, plastic, or other material to record an ink image.

Conventionally, a method called an inkjet method is known as the above-mentioned recording method, in which color ink or magnetic ink is ejected by Coulomb force in response to a signal, and is adhered to a recording surface to record and reproduce an ink image.

This type of method has the disadvantage of requiring a high voltage of 2 kV or more because it is necessary to fly ink droplets using Coulomb force, and an improvement is desired.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a new recording device that operates at a low voltage and does not utilize Coulomb force, unlike the conventional method described above.

To describe the present invention more specifically, a plurality of signal electrodes insulated from each other are arranged on a plate-shaped support base material, either singly or in a parallel grid pattern, and one end of the signal electrodes intersects with the signal electrode. At the same time, a plate-shaped dielectric is bonded to form an electrode exposed surface with the signal electrode exposed at the edge, and an auxiliary electrode is further installed on the composite, and liquid ink is applied to the auxiliary electrode surface. supplying means, means for selectively applying a signal voltage between the signal electrode and the auxiliary electrode, and means for bringing an edge of the support base into contact with a recording surface, The recording apparatus is characterized in that the liquid ink is moved to the exposed surface of the electrode by electroosmotic phenomenon with respect to the dielectric material, and is transferred to the recording surface.

The term "liquid ink" as used herein refers to a colored material in which a dye or pigment is dissolved or suspended in a liquid, and is defined as having fluidity, regardless of whether it is in the form of a solution or a colloid.

Furthermore, electroosmosis is a general term for an electrokinetic phenomenon in which when a solid and a liquid material are brought into contact, an electric double layer is generated at the interface, and the liquid material moves relative to the solid in response to voltage application. When the solid material is non-porous, the liquid material moves on the surface of the solid material, and when the solid material is porous, the movement of the liquid material can be carried out on either or both of the surface and the inside of the solid material.

Hereinafter, aspects of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Examples.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure and a power supply system of an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operating principle of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1, where a shows a case where ink printing is performed and b shows a case where ink printing is not performed.

In the figure, 10 is a dielectric material with a thickness of about 20 to 150 μm made of a thin layer or plate of plastic or glass, and 20 placed on top of it is a liquid ink that electropenetrates into this dielectric material. form a complex 100. When the dielectric 10 is made of, for example, borosilicate glass or cellulose acetate, the liquid ink 20 that exhibits good electroosmotic properties toward the negative electrode of the dielectric 10 is made of, for example, γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane. In addition to the necessary binder, charge control agent, and surfactant, the liquid material contains a mixture of Macrolex Blue FR (manufactured by Bayer) and Oiled Dyes and pigments such as Macrolex Blue PR (manufactured by Bayer) for blue ink, Fat Yellow 3G (manufactured by Bayer) for yellow ink, and Oil Red 5303 (manufactured by Arimoto Chemical Co., Ltd.) for red ink are used. An oil-soluble ink can be formed by mixing about 1 to 4% by weight. Although the liquid ink 20 can be a water-based ink, an oil-soluble ink is more useful because electrolysis occurs. Note that, unlike the above example, for the liquid ink 10 that electro-osmoses toward the positive electrode, an organic solvent such as phenyltriethoxysilane or tetrahexyl silicate may be used instead of the liquid in the above example.

Reference numeral 200 denotes a plate-shaped support base material such as plastic or glass, on the surface of which a signal electrode 300 is adhered, and with this electrode 300 inserted, the dielectric body 10 is supported so that one end of each side is substantially aligned. Base material 20
Glued and joined to 0.

In this case, when the dielectric 10 is glass or the like and requires an adhesive, the electroosmotic polarity of the adhesive with respect to the liquid ink 20 is preferably in the same polar direction as the dielectric 10, as described above. Cellulose acetate is suitable for the composition of the liquid ink 20.

An auxiliary electrode 400 is adhered to the surface of the dielectric 10 opposite to the surface on which the signal electrode 300 is disposed, and the liquid ink 20 described above is disposed thereon.

The electrodes 300 and 400 can be made of a thin film or thin plate of a metal such as copper or silver, or a metal oxide such as tin oxide or indium oxide, but from the viewpoint of preventing electrochemical corrosion, they are preferably made of graphite conductive paint or the like. It is preferable to do so.

Joint edge 201 which is the edge of the dielectric 10 junction
The support base material 200 having the electrode 300 protrudes a little from the other side to form an electrode exposed surface 202.

One or both of the dielectric material 10 and the supporting base material 200 have a bonding edge 201 or an electrode exposed surface 2.
02, these edge surfaces 1
1,210 or their extended surfaces intersect. This border is recorded on recording sheet 500.
The upper recording surface 501 contacts the dielectric edge surface 11,
This is a preferable configuration to prevent the ink 20 from being swept away and to transfer the liquid ink 20 corresponding to a signal voltage, which will be described later, to the recording surface 501. In this example, the edge surfaces 11 of the dielectric 10 and the support base 200,
210 are both beveled and edged.

A ridge of liquid ink is effectively formed on the electrode exposed surface 202. The protrusion length of the electrode exposed surface 202 is preferably, for example, 100 μm or less, and if this length is too large, the resolution of the recorded ink image will be reduced due to bleeding of the liquid ink.

Reference numeral 500 denotes a recording sheet made of paper, plastic, etc., which is fed from a sheet winding roller 620 by a feed roller 630 as shown by the arrow in the figure, and is pressed by a pressure roller 610 onto the edge surface 21 of the supporting base material 200.
0, the electrode exposed surface 20 along the charge removal electrode 611
2.

700 is an image electrical signal source 70 to be recorded in ink.
0, an electric signal VC is applied between the pair of electrodes 300 and 400, and a bias voltage _VB is supplied to the pressure roller 610.

The operation will be described below by taking as an example the liquid ink 20 that electro-osmoses in the direction of the negative electrode.

Consider a case where a negative voltage V _C is applied to the signal electrode 300 with respect to the auxiliary electrode 400 as shown in FIG. 2a. The edge surface 11 of the dielectric 10 is coated with liquid ink 20
A liquid ink 20 is supplied so as to be wetted by the water. An interfacial electrical double layer is formed on this edge surface 11, and the edge surface 11 side exhibits negative electrical behavior and the liquid ink 21 side exhibits positive electrical behavior. Therefore, when the voltage V _C is applied as described above, the liquid ink 21 moves along the edge surface 11 from the positive electrode 400 side to the negative electrode 300 side due to this electric field, as illustrated by the arrow in the figure, that is, the electric field Penetrate.

Liquid ink 21 moved by this electroosmosis
The shortage of ink is automatically supplied from the liquid ink 20 on the electrode 400 due to surface tension.

Therefore, due to this electroosmosis, the liquid ink 21 remains on the joining edge 201 and further on the exposed electrode surface 202, and forms an ink bulge 22 in response to the amplitude of the applied voltage V _C. This raised liquid ink 22
is the recording sheet 500 pressed against the edge surface 210
The image is attached to and transferred to the recording surface 501 of. When the recording sheet 500 is moved in the direction of the arrow by the rollers, an ink transfer 23 with a density corresponding to the amplitude of the negative voltage V _C is obtained on the recording surface 501.

On the other hand, when a zero or positive voltage V' _C is applied to the signal electrode 300 with respect to the auxiliary electrode 400 as shown in FIG. Penetration stops. especially positive voltage
When V _C ′ is applied, instantaneously, as shown by the arrow in the figure,
The direction of electroosmosis is reversed, and the liquid ink 21 reaches the edge 202 where the signal electrode 300, which is the positive electrode, is located.
The liquid ink ridge 22 disappears, and no ink transfer 23 occurs.

Thus, if zero and negative voltages are applied as image signals to the electrode 400 and 300 as the ink supply transfer voltage V _C and a positive voltage as the ink transfer blocking voltage V _C ', the amplitude of V _C An ink transfer 23 with a density corresponding to the density is obtained on the recording surface 501, and a two-dimensional ink image can be recorded by arranging a plurality of the above-mentioned elements in a line and selectively operating them.

When a material that electroosmoses in the direction of the positive electrode is used as the liquid ink 20, the polarity of V _C and V _C ' can be reversed to the above, and the same procedure can be carried out.

The electrical osmosis degree u of the liquid ink 20 is the same as that of the auxiliary electrode 4
00 and the signal electrode 300 (the length of the edge surface 11 in this example) in cm, the applied voltage in volts V,
When time is expressed in seconds (sec), it is usually 10 ^-6 to 10 ^-4
A value on the order of cm ² /V·sec can be obtained. Maximum applied voltage is 2V/μm (i.e. 2×10 ⁴ V/cm)
Therefore, if a highly sensitive liquid ink 20 is used, electroosmosis can cover a distance of about 2 cm in 1 sec. Approximately 1 dot of ink transfer
Penetration of about 10 μm is required, so approximately
High-speed recording of about ¹⁰³ dots is possible. Moreover,
Since L is usually selected to be about 20 to 150 μm, the maximum amplitude of V _C is about 40 to 300 V, and in the conventional image recording method that uses ink flying due to Coulomb force,
Whereas a high voltage of about 2 kV is required, the present invention can be operated at a much lower voltage, and since it uses ink contact transfer, it has the advantage of being much simpler in configuration. .

In addition, in the method of directly performing ink transfer as in the present invention, it is necessary to pay attention to the electrical behavior of the recording surface. Generally, the recording sheet 500 is often made of an insulator such as paper, and is charged by frictional static electricity or the like.
This electric field may make the transfer of the raised ink 22 unstable. To prevent this, it is sufficient to provide means for removing electrical charges on the recording surface 510 prior to ink transfer.

For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, an electrode 611 is provided on the edge surface 210, the pressure roller 610 is made of metal, and these are grounded via an image electric signal source 700, or a constant By biasing the potential, the charges on the recording surface 501 of the recording sheet 500 and the surface opposite thereto which are in contact with these are discharged, or by charging to a constant potential, the charge on the recording surface 501, that is, the potential It is possible to prevent two-dimensional non-uniform distribution of ink and stabilize ink transfer.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pressure roller 610 is made of a conductive material, and this is used as a second auxiliary electrode and is supplied with power from an image electric signal source 700 to give a potential difference to the signal electrode 300. , the transfer of the ink bumps 22 onto the recording surface 509 can be controlled.

For example, in FIG. 2a, when a negative voltage _VB with a larger amplitude than VC is applied to the pressure roller 610 via the switch _S , this electrostatic field causes the edge surface to
Electroosmosis 21 to the electrode exposed surface 202 side through 1
On the other hand, if the amplitude is smaller than the above or if a positive voltage V _B ' is applied via S, electroosmosis 21 to the 202 side is suppressed and the formation of ink bumps 22 is controlled. The ink bump 22 is charged according to the potential difference between the signal electrode 300 and the pressure roller 610 that are in contact with it, and is moved toward the pressure roller 610 side, that is, the recording surface 50 by a Coulomb force corresponding to the potential difference.
1 to facilitate ink transfer 23.

Therefore, high-density, high-speed transfer can be obtained by applying a negative voltage V _B with a larger amplitude than V _C in synchronization with V _C. Normally, the amplitude of the voltage V _B in this case is selected to be 1000 V or less when paper with a thickness of about 50 to 80 μm is used as the recording sheet 501, and is lower than that of the conventional inkjet method that uses the spatial flight of ink droplets. Voltage is fine.

Usually, a transfer roller 61 as a second auxiliary electrode
When comparing the effect on electroosmosis on the edge surface 11 due to the electrostatic field caused by zero and the effect on the ink protrusion 22 due to Coulomb force, the latter is often more dominant. Therefore, when the ink transfer blocking voltage V _{C '} is applied as _shown in FIG. 300 and 61
It is effective to prevent ink transfer by reducing the potential difference between 0 and 0 to prevent the influence of Coulomb force on the ink protrusion 22, and is desirable for high-speed, high-resolution image recording.

In this way, positive and negative voltages V _B and V _B ' can be biased to the auxiliary roller 610, which is the second auxiliary electrode, in correlation with the potential of the signal electrode 300, or the amplitude and polarity can be changed. , V _C or V _C ′, or by selectively applying it in a multi-element configuration, there is an advantage that variable control for promoting or suppressing the transfer characteristics can be performed. When using the liquid ink 20 that electroosmoses in the direction of the positive electrode, the voltage polarity can be similarly taken into consideration.

FIG. 3 is a sectional structural view of another embodiment of the recording head portion of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

In this example, only the support base material 200 is diagonally edged, and the dielectric 10 is not diagonally edged.
The recording sheet 500 is pressed against and in contact with the edge surface 210.

The liquid ink 20 is supplied to the surface of the dielectric 10 on which the auxiliary electrode 400 is provided by using a spacer 811 on the surface of the auxiliary electrode 400 with a gap of, for example, about 20 to 200 μm, leaving a position corresponding to the bonding edge 201. the ink supply pipe 820 from the outside into this gap.
The liquid ink 20 is supplied through the ink.

FIG. 4 is a sectional structural view of a recording head portion of still another embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

In this example, the dielectric edge surface 11 of the liquid ink 20 is
A porous body 830 made of a material such as fiber, plastic, or glass is placed on the surface of the auxiliary electrode 400, and the supply is performed by capillary action.

A porous body (including a sponge body) 830 is partially accommodated in an ink reservoir 840 bonded to the surface of the auxiliary electrode 830 and immersed in the liquid ink 20 .

This type of ink supply method has the advantage that stable ink supply is possible. Note that the liquid ink 20 can be replenished into the ink reservoir 840 using a thin tube or the like as necessary.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional structural diagram of still another embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

In this example, a two-dimensionally expanding porous dielectric 10' having minute gaps or pores substantially penetrating in the thickness direction is used as the dielectric, and the liquid ink 20 is impregnated into this porous dielectric 10'. complex 1
00 is formed.

The porous dielectric 10' is made of, for example, natural fiber, glass, porcelain, plastic material, etc., and its thickness is selected to be, for example, about 20 to 150 μm. Particularly good image recording can be achieved using so-called microporous membrane filters made of plastic material with an average pore diameter of 0.1 to 8 μm and a porosity of about 60 to 80%.

Regarding the liquid ink 20 illustrated in FIG.
Microporous membrane filters made of cellulose acetate are preferred.

These porous dielectrics 10' serve as signal electrodes 30
The electrode 300 is placed on a supporting substrate 200 such as a glass plate coated with 0, and the portion far from the joining edge 201 is bonded to the supporting substrate 200 having the electrode 300 with an adhesive 850. A liquid ink permeable auxiliary electrode 410 is provided on the surface of the porous dielectric 10' opposite to the signal electrode 300. The auxiliary electrode 410 is made by applying a thin layer of graphite conductive paint,
Alternatively, it can be formed by depositing a mesh metal electrode or the like. The side opposite to the edge surface 11 of the porous dielectric 10' is
The liquid ink 20 is immersed in an ink reservoir 840 to which ink 20 is supplied through an ink supply pipe 821, and the liquid ink 20 permeates through the electrode 410 and impregnates the porous dielectric 10' by capillarity.

An image recording signal voltage is supplied to the electrodes 300 and 410 from a power source 700.

Both edge surfaces 11, 210 of the porous dielectric 10' and the support substrate 200 may be edged at an angle, but in this example, only the portion 210 is edged, and is edged by rollers 620, 630. The recording surface 501 of the recording sheet 500 is brought into contact with the edge portion 202 .

FIGS. 6a and 6b are explanatory views of the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. For convenience, this example will also be described using an example in which liquid ink that electroosmoses in the direction of the negative electrode is used as in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 6a, liquid ink 20 is shown as shown in FIG.
When a negative ink supply transfer voltage V _C is applied as an image signal voltage to the permeable auxiliary electrode 410, the liquid ink 20 impregnated or attached to the porous dielectric 10' is removed from the edge surface 11. As in FIG. 1, electroosmosis occurs toward the electrode exposed surface 202 as indicated by the arrow 24. In parallel with this, through fine holes or gaps 12 that penetrate substantially in the thickness direction,
Arrow 2 from the auxiliary electrode 410 side to the signal electrode 300 side
5, electro-osmosis occurs over the entire surface of the dielectric 10'.

Liquid ink 20 produced by electroosmosis in the thickness direction
flows into and fills the bonding gap 203 between the dielectric 10' and the supporting base material having the electrode 300, and is pushed out to the electrode exposed surface 202 by the electroosmotic pressure as shown by the arrow 26 in the figure.

Arrow 27 pointing to the opposite side with respect to the electrode exposed surface 202
The liquid ink 20 can be extruded as shown in the figure by sealing with an adhesive 850 or by strongly pressing the dielectric 10' in this area against the 200 side to prevent the movement of the ink 20. Since this is not possible, the liquid ink 20 that has electropenetrated in the thickness direction as shown by the arrow 25 is effectively pumped and oozes out toward the joining edge 201 side. Therefore, together with the electroosmosis as shown by the arrow 24 on the edge surface, the liquid ink bulges 22 are efficiently formed over the bonding edge 201 and the exposed electrode surface 202, and the recording surface 50
1. Ink transfer can be performed.

In this case, the bonding gap 203 is excessively filled with the liquid ink 20 due to electroosmosis in the thickness direction,
This pressure lifts the porous dielectric 10',
Effective exudation may be reduced. In such a case, an auxiliary substrate is placed on the surface of the auxiliary electrode 410, and the porous dielectric 1 is inserted through this auxiliary substrate.
0' to the signal electrode 300 side with moderately weak pressure not only solves the above-mentioned problems, but also makes the liquid ink 20 more effectively fed and oozed out through the bonding gap 203. There are advantages to doing so. The auxiliary substrate may be liquid-impermeable, but a liquid-permeable one having a large number of micropores is advantageous from the point of view of ink supply.

Unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the ink ridges 22 are formed by utilizing electroosmosis in the thickness direction of the entire surface of the dielectric in addition to electroosmosis on the edge surface of the dielectric, so in this embodiment, the ink protrusion 22 is much larger. Effective ink transfer 23
The density of the ink transfer 23 can also be controlled by changing the amplitude of the voltage V _C , the application time, or both.

To stop ink transfer, the amplitude of V _C may be made zero, or an ink transfer blocking voltage V _C ' having the opposite polarity to V _C may be applied as shown in FIG. 6b.

Upon application of V _C ', the arrows 24, 25, 26 indicating the movement of the liquid ink 20 reverse direction as illustrated in the figure and electroosmose toward the auxiliary electrode 410. The liquid ink 20 present on the bonding edge 201 and the exposed electrode surface 202 is instantly absorbed into the auxiliary electrode 410 side as the amplitude of V _C ' becomes larger, and ink transfer stops.

In this case, including the embodiment shown in FIG.
If the amplitude of V _C ' is selected to be appropriately smaller than the maximum amplitude of V _C , the liquid ink 20 will not be excessively absorbed from the electrode exposed surface 202 to the auxiliary electrode side, and then
This has the advantage that the formation of the ink bumps 22 when V _C is applied can be prevented from being delayed.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional structural diagram of another embodiment of the image recording apparatus according to the present invention.

In this example, the porous dielectric material 10', the supporting base material 20
An example is shown in which the edge surfaces 11, 200 of 0 are both hemmed. In order to more effectively supply the liquid ink 20 to the porous dielectric 10', a second porous body 910 for impregnating the liquid ink 20 is provided on the surface thereof.
is provided, and an auxiliary substrate 920 is further provided thereon. A porous dielectric material 10' or the like is inserted between the auxiliary substrate 920 and the supporting substrate 200 under appropriate pressure.

One end of these is immersed in an ink reservoir 840;
The porous dielectric material 10' is impregnated by capillary action below it or through the second porous material 910.

The second porous body 910 is of the same type as the porous dielectric 10', or is made of a sponge-like material such as polyurethane or rubber.

The auxiliary substrate 920 can be configured to be permeable or non-permeable to the liquid ink 20. Porous dielectric 1
Supplying liquid ink 20 to 0' more effectively,
From the viewpoint of increasing the degree of freedom of movement of the ink 20 within the composite by electroosmosis, it is desirable to make the ink permeable or ink permeable.

The auxiliary electrode 920 is made of, for example, a thin plate of glass, plastic, porcelain, or the like. In order to achieve ink permeability, it is desirable to have numerous pores penetrating in the thickness direction.

As in this example, when one end side of the porous dielectric body 10' is directly immersed in the ink reservoir 840, the second porous body 910 can be removed and used as an aid. The dielectric 10' is pressed against the support substrate 200 side by the substrate 920 with appropriate pressure, and the dielectric 10' is fixed to stabilize the operation.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of still another embodiment of the image recording apparatus according to the present invention.

In normal image recording, a plurality of signal electrodes 300 are insulated from each other and arranged in a parallel grid pattern as shown in the figure. The resolution of the recorded image is determined by this array pitch. Normally, this array pitch is 125μm (8 lines/
mm), and the width of the conductive portion of the signal electrode 300 is selected to be approximately 50 to 70 μm. This type of signal electrode 300 is made by separating conductive paint such as graphite or metal foil into parallel grids using a known photoetching method. These signal electrodes 300 serve as an image signal source 700
A signal voltage is selectively applied line-sequentially, time-sequentially, or multiplexed. In response to this signal voltage, the liquid ink 20 is applied to the bonding edge 201 and the electrode exposed surface 202 by electroosmosis in the edge surface 21 of the non-porous or porous dielectric 10, 10' and also in the thickness direction. A bump is formed and ink transfer 23 to the recording surface 501 is performed.

Smearing of the liquid ink 20 on the exposed electrode surface 202 poses a problem in recording good image quality. In order to prevent this bleeding, it is effective to configure the material of the support base 200 to have the same electroosmotic polarity as the material of the dielectrics 10 and 10'. That is, when the dielectrics 10 and 10' cause the liquid ink 20 to electroosmose toward the negative electrode, the material of the supporting base material 200 is also selected to allow the liquid ink 20 to electroosmose toward the negative electrode. The same method is used when performing electroosmosis in the direction of the positive electrode. dielectric 10,1
The materials of the supporting base material 200 and the supporting base material 200 may be the same or different materials as long as the above-mentioned conditions are satisfied.

For the liquid ink 20 and dielectrics 10 and 10' illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5, the material of the supporting base material 200 is preferably borosilicate glass, silicate glass, cellulose acetate, etc. that satisfy the above conditions. It is a good material.
FIG. 8 shows the dielectric 10 and liquid ink 20.
10' and the supporting base material 200 are both electroosmotic in the direction of the negative electrode. Among the signal electrodes 300 adjacent to each other, the auxiliary electrode 40 is
Ink supply transfer voltage negative to 0,410
V _C is applied to B, and an ink transfer blocking voltage V _C ' having the opposite polarity is applied to B.

Joint edge 201 of signal electrode A, electrode exposed surface 20
2 has an edge surface 21 (1
In the case of 0', the liquid ink 20 further electropenetrates from the auxiliary electrode 20 side through the bonding gap 203) as illustrated by the arrow to form an ink protuberance 22.
On the other hand, in the signal electrode B, the edge surface 21 (1
In the case of 0', further through the joining gap 203)
Electropenetration occurs toward the auxiliary electrode 20 as shown by the arrow in response to the amplitude of V _C ′, and the adjacent electrode A is in a state of a more negative voltage with respect to the amplitude of V _C +V _C ′ with respect to electrode B. Therefore, the liquid ink 20 on electrode B is
As illustrated by the arrow, the ink will rapidly electro-osmote through the edge 201 surface of the support substrate 200, contributing to the formation of the ink bulge 22 on the electrode A.

Therefore, the joining edge 201 and the electrode exposed surface 202
At the same time, the electroosmosis promotes the formation of the ink bump 22 on the electrode A, and at the same time, the liquid ink 20 on the electrode B disappears.

Therefore, corresponding to electrode A, ink transfer 23
, and no ink is transferred to the portion corresponding to electrode B, which has the advantage of enabling high-resolution image recording without bleeding.

Note that the above movement due to electroosmosis of the liquid ink 20 occurs simultaneously in the bonding gap 203 when the porous dielectric 10' is used.

The electroosmosis of the liquid ink 20 on the electrode exposed surface 202 as described above substantially affects the signal electrodes A and B.
Because it is caused by the potential _difference between
It is not necessary that the polarity is opposite to V _C , but even if the polarity is the same, as long as the amplitude is smaller than V _C or zero, the ink functions in the same way, and the image recording device according to the present invention essentially has the same polarity as V C. It has the feature of being able to record images with less bleeding.

In addition, as described in FIG. 1, the joining edge 201
Alternatively, a second auxiliary electrode 640 is provided to promote ink transfer by inserting the recording sheet 500 corresponding to the electrode exposed surface 202, and the signal source 7 is connected to the recording sheet 500.
More effective ink transfer can be achieved by applying a positive or negative bias voltage from 00 or a pulse voltage in synchronization with the signal voltages V _C and V _C '.

In this case, the second auxiliary electrode 640 is connected to the signal electrode 3
00, and selectively applying a pulse voltage in synchronization with the signal voltage applied to each signal electrode 300 to promote the transfer of the ink protrusion 22 to the recording surface 510, the ink protrusion 22 can be further increased. Records of sensitivity can be achieved.

Aspects of the present invention have been described above in detail with respect to various embodiments, but these embodiments can be implemented in combination as appropriate.

As described above, the present invention is a recording method and a recording device that utilize electroosmosis of liquid ink, which operate at lower dynamic pressure than conventional recording devices that eject ink using Coulomb force. Easy, high-resolution recording with little blurring is possible. Furthermore, since the number of colors of the liquid ink can be freely adjusted by the colorant mixed in, color recording can be performed by combining a plurality of these devices for multicolor printing, which is extremely useful industrially.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional structural diagram of an embodiment of a recording device according to the present invention, FIGS. 2a and 2b are illustrations of the operating principle of the device in FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional structural diagram of another embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional structural diagram of the recording head portion of still another embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional structural diagram of another embodiment of the recording device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 6a and 6b show an explanation of the operation of the device shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional structural diagram for explaining another embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective partial structural view of still another embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the present invention. 10, 10'...dielectric material, 20...liquid ink,
22... Ink bump, 23... Ink transfer, 10
0...Composite, 200...Supporting base material, 11,21
0...edge face, 201...joint edge, 202...
Electrode exposed surface, 300...Signal electrode, 400, 41
0... Auxiliary electrode, 500... Recording sheet, 501
... Recording surface, 610, 620, 630 ... Roller, 640 ... Electrode, 700 ... Recording image signal source, 840 ... Ink reservoir, V _C , V _C ' ... Signal voltage.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of mutually insulated signal electrodes are arranged in a single or parallel lattice shape on a plate-shaped support base,
A plate-shaped dielectric is bonded thereon so that one end thereof intersects with the signal electrode and forms an electrode exposed surface where the signal electrode is exposed at the edge, and an auxiliary electrode is further installed on top of it. means for supplying liquid ink to the auxiliary electrode surface; means for selectively applying a signal voltage between the signal electrode and the auxiliary electrode; and an edge portion where the electrode exposed surface is formed. and a means for bringing a recording surface into contact with the electrode, wherein liquid ink is moved to the exposed surface of the electrode by an electroosmosis phenomenon in a dielectric material according to the signal voltage, and is transferred to the recording surface. 2. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the plate-shaped dielectric material is porous. 3. The recording device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the length of the electrode exposed surface is 100 μm or less.