JPH039872B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for supplying a recording medium between a recording electrode and a back electrode facing each other, and supplying magnetic toner between the recording medium and the recording electrode. , a magnetic field is formed around the recording electrode, the toner particles are held on the recording electrode by this magnetic field, and in this state, a voltage pulse is applied between the two electrodes to cause the toner particles to be removed by Coulomb force. The present invention relates to a recording device that performs recording by transferring particles to the recording medium.

Configuration of Prior Art and Its Problems FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional recording apparatus of this type. In this figure, 1 is a cylindrical hollow body (sleeve), 2 is a magnet roll made by assembling a plurality of magnets into a roll, 3 is a hopper, 4 is a toner,
5 is a recording electrode, 6 is a back electrode, 7 is a recording medium, 8
is a voltage pulse application circuit. Although only one recording electrode 5 is shown in the drawing, in reality, a large number of recording electrodes 5 are provided in a row along a direction parallel to the axis of the hollow body 1.

In this device, as the magnetic roll 2 rotates in the direction of the arrow A, the toner 4 is pulled out from the hopper 3 onto the outer circumferential surface of the hollow body 1, is conveyed along the outer circumferential surface in the direction of the arrow C, and is transferred to the recording electrode 5. reach the top.
In this state, when a voltage pulse is selectively applied between each recording electrode 5 and the back electrode 6 by the voltage pulse application circuit 8, the toner particles on the recording electrode 5 to which the voltage pulse has been applied are Due to the Coulomb force, the recording material moves to the recording medium 7 against the magnetic force of the magnet roll 2, adheres to the recording medium 7 in the form of a dot, and recording is performed.

Here, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-38899, recording electrodes 5 are configured by the tips of conductor patterns (leads) formed on a flexible printed circuit board, and the flexible printed circuit board is used to transport toner. The circuit board is glued along the outer peripheral surface of the hollow body 1 so as not to interfere with the circuit board, and the end of the circuit board opposite to the recording electrode 5 is attached to the hollow body 1.
A structure is proposed in which the voltage pulse is taken out on both sides and connected to the voltage pulse application circuit 8 using a connector.

However, such a structure has the following drawbacks.

(b) In recording devices such as facsimile machines,
Generally, the density of the recording electrode 5 (pixel density) is 8
However, the density of the conductor pattern that can be formed on a flexible printed circuit board is usually about 3 to 5 wires/mm, and obtaining a higher density will reduce the yield. This is difficult due to the

(b) It is not possible to obtain the required number of recording electrodes with only one flexible printed circuit board, and it is necessary to join together multiple flexible printed circuit boards. To join the circuit boards so that the ends of the conductor patterns are aligned and to avoid uneven pitch between the conductor patterns at the seams between each flexible printed circuit board. , which is extremely difficult and leads to high costs.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and it is possible to easily obtain a low-cost, high-quality, and highly reliable recording head in which recording electrodes can be easily densified. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus in which the arrangement of voltage pulse application circuits to the recording head can be freely selected.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a cylindrical hollow body made of a non-magnetic material, a magnet rotatably housed inside the hollow body, and a driving means for driving and rotating the magnet. , a means for supplying magnetic toner onto the outer peripheral surface of the hollow body, a large number of recording electrodes disposed near the outer peripheral surface of the hollow body, and a position opposite to these recording electrodes with a recording medium in between. A back electrode provided, a voltage pulse application circuit that selectively applies a voltage pulse between each of the recording electrodes and the back electrode, and a connection that electrically connects the recording electrode and the voltage pulse application circuit. the recording electrode comprises a recording electrode pattern formed on a non-magnetic and insulating rigid substrate disposed in the same direction as the connection with respect to the outer circumferential surface of the hollow body, and the connecting means is a conductive wire pattern connected to an end of the recording electrode pattern formed on an insulating flexible substrate attached to the rigid substrate so as to stand up in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the magnet; It is.

Description of Embodiments Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.
This will be explained in more detail.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a recording head in the same apparatus. In these figures, 11 is a cylindrical hollow body, and this hollow body 11 is made of a conductive non-magnetic material such as an aluminum alloy or an insulating non-magnetic material such as a synthetic resin. Inside the hollow body 11, a magnet roll 12 formed by assembling a plurality of magnets in a roll shape is housed coaxially and rotatably with the hollow body 11, and the outer peripheral surface of the magnet roller 12 has an S pole. and N poles are formed alternately.
Further, this magnet roll 12 is configured to be rotated in the direction of arrow A by a magnet drive device (not shown).

Near the upper part of the hollow body 11, a hopper 13 is provided.
A magnetic toner 14 is contained in the hopper 13 . A doctor 15 is formed at the bottom opening of the hopper 13, and the tip of the doctor 15 faces the outer peripheral surface of the hollow body 11 via a doctor gap 16.

A recording head 18 is attached to the hollow body 11 via a toner guide 17 made of a non-magnetic material. As shown in detail in FIG. 3, the recording head 18 includes a rigid substrate 19 made of a non-magnetic rigid material such as ceramic,
A recording electrode pattern 20 made of a conductive foil formed by microfabrication such as photoetching on the recording electrode pattern 20, and a plurality of flexible circuit boards 2 that connect these recording electrode patterns 20 to a voltage pulse application circuit 28 to be described later.
It consists of 2. Note that the recording electrode pattern 20
may be made of a magnetic material or a non-magnetic material.

The rigid substrate 19 is provided tangentially to the hollow body 11 and is housed together with the hollow body 11 in the magnetic field generated by the magnet roller 12 . Further, the upper and lower surfaces of the toner guide 17 also extend in the direction in which the hollow body 11 is connected, and connect the outer peripheral surface of the hollow body 11 with the upper and lower ends of the rigid substrate 19.

One end portion 20a of each recording electrode pattern 20
extend to the lower end of the rigid substrate 19, and are lined up at the same pitch at the lower end. Also,
The other end portion 20b of the recording electrode pattern 20 is bent in a direction parallel to the axial direction of the hollow body 11 for each predetermined number of recording electrode patterns 20, and the pitch between these end portions 20b is equal to the pitch between the end portions 20a. (for example, the end portion 20a
The pitch between them is 8 lines/mm, and the pitch between the ends 20b is 3 to 5 lines/mm).

Each of the flexible circuit boards 22 is a flexible printed circuit board, and consists of an insulating flexible substrate 23 and a conductor pattern 24 formed on the flexible substrate 23, with one end of the flexible circuit board 22 being a flexible printed circuit board. The pitch between the conductive wire patterns 24 at the portion 22a is the same as the pitch between the lower end portions 20b of the recording electrode pattern 20, while the pitch between the conductive wire patterns 24 at the other end portion 22b is wider.

and the end portion 2 of each flexible printed circuit board 22;
2a is thermocompression bonded to the rigid substrate 19 so that the end portion 20b of the recording electrode pattern 20 and the conductor pattern 24 are connected to each other. Furthermore, here,
Each flexible printed circuit board 22 extends from the rigid substrate 19 to
It is arranged to stand up in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the magnet roll 12.

The lower end portion 20a of the recording electrode pattern 20 is
It faces the back electrode 25 with a gap in between. 2
Reference numeral 7 denotes a recording medium such as electrostatic recording paper or plain paper, which is conveyed in the direction of arrow B between the lower end 20a of the recording electrode pattern 20 and the back electrode 25 by a recording medium supply means such as a paper feed roller (not shown). be done. 28
is a voltage pulse application circuit, which is connected to the electrode pattern 20 via the conductor pattern 24 of the flexible printed circuit board 22.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

When the magnet roll 12 is rotated by the magnet drive device, the magnetic field also rotates, so that the toner 14 in the hopper 13 is transferred to the doctor gap 1.
6 onto the outer circumferential surface of the hollow body 11, and then conveyed on the same outer circumferential surface in the direction opposite to the rotational direction of the magnet roll 12 (in the direction of arrow C), and further passes through the lower surface of the toner guide 17. Recording electrode pattern 2
0 to the lower end 20a.

The toner 14 that has reached the lower end 20a of the recording electrode pattern 20 in this way is transferred to the toner chain (the toner particles are transferred to the magnet roll 12) on the lower end 20a.
connected in a chain along the lines of magnetic force emanating from)
Form 29.

When such a toner chain 29 is formed, a voltage pulse is selectively applied between the recording electrode pattern 20 and the back electrode 25 via the conductor pattern 24 by the voltage pulse application circuit 28. , as in the case of the conventional apparatus, particles at the tip of the toner chain 29 on the selected recording electrode pattern 20 are pushed against the magnetic force of the magnet roll 12 by the Coulomb force onto the recording medium 27.
As a result, dots corresponding to the selected recording electrode pattern 20 are applied to the recording medium 27.

Therefore, the voltage pulse is applied in accordance with the image signal, and in parallel with the application of the voltage pulse, the recording medium 2 is supplied by the recording medium supplying means.
7, an image corresponding to the image signal is recorded on the recording medium 27.

On the other hand, toner particles that have reached the lower end 20a of the recording electrode pattern 20 but have not migrated to the recording medium 27 are accommodated in the magnetic field of the magnetic roller 12 by the rigid substrate 19 together with the hollow body 11 as described above. Therefore, the toner 14 is returned to the hopper 13 via the rigid substrate 19 and the upper surface of the toner guide 17 (that is, the transportation of the toner 14 is not hindered by the rigid substrate 19).

Now, in general, rigid substrates have better mechanical strength than flexible substrates, have less heat absorption, and are easier to process into fine patterns. Therefore, like the present device, the recording electrode pattern 2 is placed on the rigid substrate 19.
0, the recording electrode pattern is formed on a flexible substrate as in the conventional device.
The density of the recording electrode pattern 20 can be greatly increased, and for example, a density of 8 lines/mm or more can be easily obtained. Furthermore, since the required number (for example, 2048 or more) of recording electrode patterns 20 can be formed on one rigid substrate 19, problems with the linearity of the arrangement of the electrode patterns 20 and the accuracy of the arrangement pitch do not occur. Therefore, a high quality, highly reliable recording head can be obtained at low cost.

In addition, in this device, as described above, the rigid substrate 1
Since the recording electrode pattern 20 formed on the substrate 9 is connected to the voltage pulse application circuit 28 via the flexible circuit board 22, the flexibility of the flexible circuit board 22 allows voltage pulses to be applied to the rigid substrate 19. circuit 2
Another advantage is that the arrangement of 8 can be freely selected.

Note that the rigid substrate 19 has no problem with its length dimension, but its width (W in FIG. 3) is 20 to 40 mm.
The degree and thickness are about 1.6 to 2 mm. Therefore,
If the rigid substrate 19 is arranged in the radial direction of the hollow body 11, unless the amount of magnetization of the magnet roll 12 is increased, the magnet roller 12 will be placed at the tip of the rigid substrate 19.
The magnetic field of
Even if the amount of magnetization is increased to avoid the above-mentioned disadvantages, the disadvantage is that the device becomes larger.

However, in the embodiment, the rigid substrate 19 is arranged in the tangential direction of the hollow body 11 (i.e., in the direction of the magnetic roller 12
(tangential direction of a cylinder of a certain diameter centered on the axis of rotation)
Since the rigid substrate 19 is placed in the magnetic field of the magnet roll 12 without increasing the amount of magnetization of the magnet roll 12 or increasing the size of the device, the rigid substrate 19 allows the toner 14 to be Conveyance can be prevented from being hindered.

Further, in the embodiment, the flexible circuit board 22 is arranged to stand up from the rigid substrate 19 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the magnet roll 12, so that the flow direction of the toner 14 conveyed on the rigid substrate 19 is fixed. ,
Since the direction is parallel to the flexible circuit board 22, the toner 14 on the rigid substrate 19 is prevented by the flexible circuit board 22.
transport is not obstructed.

FIG. 4 shows a sectional view according to another embodiment of the present invention (in the following embodiments, parts that are the same as or correspond to those in the previous embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals). The hollow body 11 in this embodiment is the hollow body 11 in the previous embodiment.
The toner guide 17 and the toner guide 17 are integrally molded, and the structure can be further simplified.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a recording head according to yet another embodiment of the invention, in which the flexible circuit board 22 is
Only the portion rising from the rigid substrate 19 is perpendicular to the axis of the magnet roll 12 (not shown), and the other portions are bent parallel to the rigid substrate 19. In this way, the flexible circuit board 22 has only the rising portion from the rigid substrate 19 that is connected to the magnet roll 1.
The other portions may be oriented in any direction as long as they are perpendicular to the axis No. 2, and the other portions may be oriented in any direction as long as they do not affect the conveyance of the toner. Further, in each of the above embodiments, the flexible circuit boards 22 are all bent at right angles, but they may be bent into a curved shape.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a recording head according to still another embodiment of the present invention, in which a portion of the recording electrode pattern 20 that is not necessary for the recording operation is covered or molded with an insulator 30. By doing so, the insulation properties of the recording head can be improved.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the recording device according to the present invention has recording electrode patterns formed on a rigid substrate, and these electrode patterns are connected to a voltage pulse application circuit via a flexible circuit board, thereby enabling recording. This is an excellent method in that it is easy to increase the density of electrodes, it is easy to obtain a low-cost, high-quality, and highly reliable recording head, and the arrangement of the voltage pulse application circuit to the recording head can be freely selected. It is something that can be effective.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the rigid substrate is arranged in the same direction as the connection with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the hollow body, and the flexible substrate is placed on the rigid substrate so as to stand up in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the magnet. By attaching it, the rigid substrate can be accommodated in the magnetic field without increasing the amount of magnetization of the magnet or increasing the size of the device, and the rigid substrate and flexible substrate prevent toner transport. Even if the recording electrode and the connecting means are formed on separate substrates, the effect of good toner transport can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional recording device, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a recording head in the same device, and FIG.
5 is a perspective view of a recording head according to still another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a recording head according to still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11...Hollow body, 12...Magnet roll, 13...
...hopper, 14...toner, 18...recording head, 19...rigid substrate, 20...recording electrode pattern, 22...flexible circuit board, 23...flexible substrate, 24...conductor pattern, 25... Back electrode,
27... Recording medium, 28... Voltage pulse application circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical hollow body made of a non-magnetic material, a magnet rotatably housed inside the hollow body, a driving means for driving and rotating the magnet, and magnetic toner on the outer peripheral surface of the hollow body. a means of supplying;
A large number of recording electrodes arranged near the outer peripheral surface of the hollow body, a back electrode provided at a position facing these recording electrodes with a recording medium sandwiched therebetween, and between each of the recording electrodes and the back electrode. The recording electrode is provided with a voltage pulse application circuit that selectively applies a voltage pulse, and a connection means that electrically connects the recording electrode and the voltage pulse application circuit, and the recording electrode is connected to the outer peripheral surface of the hollow body. It consists of a recording electrode pattern formed on a non-magnetic and insulating rigid substrate arranged in the same direction as the tangent line, and the connecting means is arranged on the rigid substrate so as to stand up in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the magnet. A recording device comprising a conductor pattern connected to an end of the recording electrode pattern formed on an attached insulating flexible substrate.