JPH04151680A - Wet type color image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supply a sufficient developing liquid to a photosensitive body on which an electrostatic latent image is formed and to form an excellent quality image by providing a tank elevating/descending means and an air blow-off means. CONSTITUTION:A first air blow-off means is composed of a supplying pipe 3, a sucking room 4, a diffusing nozzle 5, and a pressurized air supplying device 14, and a second air blow-off means is composed of a supplying pipe 7, a sucking room 8, a diffusing nozzle 9 and a pressurized air supplying device 15, Further, a cam 16 and an elevating/ descending pin 17 in contact with the cam 16 are installed just under a developing tank 13, and a mechanism that the developing tank 13 is elevated/descended by rotating the cam 16 centering a supporting shaft 18, is adopted. The tank elevating/descending means is composed of the cam 16, the elevating/descending pin 17, and the supporting shaft 18. At this time, the tank elevating/descending means elevates/descends a developing liquid tank housing a developing liquid up to a position where the lower part of a drum is soaked in the developing liquid, the air blow-off means forms the layer of air between the surface of a drum side and the developing liquid, and the developing liquid is prevented from coming into contact with the surface of the drum side and sticking thereto. Thus, the excellent quality image can be formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a wet color image forming apparatus, and more specifically, it forms an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive paper on a drum, and produces a visible image by supplying a developer. The present invention relates to a wet color image forming apparatus that obtains the following.

[Prior Art] In a wet color image forming apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, a drum 1 holding a photosensitive paper 2 on its outer peripheral surface is rotatably supported by a support shaft 40.

At a position facing the outer peripheral surface of the drum 1, there is a corona charger 41 that applies an electrostatic charge to the photosensitive paper 2 to charge it, and an exposure device 4 that exposes the charged photosensitive paper 2 to form an electrostatic latent image.
2, a front bath roller 43 that contacts the photosensitive paper 2 and prevents scumming caused by the developer with the pre-bath solution, and the photosensitive paper 2 moistened with the pre-bath solution.
A developing device 44 (44Y, 44M,
44C and 44B), a drum cleaning device 45 for removing excess developer and fixed and stacked toner adhering to the outer peripheral surface of the drum 1, and a static eliminator for removing electric charge remaining on the photosensitive paper 2 after development. 46 are provided in order.

In the developing device 44, a developing roller 47 that contacts the photosensitive paper 2 and supplies a developing solution is rotatably supported with its lower side immersed in the developing solution, and the number of developing solutions required for a color copying device is reduced. (four in this conventional example) are arranged below the drum 1.

The photosensitive paper 2 is fed to the drum 1 from a paper feeding device (not shown), and the photosensitive paper 2 is held on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 1 by a method using negative pressure or the like.

In this state, the drum 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow by a drive device (not shown), and at the same time, the photosensitive paper 2 is first charged with an electrostatic charge applied to its surface by the corona charger 41.

Thereafter, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 2 by an exposure device 42, and then the photoreceptor 2 is wetted with a pre-bath liquid by a pre-bath roller 43. Next, when the photosensitive paper 2 passes through the developing device 44,
The lower side is immersed in the developer and the upper side is in contact with the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive paper 2, and is developed with the developer drawn up by the rotating developing roller 47, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized. .

Further, the photosensitive paper 2 is removed by a static eliminator 46 to remove the electric charge remaining on the surface.
After the color is removed, the next color process is carried out.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional device described above, the amount of developer drawn up by the developing roller is insufficient, and the supply of developer to the electrostatic latent image is insufficient, making it difficult to form a good quality image. The problem was that it was difficult to do.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a wet color image forming method that can supply sufficient developer to photosensitive paper on which an electrostatic latent image is formed and form a high-quality image. The purpose is to provide equipment.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve this object, the wet type color image forming apparatus of the present invention charges a photosensitive drum or a photosensitive paper on the drum.
In a wet color image forming apparatus that forms an electrostatic latent image through exposure and then supplies a developer to the electrostatic latent image to form a visible image, a developer tank storing the developer is used. The tank is provided with a tank elevating means for raising and lowering the drum to a position where the lower part thereof is immersed in the developer, and an air blowing means for creating an air layer between the side surface of the drum and the developer.

In the wet type color image forming apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the tank elevating means raises and lowers the developer tank storing the developer to a position where the lower part of the drum is immersed in the developer. The air blowing means creates a layer of air between the side surface of the drum and the developer to prevent the developer from coming into contact with or adhering to the side of the drum.

[Actual Example] Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The outline of the operation of the wet color image forming apparatus is the same as that of the conventional example explained using FIG. 3, so the explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a drum of a wet color image forming apparatus equipped with a developing device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a right perspective view of the drum.

A supply pipe 3 that also serves as a support shaft is provided on the left side of the drum 1, and a suction chamber 4 that changes the direction of the air flow sent from the supply pipe 3
A diffusion nozzle 5 for diffusing and blowing out air is arranged, and the structure is such that the air sent from the supply pipe 3 can be blown out from the air outlet 6 of the diffusion nozzle 5. Furthermore, a pressurized air supply device 14 for supplying pressurized air to the supply pipe 3 is installed on the other side of the supply pipe 3, and the supply pipe 3, suction chamber 4, diffusion nostle 5, and pressurized air supply device 14 This constitutes the first air blowing means.

Also, on the right side of the tram 1, similar to the left side, there are arranged a supply pipe 7 that also serves as a support shaft, a suction chamber 8 that changes the direction of the flow of air sent from the supply pipe 7, and a diffusion nozzle 9 that diffuses and blows out the air. The structure is such that the air sent from the supply pipe 7 can be blown out from the outlet 10 of the diffusion nozzle 9.

Furthermore, a pressurized air supply device °15 for supplying pressurized air to the supply pipe 7 is installed on the other side of the supply pipe 7. constitutes the second air blowing means.

Furthermore, a cam 16 and an elevating bin 17 in contact with the cam 16 are installed directly below the developing tank 13, and the cam 16 is connected to a support shaft 1.
The developing tank 13 is raised and lowered by rotating around the rotation axis 8. Cam 16, lifting pin 17, support shaft 18
It also constitutes the means for raising and lowering the tank.

Next, the operation of the wet color image forming apparatus in this embodiment will be explained.

Prior to image formation, the air blowing means is operated. The air supplied under pressure by the pressurized air supply device 14 is forced through the supply vibe 4 and press-fitted into the suction chamber 3. The pressurized air flows toward the diffusion nostle 5 and is emitted radially downward (towards the developer) from the outlet 6, creating an air layer (air curtain) between the side of the drum 1 and the developer 12. This prevents the developer 12 from coming into contact with or adhering to the left side surface of the drum 1. The above operation has been described for the first air blowing means, but the second air blowing means also operates in the same manner to prevent the developer 12 from coming into contact with or adhering to the right side surface of the tram 1.

The photosensitive paper 2 held on the outer peripheral surface of the tram 1 by a method using negative pressure rotates with the rotation of the drum 1 and reaches the developing device 11 after forming an electrostatic latent image thereon. At this time, the tank lifting means operates.

The cam 16 rotates around the support shaft 18 by a drive means (not shown), and lifts up the lifting pin 17. Lifting pin 17
At the same time as the second rise, the developer tank 13 also rises, and the developer tank 1
3 is raised to a position where the lower side of the drum 1 is immersed in the developer 12 in preparation for development.

At this time, both sides of the drum 1 are brought into contact with the developer 12 by an air curtain formed by an air blowing means, and the cylindrical surface of the tram 1 is immersed in the developer 12.

Therefore, the photosensitive paper 2 that rotates with the rotation of the tram 1 and reaches the developing device 11 passes through the developer 12 and comes into contact with a large amount of the developer 12, thereby reducing static on the surface of the photosensitive paper 2. Sufficient toner is supplied to the latent image to make it visible. Thereafter, the charge remaining on the surface of the photosensitive paper 2 is removed by the static eliminator 46, and then the tank lifting means rotates around the cam 16 or the support shaft 18 again to lower the lifting pin 17, and the developer is removed. After lowering the tank 13, the process moves to the next color process.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the detailed description above, according to the present invention, a sufficient amount of developer can be supplied to the photoreceptor on which an electrostatic latent image has been formed, and a high-quality image can be formed. It is possible to provide a color image forming apparatus.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show embodiments embodying the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of the drum of an N-type color image forming apparatus equipped with a developing device, and FIG. 2 is a right side view of the drum. The perspective view and FIG. 3 are overall schematic side views of the wet color image forming apparatus. In the figure, 1 is a drum, 2 is photosensitive paper, 3.7 is a supply pipe,
4.8 is a suction chamber, 5.9 is a diffusion nosle, 6.10 is an outlet, 14.15 is a pressurized air supply device, 16 is a cam,
17 is a lifting pin, and 18 is a support shaft.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A wet method in which a photosensitive drum or photosensitive paper on the drum is charged and exposed to form an electrostatic latent image, and then a developer is supplied to the electrostatic latent image to obtain a visible image. In a color image forming apparatus, a tank elevating means for raising and lowering a developer tank storing the developer to a position where a lower part of the drum is immersed in the developer, and air between the side surface of the drum and the developer. 1. A wet color image forming apparatus characterized by comprising an air blowing means for forming a layer.