JPH04153079A - Erasable and rewritable paper, printing ink and printing apparatus and erasing apparatus using them - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain erasable and rewritable paper capable of being reused simply by forming the paper from a material reversibly changed to a non-visible state and a visible state so as to make a printed character or figure erasable and rewritable. CONSTITUTION:At the time of printing, sheets of paper 100 are taken out one by one to be inserted in a printing mechanism part and, when the set paper 110a is moved on a lambda theta lens 11 at constant speed, the laser beam emitted from helium-neon laser 7 is condensed by a condensing lens 8 and bent by 90 deg. to be incident to an optical modulation element 10 and laser beam is emitted by an ON/OFF signal and only the spot thereof develops a color to carry out printing. When paper 110b desired to be erased is inserted in an erasing apparatus, the image of said paper is read by an image scanner 19 to be recorded by a recorder 23 and, when the paper is moved to the lambda theta lens 20, the laser beam emitted from argon laser 25 passes through a condensing lens 26 to be bent by 90 deg. and passes through the lambda theta lens 20 to be emitted vertically to change to the original colorless characteristics. As a result, paper can be utilized many times.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to erasable and rewritable paper, printing ink, and printing devices and erasing devices using these, and in particular, to The present invention relates to an erasing device and/or printing device that allows paper to be reused.

(Prior Art) Currently, the earth's forest resources are facing a critical situation, and the depletion of forest resources has become a global problem. Also,
With the development of industry, the amount of paper consumed by corporate households has increased.
Instead of decreasing, it tends to increase rapidly every year. Under these circumstances, although there is a call for the reuse of paper resources, the copy paper and fax paper (OA paper) used in offices, etc. are subject to cleaning, sorting, and special treatment to remove the chemicals they contain. This is a major obstacle to the movement to reuse paper resources. However, there are four clever parables about copying and fax paper.
Most of them are often kept as document files. And each time it is discarded. To make matters worse, these discarded documents are creating a bad environment, requiring a lot of money and time to dispose of them in order to keep them airtight.

In this way, the development of industry and affluent lifestyles have permeated the idea that paper is disposable for ordinary people. And now, forest resources have begun to be depleted. The increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has exacerbated the global warming phenomenon.

In addition, in Japan, where the consumption of paper resources ranks first and second among developed countries, the recycling of paper resources has been delayed, and some of the paper resources have become a waste problem, creating problems that are directly connected to our lives. There is. Considering the above-mentioned paper reuse from the perspective of conventional technology, the economic burden of reuse is too great, and therefore the reuse rate of paper resources is sluggish. Usually, used paper is separated at businesses and households and collected by paper recycling companies. The reality is that the cost of recycling is not profitable due to the many labor and transportation issues, as well as the chemicals and ink contained in the special paper mentioned above. Furthermore, because a wide variety of used papers are mixed together, the quality of recycled paper is lower than that of unused paper, which is another factor that has delayed the spread of recycled paper.

(Problem that the invention aims to solve) In response to the extremely important and big issue for us humans, which is to protect forest resources and protect the global environment, we will increase the reuse of paper resources used in businesses and daily life, and Minimizing the clearing of new forests is a simple and highly impactful thing we can do every day. however,
The current paper resource recycling technology poses major obstacles to the spread of paper resource reuse, such as the heavy burden on users and the higher recycling cost than virgin paper, even excluding the quality of recycled paper. ing. Therefore, the conventional method of recycling paper resources requires a lot of labor and equipment, and the price of recycled paper is high, making the economic advantage problematic. In this method, the first problem is the separation of used OA paper and used plain paper that is required of the user. Next, the labor and transportation costs involved in collecting the materials, as well as the need for a large space to store them until the recycling process begins, makes locating them on the outskirts of major cities an issue. Furthermore, the need for modest recycling factories that use large amounts of chemicals, in order to promote the reuse of paper resources, carries the risk of causing environmental problems.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an erasable and rewritable paper, a printing ink, and a printing ink that enable a user to easily reuse paper without using the above-mentioned complicated equipment or system. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording device and an erasing device using these devices.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for erasing and rewriting printed characters and figures by forming paper from a material that reversibly changes into an invisible state/visible state. This paper uses paper that is characterized by being structured so that it can be reused many times.

The present invention also provides a printing device for paper made of a material that reversibly changes from invisible to visible, including a paper feeding mechanism that transports the paper through a printing position, a laser source that generates a laser beam, and a laser source. The present invention employs a printing device characterized by having a scanning means for scanning a laser beam for printing onto a sheet of paper fed through a printing position.

Furthermore, the present invention provides an erasing device for paper made of a material that reversibly changes into an invisible/visible state, including a paper feeding mechanism that transports the paper through an erasure value of 1, a laser source that generates a laser beam, and a laser source. The present invention employs a printing device characterized in that it has a scanning means for scanning an erasing laser beam from a laser beam onto a sheet of paper fed through an erasing value of 1.

Furthermore, the present invention employs an ink characterized by being made of a material that reversibly changes from invisible to visible state.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a printing and/or erasing device that uses ink made of a material that reversibly changes into an invisible state/visible state, and an erasing device that changes the print on paper from a visible state to an invisible state. The present invention employs a printing and/or erasing device characterized by having a printing device and a writing device for writing printing on paper.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a printing device using ink made of a material that reversibly changes between an invisible state and a visible state. The present invention employs a printing device characterized in that it has a control means for controlling the jetting of ink from the ink jetting means based on the drawings and the drawings.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a paper erasing device using ink made of a material that reversibly changes into an invisible state/visible state, including a paper feeding mechanism that transports the paper coated with ink through the erasing position 1, and a laser beam. The erasing apparatus is characterized in that it has a laser source that generates a laser beam, and a scanning means that scans the erasing laser beam from the laser source toward a sheet of paper fed through an erasing position.

(Example) Next, a preferred example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially in cross section, of a sheet of paper made of a material that reversibly changes between invisible and visible states, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a printing (writing) device using the sheet. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the overall configuration, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the configuration of the printing device, and FIG. 4 is a
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the configuration of the erasing device;
FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram of the printing device, FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram of the erasing device, and FIG. 7 is a reversibly invisible! 'I! FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a printing device using ink made of a material that changes to a visible state, FIG. 8 is a front view showing the overall configuration of the printing device, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the configuration of the device, and FIG. 10 is a circuit block diagram of the erasing device.

First, to outline the characteristics of the paper of the present invention, the material mixed or applied to the paper is a material that reversibly changes into an invisible state/visible state. That is, this material changes from an invisible state to a visible state, and conversely from a visible state to an invisible state, and such a material may be a single substance,
Also, a composite material may be used. Examples of such materials include phase-change materials whose refractive index changes reversibly depending on how heat is applied (e.g., mixed materials containing chalcogenide compounds, antimony compounds, or germanium compounds), and materials with different wavelengths. There are photochromic materials (spiropyran-based materials and fulgide-based materials) whose absorbance (colorless to colored) changes reversibly when laser light is applied.

Further, the paper includes office paper such as copy paper, printer paper, report paper, and various office slips.

Further, these materials are attached to the paper by coating, mixing the material of the paper with these materials, vapor deposition, or the like.

In addition, the content printed (displayed) on the paper may include characters, symbols,
It can be any suitable pattern such as a graphic, barcode, etc.

Other means for erasing or printing content displayed on paper include a thermal head, laser printing, and laser beams of different wavelengths. Although the method using laser printing requires more expensive equipment than the case using a thermal print head, it is possible to obtain high-resolution printing quality because the beam spot diameter can be narrowed down. Since printing can be performed without contacting the paper on which printing is to be performed, the durability of the paper and the printing device itself can be significantly improved. However, when erasing, if the spot diameter is small, the erasing time may take longer. Therefore, it is recommended to use a method of changing the laser beam for erasing and a laser beam for printing, or to use a thermal print head for erasing while using the laser for writing. can. Furthermore, if the erasing device is divided into a printing device and an erasing device, the erasing time can be shortened by increasing the area to sweep the paper surface or increasing the speed.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the sections below, but in particular, the embodiment will take as an example the case of output paper from a computer printer, the printing device is a laser printer, and the erasing device is a laser sweep type. An example of using is shown below. This is because in recent years, the consumption of so-called OA paper has been rapidly increasing for document creation and drawing creation using computers, and laser printers have become more widespread, and the combination of the device of the present invention can bring great benefits. It is.

Referring to FIG. 1, paper 1.1 used in this example
0 is shown, and this paper 110 is
A spiropyran-based photochromic material (hydroxybenzopyrylosbilane) 112 is made into capsules with a diameter of 10 microns by a conventional microcapsule technique, mixed uniformly with an adhesive, and applied to a plain paper 114 to be attached. Spiropyran-based photochromic materials have the property of changing from colorless to colored depending on a specific wavelength (ultraviolet region), and reversibly returning to colorless by absorbing heat (white light). However, in this embodiment, helium-neon (wavelength: 632.8 nm) is used for the printing laser, and argon (wavelength: 360 nm/multiline) is used for the erasing laser.

FIG. 2 shows a printing device 2 combined with a personal computer 1. In this case, patterns such as characters to be printed are sent from the personal computer 1 to the printing device 2 as bitmap information.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a printing device, and paper 110 of the present invention is set in a print paper case 4 (only the position is shown) like in a normal printer. When printing, the paper ejecting mechanism 3 of the printing device uses the paper gauge 4.
The paper 110 is taken out one by one and inserted into the print mechanism. The paper feed mechanism 5 has a function of moving the ejected paper at a constant speed, and moves the set paper 11.
0a to the lambda theta lens 11 by the paper feed mechanism 5.
move at a constant speed.

At this time, the laser beam emitted from the helium-neon laser 7 is focused by a condensing lens 8, bent by 90 degrees by a half mirror 9, and then enters the light modulation element 10. A part of the light incident on the half mirror 9 is transmitted and reaches the laser power sensor 15, which is used for control to keep the laser power constant. The light modulation element 10 passes or blocks the laser beam according to an on/off signal received from the control diagram FI@14. This on/off signal is sent to the computer 1 mentioned above.
This is done in synchronization with the bitmap information received from. That is, the laser beam is passed through only when the paper reaches bit position 1 to be printed.

The lambda theta lens 11 has a function of applying laser light that is reflected and swept from a polygon mirror 12 rotated by a motor 13 perpendicularly to the plane of the paper.

As a result, the laser beam is irradiated on the above-mentioned paper at the point where printing is to be performed, and the photochromic material develops color only at that spot, and printing is performed.

Note that reference number 16 is a synchronization signal sensor.

FIG. 4 shows an erasing device, which is for erasing prints from printed paper. When the paper 110b to be erased is inserted, the paper feed mechanism 18 moves the paper 110b to the image scanner 19, starting with the paper 110b.
and then onto the lambda theta lens 20. The image scanner 19 reads patterns such as characters and figures printed on the paper to be erased, and the control circuit 24 stores the information in the recording bag ff23 before erasing. . Therefore, image scanner 1
However, the recording device 23 is not necessarily required.

After the paper is read by the image scanner 19 and recorded by the recording device 23, it is passed through the lambda theta lens 2.
Move up to 0. At this time, the laser beam emitted from the argon laser 25 passes through the condenser lens 26, is bent by 90 degrees by the half mirror 27, and proceeds to the polygon mirror 20a, similar to the printing device described above. An argon laser beam passes through the lambda theta lens 20 and is irradiated perpendicularly to the paper surface to be erased by the motor 21 that rotates the argon laser beam 20a. The erasing argon laser beam sweeps across the paper surface, changing the microencapsulated photochromic material applied to the paper to its original colorless properties. Note that reference number 29 indicates a synchronization signal sensor.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the printing device described in connection with FIG. 3. This printing device is broadly divided into a laser scanning optical system, a paper transport system, a system control system, and the like, and is also provided with an interface for transmitting and receiving signals to and from a host computer. Print information from the host computer 47 is sent through the interface 46 to the system controller 40 of the system control system. The mechanism control circuit 44 of the system controller 40 is
Paper transport system paper insertion machine [Sends a signal to 30 and feeds the -th paper! 32 (corresponding to that shown by 3 in FIG. 3). The paper sensor 31 detects the feeding of the paper and notifies the system controller 40 that the paper has been accurately fed. The paper feed mechanism 32 controls the speed using a signal from the paper position sensor 33. The laser control 42 has the function of keeping the output of the helium-neon laser 34 (corresponding to 7 in FIG. 3) at a specified value, and the output is controlled by the laser power sensor 41 (corresponding to 15 in FIG. 3). (corresponding to the above), and when it fluctuates, it is controlled by a control loop. The printout information is output from the bitmap signal processing circuit 45.
The signal is then sent to the optical modulation element 35 (corresponding to the one shown by 10 in FIG. 3), where it becomes a laser switching signal.

A polygon mirror 37 (corresponding to the one shown at 12 in FIG. 3) directs this laser light to a lambda theta lens 38 (
The paper is scanned (swept) through the synchronous signal sensor 39 (corresponding to 11 in Fig. 3), but the printing is Scan while aligning with the position.

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the erasing device explained in relation to FIG. The erasing device includes an image scanner 62 (corresponding to the one shown at 19 in FIG. 4) for storing the pattern of characters and figures to be erased, and a recording device 63 for storing the data (see FIG. 4). (corresponding to that shown by 23) is provided instead of the interface and host computer compared to the printing device of FIG.

The paper to be erased is first sent to the image scanner 6 by the paper feed fii 50 (corresponding to the one shown by 18 in FIG. 4).
2 Move above. At this time, the pattern printed on the paper is read by the image scanner 62, and the information is stored in the recording device 63. The output of the erasing argon laser 52 (corresponding to the one shown at 25 in FIG. 4) is:
It is constantly monitored by a laser power sensor 58 (corresponding to the one shown at 28 in FIG. 4) and controlled so that a specified output is obtained. The laser beam is condensed by a condensing lens, and a polygon mirror 54 (corresponding to 20a in FIG. 4) and a lambda theta lens 55 (corresponding to 20a in FIG. 4)
0), and is applied perpendicularly to the paper surface and scanned. This causes the photochromic material attached to the paper to undergo a thermal change and reversibly return to colorless. The rest of the configuration is almost the same as the configuration of the printing device, so a description thereof will be omitted.

The embodiments of the invention described above reversibly create an invisible state 7.'
Although directed to a sheet of paper preformed of a material that changes to a visible state, and to printing and erasing devices using the sheet, the present invention provides a method for reversibly changing to an invisible/visible state as described above. Instead of using a paper preformed with a changeable material, it can also be carried out by applying ink made of a material that reversibly changes to an invisible/visible state to a sheet that does not have such a material applied. So,
Preferred embodiments of this ink and a printing device and erasing device using this ink will be described below.

First, to outline the characteristics of the ink, the material mixed or synthesized into the ink is a material that reversibly changes from invisible to visible state, and is basically the same material used for the paper mentioned above. be.

Furthermore, the content (display) printed on the paper, the means for erasing ink, etc. are the same as in the previous embodiment, and their explanation will be omitted.

Preferred embodiments using ink will be described below with reference to the drawings. In particular, an example will be given in which paper output from a computer printer is used, and the printing device is an inkjet printer. It is shown below. As the erasing device, a device similar to that used when using the paper described above can be used.

FIG. 7 shows an inkjet head of a printing device using ink. In this embodiment, an impulse jet method is exemplified in which ink particles are ejected by applying pressure between r and lt using a piezoelectric element. ink tank 65
The ink 64 injected into the ink chamber 67 is sent to an ink chamber 67 through a tube 66.

A pulse voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 68 in synchronization with bitmap information from the host computer (FIG. 8), and the ink accumulated in the ink chamber 67 is ejected from the nozzle tip 69 to form the desired onto the moving paper. Draw a pattern.

FIG. 8 shows the aforementioned printing device 71 and the host I/computer 7.
0 connection is shown. As mentioned above, the pattern printed on the paper by the inkjet is printed by the host computer 70.
The image is then sent to the printing device 71.

FIG. 9 shows an erasing device using ink,
This erasing device is for erasing prints from paper on which ink has been printed. Paper you want to erase 1
10b, the paper feed mechanism 73 moves the paper 110b
is first moved onto the image scanner 74 and then onto the lambda theta lens 75. The image scanner 74 reads patterns such as characters and figures printed on the paper to be erased, and the control circuit 76 stores the information in the recording device 77 before erasing. Therefore, the image scanner 74 and the recording device 77 are not necessarily necessary.

After the paper is read by the image scanner 74 and recorded by the recording device 77, it is passed through the lambda theta lens 7.
5 Move up. At this time, the laser beam emitted from the argon laser 78 passes through the condenser lens 79, is bent by 90 degrees by the half mirror 80, and is bent by the polygon mirror 80.
Proceed to 1. Argon 1. - The light passes through the lambda theta lens 75 and is irradiated perpendicularly to the paper surface to be erased.

The argon laser beam for erasing sweeps over the entire surface of the paper,
The ink material that is sprayed onto the paper changes its original colorless properties. Note that reference number 83 indicates a synchronization signal sensor, and reference number 84 indicates a laser power sensor.

FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the erasing device described in relation to FIG. 9, and this erasing device includes a paper transport system, a laser scanning optical system, a The erasing device includes an image scanner 99 (no. 9) for storing patterns of characters and figures to be erased.
A recording device 100 (corresponding to what is shown by 77 in FIG. 9) for storing the data is provided.

The paper to be erased is first sent to the image scanner 99 by a paper feed mechanism 87 (corresponding to the one shown by 73 in FIG. 9).
move above. At this time, the pattern printed on the paper is read by the image scanner 99, and the information is stored in the recording device OO. The output of the erasing argon laser 89 (corresponding to 78 in FIG. 9) is constantly monitored by a laser power sensor 95 (corresponding to 84 in FIG. 9) to obtain a specified output. It is controlled as follows. The laser beam is focused by a condensing lens, and is focused onto the paper by a polygon mirror 91 (corresponding to the one shown by 81 in FIG. 9) and a lambda theta lens 92 (corresponding to the one shown by 75 in FIG. 9). It is applied vertically and scanned. This causes the ink material attached to the paper to undergo a thermal change and reversibly return to colorless.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained in detail above, the present invention can print a printed pattern using paper or ink that uses a material that reversibly changes into an invisible state/visible state. Since it can be erased, the paper can be reused many times.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially in cross-section, of a sheet of paper formed from a reversibly invisible/visible state material. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the overall structure of a printing (writing) device using paper.6 FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the structure of the printing device. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the configuration of the erasing device.6 FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram of the printing device, and FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram of the erasing device. Figure 7 shows N reversibly changing to invisible/visible state.
1 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a printing device using ink formed by fJ. FIG. 8 is a front view showing the overall configuration of the printing device. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the configuration of the erasing device. FIG. 1O is a circuit block diagram of the erasing device. 110... Paper, 1.70... Host computer (personal computer) 2.7
1...Printing device, 7.25.78...Laser, 11.20.75...Lambda theta lens, ]9.7
4... Image scanner. Figure Figure Figure

Claims (17)

[Claims] (1) Paper is characterized in that it is made of a material that reversibly changes into an invisible state/visible state so that printed characters and figures can be erased and rewritable so that it can be reused many times. (2) The paper according to claim 1, wherein the material is a phase change material whose refractive index or reflectance of light changes reversibly depending on how heat is applied, and a magneto-optical material whose polarization plane changes depending on how an external magnetic field is applied. A paper characterized by being made of a material selected from a composite material of layers and a polarizing layer, and a photochromic material whose absorbance changes when light of different wavelengths is applied. (3) The paper according to claim 1, wherein the material is coated,
or mixed, mixed or coated by microencapsulation, or deposited by sputtering deposition. (4) In a paper printing and/or erasing device made of a material that reversibly changes from invisible state to visible state, an erasing means for changing the paper print from a visible state to an invisible state, and a paper print 1. A printing and/or erasing device characterized by comprising: a writing means for changing from an invisible state to a visible state. (5) The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the erasing means and/or writing means is a thermal printer and/or
A device characterized by using a laser printer. (6) In a printing device for paper made of a material that reversibly changes into an invisible/visible state, there is a paper feed mechanism that transports the paper through a printing position, a laser source that generates laser light, and a printer for printing from the laser source. 1. A printing device comprising: scanning means for scanning a sheet of paper fed through a printing position with a laser beam. (7) The printing device according to claim 6, further comprising a control circuit that controls on/off the generation of laser light. (8) In an erasing device for paper made of a material that reversibly changes into an invisible state/visible state, a paper feeding mechanism that transports the paper through an erasing position, a laser source that generates a laser beam, and a device for erasing from the laser source. scanning means for scanning a sheet of paper fed through an erasing position with a laser beam. (9) The erasing device according to claim 8, further comprising recording means for reading and recording printed characters and figures printed on the paper before erasing. (10) An ink characterized by being made of a material that reversibly changes between an invisible state and a visible state. (11) The ink according to claim 10, wherein the material is a phase change material whose refractive index or reflectance of light changes reversibly depending on how heat is applied, and a magneto-optical material whose polarization plane changes depending on how an external magnetic field is applied. An ink characterized by being made of a material selected from a composite material of layers and a polarizing layer, and a photochromic material whose absorbance changes when light of different wavelengths is applied. (12) In a printing and/or erasing device using ink made of a material that reversibly changes from invisible to visible, an erasing means for changing the print on paper from a visible state to an invisible state; 1. A printing and/or erasing device characterized by having a writing means for writing a print on. (13) The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the erasing means uses a thermal printer or a laser printer. (14) The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the writing means uses an inkjet method or an impact method using an ink ribbon to which ink is attached and an impact printer head that performs impact printing of the ink on paper. (15) In a printing device that uses ink made of a material that reversibly changes into an invisible state/visible state, an ink ejecting means that ejects the ink toward the ink paper, and a 1. A printing device comprising: a control means for controlling ink jetting from an ink jetting means. (16) In a paper erasing device using ink made of a material that reversibly changes into an invisible state/visible state, there is a paper feeding mechanism that transports the paper coated with ink through an erasing position, and a laser source that generates laser light. An erasing device comprising: and a scanning means for scanning an erasing laser beam from a laser source toward a sheet of paper fed through an erasing position. (17) The erasing device according to claim 16, further comprising recording means for reading and recording printed characters and figures printed on the paper before erasing.