JPH04260038A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent information from being leaked to a third party by providing a function which destroys the recorded information left in the photosensitive layer of a photosensitive body already used. CONSTITUTION:After the latent image of an information pattern is formed on the photosensitive body 11 consisting of a dry type silver salt material and a photopolymerization material by using a laser exposure means 10, the body is developed with heat by a heating roll 20. Next, the whole surface of the body 11 which is developed with the heat is exposed by a whole surface exposure part 4 and the polymerization pattern of the information pattern is formed. Thereafter, the photosensitive layer is peeled from the body 11 by a peeling pawl 31 and heated with higher temperature than the temperature of the heat developing by a heating roll 35. Then, the information left in the photosensitive layer is destroyed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming a polymerized image using a photoreceptor made of a dry silver salt material and a photopolymerizable material. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a function of destroying recorded information.

0002

[Prior Art] An image forming apparatus that forms a polymerized image using a photoreceptor made of a dry silver salt material and a photopolymerizable material forms a polymerized image by exposure to information light, heat development, and overall exposure. It is configured.

In this case, after forming and peeling off the polymerized image,
The photosensitive layer made of dry silver salt material used as an intermediate medium cannot be reused, so if it is in roll form, it is wound up in a winding section, or if it is in sheet form, it is temporarily stored in a sheet stocker. , it is discarded when the photoreceptor is completely consumed.

Generally, a photosensitive layer made of a dry silver salt material used as an intermediate medium contains a large amount of silver, which is expensive in terms of resources, so it is desirable to recover and reuse the silver.
In fact, the current situation is that they are simply discarded without being collected. However, in this discarded photosensitive layer, the recorded information from when the image was recorded remains, and by decoding this remaining recorded information (pattern), the recorded information becomes known to a third party, and the information is There was a problem in terms of confidentiality.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for preventing recorded information remaining in a photosensitive layer made of a dry silver salt material from being decoded after recording.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that forms a polymerized image using a photoreceptor made of a dry silver salt material and a photopolymerizable material.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has formulated a dry silver salt material which forms a latent image by exposing it to light of a predetermined wavelength and develops it by heating. means for supplying a photoreceptor having a photoreceptor layer and a photopolymerizable material layer that polymerizes when exposed to light of a wavelength different from the predetermined wavelength; A pattern exposure section that forms a pattern latent image on the body, a heat development section that develops the formed pattern latent image by heating, and a photopolymerizable material layer of the photoconductor by exposing the entire surface of the heat-developed photoconductor to light. a full-surface exposure part for forming a polymerization pattern corresponding to the developed pattern; a peeling means for separating the photoreceptor on which the polymerization pattern has been formed into a photosensitive layer and a photopolymerizable material layer; The photosensitive layer has a heating section that destroys the peeled pattern in the photosensitive layer by heating at a temperature higher than the heating temperature of the heat developing section.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. ,
It is composed of a paper discharge section 5 and a heating section 6. (1) Paper Feed Section 1 In the paper feed section 1, a photoreceptor cartridge 13 housing a photoreceptor roll 12 around which a photoreceptor 11 is wound is removably provided. A pair of payout rolls 14 and 15 are arranged at the outlet of the cartridge 13, and the photoreceptor is fed out and supplied by a certain length. The photoreceptor that has been fed out for a certain length is then cut by a cutter unit 16.

The photoreceptor 11 has a multilayer structure including a photosensitive layer containing a dry silver salt material and a photopolymerizable material layer containing a photopolymerizable composition. The photosensitive layer containing a dry silver salt material contains at least photosensitive silver halide, organic silver, and a specific reducing agent, and the photopolymerizable material layer containing a photopolymerizable composition contains at least a polymerizable polymer precursor and a photopolymerizable composition. Contains a photopolymerization initiator.

The photosensitive layer containing a dry silver salt material is prepared to be sensitive to a specific wavelength, and a pattern latent image corresponding to information is formed on the photosensitive layer by exposure to the specific wavelength. In the latent image, an image of blackened silver and/or an image of an oxidant generated by reduction of silver (or an image of a reductant consumed by reduction) are formed in the photosensitive layer by heat development. This heat development is carried out as a means for developing a latent image of the dry silver salt material, and preferably does not generate fog and produces an image of appropriate optical density (a silver image, an oxidized image, or a reduced image). Therefore, a suitable heat development temperature and a suitable heat development time are determined depending on the dry silver salt material.

The optical density of the photosensitive layer containing the dry silver salt material can be increased by applying a temperature higher than the heat development temperature and/or a heating time longer than the preferred heating time, that is, by applying energy in excess of the energy required for optimum visualization. Furthermore, it causes an increase in fog. (2) Pattern exposure unit 2 The photoconductor 11 conveyed from the paper feed unit 1, which is a means for supplying the photoconductor 11, is exposed to a pattern corresponding to information formed by the laser exposure unit 10. A latent image of the pattern is formed therein. 10a is an exposure support for uniform exposure. Note that a semiconductor laser is used as the laser in this example, and the wavelength is 780 nm. (3) Heat development section 3 The pattern-exposed photoreceptor 11 is sent to the heat development section 3 by conveyance rollers 18a, b, and is sandwiched between a heating roll 20 and a roll support 19 and heat-developed (in this example, 120℃). The heat source is a halogen heater 21 disposed inside the heating roll 20. (4) Full-surface exposure section 4 The developed photoreceptor 11 is sent to the full-surface exposure section 4 by a conveyance roller 26. The entire surface exposure section 4 includes a light source 22, a light source guide 23, a heating plate 24, and a conveyor belt 25, and the developed photoreceptor 11 is exposed to light having a wavelength different from the exposure wavelength of the pattern exposure section. The photopolymerizable material layer is exposed to light, thereby forming a polymerization pattern corresponding to the information pattern to be formed in the photopolymerizable material layer. In this example, a fluorescent lamp is used as the light source, and the exposure wavelength is 390n.
It was m. (5) Discharge section 5 The photoreceptor 11 sent out from the entire surface exposure section 4 is removed by the peeling claw 3
1 causes separation between the photopolymerizable material layer and the photosensitive layer. The former is delivered to the discharge tray 41. The latter is sent to the heating section 6 by transport rollers 32, 33 and transport guides 37, 38. (6) Heating section 6 The peeled photosensitive layer is sent to the heating section 6, where it is held between a heating roll 35 and a roll support 34 and heated at a temperature higher than the heat development temperature. The heat source is a halogen heater 36 provided inside the heating roll 35. The heated photosensitive layer is delivered to a discharge tray 40 by a conveyance guide 39.

In this example, heating was performed at 150° C., which is higher than the temperature of the heat developing section. By the above heating, the information pattern recorded on the photosensitive layer is destroyed due to an increase in optical density over the entire surface or an increase in fog, and as a result, it becomes impossible for a third party to decipher it.

On the other hand, in an image forming apparatus, it is desirable to have a processing speed suitable for both image formation and destruction of the photosensitive layer for maintaining the confidentiality of recorded information. It is desirable to increase the optical density and fog of the photosensitive layer made of a dry silver salt material by increasing the temperature. Destruction of recorded information by increasing the optical density and/or fog of a photosensitive layer made of a salt material, making it substantially visually difficult to read and virtually impossible to decipher. It is something. It is generally preferable to set the temperature at which recorded information is destroyed by about 0 to 50°C higher than the heat development temperature, but this depends on the materials such as the dry silver salt material, the base film used for the photoreceptor, and the binder. do. Heating at too high a temperature is inconvenient because it causes wrinkles in the base film, making it bulky and causing trouble at the discharge section. For example, when PET (polyethylene phthalate) is used for the base film, wrinkles occur when the heating temperature is about 160° C., although it depends on the thickness.

Furthermore, since the photosensitive layer has already been heated once during pattern development, even if the heating temperature is about the same as the heat development temperature, the heating time is substantially shorter when heating to destroy recorded information. As mentioned above, there are cases where more energy than the energy required for optimal visualization is imparted. This depends on the photosensitive layer used, but generally a higher heating temperature gives better results.

Note that the light source for pattern exposure in the above embodiments may be of any type as long as it can write in accordance with an image signal;
RT, laser, LED, LED array, shutter array such as LCD and PLZT, linear light source such as fluorescent lamp,
Alternatively, a combination of flat light sources can also be used. It is also possible to directly write an original onto a photoreceptor using a reflecting mirror, as in an electrophotographic copying machine.

In the above embodiment, the heat developing section 3 or the heating section 6 is heated by a heating roll equipped with a halogen heater, but instead of this, heating can be performed using a combination of a heating plate, a belt, and a roller, thermal head heating, or energization. It is also possible to perform heating, microwave, infrared irradiation, and the like.

The light source for the entire exposed area in the above embodiment is as follows:
Any light source that generates parallel light will suffice, and a combination of a point light source and a condenser lens is preferable, but if there is no problem even if the parallelism is slightly poor, fluorescent lamps, CRTs, cold cathode tubes,
Surface-emitting type EL light emitters can also be used.

Furthermore, although a roll-shaped photoreceptor was used in the above embodiments, cut sheet-like photoreceptors may be sequentially fed out, and other modifications may be made without changing the gist of the present invention. do not have.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the heating section of the present invention, in which a photosensitive layer 50 containing a dry silver salt material from which the photopolymerizable material layer has been peeled is sandwiched between feed rolls 51 and 52. The photosensitive layer 50 is unrolled and passed between the support roll 53 and the thermal head 54 that performs heating while being pressed and sandwiched, and the photosensitive layer 50 is heated by the heat of the thermal head 54 . In this case, uniform heating can be carried out in the same way as the destruction of the photosensitive layer by uniform heating using the heating roll 35 as shown in FIG. It is also possible to heat the photosensitive layer. The patterned heating may be regular or irregular.

In the case of heating by the thermal head 54, the recording of the photosensitive layer 50 can be destroyed intermittently depending on the recorded information, which is preferable from the point of view of reducing power consumption. Further, the heating width of the thermal head only needs to be the width in the main scanning direction for inputting recording information.

[0021]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
Using a photoreceptor made of dry silver salt material and photopolymerizable material,
In an image forming apparatus that forms a polymerized image by exposure to information light, heat development, and full-surface exposure, before discharging the photosensitive layer made of the dry silver salt material after recording, the recorded information remaining in the photosensitive layer is destroyed. By setting the heating temperature higher than the heating and developing temperature, the recorded information remaining in the photosensitive layer is heated, causing an increase in optical density and/or an increase in fog over the entire recording surface. , it becomes virtually impossible to decipher the information, and it is possible to maintain the confidentiality of information.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing another embodiment of the heating section of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Paper feed section 2 Pattern exposure section 3 Heat development section 4 Full exposed area 5 Paper ejection section 6 Heating part 10 Laser exposure means 11 Photoreceptor 20 Heating roll 21 Halogen heater 22 Light source 23 Light source guide 24 Heating plate 31 Peeling nail 34 Roll support part 35 Heating roll 36 Halogen heater 40 Ejection tray 50 Photosensitive layer 53 Support roll 54 Thermal head

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A photosensitive layer containing a dry silver salt material that forms a latent image by exposure to light of a predetermined wavelength and is developed by heating, and a photosensitive layer that is exposed to light of a wavelength different from the predetermined wavelength. a means for supplying a photoreceptor having a photopolymerizable material layer that is polymerized by a photoreceptor, a pattern exposure section that irradiates a light signal of a predetermined wavelength corresponding to the pattern to form a pattern latent image on the photoreceptor, and a formed pattern; A heat development section that develops a latent image by heating; and a full-surface exposure that exposes the entire surface of the heat-developed photoreceptor to light to form a polymerized pattern corresponding to the developed pattern on the photopolymerizable material layer of the photoreceptor. a part, a peeling means for separating the photoreceptor on which the polymerization pattern has been formed into a photosensitive layer and a photopolymerizable material layer, and heating the peeled photosensitive layer at a temperature higher than the heating temperature of the heat development part. 1. An image forming apparatus with a function of destroying residual recorded information in a photosensitive layer, comprising a heating section that destroys a pattern in the photosensitive layer that has been peeled off.