JPH04316862A - Manufacture of electrode for ion flow electro-static recording - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a highly precise dot latent image to be formed by forming a dielectric layer which is actually homogeneous and has a uniform film thickness by a method wherein electrodeposition is adopted for formation of the dielectric layer. CONSTITUTION:An emulsion type coating is an aqueous coating wherein dielectric powder, for example, dielectric powder of a large dielectric constant is dispersed in a coating vehicle. This emulsion type coating is electrodeposited on a first electrode 1. After superimposing a second electrode 3 on this coated film, the coated film is hardened to form a dielectric layer 2. In the obtained dielectric layer 2 the dielectric powder is attracted to the first electrode 1 side. A quantity of the dielectric powder is little near the second electrode 3, and the coating vehicle is main. Therefore, though there is slightly irregularities on a surface of the coated film to be connected to the second electrode 3, variation in the dielectric constant is little, and dispersion of an image dot by an electrostatic recorder is little. Further, a film thickness of the dielectric layer 2 can be easily regulated by varying conditions for electrodeposition.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an electrode for ion flow electrostatic recording, and in particular for manufacturing an electrode for an ion generating device for ion flow electrostatic recording used in electrostatic printing and copying. Regarding the method.

0002

[Prior Art] The technology generally called electrostatic recording method includes
A recording head with a dielectric layer sandwiched between a pair of electrodes is proposed. , placed a little away from the dielectric layer on the substrate, and by controlling the corona ion flow on a pixel-by-pixel basis using this recording head, an electrostatic latent image is formed as dots on the surface of the dielectric layer on the substrate in a non-contact state. There is a way to do this. Among these, the latter method using corona ion flow is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-501348, for example.
It is stated in the No.

Although this method using corona ion flow is an effective method for electrostatic recording, the currently manufactured recording heads have variations in dot size, making it difficult to obtain highly accurate images. The drawback is that it is difficult. This is thought to be due to non-uniformity in the film thickness and internal composition of the dielectric layer of the recording head, and the presence of defects (air bubbles, solvent vapor bubbles) in the ion-generating portion of the dielectric layer. . For example, the above-mentioned publication also states that ``variations in the thickness of the dielectric layer result in a similar degree of variation in the output of its ionic current, with a lower ionic current being created in the thicker parts of the dielectric layer.'' This has been disclosed.

[0004] It has been proposed to use a mica thin film as a dielectric layer with a homogeneous and uniform thickness, but it is difficult to obtain one with the width of recording paper, is expensive, and has problems with adhesion onto electrodes. Due to the difficulty of processing, etc., a paste-like paint (dielectric paste) in which dielectric powder is dispersed has come to be used at present.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Dielectric paste has many advantages such as adhesiveness, cost, and the ability to form a free shape, but it also has various difficulties in forming a uniform film. ing.

That is, dielectric paste is a mixture of dielectric powder uniformly suspended in a vehicle made of an organic compound. The amount of dielectric powder in the dielectric paste is 50
~80%, which means that the liquid must be dense and highly viscous. Therefore, most dielectric pastes are highly thixotropic and are extremely difficult to handle.

Further, the dielectric paste is usually formed as a thin film on the electrode by screen printing or die printing. Bubbles are drawn into the interior of the dielectric paste when it is stirred and mixed or printed, but these bubbles hardly float up when left to stand, and it is extremely difficult to remove the bubbles, so they remain fixed inside. I end up.

Furthermore, irregularities on the underlying electrode surface, uneven mixing of the dielectric paste, viscosity changes due to thixotropic properties of the dielectric paste, non-uniformity of the dielectric layer due to differences in printing pressure, etc., and film thickness. It is difficult to level the unevenness by leaving it as it is. Therefore, immediately after printing, when the entire surface is wet, it may appear to be printed with a uniform thickness, but after drying and solidifying, there will be minute irregularities, bulges around the periphery, and thickness at the printing start and end points. fluctuations, etc. will occur.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is possible to form a dielectric layer that is substantially homogeneous and has a uniform thickness, thereby forming a highly accurate dot latent image. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a possible electrostatic recording electrode.

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is a method for manufacturing an ion flow electrostatic recording electrode having a first electrode on one surface of a dielectric layer and a second electrode on the other surface, comprising: A step of applying an emulsion type paint in which dielectric powder is dispersed in a paint vehicle to one surface of the first electrode or a sheet for the first electrode by electrodeposition coating, and a step of applying an emulsion type paint in which dielectric powder is dispersed in a paint vehicle, and a step of applying an emulsion type paint in which dielectric powder is dispersed in a paint vehicle; 2
a step of providing an electrode or a second electrode sheet,
Provided is a method for manufacturing an ion flow electrostatic recording electrode, characterized in that the concentration of dielectric powder in the dielectric layer is higher on the first electrode side and lower on the second electrode side.

[0011] In the present invention, the electrodeposition coating has already been applied to the pattern.
Although it may be applied to the patterned first electrode, it may be applied to the first electrode sheet before being patterned,
Patterning may be carried out after the electrodeposition coating has been cured. The second electrode may be patterned either by overlaying an already patterned electrode on the electrodeposited film or by overlaying an unpatterned second electrode sheet. . The first electrode sheet and the second electrode sheet may be patterned simultaneously or separately.

[0012] The emulsion-type paint used in the present invention is prepared by treating the surface of a dielectric powder, such as an inorganic fine powder with a high dielectric constant, to make it hydrophilic, and then emulsifying it in water containing a surfactant. It is a paste-like emulsion-type paint with high concentration and low to medium viscosity, obtained by uniformly mixing the following ingredients in an emulsion paint vehicle.

As the paint vehicle, a resin component such as a thermosetting alkyd resin dissolved in an organic solvent can be used. Further, as the dielectric powder, titanium oxide, barium titanate, lead zirconate, etc. can be used.

[0014] The amount of dielectric powder in the emulsion type coating is preferably 50 to 80% by weight. Further, the amount of the resin component in the emulsion type paint is preferably 10 to 25% by weight, and the amount of the organic solvent and water is preferably 10 to 25% by weight.

[0015] Emulsion type paints generally have a viscosity of 70,000 to 120,000 when stable at room temperature.
CPS is an extremely viscous, stringy liquid. Furthermore, emulsion-type paints have strong thixotropic properties, and their viscosity changes greatly when stirred (or shaken). for example,
If an emulsion-type paint that is stable at 100,000 cps is strongly stirred, the speed may be halved to 50,000 cps.

Since the emulsion type paint used in the present invention is an emulsion type water-based paint, even if the amount of dielectric powder is approximately the same as that of the organic solvent type paint, the viscosity at room temperature is 8,000 to 20. ,000, and the viscosity change due to stirring or temperature change is also small. This low viscosity is extremely superior to organic solvent-based paints in terms of static defoaming properties, and especially when electrodeposition coating is used as in the method of the present invention, degassing is much better in the case of organic solvent-based paints. However, it is possible to defoam sufficiently for practical purposes.

The first and second electrodes can be obtained by patterning (etching) a copper sheet or a stainless steel sheet into a predetermined pattern.

[0018]

[Operation] In the method of the present invention, an emulsion type paint is electrodeposited onto the first electrode or the first electrode sheet. After a second electrode or a second electrode sheet is placed on the coating film, the coating film is cured to form a dielectric layer. In the obtained dielectric layer, the dielectric powder becomes the first layer due to the electromagnetic attraction force.
The amount of dielectric powder is small near the second electrode, and the paint vehicle is the main component. Therefore, even if the surface of the coating film bonded to the second electrode has some irregularities, there is little variation in the dielectric constant, and there is little variation in image dots produced by the electrostatic recording device.

[0019] Since emulsion type paint is an emulsion type water-based paint in which dielectric powder is dispersed in a paint vehicle, even if the contents of dielectric powder and vehicle are the same,
The viscosity at room temperature is low, so bubbles that enter during stirring and mixing are easily floated away.

[0020] Furthermore, the electrodeposition apparatus used in the method of the present invention is
Since a well-known stirring device that does not introduce air bubbles can be used, there is no problem such as air bubbles being introduced each time a paste is printed in a pattern, unlike screen printing. Furthermore, the thickness of the dielectric layer can be easily adjusted by changing the electrodeposition conditions.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an ion generator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view thereof.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of first electrodes 1 extend in parallel to a direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and a plurality of second electrodes 3 extend in a direction different from the first electrodes. A dielectric layer 2 is sandwiched between these first and second electrodes. The second electrode 3 has an opening corresponding to the first electrode 1. On the opposite side of the second electrode 3 to the first electrode 1 is a third electrode.
electrode 5 is arranged, and this third electrode 5 is connected to the second electrode 3
It has an opening corresponding to the opening of. An insulator layer 4 is sandwiched between the second electrode 3 and the third electrode 5, and the insulator layer 4 has openings corresponding to the openings of the second electrode 3 and the third electrode 5. have.

In the ion generator configured as described above, by selectively applying a voltage between the plurality of first electrodes 1 and second electrodes 3, the first electrode corresponding to the selected portion is Positive and negative ions are generated near the opening of the second electrode 3. A bias voltage is applied between the second electrode 3 and the third electrode 5, and only ions determined by the polarity are extracted from the generated ions. The extracted ions pass through the insulator layer 4 and the opening of the third electrode 5, and selectively charge a member to be charged (not shown) disposed opposite the third electrode. In this way, by selectively driving the plurality of first electrodes 1 and second electrodes 3, a dot latent image is formed on the charged member. That is, this ion generator functions as an electrostatic recording head.

Example 1 42% isophthalic acid, 18% linseed oil fatty acid, 18% trimethylolpropane, 16% pentyl glycol,
Mix 6% tert-butylbenzoic acid in a reaction vessel,
After purging with nitrogen, a preliminary reaction was carried out at 200° C. for 5 hours to obtain an alkyd resin. This alkyd resin was neutralized with triethylamine, and the solid content of this resin was added to 100 parts, 160 parts of surface-adjusted titanium oxide pigment JR-600 (trade name: titanium white manufactured by Teikoku Kako Co., Ltd.), 50 parts of ion-exchanged water, and a nonionic interface. Five parts of an activator (polyethylene glycol alkyl ether, etc.) was added and sufficiently dispersed with a paint conditioner to obtain a water-based paint for electrodeposition.

[0026] This aqueous paint was placed in an electrodeposition coating tank, and stirred in an upward flow using a magnetic stirrer to prevent air bubbles from entering. The first coating is made by placing a cathode plate at the bottom of the electrodeposition coating tank and patterning a 5 μm thick copper sheet on the top of the coating.
A glass epoxy plate equipped with an electrode was floated with the first electrode facing downward to serve as an anode. The distance between both electrodes is 15c.
A voltage of 150V was applied to both electrodes for 2 minutes as m, and the first
Electrodeposition coating was applied to the surface of the electrode.

The first electrode was air-dried, the paint adhering to parts other than the electrode part was removed by washing with water, and then dried. Thereafter, a second electrode formed by patterning copper sheets having a thickness of 5 .mu.m was stacked on top of the other so as not to contain air bubbles, and was heated and cured by hot pressing to obtain an electrode for ion flow electrostatic recording. In this electrode, in the dielectric layer sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode, the inorganic dielectric powder was attracted to the first electrode side and had a high concentration.

When the obtained ion flow electrostatic recording electrode was attached to an ionographic printer and an image was printed, a highly accurate printed image was obtained.

Example 2 To 100 parts of Kotax WE804 (trade name, manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.), which is known as a water-soluble anionic acrylic resin, 60 parts of aromatic hydroxy ether and 10 parts of ion-exchanged water were added.
0 parts and 2 parts of triethylamine were added thereto, thoroughly mixed in a reaction vessel equipped with a reflux device, and while stirring, 200 parts of titanium oxide powder was added little by little and thoroughly stirred to emulsify to obtain a water-based paint for electrodeposition coating.

Next, two 5 μm thick copper sheets for the first electrode were pasted together using heat-softening adhesive tape, and electrodeposition coating was applied to both sides. In this case, unlike in Example 1, the copper sheet was not floated on the water-based paint for electrodeposition, but was submerged in the paint, and electrodeposition was performed while rotating slowly.

[0031] After that, the electrodeposited copper sheet was dried as it was, and then a 5 μm thick copper sheet for the second electrode was layered on both sides to prevent air bubbles from entering inside. . The electrodeposited dielectric layer was then heated to harden, and the copper sheets were bonded together. After the electrodeposited dielectric layer was completely cured, the heat-softening adhesive tape was peeled off at the same temperature as during heating and washed to obtain two sets of laminates.

Thereafter, the copper sheet for the first electrode and the copper sheet for the second electrode are etched simultaneously or separately to form a predetermined pattern of the first and second electrodes. An electrode for ion flow electrostatic recording was obtained. In this electrode, in the dielectric layer sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode, the inorganic dielectric powder is drawn toward the first electrode,
The concentration was high.

When the obtained ion flow electrostatic recording electrode was attached to an ionographic printer and an image was printed, a highly accurate printed image was obtained as in Example 1.

[0034]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
Since electrodeposition coating is used to form the dielectric layer, the dielectric powder is attracted to the first electrode side by electromagnetic attraction, and as a result, the surface of the coating film bonded to the second electrode is Even if there is some unevenness, there is little variation in the dielectric constant, and there is little variation in image dots caused by electrostatic recording devices.

Furthermore, emulsion-type paints are emulsion-type water-based paints in which dielectric powder is dispersed in a paint vehicle, so even if the contents of dielectric powder and vehicle are the same, the viscosity at room temperature is low; Therefore, bubbles that have entered through stirring and mixing are easily removed by floating.

Furthermore, since it is a water-based coating film, drying progresses evenly and the film becomes homogeneous. Furthermore, the thickness of the dielectric film can be adjusted by adjusting the electrodeposition conditions, and therefore the image dots can be easily adjusted.

As described above, according to the present invention, an ion generator for electrostatic recording is capable of forming a dielectric layer that is substantially homogeneous and has a uniform thickness, thereby forming a highly accurate dot latent image. It is possible to obtain

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an ion generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an ion generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...First electrode, 2...Dielectric layer, 3...Second electrode, 4...
Insulator layer, 5...Third electrode.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing an ion flow electrostatic recording electrode having a first electrode on one surface of a dielectric layer and a second electrode on the other surface, wherein the first electrode or A step of applying an emulsion type paint in which dielectric powder is dispersed in a paint vehicle to one side of the sheet by electrodeposition coating, and a second electrode or a second electrode sheet is applied on this electrodeposition coating film. −
for ion flow electrostatic recording, characterized in that the concentration of dielectric powder in the dielectric layer is higher on the first electrode side and lower on the second electrode side. Method of manufacturing electrodes. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of applying the emulsion type paint to one surface of the first electrode by electrodeposition coating, and providing a second electrode on the electrodeposition coating film. A method of manufacturing the ion flow electrostatic recording electrode described above. 3. A step of laminating two first electrode sheets, a step of applying the emulsion type paint to both surfaces of the laminated electrodeposited sheets by electrodeposition coating, and a step of applying the emulsion type paint to both sides of the laminated electrodeposition sheets, respectively. a step of stacking and joining the second electrode sheets; a step of curing the electrodeposition coating film to form a dielectric layer;
A step of separating the two first electrode sheets, and etching the first electrode sheet and the second electrode sheet to form a first electrode of a predetermined pattern. The method for manufacturing an ion flow electrostatic recording electrode according to claim 1, comprising the step of forming an electrode and a second electrode to obtain two ion flow electrostatic recording electrodes.