JPH05167780A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simply form and erase a picture by emitting an erasure light onto a recording medium through part toward the upperstream of a transparent electrode of an electrode pair receiving an electric field whose frequency is a specific frequency and emitting a light in response to recording information with a prescribed wavelength though part of the downstream so as to stably store the recording content. CONSTITUTION:A recording medium 6 is moved between a transparent electrode 11 and a metal plate electrode 12 in the direction of the arrow. An electric field whose frequency is a specific frequency is applied from a high frequency generating means to an electrode means 1. An erasure light radiation means 3 emits an ultraviolet ray through part of the electrode 11 toward the upperstream. The medium 6 is changed into an opaque state (black) and initialized. When the initialized part comes under a laser unit 4, a recording control means 5 controls radiation of a laser beam in response to the information of a read original to emit the beam onto the medium 6 thereby changing the black part into the white (transparent) part and forming an image.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital copying machine,
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a fax machine and a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an image is formed on a sheet using an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine, an electrostatic latent image is formed on a photosensitive surface by a laser beam or the like controlled according to information, The electrostatic latent image is developed with toner to form a toner image, and the toner image is further transferred onto the surface of the paper, and heat or pressure is applied to the toner to melt the toner to form a toner image. When erasing the toner image formed in this way, a special eraser is required, it becomes difficult to erase with the passage of time, or the paper at the erased location is damaged, so writing and erasing are generally performed. It is troublesome to do both of them, or it is difficult to erase the entire surface of the paper and reuse it many times.

[0003]

In order to solve the above problems, an image forming layer using a photochromic compound, the state of which changes depending on the type of wavelength of light, is provided on the surface of the paper, and the A method of forming and erasing an image by selecting a wavelength has been proposed.

However, even when a photochromic compound is used, there is a possibility that the state of the photochromic compound may change depending on the passage of time or the storage state from the viewpoints of thermal stability, light stability, etc. of the photochromic compound. There is a problem that the retention becomes unstable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus which does not make the retention of recorded contents unstable and can easily perform image formation and erasure. It is a thing.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a pair of electrodes, one of which is a transparent electrode, and a transparent state is established between both electrodes by light having different wavelengths in a specific frequency electric field. Electrode means through which a recording medium exhibiting an opaque state can pass, high frequency generating means for applying an electric field of a specific frequency to the electrode means, and irradiation of the recording medium with light of a predetermined wavelength through a part of the upstream side of the transparent electrode. Erase light irradiating means, light irradiating means for irradiating the recording medium with light of a predetermined wavelength other than the predetermined wavelength through a part of the downstream side of the transparent electrode, and information recorded by the light irradiating means. The image forming apparatus is provided with a recording control unit that controls in accordance with the above.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the high-frequency generating means applies an electric field of a specific frequency to the electrode means composed of a pair of electrodes, one of which is a transparent electrode, and the erasing light irradiating means causes the erasing light irradiating means to be part of the upstream side of the transparent electrode. The recording medium is irradiated with light having a predetermined wavelength through the recording medium, and the light irradiation unit irradiates the recording medium with light having a predetermined wavelength other than the predetermined wavelength through a part of the downstream side of the transparent electrode. The light irradiation of the irradiation means is controlled according to the information to be recorded.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings showing its embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. That is, in a digital copying machine which is an image forming apparatus, for example, white paper,
Alternatively, a recording medium 6 having a recording layer 60 (details described later) that is changed to a transparent state or an opaque state by light having different wavelengths in a specific frequency electric field on a substrate 61 such as a resin is conveyed in the direction of the arrow. A transport unit (not shown) is provided. Electrode means 1 having a transparent electrode 11 on the upper side and an electrode 12 made of, for example, a metal plate on the lower side is provided at a predetermined position of the transport section so that the recording medium 6 can pass through the electrode means 1. A high frequency generating means 2 for generating a high frequency electric field is connected. An erasing light irradiating means 3 for irradiating ultraviolet rays on the upstream side is arranged above the transparent electrode 11, and a laser unit 4 for irradiating visible laser light is arranged on the downstream side of the erasing light irradiating means 3. .. The laser unit 4 is connected to a recording control means 5 for controlling the emitted visible laser light according to the information of the original to be copied.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

First, as the substance used for the recording layer 60 of the recording medium 6, for example, a polymer liquid crystal (Chemical formula 1), a low molecular liquid crystal (Chemical formula 2), and a photoresponsive molecule (Chemical formula 3) represented by the following chemical formulas
Ternary composite membranes are known. (Reference, Chemistry Express, 1991.Vol.6, No.9.pp 719-722,
"New functionality of self-supporting liquid crystal film", Department of Applied Materials Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University, Chisato Kajiyama)

[0012]

[Chemical 1]

[0013]

[Chemical 2]

[0014]

[Chemical 3] When the recording layer 60 including the above substances is irradiated with ultraviolet rays in a state where a specific frequency electric field is applied, the recording layer 60 changes to an opaque state when it is transparent and vice versa. Then it changes to a transparent state. Then, if the electric field is removed in the changed state, the state can be maintained even if ultraviolet rays or visible light is irradiated. When an electric field of another specific frequency is applied, it is opaque (depending on the frequency or transparent) regardless of the wavelength of the emitted light.
Change to a different state. That is, the recording medium 6 is the recording layer 6
When 0 is transparent, the incident light is reflected by the base 61 under the recording layer 60 to become white, and when the recording layer 60 is opaque, the incident light is internally scattered by the recording layer 60, or It is absorbed and turns black.

When copying is performed using the above-mentioned recording medium 6, the recording medium 6 to be used may be in a transparent state (white) or may be unnecessary after copying. Alternatively, it may be initialized from the beginning to an opaque state (black).

When the recording medium 6 is set and the copy operation is started, first, the information of the original is scanned by the reading device provided in the copying machine and read into the memory. Then, the recording medium 6 moves from the right side of the electrode means 1 in the direction of the arrow, that is, on the left side in the drawing between the electrodes 11 and 12. At the same time, a specific frequency electric field is applied to the electrode means 1 from the high frequency generating means 2, and the electrodes 11,
An electric field is applied to the recording medium 6 between the positions 12. Therefore, the erasing light irradiating means 3 irradiates the recording medium 6 thereunder with ultraviolet rays through the transparent electrode 11. When the recording medium 6 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the opaque portion (black) of the recording layer 60 remains as it is, and the transparent portion (white) becomes opaque (black) as described above. Change. That is, when it passes the position where the ultraviolet rays hit, it becomes a black state, and that part is initialized.

After that, when the initialized portion of the recording medium 6 is sent to the lower side of the laser unit 4, the recording control means 5 responds to the information of the read original by the laser unit 4.
Of the recording medium 6 is controlled through the transparent electrode 11 in the portion corresponding to the white color of the original by controlling the irradiation of the laser beam of
The opaque state (black) is changed to a transparent state (white). In addition, the laser unit 4 is provided in the portion corresponding to the black color of the document (the portion corresponding to the normal characters)
Is controlled so that it is not irradiated with visible laser light from that part, and that part remains in an opaque state (black).

As described above, with the movement of the recording medium 6, the portion to which the specific frequency electric field is applied and the ultraviolet ray is irradiated is first changed to the opaque state (black), and the portion is changed according to the information of the original. Since the image is formed by irradiating the visible laser light, the recording medium 6 can be easily reused.

In the above embodiment, the light irradiating means is constituted by the laser unit 4, but instead of this, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, a light source 52 for radiating visible light having a parabolic reflection plate 53 is provided. A liquid crystal shutter 51 may be provided on the front surface of the recording medium 6, and the opening and closing of the liquid crystal shutter 51 may be controlled by the recording control unit 50 according to the information of the document to control the visible light applied to the recording medium 6. ..

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the ultraviolet light emitted by the erasing light irradiating means 3 was used for initializing the recording medium 6, but instead of this, as shown in FIG. 2, upstream of the transparent electrode 71. The second electrode means 8 is provided on the side (the lower electrode 12 also serves as the first electrode means 7, and the electrode 81 is arranged on the upper side with a slight distance from the transparent electrode 71) to irradiate the second electrode means 8. Another specific frequency electric field that can change the recording layer 60 to an opaque state regardless of light may be applied by the second high frequency generating means 9.

Further, in the above embodiment, the recording medium 6 was initially in an opaque state (black), but conversely, the erasing light irradiating means is changed to one capable of irradiating visible light, and the writing light irradiating means is changed. The recording control means 5 controls the light irradiating means to irradiate with ultraviolet rays in the case of a portion corresponding to the black color of the original, by changing to a transparent state (white) at first, instead of the one capable of irradiating with ultraviolet rays. Of course you can.

In the above embodiment, the recording medium 6 is moved. However, instead of this, the electrode means 1, the erasing light irradiating means 3 and the light irradiating means 4 can be moved simultaneously. Of course it is good.

[0023]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the retention of recorded contents does not become unstable and image formation,
It has the advantage that it can be easily erased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a principle of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the principle of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 electrode means 2 high frequency generation means 3 erasing light irradiation means 4 laser unit 5 recording control means 6 recording medium 7 first electrode means 8 second electrode means 9 second high frequency generation means 10 light irradiation means 11 transparent electrode 20 first high frequency generation Means 50 Recording control means 71 Transparent electrode

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G11B 7/24 A 7215-5D 11/00 9075-5D H04N 1/00 E 4226-5C 1/23 103 Z 9186-5C // G03C 5/56 8910-2H

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium comprising a pair of electrodes, one of which is a transparent electrode, and a recording medium exhibiting a transparent state and an opaque state by light having different wavelengths in a specific frequency electric field passes between the both electrodes. And the electrode means that can be
High frequency generating means for applying an electric field of the specific frequency,
Erase light irradiation means for irradiating the recording medium with light of a predetermined wavelength through a part of the upstream side of the transparent electrode, and light of a predetermined wavelength other than the predetermined wavelength through a part of the downstream side of the transparent electrode. An image forming apparatus comprising: a light irradiating means for irradiating the recording medium; and a recording control means for controlling light irradiation of the light irradiating means according to information to be recorded. 2. A recording medium comprising a pair of electrodes, one of which is a transparent electrode, and a recording medium exhibiting a transparent state and an opaque state by light having different wavelengths in a specific frequency electric field passes between the both electrodes. Through the first electrode means, a first high frequency generating means for applying the specific frequency electric field to the first electrode means, and the transparent electrode of the first electrode means,
Light irradiating means for irradiating the recording medium with light of a predetermined wavelength, recording control means for controlling light irradiation of the light irradiating means in accordance with information to be recorded, and on the upstream side of the first electrode means, A second electrode means arranged so that the recording medium can pass therethrough; and a second high frequency generating means for applying a specific frequency electric field other than the specific frequency electric field to the second electrode means. Image forming apparatus.