JPH05173454A - Recording form regenerating method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily regenerate a used recording form having a toner image by removing the toner image from the used recording form without damaging the recording form. CONSTITUTION:A roller 10B holds/carries the recording form S together with a roller 10A. The toner image IT on the recording form S is heated by the roller 10A, while the recording form S passes between these rollers 10A and 10B. A heating temperature is set higher than a temperature for fixing the toner image, to decompose binding resin on the toner image IT by the heating. Consequently, the toner with which the toner image IT is formed, is decomposed and crumbled, the fixing force of an image DT by decomposed toner to the recording form S is reduced, and the image DT is loosely fixed on the surface of the recording form S. At this time, the decomposed toner is physically removed from the surface of the recording form S by a removing device 20. The rotary brush 21 of the removing device 20 rotates and rubs the surface of the recording form S, having the sticking of the decomposed toner, to capture the decomposed toner, so that the surface of the recording form S is cleaned.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording paper recycling method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, attention has been paid to paper recycling from the viewpoint of forest resource protection. Conventionally, the used paper recycling method is to disintegrate used waste paper that has been recovered to a fiber state and to recycle it as paper, but it is low cost because there are many steps from recovery to recycling. Is difficult to recycle paper
Large-scale equipment is also required. In addition, it is difficult to increase the recovery rate of used paper because there is concern about leakage of confidential information on the waste paper discharge side.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and can easily reproduce "used recording paper having a toner image" which is generated in a large amount during office work. The purpose is to provide a method for recycling recording paper.

[0004]

In the present invention, "reproduction of recording paper" means removing a toner image from a used recording paper having a toner image without destroying the recording paper.
This means that the recording image can be formed again. The method according to claims 1 to 5 is a method for reproducing the used recording paper on which the toner image is fixed with the powder toner, and the method according to claim 6 is for the used recording paper on which the toner image is formed with the wet toner. It is a reproduction method.

According to the method of claim 1, the used recording paper having the toner image fixed with the powder toner is passed between the pair of rollers. At least one of the pair of rollers is a heating roller. While passing through the pair of rollers, the used recording paper is heated and the binder resin of the toner forming the toner image is decomposed by the heat. By this decomposition, the adhesion force of the toner image to the recording paper is reduced, and the decomposed toner is "adhered" to the recording paper (in this specification, used as a term for the adhered state, the decomposed toner loosely adheres to the recording paper. It refers to the state). Then, the decomposed toner is removed from the recording paper.

According to the method of claim 2, the used recording paper on which the toner image is fixed by the powder toner is passed between a pair of rollers, at least one of which is a heating roller, and the whole is heated. .. Before or after this sheet passing, the heating head heats a desired portion of the recording sheet. Then, the binder resin of the toner is decomposed by heat only in the portion heated by the heating head and the pair of rollers to reduce the adhesion force of the toner image to the recording paper, and the decomposed toner adheres to the recording paper. Then, the decomposed toner in the adhered state is removed from the recording paper.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the used recording paper having the toner image fixed with the powder toner is passed between the pair of rollers. At least one of the pair of rollers is a heating roller, and the surface of the roller that is in contact with the toner image has "a higher critical surface energy than that of the binder resin of the powder toner". Paper is passed between the pair of rollers to heat the entire recording paper to liquefy the toner, and the liquefied toner is “transferred to the surface of the roller on the side in contact with the toner image” and removed from the recording paper.

According to the method of claim 4, the used recording paper on which the toner image is fixed by the powder toner is first preheated by a heating head at a desired portion, and thereafter,
"At least one is a heating roller, and the surface of the roller on the side in contact with the toner image has a critical surface energy higher than that of the binder resin of the powder toner." Be heated. Adjust the heating by the heating head and the heating by the roller pair to liquefy the toner in "only the part preheated by the heating head", transfer the liquefied toner to the surface of the roller on the side in contact with the toner image, and then from the recording paper. Remove.

In the method of the fifth aspect, a desired portion of the used recording paper on which the toner image made of powder toner is fixed is heated to liquefy the toner image of this portion. Then, a soft plastic film is laminated on the liquefied portion, and then the toner image and the toner image are peeled off from the recording paper to remove the toner image from the recording paper.

In the above methods, the "desired portion" of the used recording paper is the entire surface or a part of the recording paper, and the area in which the recording paper is reproduced can be arbitrarily designated. To do.

In the method of claim 6, the used recording paper has a "toner image with a wet toner" (an image developed with a wet developer in an electrophotographic process). The used recording paper is dipped in a dispersion liquid of a wet developer (a liquid in which a wet toner is dispersed in a wet developer, so-called mother liquid). By this immersion, the wet toner is released from the recording paper and removed from the recording paper.

[0012]

In operation, the powder toner is generally a powder obtained by adding a binder resin (thermoplastic polymer) to a colorant (pigment or dye) and mixing and crushing it into powder. Therefore, when heat is applied to this, the binder resin is liquefied, and the liquefied state is utilized to fix the recording material onto the recording paper.

Therefore, when the toner image formed by the powder toner formed on the used recording paper is heated, the toner image is liquefied again. When a substance having a critical surface energy larger than the critical surface energy of the above-mentioned binding resin (25 to 35 dyn / cm) is brought into contact with the liquefied toner image, the liquefied toner image has the above-mentioned difference in surface energy. Wet the material surface and transfer to the material surface. In the method according to the third or fourth aspect, this is utilized to remove the toner image from the recording paper. In the method of claim 5, the liquefied toner image is taken into the laminated plastic film, and the toner image is removed by peeling the plastic film together with the plastic film from the recording paper.

When the heat applied to the toner image by the powder toner is further increased, the binder resin in the toner image is decomposed by the heat. When the binding resin is decomposed, the toner image becomes an aggregate of “decomposed toner”, loses its adhesive strength to the recording paper and becomes attached to the recording paper, and is easily removed from the recording paper surface by physical force such as rubbing. it can. In the methods of claims 1 and 2, this is used to remove the toner image from the recording paper.

The wet type developer is a "wet toner" dispersed in a dispersion medium (isopar etc.), and when the toner image formed by the wet toner formed on the recording paper is dipped in the dispersion medium, a toner image is formed. The wet toner is redispersed in the dispersion medium. In the method of claim 6, this is used to remove the toner image from the recording paper.

As described above, in the present invention, the "used recording paper on which a toner image is formed" is targeted as the recording paper to be reproduced, but the recording paper used by general OA equipment is not the above. Some have a recorded image.

The reproduction of recording paper having other recorded images will be briefly described below. The first example is a case where the recorded image is a toner image with a special toner. For example, a cyanine dye is used as the colorant in the toner particles, and an organic boric acid compound is used as the counter ion in the toner.
(nm) irradiates the dye to decolorize it. Therefore, with a recording paper on which a toner image is formed by such a special toner, it is possible to reproduce the recording paper without removing the toner image only by irradiating the toner image with the above-mentioned near infrared light to erase the color. You can

The following is an example in which the recorded image formed on the recording paper is an ink image recorded by the ink jet method. The ink image is formed by mixing a water-soluble ink with a fixing resin.For example, after dissolving the resin with a soluble solvent such as alcohol, wipe the surface of the recording paper with a blotter etc. Can be removed from.

As a next example, removal of a recorded image recorded by thermal transfer will be described. The thermal transfer is performed by sublimating or liquefying the ink layer (sublimable dye or resin containing the dye) formed on the donor sheet by heat and transferring it onto the recording paper. In order to remove the recorded image from the recording paper, the recorded image may be heated so as to be sublimated from the recording paper, or may be absorbed in a liquefied state by a blotter roller having a porous surface. If the blotter roller is made of aluminum or the like, the absorbed ink can be used again for recording.

[0020]

EXAMPLES Specific examples will be described below. Figure 1
(A) schematically shows only an essential part of an example of one apparatus for carrying out the recording paper reproducing method of the first aspect. The used recording paper S having the toner image IT formed by powder toner fixed thereon is conveyed in the arrow direction by a pair of rollers 10A and 10B. The roller 10A is a heating roller having a heating source inside, and has the same structure as a heating roller of a fixing device that fixes a toner image in an electronic copying process, for example.

The roller 10B holds and conveys the recording paper S together with the roller 10A. These rollers 10A, 1
While passing between 0B, the toner image IT on the recording paper S is heated by the roller 10A. The heating temperature is set to a temperature higher than that for fixing the toner image, and the heating decomposes the binder resin in the toner image IT. As a result, the toner constituting the toner image is decomposed into a “battered state”, and the image DT by the decomposed toner is in a state of loosely adhering to the surface of the recording paper by reducing the fixing force to the recording paper S.

Therefore, the decomposed toner is physically removed from the surface of the recording paper S by the removing device 20. Removal device 2
0 is a rotary brush 21, a blade 23, and a casing 25.
It is composed of and. The rotating brush 21 rotates,
The surface of the recording paper is cleaned by rubbing the surface of the recording paper on which the decomposed toner is attached and capturing the decomposed toner. Rotating brush 2
The decomposed toner adhering to No. 1 is repelled from the rotary brush 21 by the action of the blade 23 and collected at the bottom of the casing 25.

The regenerated recording paper S from which the decomposed toner has been removed is ejected onto a regenerated recording paper recovery tray (not shown) by the conveying roller pair 50. The collection of the decomposed toner is not limited to this example, but may be performed by suction by negative pressure, for example.

FIG. 1 (b) schematically shows only an essential part of an example of an apparatus for carrying out the recording paper reproducing method of the second aspect. In order to avoid complication, the parts which are not likely to be confused are given the same reference numerals as in FIG.

In this example, the used recording paper S having the toner image IT is conveyed in the direction of the arrow and evenly heated by the pair of rollers 10A and 10B before being heated by the heating head 30. The desired portion to be removed is preheated. The heating head 30 has a structure similar to that conventionally known as a "thermal head" in relation to thermal recording, and has minute heating elements arranged in a direction orthogonal to the drawing of FIG. 1 (b). Thus, a desired portion of the recording paper S can be heated by adjusting the combination of heating elements that generate heat while conveying the recording paper S in the direction of the arrow.

The heating by the heating head 30 is performed up to the temperature just before the toner image is liquefied. The toner image portion HT heated by this heating is brought into a high temperature state. Then, the entire surface of the recording paper S is heated by the rollers 10A and 10B. This heating is performed so that the binder resin is decomposed in the toner image portion HT previously heated by the heating head 30, but the toner image is not liquefied in the portion heated only by the rollers 10A and 10B.

Thus, of the toner image on the recording paper S, the toner image of the portion selectively heated by the heating head 30 becomes the image DT by the decomposed toner. The recording paper can be regenerated by removing it from the recording paper in the same manner as the above example. In the example of FIG. 1A, the entire surface of the recording paper is reproduced.
In (b), only a desired portion of the recording paper can be reproduced.

In the example of FIG. 1B, the positions of the heating head 30 and the positions of the rollers 10A and 10B are exchanged, and the order of uniform heating by the rollers 10A and 10B and selective heating by the heating head is reversed. May be.

FIG. 2 schematically shows only an essential part of an example of an apparatus for carrying out the method of claim 3. The used recording paper S on which the toner image IT is fixed is the rollers 10A, 1
It is conveyed in the direction of the arrow while being passed between 0B. The roller 10A is a heating roller similar to that in FIG. 1, and heats the recording sheet S from the back side to liquefy the toner image IT. The peripheral surface of the roller 10C, which is in contact with the toner image IT, is formed of a material having a critical surface energy larger than that of the binder resin of the toner (so-called toner hot offset-prone material), and the liquefied toner image is formed by the roller 10C. To the casing 43 by the blade 41.
The recording paper is scraped inside and collected, and the entire recording paper is regenerated.

A heater similar to the heating head 30 shown in FIG. 2B is provided in the preceding stage of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 (upstream side in the recording paper conveyance direction) to preheat a desired regenerated portion, and this preheating is performed. The toner image can be liquefied for the first time by heating with the roller 10A, and by doing so, a desired portion of the recording paper can be regenerated.

In the above description, the heating head is used to selectively heat a desired portion of the recording paper, but the optical scanning by the laser is performed from the front side or the back side of the recording paper. It should be noted that the desired portion of the recording paper can also be heated by the above method.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the method of claim 5. The desired part on the used recording paper is
For example, the desired toner image portion is liquefied by heating by the method described with reference to FIG. In this state, a soft plastic film F is laminated so as to cover the liquefied toner image portion. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the plastic film F is laminated in this way. For laminating the plastic film F, a known appropriate laminating device can be used. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3B, the laminated plastic film F is peeled off from the recording paper F together with the toner image IT, so that the recording paper can be reproduced.

In some cases, after removing the toner image from the recording paper, a new soft plastic film is laminated on the surface of the recording paper to form an undercoat layer on the recycled recording paper, and a new toner image is formed on the undercoat layer. You may make it formed in. In this way, when a newly used recording paper is reproduced again, the plastic film is laminated on the toner image and separated from the recording paper main body together with the undercoat layer, so that the recording paper can be reproduced extremely well. be able to.

FIG. 4 shows only an essential part of an example of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the sixth aspect. Reference numeral 50
The same dispersion medium (for example, Isopar) 52 as the mother liquor for dispersing the wet toner in the wet developer is stored in the container indicated by, and the guide 54 is provided so as to pass through the dispersion medium 52, and one of the upper guides is provided. In the part where the part was removed,
A rotating sponge roller 56 is provided.

The used recording paper S having the toner image IT formed by the wet toner is immersed in the dispersion medium 52 along the guide 54 by the transport roller 58A. The wet toner comes into contact with the dispersion medium 52, is released from the surface of the recording paper S, and is redispersed in the dispersion medium 52. In this state, the wet toner can be removed from the surface of the recording paper by lightly rubbing the surface of the recording paper S with the rotating sponge roller 56. The recording paper S that has been regenerated by removing the wet toner is discharged onto a tray (not shown) for recycled recording paper while the dispersion medium is squeezed by the transport roller 58B.

The toner redispersed in the dispersion medium 52 can be returned to the wet type developer and reused.

FIG. 5 shows a modification of the embodiment described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a toner image fixing device is used,
This is a device that doubles as a playback device for used recording paper. The heating roller 10A is set in the center, and the pressure roller 10 is provided on both sides of the heating roller 10A.
C and 10D are pressed. The pressure roller 10A and the pressure roller 10D form a fixing device. That is, the recording sheet S having the unfixed toner image TI is heated by the heating roller 10
While being passed between A and the pressure roller 10D, the heating roller 10A heats the toner image TI to liquefy and fix it on the recording sheet S. The peripheral surface of the pressure roller 10D is formed of a material such as silicon rubber that is unlikely to cause hot offset.

When the used recording paper is regenerated, the paper is passed between the heating roller 10A and the pressure roller 10C in the direction of the arrow, and the toner image is liquefied by heating by the heating roller 10A, and the circumference of the pressure roller 10C. Transfer to the surface and remove from the recording paper. At this time, the heating temperature of the heating roller is set higher than that at the time of fixing, or the recording paper conveyance speed is made slower than that at the time of fixing, so that the fixed toner image is liquefied favorably. The peripheral surface of the pressure roller 10C is formed of a material having a critical surface energy larger than the critical surface energy of the toner binding resin (25 to 35 dyn / cm) so that hot offset of the toner easily occurs.

The toner transferred to the surface of the pressure roller 10C is scraped by the blade 41 to the bottom of the casing 45 and collected.

An example of a recording apparatus to which the recording paper reproducing method of the invention is applied will be described below with reference to FIG. This apparatus is a digital copying apparatus having a recording paper reproducing function. First, the basic copying process will be described. This copying process includes a document reading process, a latent image forming process, a developing process, a transferring process, a fixing process and a discharging process.

The original 0 to be copied is placed on the tray 100 with the image side facing down. With the start of the copying operation, the original 0 is sent by the roller 101, passes through the contact glass 102 at a constant speed, and is discharged onto the tray 103.

The original 0 is illuminated by the lamp 104 as it passes over the contact glass 102. The reflected light from the illuminated portion is reflected by the mirror 105 and the lens 10
6 is read by the image sensor 107 as pixel information and stored in a memory (not shown). Image processing is performed on the stored contents as necessary. The above is the document reading process.

Subsequently, the drum-shaped photosensitive member 200 rotates in the direction of the arrow and is uniformly charged by the charger 201. The optical scanning device 202 writes the stored contents of the memory on the uniformly charged peripheral surface of the photoconductor 200, and forms an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the original image on the photoconductor 200.
That is, it is a latent image forming step.

In the subsequent developing step, the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 20.
3A, 203B (toners of different colors are used)
It is developed by one of. The recording paper corresponding to the size of the toner image formed on the photoconductor 200 is the cassette 300.
The sheets are selected from A, 300B, and 300C and fed, and fed to the transfer portion by the resist roller 303. The toner image is transferred to the recording paper sent to the transfer unit by the transfer device 305, and then separated from the photoconductor 200 by the separation charger 307 (transfer process). The surface of the photoconductor after the transfer of the toner image is cleaned by the cleaner 204.

The recording paper on which the toner image has been transferred is then sent by the conveyor belt 400 to the fixing device 410, where the toner image is fixed (fixing step), and the arrow 415.
Is conveyed along with and is discharged onto the tray 420 (discharge step).

The control relationship of the apparatus shown in FIG. 6 will be briefly described. This recording apparatus has a control unit 120,
The action of this control device controls the routine process of the device. The control device 120 is connected to a computer (host computer) 127 via an interface 125. The computer 127 can also control the recording device via the control device 120.

Further, the interface 125 is connected to the keyboard 123, and the keyboard 123 is connected to the display 129. Although not shown, the interface 125 is connected to a memory for storing the above-mentioned document reading data on the inside of the apparatus and connected to a facsimile apparatus on the outside of the apparatus, and transmits the read original data by the facsimile apparatus. You can also do it.

The process of reusing used recording paper will be described below. First, selection of reproducible recording paper and non-reproducible recording paper will be described. Used recording sheets to be processed are stacked and placed on the tray 100. A plurality of these recording papers are conveyed at a time, and the presence or absence of a stapler is detected by a metal detection means (not shown) (for example, it is detected whether or not the conveyed recording paper block includes a metal portion).

If there is no stapler, the block of recording paper is conveyed as shown by arrows 500A, 500B and 500C and stocked in the storage section 510. When the stapler is detected, the recording paper block is conveyed as indicated by an arrow 500D and discharged onto the tray 515. In the memory (not shown) built in the device, the information "Stapler has arrived. Please remove the stapler" is stored in the audio signal, and when the stapler is detected, it is detected by the detection signal. This information is converted into sound by the speaker 517.

Based on this voice information, the operator can operate the tray 5
Remove the stapler of the recording paper on 15 and re-tray 1.
Return to 00. When such a process is performed, all the recording sheets are finally stocked in the storage unit 510.

The recording paper stocked in the storage unit 510 is
The paper is conveyed in the opposite direction of the stocking path and returned to the tray 100 again. At this time, when a plurality of recording sheets are adhered to each other, the adhesion releasing means 519 releases the adhesion. Therefore, the recording papers returned on the tray 100 are independent one by one.

Next, the process of reproducing the recording paper and recording it again will be described. This process can be selected from the following three methods.

The first method is a method of forming a new recording image on the back surface of a used recording paper. When this method is selected, the recording paper on the tray 100 is conveyed one by one, and when the recording paper passes over the contact glass 102, the image is read. If information has already been recorded on the lower surface of the recording paper (the surface that contacts the contact glass 102) by this reading, the pre-reproduction trays 600A, 600B,
Any of 600C is sorted and stocked according to the size of the recording paper. If there is no information recorded on the lower surface of the recording paper, it passes through the pre-reproduction tray and is stocked in any of the cassettes 300A, 300B, and 300C. Incidentally, in the example being explained, the recording paper of A-4 size is placed in the tray 600A or the cassette 300A,
4 size recording paper is tray 600B or cassette 3
00B, and A-3 size recording paper for tray 600C
Alternatively, it is distributed to the cassette 300C.

In some cases, even if there is no recorded image on the lower surface of the recording paper, the reproduction is repeated many times and reproduction is not appropriate, or the recorded image on the upper surface is too dark to form a recorded image on the back surface. However, if you can only record it hard to see,
When it is determined that the recording is unsuitable for reproduction, the recording paper is conveyed as indicated by an arrow 500E and shredded by the shredder 700.

In this way, finally, the recording paper whose back side can be used as it is is the cassette 300A, 3A.
Stocked in 00B and 300C, these can be immediately used as recording paper. Also, the tray 600A,
Recording papers from which toner images should be removed are stocked in 600B and 600C. The read image data can be stored in the memory if necessary. That is, the read image is displayed on the display 129, and the keyboard 12 indicates that the necessary image information should be saved.
Specify from 3 and save.

Also, the presence or absence of an image, the color of the image, the font of the character, the language, the top and bottom of the character, the size of the recording paper, etc. are determined by the reading while passing over the contact glass 102.

The second method is to record a new toner image in an empty space on the recording surface of the used recording paper on which the toner image is recorded. Such a method is, for example, a case where a diagram or the like to be combined with the above sentence is recorded in an empty space of a used recording paper in which a sentence is recorded by a word processor.

In this case, the used recording paper is conveyed one by one, the presence / absence of a vacant space is discriminated, and the one having a sufficient vacant space is cassette 300A, 300B, 3
00C, stock the image, and then read the image to be recorded in the empty space from the original, adjust the toner image position and size according to the empty space, and execute the copying process described above. .. In this case, when first reading the image information on the used recording paper, the color of the image is also identified,
If desired, recording may be performed using toner of a color different from that of the above image. In preparation for such a case, the apparatus shown in FIG. 6 uses a developing device 203A that uses two types of toner having different colors,
203B, and these can be selectively used.

The third method is a case where the present invention is carried out and a used recording paper is reproduced and a new toner image is recorded. Used recording paper is tray 10
The recorded images are read as they are conveyed one by one from 0 and pass over the contact glass 102. The read image is displayed on the display 129 as needed. The operator looks at the display and sets the image area to be removed for reproduction. There are two ways to do this.

That is, the first setting method is the second setting when all the toner images formed on one surface of the recording paper (the surface on the side in contact with the contact glass 102 for simplicity; the same applies below) are removed. The method is for removing a part of the toner image.

To carry out the first setting method, the conveyed recording paper is set as shown by arrows 500A and 500B,
The paper is fed to a position before the storage unit 510, and thereafter, is made to invade the transfer device 410 from the rear end side of the recording paper in the reverse direction as indicated by an arrow 500F. At this time, the heating head 413 is not operated, and the rollers 411, 412 and the transport belt 400 rotate in the direction opposite to that at the time of fixing. At this time, these rotational speeds are slower than those at the time of fixing. Roller 41
1, the toner image is heated through the recording paper to be liquefied, and the liquefied toner image is hot offset to the peripheral surface of the roller 412 and removed from the recording paper surface. That is, the recording paper reproduction in this case is the reproduction method described with reference to FIG. The toner image transferred to the roller 412 is removed and collected from the peripheral surface of the roller 412 by a removing means such as a blade (not shown).

Next, in the second setting method, that is, in the case of removing only a part of the toner image formed on the recording paper, an area for removing the toner image is set for the image read and displayed on the display 129. The address is designated by the keyboard 123.

The recording paper is once conveyed to the vicinity of the storage unit 510 in the same manner as described above, and then enters the fixing unit from the rear end side in the opposite direction. At this time, the heating head 413 is operated to selectively preheat the area designated as the toner image removal area, and then the entire roller 411 is heated to transfer the toner image of only the designated area to the roller 412. And remove.

The removal area can be designated by a method of enclosing the erased area on the recording paper with a marker or painting it in addition to the address designation by the keyboard.

In both the first and second methods, after the toner image on the desired portion is removed, the rollers 411, 412 are removed.
Is rotated in the same direction as when fixing, is conveyed as indicated by arrow 500G, and passes through any of trays 600A, 600B, and 600C depending on the size, and cassettes 300A and 300
It is distributed to either B or 300C according to the size. Thus, the desired recycled recording paper is obtained in the cassette, and the copying process can be performed by using this.

The method of removing the toner image only in the designated area portion and forming the toner image again in this portion can be used specifically for correction of typographical error. In this case, new toner image formation may be performed by input from the keyboard 123.

In the above description, when a plurality of recording papers are adhered to each other when the recording papers once stored in the storage unit 510 are returned to the tray 100 one by one, the adhesion release means 519 is used. The cancellation will be done. This point will be described in detail.

Adhesion between recording sheets described here is
It is the mutual adhesion of predetermined edges of the recording paper, and the adhesive is a sol-gel substance composed of polyvinyl alcohol, bolates, water and NaOH. In a normal state, this adhesive is in a solid state having a hardness of an eraser, but when it is energized, it becomes a starch syrup and has an adhesive function. When the power supply is stopped, the solid state before the power supply is regained after a few seconds.

Therefore, when a plurality of recording papers stocked in the storage section are adhered to each other with such an adhesive, an electric current is applied to the adhered portion by an adhesion releasing means 519 (a pair of electrodes). The agent is fluidized and shifted one by one to release the adhesive state.

Of course, when it is desired to re-adhere a plurality of recording papers, the recording papers to be adhered are overlapped with each other with the adhesive applied portions thereof, and a current of about 1 mA is applied to the adhesive applied portions at a DC voltage of about 20 to 30V. After applying electricity, pressure may be applied to the above portion for several seconds.

The adhered state can be detected, for example, by the resistance when the lower surface of the recording paper block is sucked by air and the upper surface is pushed in one direction.

As the energy for changing the sol-gel state of the adhesive agent by the sol-gel substance, heat, light, or a combination thereof can be used in addition to the current energy described above.

The application of the present invention to the recording apparatus example shown in FIG. 6 has been described above. The following describes the recording paper itself suitable for reproduction. In the recording / reproducing method of the present invention, the recording paper itself is not particularly limited in principle. However, when the recording paper is an ordinary copy paper, the number of times of reproduction of the recording paper itself is 1-2 at most. In order to increase the number of times of reproduction, as described in connection with the method of claim 5, it is preferable to use as a recording paper a calendered paper thinly laminated with soft plastic as an undercoat layer. good. In this case, either a soft plastic is further laminated on the toner image to peel off the toner image, or
Alternatively, by peeling both the undercoat laminate film and the film laminated on the toner image, recording paper can be easily regenerated, and if the soft plastic is laminated again on the surface of the regenerated recording paper, it can be regenerated many times. It is possible. Alternatively, it is possible to reproduce by simply peeling the toner image together with the undercoat laminate film without performing the lamination on the toner image.

In the case where the recording paper is not suitable for reproduction, the method using the shredder has been described as the disposal processing of the recording paper from the viewpoint of keeping the confidentiality of the recorded information. The case not suitable for reproduction includes the case where reproduction is possible in principle, but the reproduction cost is high (such as the case where the toner image area is 30% or more). In such a case, as a method of discarding the recording paper, it is possible to paint the entire surface of the recording paper with black toner. The recording paper coated with the black toner in this manner can be recorded with the white toner as the recycled paper. On the contrary, it is also conceivable that an image is recorded with black toner by using the recording paper whose whole surface is painted with white toner as reproduction recording paper.

When two developing devices such as the device of FIG. 6 are used and two kinds of toners of different colors (for example, red toner and black toner) are used, the critical temperature of liquefaction of the binder resin of these toners is set. If they are made different from each other, it is possible to selectively remove only the toner image formed by the toner having the low critical temperature. This is effective, for example, in the case where the format is formed with a toner image having a high critical temperature and the additional matter is recorded with an image of the toner having a low critical temperature, only the additional matter is erased.

[0076]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a novel recording paper recycling method which has never been available. Since this method is configured as described above, the used recording paper can be reproduced and used again for recording, the used recording paper can be effectively used, and the consumption of paper resources can be reduced to protect the forest resources. The place to contribute is large.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the method of claims 1 and 2. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the method of claim 3;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the method of claim 5;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the method of claim 6;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a modified embodiment of the method of claim 3;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of a recording apparatus to which the present invention has been applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S Used recording paper IT Toner image 10A Heating roller 10B Pressure roller DT Image with decomposed toner 20 Decomposed toner removing device 30 Heating head

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A used recording paper on which a toner image is fixed with a powder toner is passed through a pair of rollers, at least one of which is a heating roller, to heat the binder resin of the toner by heat. A method of regenerating a recording paper, comprising disassembling the toner image to reduce the adhesion force of the toner image to the recording paper so that the decomposed toner adheres to the recording paper, and removing the decomposed toner in the adhered state from the recording paper. 2. A used recording paper on which a toner image is fixed with a powder toner is passed between a pair of rollers, at least one of which is a heating roller, to heat the entire recording paper. Before or after, the heating head heats a desired portion of the recording paper, and only in the portion heated by the heating head and the pair of rollers, the binder resin of the toner is decomposed by heat to form a toner image. A method of regenerating a recording paper, which comprises reducing the adhesion force to the recording paper so that the decomposed toner adheres to the recording paper, and removing the decomposed toner in the adhered state from the recording paper. 3. A used recording paper having a toner image fixed with a powder toner, at least one of which is a heating roller, and the surface of the roller in contact with the toner image is made of a binder resin of powder toner. Also, paper is passed between a pair of rollers with high critical surface energy, the entire recording paper is heated to liquefy the toner, and the liquefied toner is transferred to the surface of the roller in contact with the toner image for recording. A recording paper recycling method, characterized by removing from the paper. 4. A used recording paper having a toner image fixed with a powder toner is preheated on a desired portion by a heating head, and at least one of them is a heating roller and is in contact with the toner image. The surface of the roller has a higher critical surface energy than the binding resin of the powder toner, and the paper is passed between a pair of rollers to heat the entire recording paper, and the toner is liquefied only in the portion preheated by the heating head. A method for recycling recording paper, characterized in that the liquefied and liquefied toner is transferred onto the surface of the roller on the side in contact with the toner image and removed from the recording paper. 5. A desired portion of a used recording paper on which a toner image is fixed with a powder toner is heated to liquefy the toner image, and a soft plastic film is laminated on the liquefied portion. A recording paper recycling method, characterized in that the plastic film and the toner image are peeled off from the recording paper. 6. A used recording paper having a toner image formed by a wet toner is dipped in a dispersion liquid of a wet developer to release the wet toner from the recording paper and remove it from the recording paper. Recording paper recycling method.