JPH0545845A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image forming device that consumables which are essentially unnecessary for forming an image are eliminated and which can inexpensively form the image. CONSTITUTION:Toner 22 being a light softening type composition whose main component is a photodissociating organic compound and a pigment, a coating means 20 which coats a supporting body 44 for carrying the toner 22 with the toner 22, a latent image forming means 10 which exposes the toner 22 coating the supporting body 44 and forms a chemical latent image, a pressure developing means 40 which superposes and pressures the supporting body 44 coated with the toner 22 and an image receiving paper 52 and an elimination means 30 which eliminates the unexposed toner 22 carried by the supporting body 44 from the body 44 are provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using a photosensitive toner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a photosensitive medium coated with microcapsules containing a dye precursor and a photocurable substance is exposed on the basis of image information, and the microcapsules are cured to form a chemical latent image on the photosensitive medium. An image forming apparatus of a system in which an image receiving sheet and the above-mentioned photosensitive medium are overlapped and pressed to develop a chemical latent image by the pressure, and the image is fixed on the image receiving sheet is disclosed in JP-A-62-232652. It is disclosed in the official gazette.

Further, in order to save the cost of the photosensitive medium base material, the microcapsules are made into a toner, the toner is charged and applied to an endless belt-like support, and after exposure, it is pressure-developed together with an image receiving paper to form an image. A forming device has been proposed by the applicant.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned image forming apparatus, since the photosensitive medium used is a photocurable substance, it is soft before exposure and very difficult to handle. Further, even if it is made into a toner, if it is exposed and cured, the toner itself cannot be reused and the running cost is increased.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and eliminates the consumables which are originally unnecessary for image formation, and realizes image formation which realizes inexpensive image formation with a simple structure. To provide a device.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a toner which is a photosoftening composition mainly containing a photodegradable organic compound and a dye, and the toner A coating means for using a support for carrying and applying the toner to the support, and a latent image forming means for exposing the toner applied to the support according to image information to form a chemical latent image. It has a pressure developing means for superposing the support coated with the toner and the image receiving paper on each other, and a removing means for removing the unexposed toner carried on the support from the support.

[0007]

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention having the above structure, the photosensitive toner charged by the coating means is
It is applied to the support by electrostatic force. Next, the latent image forming means exposes the photosensitive toner applied to the support. At this time, the softening wavelength is selective depending on the sensitizing dye contained in the photosensitive toner. Then, a chemical latent image corresponding to full color is formed on the photosensitive toner. Further, when pressure is applied to the latent image by the pressure developing means, the dye flows out from the softened photosensitive toner and is transferred onto the image receiving paper to form an image on the image receiving paper. Since the photosensitive toner which has not been softened remains on the support, it is removed from the support by the removing means.

[0008]

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

An exposure unit 10 is provided inside the image forming apparatus 5.
A photosensitive toner applying section 20 and a pressure developing section 40 are provided, and each section is installed so that an endless belt-shaped support 44 can move. The exposure unit 10 is the exposure lamp 1.
1, a document table glass 15, a document cover 13, a scanner 14 that reads reflected light from a document, and an exposure head 1.
9 and a controller 16. The image signal output from the scanner 14 is input to the exposure head 19 via the controller 16, whereby
The exposure head 19 is a pointer 44 corresponding to the white background of the document.
The part is controlled by the controller 16 so as not to be exposed to light. The exposure head 19 may be a combination of a light source and a liquid crystal shutter, a printer head using a self-luminous device such as a light emitting diode, or a laser scanning unit combining a laser and a deflector.

The photosensitive toner application section 20 includes a toner case 21 for storing toner, a toner agitator 23, a toner carrier 25 for carrying the toner, and a supplier 24 for supplying the toner to the carrier 25. , The stored photosensitive toner 22. This photosensitive toner 22
Is a photosoftening composition (for example, obtained by dissolving 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone and eosin Y in isopropyl alcohol).

In the pressure developing section 40, a pair of pressure rollers 41a and 41b are arranged so as to sandwich the support 44 coated with microcapsule toner and the image receiving paper 52 therebetween. The support body 44 is provided between the drive roller 26, the facing roller 27, the driven roller 29, and the pressure rollers 41 and 41b. Here, since the power supply 28 is connected to the counter roller 27, an electric field is formed in the region between the counter roller 27 and the carrying roller 25. Further, below the photosensitive toner application section 20, a cleaning unit 30 is installed close to the support 44, and a cleaning blade 31 which is a constituent member of the cleaning unit 30 is in contact with the support.

Next, the operation of this device will be described.
When a start-up switch (not shown) is turned on, the drive roller 26 of the support body 44 rotates and the support body 44 is conveyed.
In the photosensitive toner coating section 20, the stirrer 23 and the supply body 2
By the rotation of 4, the toner is charged and carried on the carrier 25. The carried toner is subjected to electrostatic attraction in the direction of the facing roller 27 due to the electric field formed between the facing roller 27 and the carrier 25. As a result, the toner is uniformly applied to the entire surface of the support 44. The support 44 coated with toner is conveyed to the lower part of the exposure unit 10. At this point, the halogen lamp 11 of the exposure unit 10 is turned on, and the document table glass 15 holding the document 12 moves. As a result, the original 12 is read by the scanner 14. The controller 16 causes the exposure head 19 to move the original 12
The negative image of is formed on the surface of the photosensitive toner. As a result, a chemical latent image is formed on the toner.

The support 44 is further conveyed toward the pressure developing section 40. The image receiving paper 52, which is plain paper, is taken out from the paper feeding cassette and sent to the pressure developing unit 40. In the pressure developing unit 40, the support 44 carrying the toner and having the chemical latent image formed thereon and the image receiving paper 52 are superposed and passed between the pressure rollers 41a and 41b. Due to this, the dye flows out from the softened toner of the pressurized toner. Therefore, the dye is transferred to the image receiving paper 52. Therefore, an image is formed on the image receiving paper 52, and the image receiving paper 52 is output to the tray. The unsoftened capsule is not broken by the pressure and is held on the support 44. The support body 44 is further conveyed toward the cleaning unit 30. Since the blade 31 of the cleaning unit 30 is in contact with the support, the toner held on the support 44 is scraped off by the blade 31.
The microcapsule toner 22 is applied again to the support 44 that has passed through the cleaning unit 30.

Since the collected photosensitive toner 32 is not exposed, it can be reused.

It is also possible to provide a mechanism for automatically returning the recovered photosensitive toner 32 to the toner case 21.

[0017]

As is apparent from the above description, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a toner which is a photosoftening type composition containing a photodegradable organic compound and a dye as main components, and the toner carrying the toner. Coating means for coating the support with toner, latent image forming means for exposing the toner coated on the support according to image information to form a chemical latent image, and the support coated with toner Since it has a pressure developing means for overlapping and pressing the image receiving paper and a removing means for removing the unexposed toner carried on the support from the support, there are few consumables and therefore the running cost is low. effective. Further, since a hard toner is used, it is easy to handle and the device can be made inexpensive. In addition, fine particles can be obtained and high image quality can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 exposure part (latent image forming means) 20 photosensitive toner application part (application means) 22 photosensitive toner 30 cleaning unit (removal means) 40 pressure development part 44 support 52 image-receiving paper

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A toner, which is a photosoftening composition mainly containing a photodegradable organic compound and a dye, a coating means for coating the toner on a support for carrying the toner, and the support. A latent image forming means for exposing a toner applied to the body according to image information to form a chemical latent image, a pressure developing means for superposing and pressing a toner-coated support and an image receiving paper, and the support. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a removing unit that removes unexposed toner carried on the body from a support.