JPH06135049A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a full color image recorder having simpler structure at low price. CONSTITUTION:Three toner feeders are separated completely by means of a movable separator 42 and a fixed separator. The movable separator 42 functions, as required, to alter the color of toner. Two cleaning brushes 66 are arranged at the tip of the movable separator 42 where an aperture electrode plate 1 comes into contact. The cleaning brushes 66 operate while rotating.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording device which can be used in copying machines, printers, plotters, facsimiles and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image recording apparatus for controlling the passage of toner particles through an opening by applying an image signal to an electrode of an aperture electrode plate to record an image on an image receptor is disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,689,935. Proposed in the description and drawings. The proposed image recording apparatus includes a reference electrode that is continuous on one side with an insulator layer interposed between the reference electrode and a plurality of control electrodes that are insulated from each other on the other side, and three control electrodes are provided for each insulated control electrode. Aperture electrode plate having at least one row of openings through the layer, means for selectively applying a potential between its control and reference electrodes, and means for supplying charged particles near the openings And means for moving the image receptor and the aperture electrode plate relatively to position the image receptor in the particle flow path.

Further, an image recording apparatus equipped with a plurality of toner supply devices movable with respect to a fixedly arranged aperture electrode plate is described in the specification and drawings attached to the application of Japanese Patent Application No. 3-187870. It is disclosed.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
When attempting to output a full-color image, the above-mentioned image recording device requires a plurality of aperture electrode plates, or the toner supply device or the aperture electrode plate must be moved, which complicates the configuration and increases the size. However, it has become heavy and costly.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has a simpler structure and a lower cost.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an image recording device capable of outputting a full-color image.

[0006]

To achieve this object, an image recording apparatus of the present invention applies an image signal to an aperture electrode plate having a plurality of openings and electrodes provided on the aperture electrode plate. An image signal applying means for controlling the toner flow in the opening, a plurality of toner supply devices fixedly arranged with respect to the aperture electrode plate, and one of the plurality of toner supply devices. Separation means for acting on the opening of the aperture electrode plate.

[0007]

According to the image recording apparatus of the present invention having the above structure, the separating means controls the supply of the charged toners of different colors to the vicinity of the opening of the aperture electrode plate. As a result, a full-color image can be obtained without moving the aperture electrode plate and the toner supply device.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the toner supply device used in this embodiment requires a toner supply device for supplying a high-concentration cloud to the limited space immediately below the opening 2. An image recording apparatus equipped with it is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-10906.
Japanese Patent Application No. 3-38903, Japanese Patent Application No. 3-291682
No. 4, Jpn. Pat. Appln. No. 4-7151, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-88658,
It is disclosed in the specification and drawings attached to applications such as Japanese Patent Application No. 4-3060.

This embodiment will be described in detail using the toner supply device proposed in the application of Japanese Patent Application No. 3-38903.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the image recording apparatus of this embodiment.

An insertion opening 23 and an ejection opening 24 are provided on a side portion of the outer casing 25 of the image recording apparatus. A recording unit 21 and a fixing unit 22 are provided inside the apparatus.

Inside the recording means 21, two other toner supply devices similar to the toner supply device 40 are provided.
FIG. 4 shows a toner supply device for yellow among the three toner supply devices (for cyan, magenta, and yellow, respectively). In the toner supply device 40, the sleeve 48
Is wound around the drive roller 58 and the tension roller 56, and is arranged so as to circulate around them. The contact member 46 is arranged so as to be pressed against the sleeve 48, and the supply roller 60 that supplies the yellow toner 54 to the sleeve in the vicinity of the sleeve 48 and the yellow toner 54 that is supplied to the sleeve 48. A layer thickness regulating blade 64 is arranged to keep the layer thickness constant. Then, around the supply roller 60, the yellow toner 5
A toner case 62 for storing 4 is arranged.
The contact member 46 and the drive roller 58 are electrically grounded.

Here, the three toner supply devices 40 are completely separated by the movable separation plate 42 and the fixed separation plate 44. The movable separation plate 42 operates as needed to change the color of the toner. 1 and 3 are diagrams showing a state in which the movable separation plate 42 operates and the cyan toner 50 is controlled by the aperture electrode plate 1.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the movable separating plate 4
Two cleaning brushes 66 are arranged at the tip of 2 and a portion in contact with the aperture electrode plate 1. The cleaning brush 66 operates while rotating in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

The aperture electrode plate 1 is arranged above the three toner supply devices 40. As shown in FIG.
The aperture electrode plate 1 has a large number of openings 2 and an insulating layer 3.
And the reference electrode 4 and a large number of control electrodes 5. The openings 2 are opened in the aperture electrode plate 1 and are arranged in a line. The reference electrode 4 is provided on the entire surface of the insulating layer 3 on the toner supply device side. Further, each control electrode 5 is arranged around the opening 2 on the upper surface of the insulating layer 3. The reference electrode 4 is electrically connected to the ground, and each control electrode 5 is connected to the image signal voltage applying device S.

A piezoelectric element 9 as a vibrating means is provided at an end of the aperture electrode plate 1. This piezoelectric element 9
Is deformed by the oscillating voltage applied from the oscillator 8 and the aperture electrode plate 1 is vibrated. Here, a vibration frequency that causes the aperture electrode plate 1 to resonate is selected. That is, the aperture electrode plate 1
When it is made to resonate, its amplitude becomes the maximum, and a vibration amplitude several thousand times as large as that when it is not made to resonate is obtained. Generally, the aperture electrode plate 1 is designed so that the resonance frequency has a value of 20 kHz or higher. Vibrations with a frequency of 20 kilohertz are beyond the audible range of humans,
It does not make noise.

A counter electrode 6 is provided above the aperture electrode plate 1. The counter electrode 6 is connected to the power source V, and a voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the toner particles that have passed through the aperture electrode plate 1 is applied (in this embodiment, the voltage is negative (-)).

On the other hand, the image receiving body P is inserted through the insertion opening 23, guided to the guide 33 and a pair of guide rollers 34,
The counter electrode 6 is configured to be adsorbed and held. Then, at this place, the toner particles of each color are adsorbed on the image receiving body P. Further, the image receiving body P is configured such that after passing through the recording portion, it is peeled off from the counter electrode 6, sent to the fixing means 22, and then taken out from the taking-out port 24.

The fixing means 22 comprises a heat roller 31 and a press roller 32. These rollers are
The image receiving bodies P are arranged so as to face each other, and the image receiving body P can pass between them.

Next, the operation of the image recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the toner supply device 40, the yellow toner 54 is carried on the supply roller 60, and the layer thickness regulating blade 64 forms a uniform toner layer. Then, a uniform amount of yellow toner 54
Are supplied to the sleeve 48. At this time, the yellow toner 54 is contacted and rubbed between the supply roller 60 and the sleeve 48 to be positively (+) charged. The positively charged yellow toner 54 is carried on the sleeve 48.

Then, the yellow toner 54 is attached to the sleeve 4.
After rotating around the pulling roller 56 while being carried by 8, the contacting member 46 repels it and soars to form a cloud. Cloud-shaped yellow toner 54
Are supplied toward the opening 2 of the aperture electrode plate 1.

Here, since the three toner supply devices 40 are separated by the movable separation plate 42 and the fixed separation plate 44, even if the toner of each color is always clouded toward the opening 2, it is controlled. The color of the generated toner depends on the operation of the movable separation plate 42.

Therefore, control of the three colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow is performed by the movable separation plate 42, and the toner flow supplied to the vicinity of the opening 2 of the aperture electrode plate 1 is controlled (O
N, OFF) is performed with the aperture electrode plate 1. And 1
The image receiving body P is not sent in the direction of the fixing means 22 until the toner flow control of each color in one scanning is finished, and the feeding speed of the image receiving body P is set so as to move to the next scanning after the recording of three colors is finished. Control.

Also, when the movable separating plate 42 operates when changing colors, as shown in FIGS.
When the portion of the movable separation plate 42 that is in contact with the fixed separation plate 44 moves up and down, the tip of the movable separation plate 42 moves laterally.
When the tip portion moves, it moves while cleaning the toner particles floating on or near the surface of the reference electrode 4 by the two cleaning brushes 66 arranged at the tip portion. This prevents the toners of the respective colors from mixing with each other and smearing the image.

The cloud of the yellow toner 54 supplied near the opening 2 is controlled by the aperture electrode plate 1. That is, when a negative voltage is applied from the image signal voltage applying device S to the control electrode 5, an electric field is generated inside the opening 2 from the reference electrode 4 to the control electrode 5. Then, the positively charged yellow toner 54 passes through the opening 2.

Some of the toner particles that do not pass through the opening 2 tend to adhere to the aperture electrode plate 1 due to the image force, but because the aperture electrode plate 1 vibrates due to the vibration by the piezoelectric element 9, the toner particles Even if particles adhere, they are removed by sieving. The vibration frequency of the piezoelectric element 9 at this time is
For example, 30 kilohertz.

On the other hand, the image receptor P inserted from the insertion port 23
Is attracted to the counter electrode 6 via the guide 33 and the pair of guide rollers 34. Then, the image receiving body P is conveyed to the upper part of the recording means 21. At this place, the toner particles controlled by the aperture electrode plate 1 fly and are attracted to the image receptor P by the electric field formed between the aperture electrode plate 1 and the counter electrode 6 by the power supply V.

The image receiving body P having the toner particles attached thereto is detached from the counter electrode 6 and is conveyed to the fixing means 22. And
The toner particles on the image receiving body P are thermally fixed. Since this heat fixing method is a known technique, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The image receiving body P that has passed through the fixing means 22 is conveyed to the take-out port 24 via the guide 33 and taken out.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and corrections can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

For example, instead of the cleaning brush 66, a cleaning blade may be adopted. In this case, a motor, a gear, etc. for rotating the cleaning brush 66 are omitted, so that the cleaning brush 66 is further simplified, and energy saving, low cost, small size, and light weight can be achieved.

Further, the toner supply device is not limited to three, and four or more toner supply devices can be designed as a color image recording device by increasing the number of separation plates. Of course, if there are two toner supply devices, the number of separation plates is only one, which simplifies the configuration and is advantageous in reducing size, weight, and cost.

[0035]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the image recording apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to control the toner flow of different colors while fixing both the aperture electrode plate and the toner supply device. . Therefore, it is possible to provide an image recording apparatus having a simpler configuration, smaller in size, lighter in weight, and lower in cost and capable of outputting a full-color image as compared with a method of using a plurality of aperture electrode plates or moving a toner supply device. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image recording apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an aperture electrode plate.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part thereof.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of its operation.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a cleaning brush at the tip of the movable separation plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 P image receptor V power supply S image signal voltage application device 1 aperture electrode plate 2 opening 3 insulating layer 4 reference electrode 5 control electrode 6 counter electrode 21 recording means 22 fixing means 40 toner supply device 42 movable separation plate 44 fixed separation plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An aperture electrode plate having a plurality of openings, and an image signal applying unit for controlling a toner flow in the openings by applying an image signal to an electrode provided on the aperture electrode plate, and the aperture. A plurality of toner supply devices fixedly arranged with respect to the electrode plate, and a separating means for causing one of the plurality of toner supply devices to act on the opening of the aperture electrode plate. Image recording device.