JPH0655766A - Ion flow recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the positioning of electrodes, to prevent the impairment of an ion layer even when openings are made small and provided densely, and to achieve high speed, by making slits in either the upper or lower electrode, with an insulated layer for the control of an ion flow therebetween, and in the insulated layer, and by using the other as an opening electrode. CONSTITUTION:When a DC voltage is applied between the corona wire 14 and the casing electrode 15, corona ions are produced, and they are guided to an ion control part 21 by means of an electric field produced between the corona wire 14 and the upper electrode 18. Slits are made in the electrode 18 of the control part 21 and an insulated layer 17, and the guided ions pass through the slits to be further guided to the lower opening electrode 20. Therefore, a latent image is formed on an electrostatic recording drum 17 by the control of the application of voltages to the upper slit electrodes 18a...18f and the lower opening electrodes 20a...20g, 20a'...20g' according to image signals and by the ON/OFF control of an ion flow in a unit recording element in the form of a matrix. Even when the array pitches and openings of the electrodes are made small, a decrease in an amount of ions can be prevented by the slits through which produced ions are effectively introduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ion flow recording head for recording by controlling emission of an ion stream according to a recording signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are various known electrostatic recording heads for forming an electrostatic latent image on an electrostatic recording paper or an electrostatic recording drum having a dielectric layer formed on a conductive layer. Has been. For example, a recording head used in an electrostatic recording method called an ion flow recording method has two electrodes having openings formed on both surfaces of an insulating layer having holes so as to correspond to holes for controlling passage of corona ion flow. It is provided so that a recording signal is applied to these two electrodes to form an electrostatic latent image, which has many points such as stable recording characteristics and variable dot diameter. is doing.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are conceptual diagrams of an ion flow printer using such a recording principle. In the figure, 1 is a corona ion generation source, 2 is an upper opening electrode, 3 is an insulating layer, 4 is a lower opening electrode, 5 is a hole, 6 is a recording medium, 7 is a corona ion generating power supply, and 8 and 9 are control signal power supplies. Reference numeral 10 is a bias power supply.

The corona ion generating source 1 is, for example, a corona wire 1b stretched in a casing electrode 1a.
Corona ions are generated by applying a DC high voltage between the casing electrode 1a and the corona wire 1b by the corona ion generating power supply 7. The upper opening electrode 2 and the lower opening electrode 4 formed on both sides of the insulating layer 3 sandwiching the insulating layer 3 have openings penetrating corresponding to the holes 5 formed in the insulating layer to form a unit recording element, Ion flow is turned on by the polarity of the control signal voltage applied by the control signal power supplies 8 and 9.
/ OFF is controlled. Corona ions that have passed through the holes in the insulating layer are guided by the electric field formed between the bias power source 10 and the recording medium 6 to form a latent image on the recording medium 6.

In such a structure, when a signal voltage that makes the upper opening electrode 2 positive is applied to the lower electrode 4 as shown in FIG. 3 (a), it follows the electric field formed in the electrode opening. As a result, the corona ion flow flies over the recording medium 6 to form a latent image. On the other hand, when a signal voltage is applied so that the polarities of the signal power source are reversed as shown in FIG. 3B, an electric field is formed in the electrode opening in the direction of blocking the ion flow, and ions cannot pass through the opening. . Thus, the recording medium 6
A latent image corresponding to the control signal is formed on the top.

[0006]

By the way, in order to construct a high-speed and high-definition recording head in such an ion flow printer, as shown in FIG. 4, divided arrangements are made in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, respectively. Upper electrode 2
a, 2b ... 2g and the lower electrodes 4a, 4b ... 4g are made to face each other by forming a large number of small holes 11, and a large number of unit recording elements are arranged in a mattox shape, and it is necessary to make the opening small to some extent. . However, the smaller the opening, the more accurate the alignment of the ion emission opening on the matto-shaped intersection of the upper electrode and the lower electrode, and the more difficult it is to manufacture.If the opening position shifts between the upper electrode and the lower electrode. If this happens, the recording characteristics may be affected. Furthermore, as the holes become smaller, it becomes difficult for the ions from the corona ion generation source to pass through the holes, and the amount of ions decreases, which becomes a factor that impedes speeding up.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ion flow recording head which can be easily processed and can cope with high definition and high speed.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a plurality of electrode groups formed on one surface of an insulating layer and extending in the main scanning direction and divided and arranged in the sub-scanning direction, and the other surface of the insulating layer are provided. A matrix-shaped divided electrode formed of a plurality of electrode groups that are formed in the sub-scanning direction and are divided and arranged in the main scanning direction, and penetrate the electrodes and the insulating layer at the matrix-shaped intersections of the matrix-shaped divided electrodes. In the ion-flow recording head, which is configured to emit ions from the ion-emitting openings at the matrix-shaped intersections selected according to the recording signals applied to the matrix-shaped divided electrodes. The electrode group formed on one surface of the insulation layer among the split electrodes is
The electrode group, which is composed of aperture electrodes having openings formed through the electrode layers at the matrix-shaped intersections, is formed on the other surface of the insulating layer and is a composite layer of the insulating layer and the electrodes over the length direction of each electrode. And a slit-shaped electrode having a slit formed therethrough.

[0009]

According to the present invention, one of the matrix-shaped divided electrodes is composed of a slit-shaped electrode having a slit penetrating a composite layer of an insulating layer and an electrode layer, and the other is arranged at a position intersecting with the slit-shaped electrode. By using the opening electrode having the openings, the alignment of the upper electrode and the lower electrode does not become a problem, and the processing in the case of a high-definition element array becomes easier than the conventional type. Also, since the holes are slit-shaped, a large amount of ions from the ion generation source can be guided to the control unit, and the ion emission amount can be secured compared to the conventional type even when the hole becomes smaller, and as a result, it is possible to support higher speeds. Becomes

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an ion flow recording head according to the present invention. In the figure,
14 is a corona wire, 15 is a casing electrode, 16 is an opening, 17 is an electrostatic recording drum, 18, 18a, 18b ...
18f is an upper slit electrode, 19 is an insulating layer, 20, 2
0a, 20b ... 20g, 20a ', 20b' ... 20
Reference numeral g'denotes a lower opening electrode, 21 a controller, and 22 a corona ion generation source.

In FIG. 1, for example, a copper pattern is formed on an insulating layer, and etching is performed in a slit shape through the pattern and the insulating layer, so that the upper electrode 18 and the insulating layer 19 extend in the length direction of the electrode. A slit-shaped through hole is formed. A lower electrode 20 having an opening is provided on the lower surface of the insulating layer. This point will be described with reference to FIG. 2 when viewed from the lower electrode side. Lower opening electrodes 20a, 20b ... 20 in which terminals are alternately drawn out to the opposite side.
A plurality of openings are formed in g, 20a ', 20b' ... 20g 'corresponding to the upper slit-shaped electrodes 18a, 18b .. The electrodes 18a, 18b ... 18f and the insulating layer 20 are provided with slit-shaped through holes along the length direction thereof, and a unit recording element for controlling the ion flow at the intersection of each opening and the slit-shaped through holes. Are formed in a matrix.

In such a structure, the corona wire 1
A corona ion is generated by applying a high DC voltage between the No. 4 and the casing electrode 15, and the generated ion is guided to the ion controller 21 by the electric field formed between the corona wire 14 and the upper electrode 18. A through slit is formed in the upper electrode 18 and the insulating layer 17 of the ion controller 21, and the induced ions are effectively guided to the lower opening electrode 20 through the slit. Therefore, the upper slit electrodes 18a, 18b ... 18f and the lower opening electrode 20 of FIG.
a, 20b ... 20g, 20a ', 20b' ... 20g
Control the voltage application to the image signal according to the image signal to turn on the ion flow in the unit recording elements formed in a matrix.
A latent image corresponding to the image is formed on the electrostatic recording drum 17 by controlling the ON / OFF.

As described above, in order to make a high-definition recording head, it is necessary to make the array of unit recording elements dense. For that purpose, the array pitch of the upper slit electrodes and the opening of the lower electrode must be made small. However, since the slit penetrating the upper electrode and the insulating layer is formed, the generated ions can be effectively introduced. Therefore,
It is possible to reduce the decrease in the amount of ions, and as a result, it is possible to deal with higher definition and higher speed.

Further, since the slits are formed in the upper electrode and the insulating layer, the electrode positioning accuracy is not required as much as that of the conventional recording head even if the resolution is high, and the processing is easy. Have.

Although the upper electrode has a slit shape in the above embodiment, the lower electrode may have a slit shape and the upper electrode may have an opening electrode, but the ion amount may be reduced when the definition is increased, but the electrode alignment is performed. There is an advantage that precision is not required and processing is easy.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, slits are formed in one of the upper electrode and the lower electrode and the insulating layer provided with the insulating layer for controlling the ion flow formed by forming unit recording elements in a matrix. By forming a through hole in a circular shape and using the other electrode as an opening electrode, positioning accuracy of the electrode is not required and processing can be facilitated, and by using the upper electrode side as a slit electrode Even if the openings are made smaller and denser due to the high definition, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the amount of ions, and as a result, it is possible to increase the speed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ion flow recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a principal part diagram of an ion flow recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of conventional ion flow recording.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing matrix-shaped divided electrodes of a conventional ion flow recording head.

[Explanation of symbols]

14 ... Corona wire, 15 ... Casing electrode, 16 ... Opening, 17 ... Electrostatic recording drum, 18, 18a, 18b ...
18f ... Upper slit electrode, 19 ... Insulating layer, 20, 20
a, 20b ... 20g, 20a ', 20b' ... 20g
??? ... lower opening electrode, 21 ... control part, 22 ... corona ion generation source.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of electrode groups formed on one surface of an insulating layer and extending in the main scanning direction and divided and arranged in the sub-scanning direction, and formed on the other surface of the insulating layer in the sub-scanning direction. A matrix-shaped divided electrode that extends and that is divided into a plurality of electrode groups in the main scanning direction, and an ion emission opening formed by penetrating the electrode and the insulating layer at a matrix-shaped intersection of the matrix-shaped divided electrodes. Then
In an ion flow recording head configured to emit ions from an ion emission opening at a matrix-shaped intersection selected according to a recording signal applied to a matrix-shaped divided electrode, in the matrix-shaped divided electrode, an insulating layer The electrode group formed on one surface consists of opening electrodes having openings formed through the electrode layers at the matrix-shaped intersections, and the electrode group formed on the other surface of the insulating layer is the length of each electrode. An ion flow recording head comprising a slit-shaped electrode in which a slit is formed so as to penetrate a composite layer of an insulating layer and an electrode in all directions.