JPH0675352A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an image recorder capable of forming an excellent image by providing a means which temporarily holds an included substance discharged from a photosensitive microcapsule and easily discharges it. CONSTITUTION:As for a holding member 100, many bits 102 are provided on a base material 101, and color material holding parts 103 are formed in spaces among them. After the included substance discharged from the photosensitive microcapsule 41 which is pressured to a recording drum, 30 is stored in the color material holding part 103, it is deformed by an abutting roller 54 so as to discharge the included substance, and then the image is efficiently transferred on an image receiving body 72.

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 such as a copying machine or a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a microcapsule powder in which a dye body such as a dye and a pigment and a photocurable substance are contained in the outer wall of a resin and mechanical strength is changed in response to light is disclosed in JP-A-3-77961.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-80258. In addition, using the microcapsule powder, after exposing it, only the weak microcapsules are destroyed by pressure or the like to wash away the encapsulated dye body, and the image is transferred onto the image receiving paper to transfer the image onto the image receiving paper. An image forming apparatus for forming an image is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 3-80258 and 3-9.
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2856.

In this image forming apparatus, a capsule coating mechanism for charging the microcapsules to hold them on a carrier and attach them to a support by electrostatic force, a means for exposing the microcapsules according to image information, and the pigment body. The capsule has means for destroying the capsule to be washed away. In this image forming apparatus, when the microcapsules are destroyed by the destroying means, the inclusions such as pigment bodies are washed away, but at the same time, the outer walls of the capsules are also transferred to the image receiving paper. Since the outer wall is not colorless and transparent, there is a problem that the image is soiled due to the outer wall adhering to the image receiving paper. To address this problem, in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 3-220101, the applicant of the present invention applies an adhesive substance to the holding member so that the outer wall portion of the capsule remains on the holding member and moves to the image receiving paper side. It is proposed to prevent In addition, in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 3-267549, we propose that the surface of the holding member is made rougher than the surface of the image receptor to grasp the capsule wall and prevent the movement to the image receptor.

Furthermore, at present, a holding member having a large number of minute color material holding portions is proposed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 4-174293, and efforts are being made to improve the developing characteristics. In this proposal, of the pressing members that destroy the microcapsules, the members that leak the inclusions have pores on the surface that are sufficiently smaller than the particle size of the microcapsules. Then, it is possible to favorably separate the cured capsules, the broken capsule wall, and other unnecessary substances. The pressure member having pores is formed by forming fine pores on the surface of a cylindrical rod made of metal, ceramic, resin, or the like by mechanical engraving or laser engraving.

[0005]

However, the conventional image recording apparatus as described above has the following problems. That is, it is sufficiently possible to store only the inclusions in the pressure member having the fine pores and exhibit good separation characteristics, but the stored inclusions cannot be discharged from the fine pores and cannot be transferred to the image receptor. was there. For this reason, the amount of the color material transferred to the image receiver becomes insufficient, the image density becomes low, and the color material remaining in the fine holes is discharged at the time of the next image formation to form a so-called ghost. was there.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is provided with a means capable of temporarily holding the inclusions released from the photosensitive microcapsules and easily releasing them, and providing a good image. Provided is an image recording device capable of being formed.

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, the image recording apparatus of the present invention comprises a powdery photosensitive microcapsule which is hardened in response to light, is coated on a holding member, and then exposed and exposed. An image is formed on the image receptor by pressure development, and further, the holding member is capable of holding the contents released from the destroyed photosensitive microcapsules and changing the shape. It is provided with a means capable of releasing the inclusions held by.

[0008]

The image recording apparatus of the present invention having the above structure is
The inclusions released from the photosensitive microcapsules destroyed by the destruction means are once held by the holding member. After that, when facing the image receptor, the shape of the holding member is changed, whereby the held inclusion can be easily released.

[0009]

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 sectional view showing the structure of the image recording apparatus of the present invention. A document 12 and a cover 11 are provided on the outer frame 10 of the image device. A sheet insertion port 13 and a take-out port 14 are arranged on the side surface of the apparatus. Inside the apparatus, a process is performed in which the photosensitive capsule toner 44 is electrostatically applied to the drum 30 and then exposed, subjected to pressure development, and then transferred to an image receptor.

An exposure unit 20 is arranged above the apparatus and below the original 12. The exposure unit 20 is composed of a lamp 21 and an imaging lens 22. The lamp 21 may be a halogen or metal halide lamp according to the sensitivity of the photosensitive capsule toner.

A recording drum 30 is arranged at the center of the apparatus. The drum 30 is made of a light alloy such as aluminum and can rotate counterclockwise in the drawing. Drum 30
The surface is formed of a surface that easily holds the photosensitive capsules.

A photosensitive capsule 41 is provided around the drum 30.
The coating unit 40, the developing / transferring unit 50, and the cleaning unit 60 are arranged. Coating unit 40
Includes a photosensitive capsule toner 41 inside a case 42 and a carrying roller 43. The carrying roller 43 is
For example, it is a metal roller whose surface is coated with a resin.

The photosensitive capsule toner 41 has the following structure. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, in the photosensitive capsule toner 44, the inclusions 46 are wrapped by the wall material 45, and each has a substantially spherical shape. The particle size of each photosensitive capsule toner 44 is about 10 μm. The particle size is determined on the basis of image resolution and gradation, but the above value does not particularly define the range, and may be a photosensitive microcapsule toner having a submicron size. The inclusions 46 include at least a photo-curable substance that causes a change in physical properties such as curing by reacting when exposed to a predetermined wavelength, and a sensitizing dye that exhibits an image color and develops a color.

Examples of the photocurable substance include polymerizable compounds such as N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, bisphenol A diacrylate and methacrylate, tripropylene glycol diacrylate and methacrylate, polyethylene glycol diacrylate and methacrylate, penta. Examples thereof include erythritol triacrylate and methacrylate, dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate and methacrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate and methacrylate, oligoester acrylate and methacrylate and the like. Further, these polymerizable compounds may be used alone or as a mixture of two or more kinds. Usually, these polymerizable compounds and a photopolymerization initiator are used in combination.

The photopolymerization initiator is one which is sensitive to light and initiates the polymerization of the resin. For example, benzophenone, benzoylalkyl ethers such as benzoylisopropyl ether, Michler's ketone, metal arene compounds,
2,4-diethylthioxanthone and the like can be mentioned.

The pigment may be any dye or pigment, for example, xanthene-ken dye, coumarin dye, merocyanine dye, thiazine dye, azine dye, methine dye, oxazine dye, phenylmethane dye, cyanine. Dyes, azo dyes, anthraquinone dyes, pyrazoline dyes, stilbene dyes, quinoline dyes, phthalocyanine dyes, leuco dyes and other dyes, carbon black, yellow lead, red iron oxide, titanium oxide, molybdenum red and other inorganic pigments , Organic pigments.

Further, in this case, the wall material 45 may be one generally used as an encapsulating material, such as interfacial polymerization method, insolubilization reaction method, phase separation method, interfacial precipitation method, spray drying method, fluidized bed method and the like. It is created by the manufacturing method. The material may be polyamide, poly (N, NL-lysinediylterephthaloyl), alginate, or the like.

The photosensitive capsule toner 41 has the following functions based on the constituents described above. The photosensitive capsule toner 41 reacts and cures with respect to each of the RGB light wavelengths,
It is a so-called full-color toner exhibiting cyan, magenta, and yellow colors.

Further, a developing / transferring section 50 is arranged below the drum 30. The developing / transferring unit 50 includes a holding member 100 which is arranged in close contact with the drum 30, a transfer roller 52 which is arranged through a space with the holding member, and
Pressurizing member 5 for forming a pressure between the holding member 100 and the drum
It is composed of 1 and 1. The holding member 100 is in the shape of an endless belt, and is wound around a pair of conveying rollers 53 and pressing rollers 54. The pressing roller 54 has an extremely smaller diameter than the conveying roller 53.

The holding member 100 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. 3 is a detailed perspective view of the holding member, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the same.
The holding member 100 includes a color material holding portion 103 on a base material 101.
Are arranged in large numbers. The base material 101 is made of an elastic member, and is formed of a resin film, a metal thin plate, a rubber belt, or the like. The bit 102 has a minute columnar shape with an outer shape of about several μm, and is provided in large numbers on the base material 101. The space formed between the bits 102 serves as a color material holding portion 103, which has a function of storing the discharged color material.

A cleaning unit 60 for cleaning the drum 30 is arranged below the recording drum.
A blade 61 is arranged in the cleaning unit 60.

Further, at the bottom of the recording apparatus, a paper transport unit 7
0 is placed. The sheet conveying unit 70 includes an image receiving sheet 72 housed in a cassette 71 placed on the right side of the apparatus, a sending roller 73 arranged on the upper part of the cassette 71, a conveying guide 75 serving as a conveying route of the image receiving sheet, It is composed of a conveyance roller 74 that drives the image receiving paper 72 in the conveyance guide 75.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described.

The user sets the original 12 and activates the apparatus. Accordingly, the coating unit 40 first starts its operation, and the photosensitive capsule 41 is coated on the recording drum 30. The photosensitive capsule toner 41 has a film thickness of about 10 μm and is uniformly deposited on the drum. Then, the drum 30 rotates, and the exposure section 20 exposes the original 12 with the reflected light. By this light irradiation, the photosensitive capsule toner 41 is reactively cured. Photosensitive capsule 4 placed on drum 30
Of the above, only the exposed one undergoes a photoreaction to form a cured capsule.

The photosensitive capsule toner 41 placed on the drum further rotates and reaches the developing and transferring section 50. The operation will now be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a detailed sectional view of the drum and the holding member in a pressure contact state.
FIG. 6 is a detailed cross-sectional view showing a pressed state of the sheet 72 and the holding member 100. Hardened capsule 56 on drum 30
The uncured capsule 57 is applied with pressure by the drum 30 and the pressing member 51 via the holding member 100. As a result, the inclusions 55 are released from the uncured capsule 57 and are stored in the color material holding portion 102 of the holding member 100. That is, the released inclusions 55 form an image on the holding member 100. The inclusions penetrate deep into the coloring material holding portion 103.

Further, the holding member 100 rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure and is conveyed to a position facing the transfer roller 52. Here, the holding member 100 is strongly curved by the pressing roller 54. By this action, the base material 101 of the holding member 100 is elastically deformed and largely bent,
Along with that, the color material holding portion 103 is largely opened.
That is, the color material 55 stored by being opened
Are very easily released.

On the other hand, the image receiving paper 72 is ejected from the paper cassette 71 by being kicked out by the feeding roller 72. The image receiving paper 72 moves according to the conveyance guide 75 and enters the space formed by the holding member 100 and the transfer roller 52. The image receiving paper 72 and the holding member 100 are pressure-bonded to each other, and the inclusion 58 is transferred onto the image receiving paper 72. At this time,
It is now possible to satisfactorily discharge the inclusions that were very difficult to be discharged in the past, and after the discharge, to the color material holding portion 103,
It will not remain. Therefore, the ghost of the image and the reduction of the output image density caused by the residual coloring material are not generated at all.

The fixed capsules and the like are removed by the blade 61 in the cleaning unit 60 as waste capsules. Image-receiving paper 72 on which an image is formed
Is guided by the conveyance guide 75 and discharged from the take-out port 14 to the outside of the machine.

The present invention can be modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention without being limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. In this embodiment, a holding member provided with a bit is used, but a holding member having a holding portion having the fine microholes 105 as shown in FIG. 7 may be used. . According to this method, the color material holding portion can be formed of a single material, and it becomes possible to control the movement of the color material by utilizing the difference in the interfacial energies. The characteristics can be improved.

[0031]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the image recording apparatus of the present invention, the holding member temporarily holds the encapsulated substance released from the destroyed pressure-sensitive microcapsules, and thereafter, the image receiving device receives the image. When facing the body, it can change shape to release the retained inclusions easily. As a result, it becomes possible to form a good image.

[0032]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration of an embodiment in which an image recording apparatus of the present invention is embodied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a photosensitive microcapsule toner used in the image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of a holding member used in the image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the holding member shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a pressed state of a drum and a holding member.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a pressed state of a holding member and an image receiver.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view showing a modified example of a holding member used in the image recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30 Recording Drum 40 Recording Unit 41 Photosensitive Capsule 50 Development Transfer Section 54 Pressing Roller 100 Holding Member 101 Base Material 102 Bit 103 Color Material Holding Section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image recording apparatus for forming an image on an image receptor by applying a powdery photosensitive microcapsule, which is hardened in response to light, to a holding member, and then exposing and developing under pressure. The holding member is provided with a means capable of holding the inclusions released from the destroyed photosensitive microcapsules, and capable of releasing the retained inclusions by changing the shape. Image recording device.