JPH068585A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image forming apparatus using a reversible recording medium and capable of outputting a clean data recording medium free from waste refuse or dirt from the hands even when the apparatus is re-utilized any time by providing a means cleaning the surface of a recording image. CONSTITUTION:An image forming apparatus is constituted of a cut sheet like data recording medium 2 forming image data by the application of heat energy, data recording means 8, 9 recording the image data on the data recording medium, erasure means 71-75 for reusing the data recording medium 2 and a cleaning means 52 rubbing the surface of the recording layer of the data recording medium 2 to remove the waste refuse or dirt from the hands bonded to the surface of the recording layer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording and erasing a visible image on a reversible recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, computers, printers, word processors, and facsimiles have become quite popular among businesses and individuals. Along with this, the popularity of printers, which are most often used for still image output, and the amount of paper used have increased, and along with this, the amount of wasted paper has also increased. Further, printers are required to have higher density and higher speed. Therefore, laser beam printers and inkjet printers are rapidly becoming popular. However, the former has problems in miniaturization and cost reduction, and the latter has problems in high print quality and high speed. In any case, the more popular these hard copy devices are, the more wasteful paper is used, and it is becoming more prominent that environmental and resource problems are serious. Therefore, conventionally, an apparatus in which an image erasing function is added to an image recording apparatus which uses a reversible recording medium instead of paper has been studied.

A printing device using a reversible recording medium is disclosed in JP-A-56-86777. This device is a printer of a type in which once printed paper is returned to a blank paper and repeatedly used. As for the configuration, in FIG. 13, the feed roller 74 goes from the input side to the output side.
a, an erasing head 71, a recording head 8 (in this example, an optical recording head is used as recording means), and a feed roller 9 are arranged. The reversible recording medium 2 once printed was an apparatus for erasing an image by being heated by contact with an erasing head, and irradiating light with an intensity equal to or higher than that of the recording head 8 again to form an image.

[0004]

However, in a device characterized by recording and erasing an image on a conventional reversible recording medium, (1) when the reversible recording medium once recorded is reused, If there is dirt, dust, or the like attached during the erasure of, the base of the next recorded image becomes dirty and remains dirty.

(2) When a reversible recording medium that has been recorded once is reused, heat will not be sufficiently transmitted if dust, dirt, etc. adhere to the image when it is erased, resulting in a residual erase.
It is difficult to see the next recorded image.

It has the drawbacks such as

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and it is easy to remove dust and dirt left on a reversible recording medium that has been recorded and viewed, and is easy to erase. It is an object to obtain an image forming apparatus that can provide a beautiful image.

[0008]

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention comprises a reversible recording medium for forming image information, an information forming unit for forming image information on the reversible recording medium, and a reversible recording medium. Erasing means for erasing the formed image information,
A cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the recording layer of the reversible recording medium is provided.

[0009]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples below, but the present invention is not limited thereto. 1 and 2 are perspective views showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a sectional view thereof, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views showing parts of the structure.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 105 denotes a case, in which a drawer 102 is inserted like a drawer, and 2 is a reversible recording medium, here in the form of a cut sheet. . The drawer 102 is 2
The reversible recording medium is stored and the handle 1 is used as necessary.
04 can be grasped and pulled out from the case 105 to be taken out or stored. The output of the reversible recording medium 2 is performed through the outlet 101.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 21 denotes a tray on which the reversible recording medium 2 is placed. A paper feed roller 3 is in contact with the reversible recording medium 2 by the pressing plate 4 in the set state. The pressing plate 4 includes a release spring 41 and a pressing spring a4.
It is sandwiched by 2 and held, and slide plate a43 and recess a
106 positions the pressing spring a42.

A separation table 5 presses the paper feed roller 3 with a separation spring 51. The separation spring 51 is a case 105.
Fixed to the back of the.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the paper feed roller 3 and the separation table 5. In this embodiment, the cleaning means is provided in the paper feed / separation mechanism. In the paper feed separation mechanism, the central portion 31 of the paper feed roller 3 is made of rubber (eg EPD
(M is suitable), and the outer portion 32 is most preferably urethane foam rubber. A cork plate is attached to the separation pad 51 at the portion in contact with the separation table 5 and the paper feed roller 3, and the width thereof is almost equal to the width of the central portion 31 of the paper feed roller 3. 5
Reference numeral 2 denotes a cleaning pad, which is made of a foamed elastomer and is impregnated with a cleaning agent (for example, a surfactant is suitable) in the inside thereof, which makes it particularly easy to decompose fats such as hand dust.

The thickness is such that it contacts the outer portion 32 of the paper feed roller 3. 61 is a paper guide a,
The reversible recording medium 2 emerging from the separation table 5 is picked up and guided to the erasing mechanism 7. In this embodiment, the erasing means 71
It has an erasing mechanism such as ~ 75. 3 and 5
In the erasing mechanism of No. 7, 71 is a heating plate and the heater 7
No. 2 is adhered with an adhesive having good thermal conductivity. Reference numeral 73 is a pressing film, and guide holes 731 that are engaged with the sprocket rollers 75a and 75b are provided at both ends. 74
a and 74b are feed rollers, and the sprocket roller 7
The feed force can be generated by contacting 5a and 75b with a constant pressure.

Next, in the present embodiment, as the recording means 8,
A recording mechanism composed of 9, 91 is provided. Paper guide b62
The paper guide c63 is shaped so as to guide the reversible recording medium 2 emerging from the erasing mechanism 7 into the gap between the pressing roller 9 and the line thermal head 8.

The recording mechanism comprises a line thermal head 8 and a pressing roller 9. The line thermal head 8 has heating elements arranged at right angles to the traveling direction of the reversible recording medium 2 at a density of 300 dpi (11.8 per 1 mm). The pressing roller 9 is pressed by the pressing spring b91 and applies a predetermined pressure to the line thermal head 8.

The pressing spring b91 is positioned by the sliding plate b92 and the recess b107. The reversible recording medium 2 receives heat from an arbitrary heating element of the line thermal head 8 while passing through a gap between the pressing roller 9 and the line thermal head 8 to form an image. Then, it is output through the outlet 101.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus having the above structure will be described.

First, the operation of setting the reversible recording medium 2 in the apparatus will be described. When the handle 104 of FIG. 1 is grasped and pulled, the drawer base 102 is pulled out from the case 105 as shown in FIG. Dozens of reversible recording media 2 are stored in the drawer 102, and the recording surface is facing upward, which is convenient for searching the reversible recording media 2 once stored. In the pulled-out state, the sliding plate b92
The pressing spring b91 is released from the hollow b107.

As a result, even if the reversible recording medium 2 that is sandwiched between the line thermal head 8 and the pressing roller 9 remains, it can be easily removed by simply pulling lightly. Similarly, the pressing spring a42 is released, and at that time, the pressing plate 4 is pressed by the force of the pushing spring 41 into the case 105.
The reversible recording medium 2 in this state.
Since the bundle of sheets is not pressed, the medium can be taken in and out. When the handle 104 is pushed from the pulled-out state to be housed in the case 105, the pressing spring a42 and the pressing spring b9
Reference numeral 1 indicates the case 10 through the sliding plate a43 and the sliding plate b92.
5 is compressed along the depression a106 and the depression b107, and the spring force is transmitted to the pressing plate 4 and the pressing roller 9, respectively. As described above, the recording medium can be easily taken out by pulling it out.

Next, the reversible recording medium will be described.

The reversible recording medium used in the present invention is, for example, JP-A-55-154198 and JP-A-2-18829.
The reversible recording material disclosed in No. 3, 188294 can be used. Here, the latter is used in the embodiment, but is not limited to this. The principle is that a recording layer mainly composed of a color-developing color-reducing agent and a binder, which develops or reduces color by reacting with a leuco compound, is formed on a substrate, and color is developed and decolored by adding heat energy. It is a reversible material. As shown in FIG. 6, the structure is a base material 3 (PET 1
The heat-sensitive recording layer 2 composed of a binder and a leuco dye is coated on the surface of the surface of the protective layer 1 to a thickness of 30 to 40 μm.
Apply 0 μm. When this is written by a thermal head, a peak of density occurs depending on the energization width as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a peak occurs even when the amount of energy is changed while the energization width is constant. Further, FIG. 9 is a graph of the degree of color reduction when a hot stamp having a certain temperature is pressed for 2 seconds. As described above, the color is developed by applying the dynamic heat energy of about several msec, and the color is reduced by applying the heat of the constant temperature in seconds. It is considered that this phenomenon is caused by simultaneous color development and color reduction reaction at the time of writing, that is, the reaction speed of the acidic color developing substance is fast, and then the reaction of the basic color reducing substance occurs.

A reversible recording medium sheet is obtained on the principle as described above. Although this sheet is PET, the leuco dye is a white powder, and therefore, the gloss is erased with unevenness close to the surface of the paper, and the printed material has the feel of a hard copy.

Next, the reversible recording medium is conveyed, erased,
The recording operation will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the reversible recording medium 2
The operation of the image forming apparatus is carried and stored on the tray 21. Although not shown in the figure, a motor and a gear box are arranged on the side surface of the case, and a mechanism for transmitting power to each roller is arranged. Has been done.

When recording data is received from an external device such as a computer and a signal for starting the recording operation is received, the paper feed roller 3 rotates in the direction of the arrow, and the reversible recording is sandwiched between the pressing plate 4 and the paper feed roller 3. Medium 2 is paper feed roller 3
It is caught between the separation table 5 and the paper feed roller 3 by the frictional force. At this time, even if some sheets are caught at the same time, they hit the separation pad 51 and only the bottommost sheet is conveyed to the paper feed roller 3. At this time, the surface of the reversible recording medium 2 is rubbed against the cleaning pad 52, so that the surface on which dirt, dust or the like has adhered can be cleaned cleanly.
Further, when leaving the separating table 5, the surface of the reversible recording medium 2 faces downward, so that the attached dust easily falls down.

In this way, the cleaning section has a structure that easily removes dirt, and for this reason, a reversible recording medium that is beautiful and has no erasure residue is output no matter how many times it is used. Further, when the separation pad 51 and the cleaning pad 52 become dirty due to long-term use, the drawer 102 can be pulled out from the case 105 to replace the separation table 5.

Next, the reversible recording medium 2 that has undergone separation cleaning is guided by the paper guide a61 and the identification sensor 11 is guided.
This is a sensor for distinguishing between reversible recording medium and other medium, and infrared reflection can be used to identify the difference in reflectance of the object. In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, on the back side of the reversible recording medium, black bands of 204 are printed on the upper end and the lower end, and the presence or absence of the operation of the erasing device and the setting of the printing condition are distinguished from ordinary paper. It can be identified. The identification operation is as follows.

First, when the paper is not at the position of the sensor 11,
Since there is no reflected light, the sensor 11 is recognized as a paper-free state. When the reversible recording medium is conveyed there, first, the white portion at the upper end reflects the projection light of the sensor 11, and the sensor 11 recognizes that there is paper. Immediately after that, when the reversible recording medium advances, and when it reaches the black belt 204 portion, there is no reflected light and the sensor 11 is in a paper-less state. Since the black belt 204 is in a paper-free state for a certain period of time after passing through the sensor 11, this is detected to identify the reversible recording medium. Next, through the paper guide a61, the sensor 11
The reversible recording medium 2 identified by is sandwiched between the sprocket roller 75a and the feed roller 74a and conveyed to the heat erasing mechanism 7. As shown in FIG. 5, sprocket roller guide holes 731 are formed at both ends of the pressing film 73 to prevent derailment due to lateral displacement during rotation. The heat generating plate 71 is gently curved so as to come into contact with the pressing film 73 with an appropriate pressure. Sprocket roller 75a and feed roller 74a
The reversible recording medium 2 that has been sandwiched and obtained a feeding force is transported by being sandwiched between the pressing film 73 and the heat generating plate 71. The entire surface of the reversible recording medium comes into contact with the heat generating plate 71 with an appropriate pressure, and the recorded image on the reversible recording medium is reduced in color according to the above principle. In this case, the contact length with the heating plate 71 is appropriately set according to the printing speed. In the case of this embodiment, 35 mm / s
Due to the printing speed of ec, the contact length is 70 mm.

The reversible recording medium 2 which has passed through the erasing mechanism is again sandwiched between the sprocket 75b and the feed roller 74b to obtain a feed force. The head 8 is passed through the paper guides 62 and 63.
And the presser roller 9 is inserted. At that time, the paper edge sensor 12 detects that the sheet is conveyed,
The power transmission to the paper feed roller 3 is stopped. Then, switching is performed in the gear box so as to rotate the sprocket roller 75a, the feed roller 74a, the sprocket roller 75b, the feed rollers 74b and 727, and the pressing roller 9,
The reversible recording medium is inserted into the line thermal head 8 and the image forming start state is set. Then, the reversible recording medium sheet printed at the outlet 101 comes out with the printing surface facing down. Therefore, even if several pages are printed together, it is convenient and convenient.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing the second embodiment.

The structural difference from the first embodiment is that 13 is a cleaning roller and 131 a cleaning liquid tank,
The cleaning liquid injection port 132 is attached. The cleaning roller 13 is made of sponge and can absorb and hold the cleaning liquid. In addition, the roller is the separation table 5
Reversible recording medium 2
Is rotating in the direction of travel. The rotation speed is faster than the traveling speed of the reversible recording medium 2.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described.

The same operation as in the above embodiment is performed, but the operation of the cleaning roller 13 is added.

First, power is transmitted to the cleaning roller 13 in synchronization with the rotation of the paper feed roller 3. The reversible recording medium 2 is sent to the paper feed roller 3 while being in contact with the cleaning roller 13. Since the frictional force generated between the cleaning roller 13 and the reversible recording medium 2 is smaller than the frictional force generated between the feeding roller 13 and the reversible recording medium 2, the cleaning roller has little influence on the paper feeding operation. When the cleaning roller 13 is used, according to the first embodiment,
Greater cleaning capacity is obtained.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, information recording means for recording image information on a reversible recording medium, erasing means for reusing the information recording medium, and By providing a means for cleaning the surface of the recording layer of the information recording medium, when the reversible recording medium once recorded is reused, if there is dirt such as hand marks or dust at the time of erasing the image, it remains as it is and the next It prevents the background of the recorded image from becoming dirty and allows it to be used many times in a clean state. Also, when erasing images, if there is dirt on the hands, dust etc., heat will not be transferred sufficiently,
A beautiful image can be obtained without the unerased portion left over and making it difficult to see the next recorded image.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention when a drawer is opened.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a separation / cleaning unit of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective outline view of the erasing mechanism of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a reversible recording medium according to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a comparison between an energization width and a print density of a reversible recording medium according to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a comparison between energization energy and print density of a reversible recording medium according to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a comparison between an erasing temperature and an erasing density of a reversible recording medium according to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an identification black band printed on the back surface of the reversible recording medium according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a separation / cleaning unit of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 reversible recording medium 3 paper feed roller 4 pressing plate 5 separation table 61, 62, 63 paper guide a, b, c 8 line thermal head 9 pressing roller 71 heating plate 72 heating element 73 pressing film

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location B41M 5/36 8305-2H B41M 5/26 102

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A reversible recording medium for forming a visible image,
Information forming means for forming image information on the reversible recording medium, erasing means for erasing the image information formed on the reversible recording medium, and cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the recording layer of the reversible recording medium. An image forming apparatus characterized by being provided. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a cleaning unit is installed in the separating and conveying unit of the reversible recording medium.