JPH0687227A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily perform recording with a stable image quality at a low cost. CONSTITUTION:In the state that an image forming liquid 2 prepared by dispersing resin fine particles 9 in a dispersing medium is in contact with a liquid- repellent image holding body 7, the image holding body 7 or the image forming liquid 2 is selectively heated and/or pressurized by a heating and/or pressurizing means 1 in accordance with image information signals. In this manner, the resin fine particles 9 are made to adhere to the surface of the image holding body 7 to form an image thereon. In a recorder of a recording system mentioned above, the surface of the image holding body 7 is roughened. The roughened surface of the image holding body increases an adhesive power of the resin fine particles 9, thus resulting in developing ink 3 adhering to an image part with a stable image quality. Therefore, an image quality in transferring the ink to recording paper 6 can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording type recording apparatus which forms an image by providing an image area made of resin particles on the surface of an image carrier.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Office offset printing has been widely used as a means for obtaining a small number of copies. And the printing plate used here is generally
It was prepared by plate making from PS plate, electrofax plate making using electrophotography, and the like. However,
In the above, the laser light source is required, the apparatus becomes complicated, and some plate forming process is required in the process of forming the final printing plate. On the other hand, in the above, for example, Zn
It is necessary to perform a complicated plate-making process such as using an O ₂ paper, forming an electrostatic image on the O ₂ paper, then developing with toner, and further applying a hydrophilic treatment.

As a means for eliminating the complexity of the plate making process, a sheet-shaped ink sheet is brought into close contact with a printing plate material, and the ink layer is selectively thermally transferred to the printing plate material to prepare a printing plate. (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-143303)
JP-A-63-60752, JP-A-2-21724
No. 7, etc.) or using an ink whose adhesiveness changes with a change in pH (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-16).
No. 6959) is proposed. However, according to the above-mentioned means, since the printing plate material is supplied in the form of a sheet, the portion that has been used once cannot be used repeatedly, and therefore the printing plate material is wasteful and the cost becomes high. However, the above-mentioned means has a drawback that the recording speed cannot be increased because a high-adhesive ink is used as the plate-making ink.

In addition to the above, a recording method in which a powdery heat-meltable ink is adhered to a base material by heating to form an image, and the image is transferred to a recording paper by heating / pressing (JP-A-62-62). No. 279966), and a recording method in which an ink whose viscosity increases by heating is selectively heated in a state of being brought into contact with an ink-repellent substrate so that liquid ink is attached and the image is transferred to a recording paper. (JP-A-3-227255 and JP-A-4-45955) have been proposed. However, with the recording method in (1), the ink is a powder and it is difficult to handle because it is easily scattered, and (2) static electricity easily attaches the powder ink to the non-image area of the base material, causing scumming. There are problems such as being easy. Also,
The recording method of (1) requires unevenness on the surface of the image carrier, which makes cleaning difficult and the image becomes dirty, (2)
A relatively long heating time is required to increase the viscosity by evaporating the solvent, and (3) A relatively long heating time is required to increase the viscosity using a material whose solubility decreases by heating. , (4) It is necessary to perform gentle heating in order to cause thermal gelation at a low heating temperature with a material whose solubility is reduced by thermal gelation, and it is necessary to heat for a long time. There is.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus of a novel recording system which can eliminate the above-mentioned inconveniences and drawbacks and can perform image formation easily and at low cost.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 is in a state where an image forming liquid in which resin fine particles are dispersed in a dispersion medium and a liquid repellent image carrier are in contact with each other. A recording type apparatus in which resin fine particles are adhered to the surface of the image bearing member by selectively heating and / or pressurizing the image bearing member or the image forming liquid according to an image signal by heating and / or pressure applying means. It is characterized in that the surface of the image carrier is roughened.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the image carrier or the image forming liquid in which the resin fine particles are dispersed in the dispersion medium and the liquid repellent image carrier are brought into contact with each other in the image signal. A recording type device for adhering resin fine particles to the surface of the image carrier by selectively heating and / or pressurizing it according to the heating and / or pressing means, and the surface of the image carrier is rough and elastic. It is characterized by having.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the image carrier or the image forming liquid is converted into an image signal in a state where the image forming liquid in which the resin fine particles are dispersed in the dispersion medium and the liquid repellent image carrier are in contact with each other. It is a recording type apparatus in which the resin fine particles are adhered to the surface of the image bearing member by selectively heating and / or pressurizing by means of heating and / or pressurizing means, and the means for supplying the image forming liquid is a roller. The roller surface is mirror-finished.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the first, second and third aspects, a recording agent containing a coloring material is brought into contact with the image bearing body after the resin fine particles are attached.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the recording apparatus according to the first, second, and third aspects, the image forming liquid in which the resin fine particles are dispersed contains a coloring material. Further, the invention of claim 6 is characterized in that, in the recording apparatus of claims 1, 2 and 3, a liquid in which resin fine particles containing a coloring material are dispersed in a dispersion medium is used as the image forming liquid.

[0011]

The present inventors have studied and studied the recording method, and as a result, have shown that the image forming liquid in which the resin fine particles (for example, resin colloid particles) are dispersed in the dispersion medium is brought into contact with the image carrier. It was confirmed that by heating and / or pressurizing the resin particles, the adhesion between the resin particles and between the resin particles and the surface of the image carrier was increased to form an image.
It is considered that the cause of this increase in the adhered amount is as follows. (1) The heating makes the dispersion of the resin fine particles unstable, and the resin fine particles aggregate or stick together. The dispersion stability of the resin particles is determined by the balance between the electric repulsive force due to the charging of the resin particles and the attractive force due to the London-Van der Waals force acting between the molecules. The resin particles are charged by the ions in the dispersion medium, but when heated, the movement of the ions becomes vigorous and the ion concentration near the resin particles decreases. Then, the charge amount of the resin particles is reduced and the electric repulsive force acting between the resin particles is weakened, so that the resin particles are aggregated. (2) The resin fine particles are pressed or adhered to each other by applying pressure. The adhesion of the resin particles is increased by the above two phenomena occurring independently or simultaneously. In order to perform such adhesion, a dispersion liquid of resin fine particles (for example, resin colloid particles or resin fine particles having a particle diameter of 0.01 to 10 μm), not a solution resin, It was found that the resin colloid is excellent (it is known that the use of a liquid in which fine resin particles are dispersed instead of a solution of a resin is a conventional technique (JP-A-3-227255, JP-A-4-45955)
No.) is different). In order to utilize the phenomenon of (2), it is preferable to use a resin having a glass transition point or a softening point lower than the recording temperature as the resin used for the resin fine particles.

From the above, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, while the image forming liquid in which the resin fine particles 9 are dispersed is brought into contact with the image bearing member 7, the image bearing member 7 or the image forming member is formed. By selectively heating and / or pressurizing the liquid by the heating means or the pressurizing means in accordance with the image information signal, the resin fine particles 9 adhere to the image carrier to form an image. Therefore, with this recording method, it is possible to realize a recording apparatus that can easily perform image recording at low cost. When an image forming liquid containing resin particles dispersed in a dispersion medium containing a coloring material, or a dispersion medium containing resin particles containing a coloring material dispersed in a dispersion medium is used, image formation is performed simultaneously with image formation ( Development) can be performed. Further in the present invention,
It is characterized in that the surface of the image carrier is roughened,
By roughening the surface of the image carrier, the adhesion of the resin particles to the image carrier becomes stronger, and the resin particles are prevented from adhering to the pressing member side.

The recording apparatus of the present invention is a printer (transfer,
Direct recording), printing machines, memories, display devices, etc. Printers include an indirect recording method in which an image is formed on an image carrier and then transferred to a recording medium such as paper, and a direct recording method in which an image is directly formed on a liquid-repellent recording medium. Further, by using the image of the resin attached on the image carrier as a printing master and repeating development and transfer, it can be used as a printing machine. Further, the image on the image carrier can be used as a display device by making it visible from the outside by opening a window in the device. Further, it can also be used as a memory by utilizing the presence or absence of resin on the image carrier. In this case, the color material may be contained, but the recorded information can be read by the difference in reflectance between the resin and the image carrier even if the color material is not added.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. First, the basic configuration of the recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows an example of a basic configuration of a recording apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a thermal head having a head surface in which minute heating elements are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the drawing, and 2 is a dispersion. An image forming liquid in which fine resin particles 9 are dispersed in a medium, 3 is a developing ink in which a pigment material is dispersed or dissolved, 4 is a developing roller, 5 is a transfer roller, 6 is a recording paper, and 7 is a drum shape. The image carrier 8 and the cleaner 8 are cleaners. As the image forming liquid 2, an image forming liquid 2A containing a color material 15 as shown in FIG. 2A can be used. This color material 15
In the image forming liquid 2A containing, as shown in FIG. 2A, the dispersion medium 16 contains at least resin fine particles 9 as an image forming material. FIG. 2B shows a state in which an image is formed on the surface of the image carrier 7.

When the surface of the image carrier 7 is heated by the thermal head 1 in the presence (contact) of the image forming liquid 2, the resin fine particles 9 adhere to the surface of the image carrier 7. At this time, not only the heating but also the pressurization is performed, so that the resin fine particles 9 are more stably attached, or
The adhesion between the adhered fine particles and the image carrier is improved, and the effect of increasing resistance to scratching, rubbing, and the like is produced. When the image carrier 7 is in the form of a film or a belt during heating here, as shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the means shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. The body 7 may be heated from the back side and the pressure roller 10 may be provided on the front side. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the image carrier 7
Is composed of an image carrier film 7 ′ and an infrared absorbing material 19,
It is also possible to form an image by heating from the back side with infrared rays. At this time, if the image carrier film 7 ′ is thin and difficult to handle, the infrared absorbing material 19 and the image carrier film 7 ′ are provided on the film (support film) 20 that transmits infrared rays.
May be laminated. In addition, 17 is an infrared source and 18 is a lens.

Now, in FIG. 1, after the image is formed by the resin fine particles 9 attached to the surface of the image carrier 7,
The developing roller 4 causes the developing ink 3 to adhere to the recording sheet 6 and transfers the recording ink to the recording sheet 6. When the image forming liquid 2A containing the color material 15 is used as shown in FIG. 2 or the image forming liquid in which the resin fine particles containing the color material are dispersed is used, the image formation and the development are performed at the same time. Therefore, the developing unit can be omitted. When the same image is to be obtained by the recording apparatus of FIG. 1, the thermal head 1 is separated from the image carrier 7 from the second time onward, and the developing ink is formed on the resin fine particle image attached the first time. 3 may be attached again, developed, and transferred to the recording paper 6. When outputting a new image, the resin particle image on the image carrier 7 is cleaned by the cleaner 8
Then, a new image may be formed.

Here, the image forming liquid, the image carrier and other components used in the recording apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail. The image forming liquid 2 includes a dispersion medium 16 and resin fine particles (for example, resin colloidal particles and a particle size of 0.01 to 10 μm).
m) 9 and other components (excluding color materials),
The image forming liquid 2A containing the color material is the image forming liquid 2 containing the color material 15. Further, the image forming liquid 2B in which resin fine particles containing a coloring material are dispersed in the dispersion medium 16 can also be used. The dispersion medium 16 may be water-based or oil-based. Examples of the material of the resin fine particles 9 include materials that are insoluble in the dispersion medium, such as acrylic resin, methacrylic resin, vinyl acetate resin, ethylene / vinyl acetate resin, and silicone resin for the aqueous dispersion medium. Examples of the dispersion medium of the system include ethylene resin and styrene resin. In addition to these resins, dispersion stabilizers, viscosity modifiers, preservatives, various surfactants and the like may be added. As the resin fine particles 9, resin colloid particles or resin fine particles having a particle diameter of 0.01 to 10 μm are preferably used. It should be noted that the particle size of the resin fine particles 9 should be the same or smaller than that of one dot of the recording pixel.

If the viscosity of the image forming liquids 2, 2A and 2B is too high, the image forming speed cannot be increased, so that the viscosity is preferably low. Specifically, it should be a few P (poise) or less,
It is preferably 100 cP (centipoise) or less. If the concentration of the resin fine particles 9 is too low, the adherence to the image carrier during image formation will fluctuate and the image will be deteriorated. Therefore, the concentration should be reasonably high, and specifically 5% by weight or more is preferable. However, since the viscosity of the image forming liquid increases as the concentration of the resin particles 9 increases, it is necessary to increase the concentration within the range where the viscosity does not exceed several P, more preferably 100 cP. Further, in order to suppress the time change of the concentration, a mechanism for detecting the concentration, maintaining the concentration or the like may be provided.

As the image carrier 7, it is desirable to use an ink-repellent material which the developing ink 3 hardly adheres to. The term “ink repellency” as used herein means, when expressed by a receding contact angle with respect to the developing ink 3, the receding contact angle is 80 ° or more and the surface tension is 50 dyn / cm with respect to the developing ink having a surface tension of 50 dyn / cm or more. It means that the receding contact angle is 20 ° or more for a developing ink having a size of cm or less. More practically, the material (ink-repellent material) is soaked in the developing ink, and then, when the material is pulled up in the vertical direction at a speed of 1 mm / s or more, the material that does not adhere to the surface of the material is ink-repellent. Use as a material. For example, if the developing ink is water-based,
Examples include water-repellent materials, oil-repellent materials when oil-based, and silicone-based resins and fluorine-based resins regardless of whether the developing ink is water-based or oil-based. Silicon rubber or the like can be used as the silicon-based resin. Examples of the fluorine-based resin include PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), FEP (tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer), PFA (tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer), ETFE ( Tetrafluoroethylene-ethylene copolymer), PCTFE (polychlorotrifluoroethylene), PVdF (polyvinylidene fluoride), EPE (tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene-perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer) and the like can be used.

The shape of the image carrier 7 may be the belt-shaped or film-shaped image carrier 7 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, other than the drum-shaped structure shown in FIG. In the case of a drum shape, as shown in FIG. 5, the image carrier material 11 is provided on a drum substrate 12 made of an aluminum cylinder or the like. Further, in the case of a belt shape, only the image carrier material 11 may be formed into a belt shape as shown in FIG. 6A, or as shown in FIG. Material 11 may be provided. In the present invention, the surface of the image carrier is roughened, the reason for which will be described later. The developing ink 3 may be either dye-based or pigment-based. If the resin fine particles 9 are hydrophilic, water-based ink may be used, and if the resin fine particles 9 are lipophilic, oil-based ink may be used. The cleaner 8 is the image forming liquid 2 that adheres to the surface of the image carrier without damaging the image carrier 7 or the image forming liquid 2 that contains a coloring material.
A is removed, and for example, a blade or roller of rubber, sponge or the like is applied.

A specific example of the recording device having the above basic structure will be shown below. FIG. 8 shows an example in which a roller made of a porous material such as a sponge is used as the cleaner 8, and other configurations are shown in FIG.
Is the same as. In FIG. 9, the image carrier 7 is formed in the shape of an endless belt and rotated by a feed roller (or pulley) 14, a pressure contact roller 10 is provided on the image forming liquid 2 side, and the thermal head 1 sandwiches the image carrier 7. In this example, they are arranged at opposite positions and heated from the back surface side. In addition, other components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are similar components. FIG. 10 shows an example in which a belt-shaped image carrier 7 is used as in FIG. 9, but the arrangement of the thermal head 1 and the pressure roller 10 is reversed, and the image forming liquid 2A containing a color material is used. Here is an example. Therefore, in the configuration of FIG. 10, the developing ink 3 and the developing roller 4 can be omitted. FIG. 11 shows a configuration similar to that of FIG. 4, but an example in which a supporting roller 21 is provided on the side opposite to the pressure contact roller 10 with the image carrier 7 interposed therebetween. Pressurization is possible.

FIG. 12 shows a structure in which resin particles are adhered to the image carrier 7 by a pressurizing means in place of the heating means (thermal head 1) of FIG. 8, 22 is a drive section made of PZT or the like, and 23 is This is a pressurizing unit in which minute pressurizing elements are arranged, and the other configurations are the same as those in FIG. In this apparatus example, energy is supplied from an energy supply source to the drive unit 22 in accordance with an image signal to drive the pressurizing unit 23, and the resin fine particles in the image forming liquid 2 are attached to the image carrier 7 by pressurization. The image is formed. FIG. 13 shows a configuration in which resin particles are attached to the belt-shaped image carrier 7 by a pressurizing means instead of the heating means (thermal head 1) shown in FIG. Part 2
The drive unit for driving each pressure element of 3 is a solenoid 2
4 is an example in which the spring 28 and the ferromagnetic material 26 are used. In this apparatus, the power source of the solenoid 24 is controlled according to the image signal to drive the pressurizing unit 23, and the resin fine particles and the color material in the image forming liquid 2A containing the color material are applied to the image carrier 7 by the pressurization. It is made to adhere and image formation and development are performed. 14
10 has the same structure as that of FIG. 10, but the image forming liquid 2B is composed of resin fine particles containing a color material as an image forming liquid and a dispersion medium.
Is an example using.

FIG. 15 shows an example of a direct recording system in which a recording medium 27 such as an OHP sheet or recording paper is used as an image carrier.
Reference numeral 8 is a recording medium feed roller. In this apparatus, the image forming liquid 2A containing a coloring material is used, and the thermal head 1 is heated according to an image signal to directly form an image on the recording medium 27 by heating and pressurizing. FIG. 16 shows an example of a direct recording system in which a recording medium 27 such as an OHP sheet or recording paper is used as an image carrier, and the pressure unit 23 of a pressure unit is driven according to an image signal to record by the pressure system. After the resin fine particles in the image forming liquid 2 are adhered onto the medium 27 to form an image, the image is developed with the developing ink 3. FIG. 17 shows that a container for the image forming liquid 2A containing a coloring material is formed flat,
This is an example in which a feed roller 14 for the image carrier 7 is provided in the container. FIG. 18 shows an example of a direct recording system in which a recording medium 27 such as an OHP sheet or recording paper is used as an image carrier. The thermal head 1 is heated according to an image signal, and an image is formed on the recording medium 27 by the heating system. After the resin fine particles in the liquid 2 are attached to form an image, the image is developed with the developing ink 3.

FIG. 19 shows an example in which an image is formed on the image carrier 7 by using a cylindrical heating / pressurizing member 29. Figure 20
Is an example of a direct recording method using a recording medium 27 such as an OHP sheet or a recording paper as an image carrier, using the same pressing means as in FIG. 12 and using the image forming liquid 2A containing a color material. The image formation and the development are performed on the recording medium 27. FIG. 21 is an example of a direct recording method using a recording medium 27 such as an OHP sheet or a recording paper as an image carrier. The thermal head 1 and the pressure contact roller 10 are arranged at opposite positions sandwiching the recording medium 27. After the image is formed on the recording medium 27 by heating and pressurizing the resin fine particles, the developing ink 3 is formed.
Is to be developed.

Next, a concrete example of image formation by the apparatus example shown in FIGS. In the examples,% is based on weight. Example 1 Image forming liquid: Fluorine-containing acrylate colloidal liquid (EX
-125 (manufactured by NOK CRYVA), solid content concentration 15
%) Development ink: Water-based dye ink (7% direct dye having the chemical structure shown below, 2% ethylene glycol, balance water)

[Chemical 1] Image carrier: Silicon rubber Cleaner: Porous substance Rubycell (ruby sheet (average pore size: about 10 μm), manufactured by Toyo Polymer Co., Ltd.) Device configuration: What is shown in FIG. 12 Under these conditions, the pressurizing unit 23 is changed according to the image signal. It is driven to apply a pressure of about 10 g per dot at a recording density of 180 dpi (dots / inch) at about room temperature (about 25 ° C.) to form an image on the image carrier 7, and after developing with the developing ink 3, When transferred onto the recording paper 6, good printing was obtained on the recording paper.

[Embodiment 2] The same image forming liquid 2, developing ink 3, image carrier 7, and cleaner 8 as in Embodiment 1 are used, the heating source is the thermal head 1, and the apparatus configuration is shown in FIG. Then, the thermal head 1 is heated to about 120 ° C. according to the image signal while applying a pressure of about 320 g per 1 cm in one line with the thermal head 1 to the image carrier 7 to form an image on the image carrier 7. Then, after developing with the developing ink 3, it was transferred to the recording paper 6, and good printing was obtained on the recording paper.

[Example 3] Image forming liquid: vinyl acetate-ethylene colloidal liquid (S-
753 (manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., solid content concentration 15%) Developing ink: same as in Example 1 Image carrier: Fluorine-based resin (Teflon etc.) Cleaner: Same as in Example 1 Device configuration: those shown in FIG. Under the conditions, the pressure unit 23 is driven according to the image signal, and at a recording density of 180 dpi, about 10 g per dot
Is applied at about room temperature (about 25 ° C.) to form an image on the image carrier 7, and after development with the developing ink 3, the recording paper 6 is formed.
When it was transferred to, good printing was obtained on the recording paper.

[Embodiment 4] The same image forming liquid 2, developing ink 3, image carrier 7 and cleaner 8 as in Embodiment 3 are used, the heat source is the thermal head 1, and the apparatus configuration is shown in FIG. Then, the thermal head 1 is heated to about 120 ° C. according to the image signal while applying a pressure of about 320 g per 1 cm in one line with the thermal head 1 to the image carrier 7 to form an image on the image carrier 7. Then, after developing with the developing ink 3, it was transferred to the recording paper 6, and good printing was obtained on the recording paper.

[Example 5] Image forming liquid containing a coloring material: -Vinyl acetate-ethylene-acrylic (S-920 (manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.)) 60% -Dye (CI Direct Black 168) 10% -Ethylene glycol 20% -Water balance Image carrier: Fluorine-based resin (Teflon, etc.) Cleaner: Same as in Example 1 Device configuration: As shown in FIG. 13 Under these conditions, the pressurizing unit 23 is changed according to the image signal. Driven at a recording density of 180 dpi, about 10 g per dot
An image was formed on the image carrier 7 and transferred to the recording paper 6 by applying the pressure at about room temperature (about 25 ° C.), and good printing was obtained on the recording paper.

[Example 6] Image forming liquid 2 containing a coloring material
A, the image carrier 7, and the cleaner 8 are the same as those in the fifth embodiment, the heating source is the thermal head 1, the apparatus configuration is as shown in FIG. When the thermal head 1 was heated to about 120 ° C. according to the image signal while applying a pressure of about 320 g per 1 cm to form an image on the image carrier 7 and the image was transferred to the recording paper 6, good printing was obtained on the recording paper. Was obtained.

[Example 7] Image forming liquid containing a coloring material: Silicone (SE-1980 clear (manufactured by Toray Dow Corning Silicone)) 30% Dye (CI Direct Black 168) 10% -Ethylene glycol 20% -Water balance Image carrier: Silicon rubber Cleaner: Same as in Example 1 Device configuration: What is shown in Fig. 13: Under these conditions, the pressurizing unit 23 is driven according to the image signal, and 180 dpi Recording density is about 10g per dot
An image was formed on the image carrier 7 and transferred to the recording paper 6 by applying the pressure at about room temperature (about 25 ° C.), and good printing was obtained on the recording paper.

[Embodiment 8] Image forming liquid 2 containing a coloring material
A, the image carrier 7, and the cleaner 8 are the same as those in the embodiment 7, the infrared laser 17 is used for heating, and the apparatus configuration is as shown in FIG. 11, and the image carrier 7 is pressed by a pressure roller (pressure roller) 10. While applying a pressure of about 320 g per 1 cm in one line, the infrared laser 17 radiates infrared rays according to the image signal so that the infrared absorption section 19 of the image carrier becomes about 120 ° C. When an image was formed on the carrier 7 and transferred to the recording paper 6, good printing was obtained on the recording paper.

[Example 9] Image-forming liquid (oil-based ink) consisting of resin colloid containing a coloring material: -Wet toner (polystyrene contains carbon black) 70% -n-undecane 30% Image carrier: FEP (Tetrafluoroethylene-6-fluoropropylene copolymer) Cleaner: Same as in Example 1 Device configuration: As shown in FIG. 14 Under these conditions, the thermal head 1 of the image carrier 7 per 1 cm in one line When the thermal head 1 was heated to about 90 ° C. according to the image signal while applying a pressure of about 320 g, an image was formed on the image carrier 7 and transferred to the recording paper 6,
Good printing was obtained on the recording paper.

[Embodiment 10] The same image forming liquid 2 and developing ink 3 as in Embodiment 1 were used, and the recording medium (commercially available OHP sheet) 27 was used with the apparatus configuration shown in FIG.
Recording was performed directly on the recording medium, and the pressure unit 23 was driven according to the image signal to apply a pressure of 10 g per dot (φ200 μm) at room temperature, and good recording was obtained on the recording medium 27.

[Embodiment 11] The same image forming liquid 2 and developing ink 3 as in Embodiment 1 are used, the heating source is the thermal head 1, the apparatus configuration is as shown in FIG. 21, and a recording medium (commercially available) is used. OHP sheet) 27 is directly recorded, and the thermal head 1 is heated to about 120 ° C. according to an image signal while applying a pressure of about 320 g per 1 cm in one line to the recording medium 27 by the thermal head 1. Two
Good printing was obtained for No. 7.

[Embodiment 12] As the image forming liquid, the image forming liquid 2A containing the same coloring material as in Embodiment 5 was used, and the apparatus constitution was changed to that shown in FIG. Direct recording is performed, and the pressure unit 2 is used according to the image signal.
When 3 was driven and a pressure of 10 g per dot (φ200 μm) was applied at room temperature, good printing was obtained on the recording medium 27.

[Embodiment 13] As the image forming liquid, the image forming liquid 2A containing the same coloring material as in Embodiment 5 was used, the heating source was the thermal head 1, and the apparatus constitution was as shown in FIG. Recording is performed directly on a commercially available OHP sheet) 27, and the recording medium 27 is recorded by the thermal head 1 in 1 of 1 line.
When the thermal head 1 was heated to about 120 ° C. according to the image signal while applying a pressure of about 320 g per cm, good printing was obtained on the recording medium 27.

[Embodiment 14] The image forming liquid 2A containing a coloring material and the same cleaner as in Embodiment 7 are used. The image carrier 7 is a fluorine resin (Teflon or the like), the heating source is the thermal head 1, and the apparatus. When the structure is as shown in FIG. 17, the thermal head 1 is heated to about 120 ° C. according to an image signal to form an image on the image carrier 7, and the image is transferred to a recording medium (recording paper, OHP sheet, etc.). Good print was obtained.

[Embodiment 15] The same image forming liquid 2 and developing ink 3 as those in Embodiment 3 are used, the heating source is the thermal head 1, the apparatus configuration is as shown in FIG. 18, and a recording medium (commercially available OHP) is used. When recording was performed directly on the sheet 27 and the thermal head 1 was heated to about 120 ° C. according to the image signal, good printing was obtained on the recording medium 27.

[Example 16] The same image-forming liquid 2 as in Example 1 was used. The image carrier 7 was made of a fluororesin (Teflon, etc.), and the heating / pressurizing source was made of an aluminum cylinder (contact surface: φ).
2 mm) 29, the apparatus configuration is as shown in FIG. 19, and 200 g is applied to the image carrier 7 with the aluminum cylinder 29.
When heated to about 120 ° C. while applying the pressure of 2, good adhesion of resin fine particles to the image carrier 7 was obtained.

[Embodiment 17] The same image forming liquid 2 as in Embodiment 3 is used. The image carrier 7 is silicon rubber, the pressure source is an aluminum cylinder (contact surface: φ2 mm) 29, and the apparatus configuration is shown in FIG. When 1 kg of pressure was applied to the image carrier 7 by the aluminum cylinder 29, good adhesion of resin fine particles to the image carrier 7 was obtained.

The basic structure and embodiments of the recording apparatus according to the present invention have been described above. However, according to the recording apparatus described above, an image is formed using an image forming liquid which is liquid and has a low viscosity. There is no waste, and low-cost, high-speed image formation and recording can be performed. However, even in this recording apparatus, the following problems occur depending on the surface condition of the image carrier and the surface condition of the pressing member.

FIG. 22 shows an example of the recording apparatus of the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a thermal head, 2 is an image forming liquid in which fine resin particles 9 are dispersed in a dispersion medium, 3 is a developing ink, 4 is a developing roller, 5 is a transfer roller, 6 is a recording paper, and 7 is a belt-shaped. The image carrier 8 is a cleaner, and 10 is a roller-shaped supply / pressurizing member (pressing roller) for supplying the image forming liquid to the image carrier 7 and applying pressure thereto, and the image carrier 7 is configured in a belt shape. Here is an example. In FIG. 22, the image forming liquid 2 containing the resin fine particles 9 by the supply / pressurizing member 10 on the image carrier 7
Is supplied and heated by the thermal head 1 according to the image information, the fine resin particles 9 adhere to the image carrier 7 to form a resin layer. This is because the resin fine particles 9 are softened by heating and adhere to the image carrier 7. At this time, supply
When pressure is applied to the resin fine particles 9 by the pressure member 10, the adhesion to the image carrier 7 increases. However, at this time, since the resin fine particles also contact the supply / pressurization member 10, a part of the resin fine particles may adhere to the surface of the supply / pressurization member as shown in FIG. 23, which leads to image deterioration. Now, since the surface of the resin fine particles adhered to the image carrier 7 exhibits ink affinity, the ink 3
When in contact with, the ink 3 adheres to this surface and the image information is visualized. Then, by transferring the attached ink onto the recording paper 6, printing is performed. At this time, if the smoothness of the recording paper 6 is poor, the contact between the ink and the paper is poor, and the ink transferability to the recording paper 6 is reduced, resulting in defective printing.

The present invention solves the above problems in addition to the basic structure of the recording apparatus described above, and also improves the fixing property of the resin fine particles to the image carrier and the transfer property to the recording paper. A recording device capable of performing the above is provided. Therefore, in the present invention, in addition to the basic configuration of the recording apparatus, the resin fine particles 9 have a strong adhesion to the image carrier 7 so that the image carrier 7 can have a strong adhesion.
It is characterized in that the surface is roughened.

Here, FIG. 24 shows the state of recording when the surface of the image carrier is not roughened, and FIG. 25 shows the state of recording when the surface of the image carrier is roughened. Show. When the surface of the image carrier 7 is not roughened as shown in FIG. 24, when the resin particles 9 are heated according to the image signal, the resin particles 9 are softened and adhere to the surface of the image carrier. The particles also adhere to the surface of the pressure member 10. In order for the softened resin fine particles to transfer to the image carrier 7, stronger adhesion is required. Therefore, the present inventors have solved this problem by roughening the surface of the image bearing member. That is, by roughening the surface of the image carrier, the softened resin fine particles 9 are embedded in the rough surface of the image carrier 7 as shown in FIG. Occurs, and the adhesion of resin fine particles to the supply / pressurization member 10 side can be prevented.

The roughness of the rough surface of the image carrier must be sufficiently larger than the diameter of the resin fine particles. That is, FIG.
As shown in (a), when the roughness is about the same as the resin fine particles, the particles also enter the non-heated portion, which causes scumming. On the other hand, when the roughness is about 10 times the diameter of the resin fine particles,
As shown in FIG. 26 (b), the resin fine particles are not caught in the unheated portion, and the resin fine particles in the concave portion are also melted and fused in the roughened surface in the heated portion, and a strong adhesive force is exerted. Further, it is more preferable that the supply / pressurizing member of the image forming liquid is a roller and the surface thereof is a mirror surface because the resin fine particles are less likely to adhere to the roller side.

Now, referring to FIG. 22, when a resin image is formed on the surface of the image carrier 7 by the fine particles 9 and developed with the ink 3, when the ink 3 on the image carrier 7 is transferred to the recording paper 6, the image carrier is carried. When the body surface is deformed along the waviness of the recording paper 6, the ink transfer rate is improved. Therefore, it is desirable that the image carrier 7 has elasticity.

As a roughening method of the image bearing member 7, a molding method using a mold whose surface is roughened in advance, a sandblast method, a chemical etching method, or the like is suitable. As a method of making the image carrier 7 elastic, a method of using the image carrier itself as an elastic member, or a method of using the belt-shaped substrate 12 as the image carrier as shown in FIG.
4, a method in which an intermediate elastic layer 125 and a surface layer 126 are used as a multilayer structure and an elastic member is used as the intermediate layer is suitable. Further, as the elastic member, a hydrophobic material such as silicone rubber or fluororubber is preferable. Further, in the case of a multi-layer structure, an inelastic member may be used as long as the outermost surface has a small thickness.

Even in the recording apparatus when the surface of the image carrier is roughened, the image forming liquid 2A containing the color material 15 as shown in FIG. 2A can be used as the image forming liquid. In this case, the recording device can be configured as in the example of FIG.

Examples of the recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described below. [Example 18] Image carrier: roughened silicon rubber (roughness is 5 μm in ten-point average roughness) Resin fine particles: EVA resin colloid (Sumitomo Chemical Sumikaflex S753) Image forming liquid: 20 wt% solid content of the above material + Water Development ink: Water-based ink Supply / pressurizing roller: Nickel-plated metal rod with a diameter of 20 mm Recording paper: Ricoh PPC paper type6200 Heating source: Thermal head of 200 dpi Device configuration: Fig. 22 Image with the device configuration of Fig. 22 When heated by the thermal head 1 according to the signal, an image without blur was obtained as compared with the case where the image bearing member was not roughened.

[Example 19] Image carrier: roughened fluororubber (roughness: 10-point average roughness: 10 µm) Resin fine particles: EVA resin colloid (Sumitomo Chemical Sumikaflex S753) Colorant-containing image forming liquid: Material solid content 20 wt% + water + direct dye 4 wt% Supply / pressurizing roller: Nickel-plated metal rod with diameter of 20 mm Recording paper: Ricoh PPC paper type6200 Heating source: 200 dpi thermal head Device configuration: FIG. 28 When the thermal head 1 was used for heating in accordance with the image signal in the above apparatus configuration, an image having no blur was obtained as compared with the case where the image bearing member was not roughened.

[0052]

As described above, according to the recording apparatus of the present invention, the image carrier or the liquid is heated and / or pressurized under the contact of the image forming liquid in which the resin fine particles are dispersed in the dispersion medium. By adhering the resin fine particles to the image carrier to form an image portion corresponding to a latent image, high-speed image formation and recording can be performed at low cost. Moreover, by roughening the surface of the image carrier, the adhesion of the resin fine particles to the surface of the image carrier is increased, the image quality is stabilized, and the image quality can be improved. Further, by making the surface of the image carrier rough and having elasticity, the transferability of the ink to the recording paper can be improved, and the image quality can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a basic configuration of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a state in which image formation is performed in the presence of an image forming liquid containing a color material, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which developing ink is attached on a resin fine particle image.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing only a main part of another example of the basic configuration of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing only an essential part of another example of the basic configuration of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing an example of a drum-shaped image carrier.

6A and 6B are partially cutaway sectional views of two examples of belt-shaped image bearing members.

7A and 7B are explanatory views showing that an image is formed on an image carrier by the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing only an essential part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing only a main part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing only another main part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing only another main part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing only an essential part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing only an essential part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing only an essential part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing only an essential part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing only an essential part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing only an essential part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing only an essential part of another configuration example of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a recording apparatus in which the present invention is implemented.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of a problem when the surface of the image carrier is not roughened in the recording apparatus of FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing a state at the time of recording when the surface of the image carrier is not roughened in the recording apparatus of FIG. 22.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing a state at the time of recording when the surface of the image carrier is roughened in the recording apparatus of FIG. 22.

FIGS. 26 (a) and 26 (b) are illustrations of fine particle adhesion states with respect to the roughness of the rough surface of the image carrier.

FIG. 27 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing an example of a belt-shaped image bearing member having a rough surface and elasticity.

FIG. 28 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another example of a recording apparatus in which the present invention is implemented.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Heating part (thermal head) 2 ... Image forming liquid (resin fine particle dispersion liquid) 2A ... Image forming liquid containing color material 3 ... Developing ink 4 ... Developing roller 5 ... Transfer roller 6 ... Recording medium (recording paper) 7 ... Image carrier 8 ... Cleaner 9 ... Resin fine particles 10 ... Image forming liquid supply / pressurizing member (pressing roller) 14 ... Image carrier feeding roller 15 ... Coloring material 16 ... Dispersion medium 17 ... Infrared source 18 ... Lens 19 ... Infrared absorbing material 20 ... Support film 22 ... Driving unit 23 ... -Pressing unit 24 ... Solenoid 25 ... Spring 26 ... Ferromagnetic material 28 ... Recording material feeding roller 29 ... Heating / pressurizing member 124 ... Belt-shaped substrate 125 ... Intermediate Elastic layer 126 ... Surface layer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image-forming liquid having resin particles dispersed in a dispersion medium and a liquid-repellent image-bearing member are brought into contact with each other, and the image-bearing member or the image-forming liquid is heated and / or heated in accordance with an image signal.
Alternatively, the apparatus is a recording type apparatus in which resin fine particles are adhered to the surface of the image carrier by selectively heating and / or applying pressure by a pressure means, wherein the surface of the image carrier is roughened. Recording device. 2. An image forming liquid in which resin fine particles are dispersed in a dispersion medium and a liquid repellent image bearing member are in contact with each other, and the image bearing member or the image forming liquid is heated and / or heated according to an image signal.
Alternatively, it is a recording type apparatus in which resin fine particles are adhered to the surface of the image carrier by selectively heating and / or applying pressure by a pressure means, wherein the surface of the image carrier is rough and elastic. Recording device. 3. An image forming liquid having resin particles dispersed in a dispersion medium and a liquid-repellent image bearing member are brought into contact with each other, and the image bearing member or the image forming liquid is heated and / or heated in accordance with an image signal.
Alternatively, it is a recording type apparatus in which resin fine particles are adhered to the surface of the image carrier by selectively heating and / or pressurizing by a pressure means, and the means for supplying the image forming liquid is a roller, and the roller surface is A recording device having a mirror surface. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein a recording agent containing a coloring material is brought into contact with the image bearing body after the resin fine particles are adhered thereto. 5. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3, wherein the image forming liquid in which resin fine particles are dispersed contains a coloring material. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein a liquid in which fine resin particles containing a coloring material are dispersed in a dispersion medium is used as the image forming liquid.