JPH08300803A - Image recording method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an image recording apparatus effectively utilizing ink and capable of reducing running cost. CONSTITUTION: Powder ink Ip is heated by a heater 2 to be gasified. The gasified ink Ipg is charged by a charge electrode 3 to be guided in the direction of a recording medium RAM by a back electrode 5. An electric field shutter 4 controls the passage of the gasified ink Ipg through an emitting orifice corresponding to the output signal of a control part 6 and the gasified ink Ipg is intermittently emitted to the recording medium RAM corresponding to the electric signal corresponding to image data to be recorded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording method and apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile and a printer, and more particularly to an image recording method and apparatus for recording a predetermined image on a recording medium using ink. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an image recording apparatus of a discharge type, there is an image recording apparatus using an ink jet system or an electrostatic recording system. Among them, the inkjet method performs a printing operation by pressurizing a liquid ink stored in a tank with an electric signal corresponding to image data using a piezoelectric element or the like, and ejecting the pressurized ink from a nozzle. Be done. In the electrostatic recording method, powder or liquid (fog) ink is charged and discharged from the nozzle by electrostatic suction force, and the shutter provided at the tip of the nozzle is opened / closed by an electrical signal corresponding to image data. By doing so, the printing operation is performed.

However, in the ink jet system,
When air enters the ink tank, sufficient pressure cannot be applied inside the ink tank, and printing operation cannot be performed.Because liquid ink is used, ink clogging at the nozzle or ink on the recording medium However, there is a problem in that the image quality is deteriorated due to bleeding. Further, in the electrostatic recording method, when the ink is powder, the ink particles are solidified by blocking and cause clogging, and when the ink is liquid, the image quality is deteriorated due to clogging and ink bleeding, similar to the inkjet method. There was a problem.

As a method of solving the above problems, a method of ejecting vaporized ink and adhering it onto a recording medium has been proposed. With this method, gas is ejected, so there is little clogging at the nozzle, and pixels are recorded in the molecular state, so high resolution and excellent gradation, and high quality printing with less bleeding can be performed. Becomes An image recording device using this method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-2020. Hereinafter, the above-mentioned conventional image recording apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional image recording apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 8, the image recording apparatus includes a print head 101, a heating device 102, a charging electrode 103, electric field lenses 104 and 105, an electric field shutter 106, a back electrode 107, a power supply 110, and a signal source 111. Heating device 1
02 includes a power supply 108 and an electric heater 109.

The ink Il inside the print head 1 is heated and vaporized by a heating device 102 composed of an electric heater 109 and a power supply 108. The vaporized gaseous ink Ig is ejected from the print head 1. When the gaseous ink Ig passes through the charging electrode 103 at the same time as being ejected, it is charged by the power supply 110 inserted between the charging electrode 103 and the print head 101. The charged gaseous ink Ig is converged by the electric field lenses 104 and 105. The converged gas ink Ig is supplied to the signal source 11
The electric field shutter 106, the operation of which is controlled by 1, is controlled so as to obtain a predetermined ejection amount, and the back electrode 11
And the image is formed on the recording medium RM.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional image recording apparatus, the gas ink Ig is
There is a problem that ink that is constantly ejected from the print head 101 and is not actually used for recording is wasted and running cost increases. Further, the device for recovering the unused gas ink and the electric field shutter 106.
There is also a problem that a device (not shown) for cleaning the periphery is required, and the entire device cannot be downsized. Furthermore, from the print head 101 to the charging electrode 1
The movement of the gaseous ink Ig up to 03 is performed by ejecting the gaseous ink Ig because the pressure inside the print head 101 rises due to the volume expansion due to the vaporization of the ink Il. Therefore, there is a problem in that the responsiveness of the ejection operation of the gaseous ink Ig is poor, and it is affected by the amount of the ink Il in the print head 101, so that the print quality such as uneven density is deteriorated.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image recording method and apparatus which can effectively use ink and reduce running costs.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus capable of improving ink adhesion and printing with high resolution and excellent density gradation.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus capable of improving the fixability of ink and the storage stability.

[0011]

An image recording method according to claim 1 is an image recording method for recording a predetermined image on a recording medium using ink, wherein the image recording method corresponds to image data corresponding to the image. First to intermittently eject vaporized ink
And a second step of depositing or penetrating the vaporized ink onto the recording medium and recording an image on the recording medium.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided the image recording method of the first aspect.
In addition to the configuration of the image recording method described above, the first step includes a third step of charging the ink, and a fourth step of heating the charged ink to vaporize it.
A fifth step of ejecting vaporized ink using a back electrode provided on the back surface of the recording medium.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided the image recording method according to the second aspect.
In addition to the configuration of the image recording method described above, the third step includes a sixth step of charging the liquid ink.

The image recording method according to claim 4 is the method according to claim 1.
In addition to the configuration of the image recording method described above, the first step is arranged on the back surface of the recording medium, the third step of vaporizing the ink by heating the ink, the fourth step of charging the vaporized ink. And a fifth step of ejecting the charged ink using the back electrode.

The image recording method according to claim 5 is the method according to claim 4.
In addition to the configuration of the image recording method described above, the third step includes a sixth step of vaporizing a liquid ink by heating.
Including steps.

An image recording apparatus according to a sixth aspect is an image recording apparatus for recording a predetermined image on a recording medium by using ink, and heating means for vaporizing the ink by heating the ink, and the vaporized ink. And a control unit that controls the vaporized ink so that the heated ink is intermittently ejected according to the image data corresponding to the image.

An image recording apparatus according to a seventh aspect is the image recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect.
In addition to the configuration of the image recording apparatus described above, the discharging means includes a charging electrode portion for charging ink and a back electrode for guiding the ink charged by the charging electrode portion onto the recording medium. And a control unit that controls the operation of the shutter unit according to image data, the heating unit, the charging electrode unit, and the shutter unit. The shutter part is integrally configured.

The image recording apparatus according to claim 8 is the image recording apparatus according to claim 7.
In addition to the configuration of the image recording apparatus described above, the shutter section has slit-shaped ejection holes for ejecting ink and a width corresponding to image recording pixels, and is provided at both ends of the long sides of the ejection holes. And a plurality of electrodes that are formed.

An image recording apparatus according to a ninth aspect is the image recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect.
In addition to the configuration of the image recording apparatus described above, the heating means includes a first heating means for preheating the ink and a second heating means for further heating the ink heated by the first heating means to vaporize the ink. Including.

An image recording apparatus according to a tenth aspect of the present invention further comprises, in addition to the configuration of the image recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect, preheating means for preheating the recording medium before ejecting the ink vaporized by the ejection means onto the recording medium. Including.

An image recording apparatus according to an eleventh aspect is the same as the image recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect or the tenth aspect, except that the ink on the recording medium is ejected after the vaporized ink is ejected onto the recording medium. It further includes fixing means for fixing.

According to a twelfth aspect of the invention, in addition to the configuration of the image recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect, a preheating means for preheating the recording medium before ejecting the ink vaporized by the ejection means onto the recording medium, And a fixing unit configured to fix the ink on the recording medium after discharging the ink vaporized by the discharging unit onto the recording medium. The preheating unit and the fixing unit are configured by one device, and the preheating unit and the fixing unit are included. Is also used.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An image recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the image recording apparatus comprises a print head 1, a heating device 2 including an electric heater 7, a charging electrode 3,
It includes an electric field shutter 4, a back electrode 5, and a control unit 6.

Inside the print head 1, powder ink I
p is stored. Below the print head 1, a heating device 2 for heating the ink Ip is provided. In the upper half portion of the print head 1, as a charging electrode 4 for charging the heated and vaporized ink Ipg, 50 to 80 μm
Of fine wire electrodes. A discharge hole for discharging the vaporized ink Ipg is provided in the upper portion of the print head 1, and the electric field shutter 8 for controlling the protrusion amount of the vaporized ink Ipg so as to surround the periphery of the discharge hole.
Is provided. The electric field shutter 4 is the print head 1.
It is composed of two electrode plates so as to sandwich the upper wall. The control of the shutter operation of the electric field shutter 4 is performed by the control unit 6. The recording medium RM is disposed above the electric field shutter 4, and the back electrode 5 is provided above the recording medium RM.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.
A plurality of ejection holes corresponding to the pixels are provided, and the electric field shutter 4 is provided in each ejection hole. Recording density is 150 gp
In the case of i, the distance between the discharge holes is 169 μm, and the diameter of the discharge holes is 55 μm.

Next, the operation of the image recording apparatus configured as described above will be described. During printing, the heating device 2 heats and vaporizes the ink Ip. As a color material of ink, when using colored ink, in yellow,
Antrisothiazole type, quinophthalone type, pyrazolonazo type, pyridone azo type, styryl type, etc. are used, magenta uses anthraquinone type, dicyanoimidazole type, thiadiazole azo type, tricyanovinyl type etc., and cyan uses azo type, anthraquinone type A system, a naphthoquinone system, an indoaniline system, etc. can be used. The same applies to each of the following embodiments.

The ink Ip is vaporized to form a gas ink Ipg.
Then, by applying a voltage of +2 to 5 kV to the charging electrode 3, corona discharge occurs in the direction of the heating device 2 which is grounded, and the gaseous ink Ipg is charged with + ions. Next, by applying a voltage of −0.5 to −2 kV to the back electrode 5 arranged on the back surface of the printing surface of the recording medium RM, the charged gaseous ink Ipg is guided toward the recording medium RM. It Here, the electric field shutter 4 includes a control unit 6 that responds to an electric signal of image data to be recorded.
A voltage of 50 V to 1 kV is applied to each of the electrode on the recording medium RM side and the electrode on the inner side of the print head 1 in accordance with the output signal of. As a result, the gaseous ink Ipg is controlled so that it can pass through the electric field shutter 4 or be blocked from passing through. The gaseous ink Ipg that has passed through the electric field shutter 4 is guided to the back electrode 5 and adheres to the recording medium RM to perform printing. The electric field shutter 4
The voltage applied to the
The potential difference of the back electrode 5 is set to be large in consideration of not only the Coulomb force of g but also the pressure increase in the print head 1 due to the volume expansion of the ink Ip vaporized.

By the above operation, the ink Ip is vaporized,
The ink becomes gaseous ink Ipg, which is intermittently ejected from the electric field shutter 4 according to the electric signal in response to the image data to be recorded, and adheres or permeates the recording medium RAM to form a desired image. . Therefore, the ejection operation of the gaseous ink Ipg is controlled in the print head 1 in accordance with the image data, and the ink Ipg other than the required amount is not ejected, so that the printing can be efficiently performed and the running cost can be reduced. Can be reduced. Further, since the heating device 2, the charging electrode 3, and the electric field shutter 4 are integrally formed with the print head 1, the ink Ipg blocked by the electric field shutter 4 does not adhere to the inside of the electric field shutter 4. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of clogging, and further, a device for collecting and cleaning the adhered ink Ipg becomes unnecessary. Further, the print response speed can be improved by inductively controlling only the charged gaseous ink Ipg.

In the above embodiment, the ink Ip before heating is used.
However, liquid ink may be used. In this case, the transportability is excellent and the amount of energy required for vaporization can be small. Further, by charging the gas ink Ipg, the ink can be charged even with an insulating substance, and is not easily affected by the environment.

In the above embodiment, the gaseous ink Ipg is positively charged, but it may be negatively charged by applying a negative voltage to the charging electrode 3. In this case, since more harmful substances such as ozone are generated than positively charged,
It is necessary to take measures to prevent the generation of harmful substances.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the electric field shutter 4 is used for controlling the ejection amount of the gas ink Ipg, but an electromagnetic shutter may be used, or a physical opening / closing shutter using a piezoelectric element or the like. Other shutters may be used. The same applies to each of the following embodiments.

Next, an image recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image recording device of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the image recording apparatus includes a print head 1a, a heating device 2 including an electric plate 7, a charging electrode 3a,
It includes an electric field shutter 4a, a back electrode 5, and a control unit 6. Liquid ink Il is stored inside the print head 1a. Below the print head 1a, a heating device 2 including an electric heater 7 for heating the ink Il and a heat radiating plate is provided as in the above. On the lower side surface of the print head 1a, two charge injection electrodes provided so as to sandwich the stored ink Il are provided as charging electrodes 3a for charging the ink Il. An electric field shutter 4a is provided above the print head 1a. The control of the shutter operation of the electric field shutter 4a is controlled by the control unit 6. The recording medium RM is arranged above the electric field shutter 4a, and the back electrode 5 is provided on the upper surface thereof.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, a slit is formed in the upper portion of the print head 1a as a discharge hole for the vaporized ink Ilg. Electric field shutters 4a are provided on both sides of the long side of the slit. The length of the slit is set to a length corresponding to the print width, and when the recording density is 150 dpi, the width of the slit is set to 200 μm. One side of the electric field shutter 4a is grounded, and the other side thereof is provided with a plurality of comb-shaped electrodes 4b at 169 μm intervals corresponding to the recording density.

Next, the operation of the image recording apparatus configured as described above will be described. During printing, charging electrode 3a
By setting the potential difference between both ends of the ink to 2 to 5 kV, the electric charge is injected into the ink Il to be positively charged. Next, the charged ink Il is vaporized by the heating device 2, and when the charged ink is the ink Ilg, the charge of -1 kV is applied to the back electrode 5 arranged on the back surface of the printing surface of the recording medium RM. , The gaseous ink Ilg is guided toward the recording medium RM. Here, the electric field shutter 4a is
Usually, a voltage of 50 V to 1 kV is applied, the passage of the gas ink Ilg is blocked, and the electrodes corresponding to the respective pixels are output according to the output signal of the control unit 6 corresponding to the electric signal of the image data to be recorded. By controlling the potential of 4b, it is possible to control the gas ink Ilg to pass through. The gas ink Ilg that has passed through the electric field shutter 4a is guided to the back electrode 5 and is transferred to the recording medium R.
It adheres to M and is printed.

As described above, also in the second embodiment, the first
It is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the embodiment described above, and the ejection of the gaseous ink Ilg is performed according to the image data.
Since it can be controlled internally, it is possible to print efficiently without ejecting ink other than the required amount. In addition, since the heating device 2, the charging electrode 3a, and the electric field shutter 4a are integrally formed with the print head 1a, the ink blocked by the electric field shutter 4a does not adhere to the electric field shutter 4a, causing clogging. It can be reduced. Further, a device for collecting and cleaning the adhered ink is not required, and the device can be made smaller and lighter.

Further, in the second embodiment, the solid or liquid ink is charged and then heated to gas so that harmful substances such as ozone can be charged without generating harmful substances. Further, by forming the ejection hole of the ink Ilg as a slit, it is possible to prevent clogging and eliminate the need to provide an ejection hole for each pixel, thereby simplifying the structure of the print head 1a.

In the above embodiment, the ink I before heating is used.
Although 1 is a liquid, it is also possible to use a powder ink. In this case, friction charging or the like can be used other than the charging method by the charge injection described above, and leakage from the print head 1a is reduced. On the other hand, in the case of liquid,
As compared with powder, uneven charging is reduced, and efficient charging is possible.

Next, an image recording apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 5
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image recording device of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the image recording apparatus includes a first heating device 2 including a print head 1b and a first electric heater 7a.
a, a second heating device 2b including a second electric heater 7b, a charging electrode 3b, an electric field shutter 4a, a back electrode 5, and a controller 6a.

Inside the print head 1, powder ink I
p is stored. At the bottom of the print head 1b, the first
A heating device 2a and a second heating device 2b are provided respectively. The first heating device 2a is composed of an electric heater 7a for heating the ink Ip and a radiator plate, and the second heating device 2b is also the same. The first heating device 2a heats the ink Ip and causes the liquid ink Ipl to flow out along a slope having a predetermined inclination inside the print head 1b,
Flow out to the heating device 2b. The second heating device 2b heats the liquid ink Ipl to change it into a gas ink Ipg. Specifically, the powdery ink Ip is heated to 160 ° C. and liquefied by the first heating device 2 a. Liquid ink Ip
1 is accumulated in the lower part of the print head 1b and is heated to 210 ° C. by the second heating device 2b provided in the lower part to be vaporized.

The vaporized gaseous ink Ipg is discharged to the second heating device 2b, which is grounded, by applying a voltage of +2 to 5 kV to the charging electrode 3b composed of a needle electrode. The ink Ipg is charged with + ions. The charged gas ink Ipg is used as a recording medium RM.
-0.5 to-on the back electrode 5 arranged on the back side of the printing surface of
By applying a voltage of 2 kV, it is induced toward the recording medium RM.

On the other hand, the electric field shutter 4a is the second
Similar to the above embodiment, the slits provided on the upper portion of the print head 1b are arranged on both sides of the long side of the ejection hole. The length of this slit corresponds to the print width. When the recording density is 150 gpi, the width of the slit is 200 μm.
m. In addition, one side of the electric field shutter 4a is grounded, and the other side is provided with comb-teeth-shaped electrodes at intervals of 169 μm corresponding to the recording density. A voltage of 50 V to 1 kV is normally applied to the electric field shutter 4a, which blocks passage of the gas ink Ipg and responds to the output signal of the control unit 6a corresponding to the electric signal of the image data to be recorded. By controlling the potentials of the electrodes corresponding to the pixels, it is possible to control the gas ink Ipg to pass through. The gaseous ink Ipb that has passed through the electric field shutter 4a is guided to the back electrode 5 and adheres onto the recording medium RM to perform printing.

As described above, also in the third embodiment, since the ejection of the gaseous ink Ipg can be controlled in the print head 1b according to the image data, it is possible to efficiently eject the ink other than the required amount. It is possible to print. Further, by forming the ink discharge holes as slits, it is possible to prevent clogging and eliminate the need to provide discharge holes for each pixel, and the structure of the print head 1b can be simplified. Furthermore, by heating the ink in two stages,
It is possible to easily control the temperature of the ink, prevent the ink from being vaporized more than necessary, and minimize the volume expansion in the print head due to the vaporization of the ink. As a result, unnecessary outflow of ink from the ejection holes can be prevented, and printing can be performed more efficiently.

Although the ejection holes corresponding to each pixel are provided in the first embodiment, slit-shaped ejection holes may be used as in the second and third embodiments, or the ejection holes may be used.
You may make it provide the ejection hole corresponding to every pixel in 2nd and 3rd embodiment.

In each of the above embodiments, the recording medium RM
The temperature is not controlled, and printing is performed at a temperature close to room temperature. In this case, since the temperature difference between the recording medium RM and the vaporized ink Ipg is large, the vaporized ink Ipg may be liquefied or solidified before adhering to the recording medium RM, which may deteriorate the ink adhesion. There is. As a method of solving this problem, it is conceivable to raise the temperature of the vaporized ink, but if it is set too high, the physical properties of the ink are destroyed and the print quality is affected. Further, the print head is also overloaded, and there is a problem in durability and efficiency. Another problem is that some ink adheres only to the surface of the recording medium RM and does not soak into the recording medium RM, so that the fixability is poor, the print quality is affected, and the ink is stored. I have a problem above. In particular, when a sublimation dye is used as the ink, printing is performed by impregnating the sublimation dye on the receiving layer on the recording medium, so that the ink adhered to the recording medium as a liquid or solid should not be fixed. become.

The embodiments for solving the above problems will be described in more detail below. First, an image recording apparatus according to a fourth embodiment capable of improving the adhesion of ink to a recording medium will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image recording apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the image recording apparatus comprises a print head 1, a heating device 2 including an electric heater 7, a charging electrode 3,
The electrolytic shutter 4, the back electrode 5, the control unit 6, the preheating roller 8, and the elastic roller 9 are included.

The preheating roller 8 and the elastic roller 9 are opposed to each other and are arranged in front of the printing direction of the print head. The preheating roller 8 is formed by coating a fluorine-based resin on an aluminum tube, and a halogen lamp is inserted in the aluminum tube. The elastic roller 9 is made by rolling a silicon rubber on a mandrel made of metal.

Inside the print head 1, powder ink Ip
Is provided. At the bottom of the print head 1, ink I
A heating device 2 for heating p is provided. The upper half of the print head 1 is provided with a charging electrode 3 composed of a wire electrode of 50 to 80 μm as a charging mechanism for charging the heated and vaporized ink Ipg. A discharge hole for discharging the vaporized ink Ipg is provided above the print head 1, and an electric field shutter 4 for controlling the discharge amount of the vaporized ink Ipg is provided so as to surround the circumference of the discharge hole. There is. The electric field shutter 4 is composed of two electrode plates so as to sandwich the upper wall of the print head 1. The control of the shutter operation of the electric field shutter 4 is performed by the control unit 6. The recording medium RM is disposed above the electric field shutter 4, and the back electrode 5 is provided above the recording medium RM.

Next, the operation of the image recording apparatus configured as described above will be described. Before printing, the recording medium RM is placed between the preheating roller 8 and the elastic roller 9 at 300 gf / cm.
Passes while being pressed under the pressure of. The preheating roller 8 heats the recording medium RM to 120 to 180 ° C. by turning on / off the halogen lamp inside.

Next, at the time of printing, the heating device 2 heats the ink Ip to 150 to 200 ° C. and vaporizes it.
As a color material of the ink, when a colored ink is used, in yellow, an anthryothiazole-based, quinophthalone-based, pyrazolonazo-based, pyridoneazo-based, styryl-based, etc. is used, and in magenta, anthraquinone-based, dicyanoimidazole-based, thiadiazoleazo For example, cyan, azo, anthraquinone, naphthoquinone, indoaniline, etc. can be used.

The ink Ip is vaporized to form a gas ink Ipg.
Then, by applying a voltage of +2 to 5 kV to the charging electrode 3, corona discharge occurs in the direction of the heating device 2 which is grounded, and the gaseous ink Ipg is charged with + ions. Next, by applying a voltage of −0.5 to −2 kV to the back electrode 5 arranged on the back surface of the printing surface of the recording medium RM, the charged gaseous ink Ipg is guided toward the recording medium RM. It Here, the electric field shutter 4 includes a control unit 6 that responds to an electric signal of image data to be recorded.
A voltage of 50 V to 1 kV is applied to each of the electrode on the recording medium RM side and the electrode on the inner side of the print head 1 in accordance with the output signal of. As a result, the gaseous ink Ipg is controlled so that it can pass through the electric field shutter 4 or be blocked from passing through. The gaseous ink Ipg that has passed through the electric field shutter 4 is guided to the back electrode 5 and adheres to the preheated recording medium RM to perform printing.

Here, the preheating roller 8 is preferably arranged at a position close to the print head 1 so that printing can be performed before the preheating escapes. In that case, the heat of the preheating roller 8 is applied to the print head 1. It is necessary to consider the impact. Further, as a coat of the aluminum raw pipe of the preheating roller 8,
Although the fluorine-based resin is used, another substance may be coated as long as it is a heat-resistant resin such as silicon having a temperature of 300 ° C. or higher.

Next, among the above problems, an image recording apparatus of a fifth embodiment capable of improving the fixing property of ink will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image recording apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the image recording apparatus comprises a print head 1a, a heating device 2 including an electric heater 7, a charging electrode 3 and a charging device 3.
a, an electric field shutter 4a, a back electrode 5, a control unit 6, a fixing roller 10, and an elastic roller 11.

The fixing roller 10 and the elastic roller 11 are arranged so as to face each other, and are arranged rearward with respect to the printing direction of the print head. The fixing roller 10 is formed by coating a fluorine resin on an aluminum tube, and a halogen lamp is inserted in the aluminum tube. The elastic roller 11 is formed by rolling a silicon rubber on a mandrel made of metal.

Inside the print head 1a, the liquid ink I
l is provided. Below the print head 1, a heating device 2 including an electric heater 7 for heating the ink Il and a heat radiating plate is provided as in the above. On the lower side surface of the print head 1a, as a charging mechanism for charging the ink Il, a charging electrode 3a composed of two charge injection electrodes provided so as to sandwich the stored ink Il is provided. ing. A slit is formed in the upper portion of the print head 1a as a discharge hole for discharging the vaporized ink Ilg. Electric field shutters 4a are provided on both sides of the long side of the slit. The length of this slit is set to a length corresponding to the print width, and when the recording density is 150 gpi, the width of the slit is set to 200 μm. Electric field shutter 4a
One side is grounded, and the other side is provided with a plurality of comb-shaped electrodes 4b at intervals of 169 μm corresponding to the recording density as in FIG. The control of the shutter operation of the electric field shutter 4a is performed by the control unit 6. The recording medium RM is disposed above the electric field shutter 4a, and the power distribution electrode 5 is provided above the recording medium RM.

Next, the operation of the image recording apparatus configured as described above will be described. During printing, charging electrode 3a
By setting the potential difference between both ends of the ink to 2 to 5 kV, the electric charge is injected into the ink Il to be positively charged. Next, the ink Il charged by the heating device 2 is heated to 150 to 200 ° C.
Is heated to vaporize and becomes a charged gas ink Ilg, and a voltage of -1 kV is applied to the back electrode 5 arranged on the back surface of the printing surface of the recording medium RM to charge the charged gas ink. Ilg is guided toward the recording medium RM. Here, the electric field shutter 4a is usually 5
A voltage of 0 V to 1 kV is applied, and the gas ink I
The passage of lg is prevented, and the potential of the electrode 4b corresponding to each image is controlled according to the output signal of the control section 6 in response to the electric signal of the image data to be recorded, so that the gas ink Ilg is passed. Can be controlled as follows. The gaseous ink Ilg that has passed through the electric field shutter 4a is guided to the back electrode 5 and adheres onto the recording medium RM to perform printing.

After printing, the fixing roller 10 and the elastic roller 11
The recording medium RM passes between the recording medium and the recording medium under pressure with a pressure of 1.5 to 2 kgf / cm. The fixing roller 10 heats the recording medium RM to 150 to 200 ° C. by turning on / off the halogen lamp to fix the ink on the recording medium RM.

Next explained is an image recording apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the invention. The image recording apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as that of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 6, and a detailed description of the configuration is omitted.
Only the features of the sixth embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 6, similarly to the fourth embodiment, the preheating roller 8 and the elastic roller 9 are arranged so as to face each other, and are arranged in front of the printing direction of the print head. There is. In the preheating roller 8, an aluminum tube is coated with a fluorine-based resin, and a halogen lamp is inserted in the aluminum tube. Elastic roller 9
Is a silicon mandrel with silicon rubber rolled on it.

Before printing, the recording medium RM passes between the preheating roller 8 and the elastic roller 9 while being pressed against it at a pressure of 1.5 to 2 kgf / cm. The preheating roller 8 turns the recording medium RM to 120 by turning on / off the halogen lamp.
Heat to ~ 180 ° C. On the other hand, when printing, the heating device 2
The ink Ip is heated to 150 to 200 ° C. and vaporized. The ink Ip is vaporized to become a gas ink Ipg, and by applying a voltage of +2 to 5 kV to the charging electrode 5, corona discharge occurs in the direction of the heating device 2 which is grounded, and the gas ink Ipg is + ion. To be charged.

Next, by applying a voltage of -0.5 to -2 kV to the power distribution electrode 5 arranged on the back surface of the printing surface of the recording medium RM, the charged gaseous ink Ipg is directed toward the recording medium RM. Be guided to. Here, the electric field shutter 4
Is 50 V to 1 kV to the electrode on the recording medium RM side and the electrode on the inner side of the print head 1 according to the output signal of the control unit 6 in response to the electric signal of the image data to be recorded.
Voltage is applied. As a result, the gaseous ink Ipg is controlled so that it can pass through the electric field shutter 4 or be blocked from passing therethrough. The gaseous ink Ipg that has passed through the electric field shutter 4 is guided to the back electrode 5 and adheres to the preheated recording medium RM to perform printing.

After the first printing is completed on all of the recording media RM, the recording media RM is conveyed in the direction opposite to the printing direction, and the space between the preheating roller 8 and the elastic roller 9 is changed.
Is passed under pressure at a pressure of 1.5 to 2 kgf / cm. The preheating roller 8 heats the recording medium RM to 150 to 200 ° C. by turning on / off the halogen lamp to fix the ink on the recording medium RM.

Here, the heating temperature of the preheating roller 8 was changed between preheating and fixing, but the same temperature may be set if there is no problem in consideration of the heat resistance of the recording medium RM and ink. . At this time, the temperature control becomes easier.
Further, the pressures of the preheating roller 8 and the elastic roller 9 on the paper are set to be the same during preheating and fixing, but the pressure during preheating may be reduced by adding a pressure adjusting mechanism. In this case, it is possible to convey the recording medium RM with an appropriate pressure even during preheating, and it is possible to reduce the load on the conveying drive system of the recording medium RM. There is a problem that it becomes complicated.

Further, in the seventh embodiment, the fixing roller 10 used in the fifth embodiment is used as a preheating roller so that the fixing and preheating are performed in the same manner as in the sixth embodiment. Good. In this case, the recording medium is fed from the fixing roller side in the direction opposite to the printing direction, and is passed through the fixing roller and the elastic roller while being pressed against each other with an appropriate pressure to turn on / off the halogen lamp. The recording medium is heated to 120 to 180 ° C. When the paper feeding is completed, printing is performed by the print head while conveying the recording medium in the printing direction, and the fixing is performed by the fixing roller in the same manner as in the fifth embodiment. However, since printing is not performed immediately after preheating, the efficiency is low, and in particular, there may be variations in the temperature difference of the recording medium at the time of printing at the beginning and the end of printing.

In the sixth embodiment, the preheating roller 8 is also used.
Is used for both preheating and fixing, and the fixing roller 10 is used for both preheating and fixing in the seventh embodiment. However, in the eighth embodiment, a dedicated preheating roller and fixing roller are provided. Good. In this case, for example, in the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the fixing roller 10 and the elastic roller 11 are further added on the opposite side of the preheating roller 8, and in the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. A preheating roller 8 and an elastic roller 9 are further added on the opposite side of the roller 10. In this case, preheating and fixing can be performed using dedicated rollers, respectively, and preheating and fixing can be performed under optimum conditions, and printing with higher resolution and excellent density fixability can be performed. In addition, the ink can be fixed more stably, and the storage stability can be further improved.

Although the first to eighth embodiments have been described above, the respective embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and in that case, the effects of the respective embodiments can be similarly obtained. It is possible.

[0071]

According to the image recording method of the first aspect, the vaporized ink is intermittently ejected according to the image data corresponding to the image, and the vaporized ink is adhered or permeates onto the recording medium. Since it is recorded on the image recording medium, only the ink necessary for printing can be intermittently ejected and unnecessary ink is not used.
It is possible to effectively use the ink and reduce the running cost.

According to the image recording method of claim 2,
In addition to the effect of the image recording method according to the first aspect, by heating the ink after charging it, it is possible to charge the ink without generating harmful substances such as ozone.

According to the image recording method of claim 3,
In addition to the effect of the image recording method according to the second aspect, since the liquid ink is charged, the charging unevenness is small and the liquid ink can be charged efficiently.

According to the image recording method of claim 4,
In addition to the effect of the image recording method according to claim 1, since the ink is charged after being vaporized, it can be charged even if the ink is an insulating substance, and is less susceptible to the environment and the like. Become.

According to the image recording method of claim 5,
In addition to the effect of the image recording method according to the fourth aspect, since the liquid ink is heated, it is possible to reduce the amount of energy required for vaporization and to use the ink having excellent transportability.

In the image recording apparatus described in claim 6,
Since the heated ink is ejected intermittently according to the image data corresponding to the image, only the ink required for printing can be ejected, and the ink can be used effectively and the running cost can be reduced. It will be possible.

In the image storage device according to claim 7,
In addition to the effect of the image storage device according to claim 6, heating means,
Since the charging electrode part and the shutter part are integrated, it is possible to prevent ink blocked by the shutter part from adhering to the shutter part and causing clogging, and for collecting and cleaning the adhered ink. The device of is unnecessary. Therefore, the device can be further reduced in size and weight.

In the image recording apparatus described in claim 8,
In addition to the effect of the image recording apparatus according to claim 7, since the ink is ejected from the slit-shaped ejection holes, it is possible to prevent clogging of the ink, and it is not necessary to provide an ejection hole for each pixel. It is possible to simplify the structure of the image recording device.

In the image recording apparatus described in claim 9,
In addition to the effect of the image recording apparatus according to claim 6, since the ink is heated stepwise by the first and second heating means, temperature control of the ink is facilitated, and unnecessary vaporization of the ink is prevented, and It is possible to suppress the volume expansion in the print head due to the vaporization of the ink to a necessary minimum. As a result, it is possible to prevent unnecessary outflow of ink from the ejection holes, and it is possible to use the ink efficiently.

In the image recording apparatus according to the tenth aspect, in addition to the effect of the image recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect, it is possible to preheat the recording medium by the preheating means before the recording medium is conveyed to the ink ejection port. Therefore, the temperature difference between the recording medium and the vaporized ink can be reduced, and the ink can be attached to the recording medium in the vaporized state. Therefore, since the ink is recorded in the molecular state, it is possible to perform printing with high resolution and excellent density gradation, and it is possible to improve the fixability of the ink on the recording medium.

In the image recording apparatus according to the eleventh aspect, in addition to the effect of the image recording apparatus according to the sixth or tenth aspect, the recording medium is fixed by the fixing means after the ink adheres to the recording medium. In addition, the fixability of the ink on the recording medium can be improved, and the storage stability can be further improved.

In the image recording apparatus according to the twelfth aspect, in addition to the effect of the image recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect, since the preheating means and the fixing means are combined, the size of the apparatus can be reduced. Since the fixing can be performed using the temperature used for preheating, efficient heating can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image recording apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image recording device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image recording apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional image recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Print Head 2 Heating Device 3 Charging Electrode 4 Electric Field Shutter 5 Back Electrode 6 Control Section 7 Electric Heater

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Masaaki Ozaki 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Naganocho, Abeno-ku, Osaka Prefecture Osaka Prefecture (72) Masaya Nagata 22-22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka Prefecture Osaka Prefecture

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An image recording method for recording a predetermined image on a recording medium using ink, wherein the vaporized ink is intermittently ejected in accordance with image data corresponding to the image. An image recording method comprising: a step; and a second step of recording the image on the recording medium by adhering or permeating the vaporized ink onto the recording medium. 2. The first step comprises a third step of charging the ink, a fourth step of heating the charged ink to vaporize the ink, and a back electrode disposed on the back surface of the recording medium. The image recording method according to claim 1, further comprising: a fifth step of discharging the vaporized ink by using the fifth step. 3. The third step includes a sixth step of charging a liquid ink.
Image recording method described. 4. The first step comprises: a third step of vaporizing the ink by heating the ink; a fourth step of charging the vaporized ink; and a back electrode disposed on the back surface of the recording medium. The image recording method according to claim 1, further comprising: a fifth step of ejecting the charged ink by using. 5. The image recording method according to claim 4, wherein the third step includes a sixth step of vaporizing the liquid ink by heating. 6. An image recording apparatus for recording a predetermined image on a recording medium using ink, comprising: heating means for vaporizing the ink by heating the ink; and the vaporized ink ejected onto the recording medium. An image recording apparatus including: a discharging unit configured to discharge the heated ink and a control unit configured to control the vaporized ink so that the heated ink is discharged intermittently according to image data corresponding to the image. 7. The discharging means is a charging electrode section for charging the ink, and a back electrode section arranged on the back surface of the recording medium for guiding the ink charged by the charging electrode section onto the recording medium. And a control unit that controls the operation of the shutter unit in accordance with the image data, and the heating unit, The image recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the charging electrode portion and the shutter portion are integrally formed. 8. The shutter portion has slit-shaped ejection holes for ejecting the ink, and a width corresponding to a recording pixel of the image, and is arranged at both ends of a long side of the ejection hole. The image recording device according to claim 7, comprising a plurality of electrodes. 9. The heating means includes first heating means for preheating the ink, and second heating means for further heating the ink heated by the first heating means to vaporize the ink. Item 6. The image recording device according to item 6. 10. The image recording apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a preheating unit that preheats the recording medium before the ejection unit ejects the vaporized ink onto the recording medium. 11. The image recording apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising fixing means for fixing the ink on the recording medium after discharging the vaporized ink onto the recording medium by the discharging means. 12. A preheating unit for preheating the recording medium before the ejection unit ejects the vaporized ink onto the recording medium, and the ejection unit ejects the vaporized ink onto the recording medium. The fixing means for fixing the ink on the recording medium later is further included, and the preheating means and the fixing means are constituted by one device, and the preheating means and the fixing means are combined. Image recording device.