JPH08310038A - Toner flying type recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a toner flying type recorder capable of realizing a high speed driving by enhancing responsiveness of toner with respect to an electric field and reducing the size thereof. CONSTITUTION: The title device comprises a suction electrode 1 to which a prescribed level of voltage is applied and a head body 2 opposing to the suction electrode 1. A cylindrical toner holding section 3 that temporally holds the toner T is provided to head body 2 in opposition to the suction electrode 1. A toner ejection hole 4 is provided to the toner holding section 3 in the side of the suction electrode 1 and a control electrode 5 and a reference electrode 6 for controlling the toner ejection are provided to the toner ejection hole 4. The device further comprises a voltage drive section 7 that applies a prescribed level of control voltage to the control electrode 5 for the toner ejection in accordance with an external signal S. A vibrating means 8 such as a piezoelectric element that is driven by the voltage drive section 7 to vibrate the toner T held by the toner holding section 3 is juxtaposed with the toner holding section 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner flying type recording apparatus, and more particularly to a toner flying type recording apparatus for forming an image by causing toner to fly to a recording medium by the action of an electric field.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electrode having an aperture (toner ejection port) through which toner can pass is provided, and a voltage corresponding to an image signal is applied to the electrode to control passage of the toner through the aperture. A so-called toner jet recording technique of a combined electric field type in which toner is blown onto a recording medium by applying a flying electric field to the recording medium is a well-known technique. In a recording apparatus using this type of technology, how to supply powdered toner to an aperture by an action of an electric field and to discharge the toner has been a major research theme.

For example, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-10906, a brush roller having a brush-like member on its surface is provided for abutting the brush roller in order to supply toner to the vicinity of the aperture. A toner supply unit including a toner releasing member is provided.

In this proposal, when the brush roller rotates, the toner attached to the brush is carried to the toner releasing member. Then, when the brush comes into contact with the toner releasing member, it is bent by elastic deformation, and then the brush is released from the toner releasing member by further rotation, and the toner is released from the repelled brush and supplied to the aperture. Was becoming.

Further, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-131255, two brush rollers described above are arranged in contact with each other, and each of them is rotated to a corresponding side, so that the toner is applied between the brush rollers. And hold it
The toner is supplied from one side of the brush facing surface to the other aperture side.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the toner cannot follow the change of the flying electric field at the time of image formation, and the toner flying becomes unstable, which results in high-resolution image formation. I can't do it again,
There is an inconvenience that high-speed image formation cannot be performed.

Further, among the above-mentioned inventions made in order to improve this inconvenience, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-10906 has a disadvantage that the device is enlarged because a brush is used. Further, since the adhesive force between the brush portion and the toner is large and the contact area between the brush roller and the toner detaching member cannot be increased, the amount of toner detached from the brush is small, which is an inconvenience that sufficient toner cannot be conveyed. was there. Even if the contact area between the toner releasing member and the brush roller is increased, the toner releasing member is deformed, which is a contradiction. On the other hand, JP-A-4-131
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 255 uses two brush rollers, so that there is a problem that the device is upsized as in the above-mentioned reference.

[0008]

An object of the present invention is to improve the disadvantages of the conventional example, and in particular, to realize high speed driving by improving the response of the toner to an electric field, and at the same time, the toner flying type recording in which the apparatus is downsized. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a suction electrode set to a predetermined potential, and a head body facing the suction electrode via a recording medium. A cylindrical toner holding portion for temporarily holding toner charged with a polarity opposite to that of the electrode is arranged facing the suction electrode, and a toner discharge port is provided on the suction electrode side of the toner holding portion. A control electrode for controlling toner ejection and a reference electrode are provided at the ejection port, and a voltage driving unit for applying a predetermined control voltage to the control electrode for toner ejection based on an external signal is provided. The toner holding unit is provided with a vibrating unit such as a piezoelectric element that is driven by the voltage driving unit and vibrates the toner held in the toner holding unit.

According to the second aspect of the invention, a voltage having the same polarity as the toner held in the toner holding section driven by the voltage driving section is applied to the end of the cylindrical toner holding section on the toner supply side. The auxiliary electrode is provided.

According to a third aspect of the invention, the voltage driving section comprises:
The configuration has a frequency variable function of changing the frequency of the voltage applied to the vibrating means according to an external signal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the voltage driving unit comprises:
The control voltage variable function is used to change the magnitude of the voltage applied to the control electrode according to an external signal.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the voltage driving section comprises:
The auxiliary voltage variable function is provided to change the magnitude of the voltage applied to the auxiliary electrode according to an external signal. These are intended to achieve the above-mentioned object.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the apparatus is set to the operating state, the voltage driving section vibrates, for example, the piezoelectric element as the vibrating means, and the vibration causes the toner accumulated in the toner storing section to be accumulated. Soar to the internal space of the toner holder. In this state, when a voltage for toner ejection is applied to the control electrode, an electric field acts on the charged toner that has risen in the space and has reduced friction, and toner is ejected (flying) from the toner ejection port to the suction electrode. Be seen.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the toner is ejected, a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied to the auxiliary electrode, and a stronger electric field acts on the toner soaring in the space as compared with the electric field generated only by the control electrode. .

According to the third aspect of the invention, the vibration frequency of the vibrating means is changed in accordance with a signal (print data or the like) externally input to the voltage drive section, whereby the degree of the toner soaring into the space is changed. It

According to the invention of claim 4 or 5, the magnitude of the voltage applied to the control electrode or the auxiliary electrode is changed according to the signal externally input to the voltage driving unit, whereby the electric field acting on the toner is changed. Strength is changed.

[0018]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, the head main body 2 is arranged so as to face the suction electrode 1 which is set to a predetermined potential by the voltage source 16 with the recording paper P interposed therebetween. The head main body 2 is provided with a cylindrical toner holding portion 3 for accommodating the toner T charged with a polarity opposite to that of the suction electrode 1 so as to face the suction electrode 1. The suction electrode 1 of the toner holding unit 3
On the side, a toner ejection port 4 for ejecting the toner T held in the toner holding portion 3 toward the suction electrode 1 is provided. A control electrode 5 and a reference electrode 6 for controlling toner discharge are arranged in the toner discharge port 4. Further, the control electrode 5 is connected to a voltage driver 7 that applies a predetermined control voltage to the control electrode 5 based on an external signal.

In addition, the toner holding unit 3 includes a voltage driving unit 7
A vibrating means 8 for driving the toner held in the toner holding portion 3 by the vibrating means is also provided.

More specifically, in the present embodiment, the suction electrode 1 has a cylindrical drum shape and is rotatably provided along the conveying direction of the recording paper P. The suction electrode 1 is set to a predetermined positive potential by the voltage source 16.

The head body 2 is made of a resin material such as a molding material, and is processed by an excimer laser, a carbon dioxide gas laser, a sandblast method, or the like,
A nozzle-shaped toner holding portion 3 is formed. As described above, the toner holding portion 3 cannot hold a large amount of toner T because it has a nozzle-like small diameter, and therefore the toner T is appropriately supplied from the supply path on the terminal side (right side in the drawing). It has become. A part of the wall surface of the toner holding portion 3 is formed by adhering an easily deformable dry film 17, and a piezoelectric element 8 as a vibrating means 8 is attached to the dry film 17 by adhesion. The piezoelectric element 8 generates mechanical vibration when an electric signal is applied. Here, a diaphragm may be used instead of the dry film.

A toner discharge port (aperture) 4 is formed at the tip (on the left side in FIG. 1) of the toner holding portion 3 thus formed.
Are formed. For formation, holes are provided in the TAB carrier tape 9 which is usually used for mounting semiconductors, and the TAB carrier tape 9 is bonded with an adhesive or the like through a thin resin film 10 so that the toner holding portion 3 and the toner holding portion 3 are aligned. At this time, the doughnut-shaped control electrode 5 corresponding to the toner ejection port 4 is provided on the surface of the TAB carrier tape 4, and the donut-shaped reference electrode 6 is also provided on the back surface. The reference electrode 6 is grounded. Here, a plurality of nozzle-shaped toner holding portions 3 having the same structure may be formed in the head main body 2.

The voltage driving unit 7 sets the control electrode 5 to a positive potential when the toner T is ejected, and the pulse generator 1 according to an external signal S such as a print data signal.
Control means 25 for controlling the driving of the piezoelectric element 8 and the driving of the piezoelectric element 8
It has and. Here, the pulse generator 13 is composed of, for example, a one-shot multivibrator. In the present embodiment, the voltage driver 7 has a frequency variable function of changing the frequency of the voltage applied to the vibrating means (piezoelectric element) 8 according to the external signal S, and the magnitude of the voltage to be applied to the control electrode 5. It has a control voltage variable function that changes according to the external signal S. Each of these functions is realized as a function of the control means 25 including a microcomputer. Here, the control means 25 may have a function of turning on / off the drive voltage to the piezoelectric element 8 according to the external signal S.

The recording paper P is attracted to the suction electrode 1 by a transport roller 18 and a transfer roller 19 which also serves as a paper feed roller.
It is conveyed in the direction of the arrow with the rotation of. Here, the toner used in this embodiment is negatively charged.

Next, the overall operation of this embodiment will be described.

When the entire apparatus is set in the operating state, a predetermined positive voltage is applied to the suction electrode 1 and a positive charge due to dielectric polarization appears on the head side surface of the recording paper P. In addition, the recording paper P is conveyed at a predetermined speed and is in a printable state. And
When the external signal S is input to the control means 15, the control means 1
Reference numeral 5 determines the magnitude of the voltage to be applied to the control electrode 5 and the frequency of the voltage to be applied to the piezoelectric element 8, and first drives the piezoelectric element 8. As a result, the piezoelectric element 8 vibrates at a predetermined frequency, and this vibration causes the toner T in the toner holding portion 3 to move.
Is transmitted to Due to the energy of this vibration, the toner T accumulated until then rises up in the toner holding unit 3.

Subsequently, the control means 1 which interprets the external signal S
When 5 outputs a command to the pulse generator 13 for ejecting toner, a positive voltage is applied to the control electrode 5, whereby an electric field due to the action of the suction electrode 1 and an electric field due to the action of the control electrode 5 are formed. Due to the action of these electric fields, the toner T that has risen up in the toner holding portion 3 and whose friction has been reduced easily passes through the toner ejection port 4 and flies toward the suction electrode 1. Then, the predetermined amount of toner T that has flown is attracted to the dielectrically polarized recording paper P and adheres to the recording paper P. A voltage is intermittently applied to the control electrode 5 according to the external signal S, whereby an image is formed on the surface of the recording paper P.

Here, when the frequency of the voltage applied to the piezoelectric element 8 is changed, the frequency of the piezoelectric element 8 is changed, and the rising degree of the toner T held in the toner holding portion 3 is changed. As a result, the discharge amount of the toner T per unit time is increased / decreased, so that the image formed on the recording paper P is expressed as a shade. On the other hand, when the voltage applied to the control electrode 5 is changed, the strength of the toner flying electric field is changed. Therefore, the ejection force of the toner T and the ejection amount per time are changed, and as a result, the density and resolution of the image formed on the recording paper P are adjusted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the toner in the toner holding portion is preliminarily raised by the vibrating means, the toner whose friction is greatly reduced is supplied to the toner discharge port (aperture) and recorded. The flight to the paper can be made to quickly follow the changes in the electric field, which is why
High-speed image formation can be performed. In addition, since it can be configured without using a brush or the like as in the conventional example, the size of the device can be reduced.

Further, since the voltage driving section has a frequency variable function for changing the frequency of the voltage applied to the vibrating means in accordance with the external signal, it is possible to adjust the rising condition of the toner held in the toner holding section. As a result, the discharge amount (flying amount) of toner per unit time can be adjusted, and the toner image formed on the surface of the recording paper can be expressed as a shade.

Further, since the voltage driver has a control voltage changing function for changing the magnitude of the voltage applied to the control electrode according to the external signal according to the external signal, the voltage driving unit is for toner flying formed by the control electrode. It is possible to adjust the strength of the electric field of the toner, thereby adjusting the ejection force (ejection speed) of the toner and the toner ejection amount per time, and adjusting the resolution and shading of the image formed on the recording paper. can do.

Here, the frequency variable function and the control voltage variable function of the voltage driver may be provided as needed.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is the same as the first embodiment except that the toner T held by the voltage driving unit 3 is held at the toner supply side end of the toner holding unit 3 and held by the toner holding unit 3. Auxiliary electrode 12 to which a voltage having the same polarity as that of
It is provided with. Further, the voltage driver 27 has an auxiliary voltage varying function of changing the magnitude of the voltage applied to the auxiliary electrode 12 according to the external signal S. Here, reference numeral 14 indicates a pulse generator that applies a voltage to the auxiliary electrode 12. The other structure is the same as that of the above-described embodiment. In this embodiment, a voltage is applied to the auxiliary electrode 12 at the same time as the control electrode 5.

According to this, when the toner is ejected, the control electrode 5 is set to a positive potential and one auxiliary electrode 12 is set to a negative potential, so that a consistent electric field is generated between the auxiliary electrode 12 and the control electrode 5. Is formed, and the entire toner in the toner holding unit 3 is pushed out in the ejection direction. Therefore, the entire toner T of the toner holding unit 3 is supplied near the toner ejection port (aperture).

Here, when the voltage applied to the auxiliary electrode 12 is changed, the strength of the electric field formed between the auxiliary electrode 12 and the control electrode 5 is changed, and the supply amount of the toner T to the vicinity of the toner discharge port and The toner ejection force or the like is changed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the first
In addition to the effects and advantages similar to those of the embodiment described above, an auxiliary electrode to which a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied is provided at the end on the toner supply side. This makes it possible to easily supply the toner, thereby suppressing the unevenness of the toner discharge amount and improving the toner discharge force. Therefore, the resolution of the toner image formed on the recording paper is improved and stable image formation is achieved. It can be performed. Further, the control means of the voltage driver has a function of changing the voltage applied to the auxiliary electrode according to an external signal, so that a change in resolution or the like can be incorporated into the image expression as necessary.

Here, the potential of the auxiliary electrode 12 may be set to a lower potential than the reference electrode 6 when the toner is flying, and may be set to a high potential otherwise. In such a case, a follow-up electric field (electric field due to the auxiliary electrode 12) that allows the toner T to easily respond to the toner flying electric field can be generated.

[0040]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, according to the present invention, the toner in the toner holding portion is preliminarily raised by the vibrating means, so that the toner discharge of the toner whose friction is greatly reduced is achieved. The supply to the outlet (aperture) and the flight to the recording paper can be performed by quickly following the change in the electric field, which allows high-speed image formation. In addition, since it can be configured without using a brush or the like as in the conventional example, the size of the device can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the auxiliary electrode to which the voltage having the polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied is provided at the end of the toner supply side of the toner holding part, the entire toner in the toner holding part is located on the toner ejection port side. Can be easily supplied by
As a result, it is possible to suppress the unevenness of the toner ejection amount and improve the ejection force of the toner. Therefore, the resolution of the toner image formed on the recording paper can be improved and stable image formation can be performed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the voltage driver is
Since it has a frequency variable function that changes the frequency of the voltage applied to the vibrating means in accordance with an external signal, it is possible to adjust the rising degree of the toner held in the toner holding portion, which allows the toner per unit time to be adjusted. It is possible to adjust the ejection amount (flying amount) of the toner image, and it is possible to express light and shade on the toner image formed on the recording paper surface.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the voltage driving section is
Since it has a control voltage variable function that changes the magnitude of the voltage applied to the control electrode according to the external signal according to the external signal, it is possible to adjust the strength of the electric field for toner flight formed by the control electrode. Therefore, the ejection force (ejection speed) of the toner and the toner ejection amount per time can be adjusted, and the resolution and shading of the image formed on the recording paper can be adjusted.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the voltage driving section comprises:
Since the auxiliary voltage variable function that changes the voltage applied to the auxiliary electrode according to the external signal is provided, it is possible to change the strength of the following electric field, and incorporate changes in resolution etc. into the image expression as necessary. It is possible to provide an excellent toner flying type recording apparatus which is not possible in the past.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view with a part omitted, showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially omitted vertical sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Suction Electrode 2 Head Body 3 Toner Holding Section 4 Toner Discharge Port (Aperture) 5 Control Electrode 6 Reference Electrode 7 Voltage Driving Section 8 Vibrating Means 12 Auxiliary Electrode

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A toner having a suction electrode set to a predetermined potential and a head main body facing the suction electrode via a recording medium, the toner being charged to the head main body in a polarity opposite to that of the suction electrode. A cylindrical toner holding portion for temporarily holding the toner is disposed so as to face the suction electrode, a toner discharge port is provided on the side of the suction electrode of the toner holding unit, and the toner discharge port is provided for controlling toner discharge. A toner flying type recording apparatus, comprising: a control electrode and a reference electrode; and a voltage drive unit for applying a predetermined control voltage to the toner discharge control electrode based on an external signal. A toner flying type recording apparatus characterized in that a vibration means such as a piezoelectric element for vibrating the toner held in the toner holding section driven by the voltage driving section is additionally provided. 2. An auxiliary electrode to which a voltage having the same polarity as that of the toner held in the toner holding section driven by the voltage driving section is applied to an end portion of the cylindrical toner holding section on the toner supply side. The flying toner recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The toner flying type recording according to claim 1, wherein the voltage driving unit has a frequency variable function for changing the frequency of the voltage applied to the vibrating unit according to an external signal. apparatus. 4. The voltage driving unit according to claim 1, further comprising a control voltage changing function for changing a magnitude of a voltage applied to the control electrode according to an external signal. Toner flying recording device. 5. The toner flying type recording according to claim 2, wherein the voltage driving unit has an auxiliary voltage variable function of changing the magnitude of the voltage applied to the auxiliary electrode according to an external signal. apparatus.