JPH0850431A - Recovering device for copying form - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable copying again to obtain a sharp image on a recovered form by heating the toner on the form after copying to the temp. to cause brittle fracture of the toner, irradiating the form with specified laser light, and removing the scattered toner with assist gas. CONSTITUTION:A used copy paper 1 is sent to a heating roller 9 and heated to the temp. to cause brittle fracture of the toner (>=80 deg.C). During heating, the copy paper 1 is irradiated with high-peak short-pulse laser light with <=100mus pulse width and >=10<6>W/cm<2> peak power density from a laser generator through a lens system 4. Thus, removal of the toner by microablation is possible so that the toner on the copy form can be removed by optical shock effect without damaging the surface layer of the paper. The toner is blown off by assist gas 5 and the paper is outputted as a recovered paper 6 which can be again used for copying by a paper feeding part 2. By this method, paper sheets used for copying can be fast recovered in an office and can be used again for sharp copying.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a copy paper recycling apparatus, and more particularly to a copy paper recycling apparatus using laser light irradiation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional copy paper recycling technique will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 shows a recycling flow for producing conventional recycled paper. The current recording system of a copying machine is mainly a dry electrophotographic system, and characters and images are formed by colored resin powder called toner. In the normal paper recycling process, it is very difficult to remove this toner and it is very difficult to obtain high quality recycled paper.Therefore, when recycling copied paper, collect it separately from general printed paper. After that, it was usual to send it to the recycling process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a recycling process of an apparatus for thermochemically peeling and removing a toner image using a peeling liquid. Toner removal in this device is accomplished by reversing the dry electrophotographic thermal fixing process.
First, a peeling liquid (organic solvent) is attached to the printed document to reduce the adhesive strength between the toner and the paper. Next, the toner on the paper is melted by heating and pressure is applied to transfer only the melted toner to the release material. Finally, the toner transferred to the release material is cleaned, and the paper from which the toner has been separated and removed is output.

FIG. 8 is an illustrative view of an embodiment in which copy paper is regenerated by laser light irradiation. The laser oscillator 3 is an 80 W CO ₂ laser oscillator, and the pulse width and the number of pulses of the laser are changed by feeding back the light reflectance of the paper surface after laser irradiation to the laser oscillator.
The laser light emitted from the laser oscillator 3 is collected by the lens system 4 and scanned. Copy paper is a paper feeding means 2
To move in the direction of the arrow. The laser beam that hits the paper surface evaporates the toner such as the characters and graphics written on the paper surface to erase the characters and graphics. At this time, the surface layer of the paper is also volatilized. By moving the paper by the paper feeding means and scanning the laser on the paper surface by the laser scanning means, all or part of the character graphic drawn on the paper surface is irradiated with the laser to be erased by volatilization. it can.

[0005]

In recent years, the consumption of paper in offices has been increasing year by year, and it is an urgent task to reuse copy paper from the standpoint of protecting the global environment including forest protection. There is a situation. However, when manufacturing recycled paper, it is necessary to separately collect copy paper and transport it to a recycling factory, which requires a special recycling process. Furthermore, in offices, shredders are often used for confidentiality, and there are problems such as labor and noise, bulky waste, and paper fibers are cut, making recycling very difficult. Was becoming.

Further, the apparatus using the stripping solution has a slow recycling rate of about 3 sheets per minute (A4 size), and it is necessary to use an organic solvent as the stripping solution. Further, in the device using the laser oscillator, the pulse power output from the continuous oscillation type laser oscillator as in the conventional technique has too small a peak power to perform the optical shock effect or the micro-removal processing, so that the toner is completely removed. If it is tried to remove it, the surface layer of the paper will be damaged, the paper surface will not be smooth, and if copying again, there is a problem that a clear copy cannot be made.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and its purpose is to irradiate a laser beam capable of reproducing a copied sheet at a high speed and making a clear copy again. It is to provide a copy sheet reproducing device using the.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a copy sheet reproducing apparatus for removing toner on a copied sheet and reproducing it as a copy sheet, which can heat the toner on the copied sheet to a temperature at which brittle fracture is possible. And a pulse width of 100 when the toner is brittle and breakable.
a laser beam irradiating means for irradiating a laser beam with a power density of at least 10 ⁶ W / cm ² or more for μs or less, and an assist gas supplying means for removing the toner scattered by the laser beam irradiation with an assist gas. Characterized by

[0009]

With the above construction, the toner of the copied paper is heated to a temperature at which it brittlely destroys, and then a predetermined laser beam of high pulse or short pulse is irradiated to blow off the toner scattered by the assist gas. This enables high-speed reproduction of copied paper.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment using a TEA-CO ₂ laser in a laser paper recycling apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of a laser paper recycling apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The used copy 1 is sent to the heating roller 9 through the paper feed drive unit 2 and heated to a temperature at which the toner is brittle and destroyed at 80 ° C. or higher, and the laser light of a predetermined energy output from the laser oscillator 3 at this heating time is emitted. The lens system 4 converts the size to a predetermined power density and irradiates the copy paper. At this time, the laser light has a pulse width of 100 microseconds or less and a peak power density of at least 10 ⁶ as shown in the hatched area in FIG.
Since it has a high peak / short pulse light of W / cm ² or more, micro-removal processing is possible, and the toner on the copy paper does not damage the surface layer of the paper more than the evaporation processing process.
It is removed by the light shock effect due to the absorption of laser light. At this time, the toner is blown off by the assist gas 5, and is output as recycled paper 6 that can be copied again by the paper feed drive unit 2.

As a laser for the light source, TEA-CO ₂
Although a laser has been described as an example, the same effect can be obtained as long as it is a laser that produces a light shock effect for removing toner, such as an excimer laser or a YAG laser.

This apparatus can increase the copy paper reproduction processing speed by increasing the repetition operating frequency of the pulse laser, and can provide a high-speed paper reproduction apparatus. Further, by recycling recycled paper as copy paper, it contributes to forest protection, and since no harmful substances such as organic solvents are used, it is possible to realize a paper recycling apparatus that is friendly to the global environment. Furthermore, if the paper recycling process is performed at night, it can contribute to the effective use of nighttime power.

Another embodiment of the laser paper recycling apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that members having the same functions as those in the representative embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 3 shows the overall configuration of a laser paper recycling apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, after the toner is removed by laser irradiation, in order to make the copy paper surface sufficiently smooth, the post-processing mechanism 8 absorbs moisture, the heating roller 9 dries the surface of the paper and straightens the paper surface again. It is output as recycled paper 6 that can be copied.

By adding the post-processing mechanism 8 as in the present embodiment, the recycled paper which always achieves a sharp copy when re-copying is more stable than in the above-described embodiment, regardless of the density of the used copy. Can be supplied to.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment in which a pretreatment mechanism 7 for absorbing moisture before laser irradiation is added to the structure shown in FIG. According to the configuration of this embodiment, the used copy 1
The paper recycling process can be performed smoothly even when there are folds or wrinkles.

In FIG. 5, since the laser light output from the laser oscillator 3 is predesigned so as to have an appropriate power density at the laser irradiation position, a lens system is not required in the transmission optical system according to the fourth embodiment. An example is shown. Further, unlike the conventional example, it is not necessary to feed back the reflectance of the paper surface after the laser irradiation to the laser oscillator. The paper recycling process is the same as in the above-described embodiment.

By combining the above-mentioned laser paper reproducing apparatus with a copying machine (copying machine), it is possible to provide a universal copying machine having both functions of copying and copying paper reproduction.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, used copy paper can be reproduced at high speed in the office to make clear copies again, and copy paper reproduction that contributes to global environmental protection such as forest protection. A device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a copy sheet reproducing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] Relationship between irradiation laser light characteristics and reproduction processing

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of a copy sheet reproducing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram of a copy sheet reproducing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of a copy sheet reproducing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 6] Recycle flow diagram for conventional recycled paper production

FIG. 7 is an exemplary illustration of a process of peeling and removing a toner image thermochemically.

FIG. 8 is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional copy paper recycling apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Used copy paper 6 ... Recycled paper 2 ... Paper feed drive unit 7 ... Pretreatment mechanism 3 ... Laser oscillator 8 ... Posttreatment mechanism 4 ... Lens system 9 ... Heating roller 5 ... Assist gas

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A copy sheet reproducing apparatus that removes toner on copied sheets and reproduces them as copy sheets, and a heating unit capable of heating the toner on the copied sheets to a temperature at which brittle fracture is possible. Laser light irradiation means for irradiating a laser beam with a pulse width of 100 μs or less and a power density of at least 10 ⁶ W / cm ² or more in a brittle breakable heating state, and the toner scattered by the laser beam irradiation is removed by an assist gas. An apparatus for supplying copy gas, comprising: 2. The copy sheet reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for absorbing moisture to the copy-reproduced sheet from which the toner has been removed by irradiating the laser beam, and then heating and drying the sheet and smoothing the sheet surface. . 3. The copy sheet reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for absorbing the water content of the copied sheet before irradiating the copied sheet with the laser beam and then smoothing the surface of the sheet.