JPH09314891A - Manufacture of electrode body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording electrode body excelling in recording characteristics. SOLUTION: An antistatic liquid coat 32 is injected and filled into the inside of an aperture 6. However, a majority of the antistatic liquid coat 32 injected into the inside of the aperture 6 and passing through the wall surface of the aperture is absorbed by an absorption sheet 30. The wall surface of the aperture through which the antistatic liquid coat 32 has passed is covered with the antistatic liquid coat 32 and forms an antistatic coat layer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an electrode body used in an image forming apparatus which can be used in a copying machine, a printer, a plotter, a facsimile and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as one of image forming apparatuses, an electrode having a plurality of openings (hereinafter referred to as apertures) is used, and a voltage is applied to the electrode based on image data. Controlling toner particles so that they can pass through the aperture and forming an image on a support by the toner particles that have passed is disclosed in the specification and drawings of US Pat. No. 3,689,935.

This image forming apparatus comprises a flat plate made of an insulating material, a continuous reference electrode formed on one surface of the flat plate, and a plurality of control electrodes insulated from each other formed on the other surface. , An aperture electrode body having at least one row of apertures formed through each of the control electrodes, and a means for selectively applying a potential between the reference electrode and the control electrode. A means for supplying charged toner particles so that the flow of toner particles passing through the aperture is modulated by an electric potential, and a means for positioning the support in the particle flow path so that the support and the aperture electrode body can move relative to each other. It consists of and.

Further, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-79907 discloses an image forming apparatus in which a control electrode is provided on the support side of an aperture electrode body and the aperture electrode body is arranged so as to be in contact with a toner supply roller. It is disclosed.

The aperture electrode body as described above is manufactured in the order shown below.

First, a pattern of a control electrode is formed by patterning a copper film on an insulating sheet of polyimide or the like.

Next, a hole is formed in the aperture penetrating the insulating sheet by an excimer laser. Since the drilling process using the excimer laser has an advantage that an extremely clean hole can be formed because the ablation is used, carbon generated by the ablation by the excimer laser adheres to the upper part of the aperture and the wall surface.

Next, the carbon adhering to the upper part of the aperture and the wall surface is removed by ultrasonic cleaning or plasma etching.

Further, an antistatic coating layer is provided on the wall surface of the aperture by injecting an antistatic coating liquid in which carbon is dispersed in polyimide ink into the aperture. The antistatic coating layer is provided for the purpose of preventing the toner from being subjected to static electricity when the image forming apparatus is mounted and being attached to the aperture wall surface due to electrostatic charging of the aperture wall surface.

[0010]

However, when the antistatic coating liquid is injected into the aperture in the step of providing the antistatic coating layer on the aperture wall surface, which is the final step shown in the above-mentioned prior art, when the antistatic coating liquid is injected into the aperture wall, not to mention the aperture wall surface. There is a problem that the coating liquid is filled inside the aperture to block the aperture.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a method of manufacturing an electrode body in which a coat layer can be formed on the wall surface of a hole so as not to block the hole. It is an object.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the method for manufacturing an electrode body according to claim 1 of the present invention, in the first step, a hole is formed in the insulating substrate on which the conductive wire portion is arranged. In the second step, the coating liquid is injected into the formed hole to form a coating layer on the wall surface of the hole and absorb the excess coating liquid from the hole.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the second step, in the second step, the coating liquid absorbing means is arranged on one surface side of the insulating substrate so as to correspond to the holes and the other surface of the insulating substrate is arranged. Apply the coating solution from the side.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. A cylindrical rear electrode roller having a gap of 1 mm above an aperture electrode body 1 as an electrode body. A chassis 22 (not shown) is rotatably arranged so as to be able to convey the support 20 inserted into the gap. In addition, below the aperture electrode body 1, along the longitudinal direction of the aperture electrode body 1,
A toner supply device 10 is provided, and further, a fixing device 26 is provided at the destination of the support 20 conveyed by the back electrode roller 22.

Next, the respective constituent elements will be described in detail. In the toner supply device 10, the toner case 11 also serving as the housing of the entire device, the toner 16 accommodated in the toner case 11, and the supply roller 12 are provided. And a toner carrying roller 14 and a toner layer regulating blade 18. Here, the toner carrying roller 1
Reference numeral 4 is for carrying the toner 16 and carrying it toward the aperture electrode body 1, and the supply roller 12 is for supplying the toner 16 to the toner carrying roller 14.

The supply roller 12 and the toner carrying roller 14 are rotatably supported by the toner case 11 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. Further, the toner layer regulating blade 18
Is for adjusting the amount of the toner 16 carried on the toner carrying roller 14 to be uniform on the roller surface and for uniformly charging the toner 16, and is pressed against the toner carrying roller 14. .

In the aperture electrode body 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of apertures 6 having a diameter of 100 μm are formed in a row on a polyimide insulating sheet 2 as an insulating substrate having a thickness of 25 μm. A control electrode 4 as a conductive wire portion having a thickness of 1 μm is formed on each upper surface of each aperture 6. Then, in the aperture electrode body 1, as shown in FIG. 1, with the control electrode 4 facing the support body 20 side,
It is pressed against the toner carrying roller 14 at the aperture position of the insulating sheet 2.

Now, the positional relationship between the aperture 6 of the aperture electrode body 1 and the toner carrying roller 14 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3, each center line 30 of each aperture 6 has a toner carrying roller 14. It is arranged so as to pass through the uppermost portion of the peripheral surface of and the central shaft 32 of the toner carrying roller 14. According to this, each aperture 6
Based on the uppermost part of the peripheral surface of the toner carrying roller 14,
By arranging them evenly on the left and right, the distribution of the toner 16 passing through each aperture 6 can be made uniform over the entire area of the aperture. In addition, the wall surface of the aperture 6 and the toner 16
Since the flying direction of the toner is parallel to the flying direction of the toner, it is possible to stably fly the toner.

Further, the aperture electrode body 1 itself is arranged with respect to the toner carrying roller 14 as shown in FIG.
It is pressed so that it bends to the left and right about the same angle. As a result, the contact area between the aperture electrode body 1 and the toner carrying roller 14 can be increased, and the lower periphery of the aperture 6 can be pressed uniformly to the left and right, so that uneven toner concentration is minimized. Can be suppressed.

A control voltage applying circuit 8 is connected between the control electrode 4 and the toner carrying roller 14.
The control voltage application circuit 8 is configured to apply a voltage of 0 V or +50 V to the control electrode 4 based on an image signal.

Further, a DC power supply 24 is connected between the back electrode roller 22 and the toner carrying roller 14.
A voltage of 1 kV can be applied.

Next, the structure of the manufacturing method of the aperture electrode body 1, which is the main part of the present embodiment, will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9 are top views of the vicinity of the aperture and AA ′ showing the respective steps of the manufacturing method according to the present embodiment.
It is sectional drawing. FIG. 4 is a top view and a sectional view of the aperture electrode body 1 when a circuit pattern is formed. The material is composed of an insulating sheet 2 and a conductive portion including a control electrode 4. As the insulating sheet, a resin film such as polyimide or polyester is often used among the above-mentioned materials. There is. The conductor portion has no problem as long as it is a conductor film, and various metal materials such as chromium, tungsten, and aluminum can be used as the material of the conductor portion. In the present embodiment, the process will be described using a commonly used metalroyal film (manufactured by Toyo Metalizing Co., Ltd.).
A 25 μm thick polyimide substrate is formed with 8 μm copper by a plating method.

Resist patterning is performed on this material. The material is coated with a photosensitive resist over the entire surface by spin coating or dipping, and then exposed to ultraviolet light through an exposure mask corresponding to the electrode pattern. After that, when the excess resist is removed with a stripping solution, a resist pattern corresponding to the electrode pattern is formed.

The material on which the resist pattern is formed is processed in an etching process. In the etching, the copper film having no resist film can be oxidized and corroded with an etching solution such as ferric chloride to leave the copper film in a resist pattern. In this way, the electrode pattern is formed on the insulating sheet 2. Further, the sliding surface coat layer 7 is formed on the surface opposite to the pattern. The sliding surface coating layer 7 is formed by adding additives such as carbon and silica to a binder.

Next, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a prepared hole machining step. The material on which the pattern is formed is first prepared by excimer laser. The excimer laser emits ultraviolet light, which makes it possible to perform a photochemical reaction on the polymer compound material and perform ablation processing. Theoretically, by ablation, the bonding chain of the polymer compound is dissociated and the constituent atoms thereof are skipped. This polymer compound
Mainly composed of atoms such as carbon and oxygen, the carbon 5 dissociated by the ablation adheres to the aperture wall surface and the upper surface (excimer laser irradiation side). The carbon 5 causes a short circuit between the adjacent control electrodes 4 or deteriorates the electric field controllability in the aperture 6.

Next, the carbon 5 removal processing step will be described. FIG. 6 shows a removal processing step.
The removal process is performed by spraying solution-dispersed abrasive grains, so-called wet blasting.

As an example of processing conditions for wet blasting, a solution-dispersed abrasive in which alumina abrasive grain No. 800 is dispersed in pure water by 20% is used, and the injection pressure is 1.8 kg /
Processing in square meters. By such processing, carbon that is an adhered matter generated during the excimer laser processing is removed. Further, unlike sand blasting, it is possible to gently spray the sample through water without directly spraying the abrasive grains to the sample, and because the sample is always cooled by water, processing deformation and thermal deformation of the sample Is less. Therefore, good printing is possible without recording unevenness due to deformation of the aperture electrode. Further, since each part of the aperture electrode is not damaged by this removal processing step, there is no problem in manufacturing.

As described above, the first step of forming the holes is completed.

Next, the second step of forming the antistatic coating layer on the wall surface of the hole will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 7, an absorbing sheet 30 as a coating liquid absorbing means is arranged so as to be in close contact with the surface of the aperture electrode on which the sliding surface coating layer 7 is provided. Then, the antistatic coating liquid 32 is applied by the squeegee 31 made of silicon rubber from the opposite surface of the sliding surface coating layer 7, that is, the surface side on which the control electrode 4 is provided.

As the antistatic coating liquid 32, polyimide ink in which conductive particles such as carbon are dispersed is used. The squeegee 31 is moved so that the antistatic coating liquid 32 passes over all the apertures.
The antistatic coating liquid 31 is injected and filled inside the aperture 6, but as shown in FIG.
As a result, most of the antistatic coating liquid 32 that has been injected into the aperture 6 and passed through the aperture wall surface is absorbed by the absorbent sheet 30. The wall surface of the aperture through which the antistatic coating liquid 32 has passed is covered with this antistatic coating liquid.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, by removing the absorbent sheet 30, the antistatic coating liquid 32 is formed only on the wall surface of the aperture. Finally, the antistatic coating layer 33 is formed by drying and solidifying the antistatic coating liquid.

As the absorbing sheet 30 as the coating liquid absorbing means, a filter paper used for filtration and the like was tested this time, and it was found that the antistatic coating liquid 30 was very fast.
Was able to be absorbed. Antistatic coating liquid 32
Is preferably adjusted to a liquid having a relatively low viscosity of 1 poise or less. If an antistatic coating liquid having a viscosity of 1 poise or more is used, the adhesion to the wall surface of the hole becomes too high, which may conversely block the hole.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus configured as described above will be briefly described.

First, the toner 16 sent from the supply roller 12 is rubbed against the toner support roller 14 by the rotation of the toner support roller 14 and the supply roller 12 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. The toner is carried on the toner carrying roller 14. Toner 1 carried
The layer 6 is thinned by the layer regulation blade 18 and charged, and then is conveyed toward the aperture electrode body 1 by the rotation of the toner carrying roller 14. Then, the toner on the toner carrying roller 14 is supplied under the aperture 6 while being rubbed by the insulating sheet 2 of the aperture electrode body 1.

Here, in accordance with an image signal, the control voltage applying circuit 8 adds + to the control electrode 4 corresponding to the image portion.
A voltage of 50 V is applied. As a result, near the aperture 6 corresponding to the image portion, an electric force line from the control electrode 4 toward the toner carrying roller 14 is formed due to the potential difference between the control electrode 4 and the toner carrying roller 14. As a result, the negatively charged toner receives an electrostatic force in the direction of higher potential, passes through the aperture 6 from above the toner carrying roller 14, and is drawn out to the control electrode 4 side. The extracted toner 16 further flies toward the support body 20 due to the electric field formed between the support body 20 and the aperture electrode body 1 by the voltage applied to the back electrode 22, and on the support body 20. To form pixels.

A voltage of 0V is applied from the control voltage application circuit 8 to the control electrode 4 corresponding to the non-image portion.
As a result, since no electric field is formed between the toner carrying roller 14 and the control electrode 4, the toner carrying roller 1
The toner 16 on 4 does not pass through the aperture 6 because it is not subjected to electrostatic force.

Further, the support 20 is fed by one pixel in the direction perpendicular to the aperture row while the toner 16 forms one row of pixels on the surface thereof. Then, by repeating the above process, a toner image is formed on the entire surface of the support 20. Thereafter, the formed toner image is fixed on the support 20 by the fixing device 26.

In such a recording process, since there is no carbon that is an adhered substance in the vicinity of the aperture, good printing can be stably performed without causing a problem such as a short circuit. Further, since the antistatic coating layer is provided on the wall surface of the aperture, the inner wall surface of the aperture will not be charged due to the toner passing through the aperture. Therefore, the clogging of the aperture due to the adhesion and deposition of the toner on the wall surface of the aperture by the electrostatic force is eliminated.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in detail above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

For example, as the coating liquid absorbing means, it is also possible to use a polymer absorbing polymer applied to a commercially available paper diaper or the like, in addition to the filter paper which is a specific example in this embodiment. Alternatively, it is also effective to create a reduced pressure atmosphere on one surface of the aperture electrode as the coating liquid absorbing means.

[0043]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the method of manufacturing an electrode body according to claim 1 of the present invention,
Since the excess coating liquid is absorbed in the step (1), it is possible to provide a recording electrode body which does not block the holes with the coating liquid and stably performs good printing.

Further, according to the method of manufacturing an electrode body according to the second aspect, in the second step, the coating liquid absorbing means is arranged on one surface side of the insulating substrate so as to correspond to the hole, and the insulating substrate is formed. Since the coating liquid is applied from the other surface side, the coating liquid can be applied by a simple method without blocking the holes with the coating liquid.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an aperture electrode body used in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an aperture electrode body and a toner carrying roller used in the image forming apparatus.

4A and 4B are a top view and a cross-sectional view at the time of finishing etching by the method for manufacturing the aperture electrode body.

5A and 5B are a top view and a cross-sectional view for explaining the first step of the manufacturing method.

6A and 6B are a top view and a cross-sectional view at the end of processing in the first step of the manufacturing method.

7A and 7B are a top view and a cross-sectional view for explaining a second step of the manufacturing method.

8A and 8B are a top view and a cross-sectional view for explaining a second step of the manufacturing method.

9A and 9B are a top view and a sectional view at the end of processing in the second step of the manufacturing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Insulating sheet 4 Control electrode 5 Carbon 6 Aperture 30 Absorption sheet 31 Squeegee 32 Antistatic coating liquid 33 Antistatic coating layer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first step of forming a hole in an insulating substrate on which a conductive wire portion is arranged, and a coating layer is formed on a wall surface of the hole by injecting a coating liquid into the hole formed by the process. A second step of absorbing excess coating liquid from the hole, and a method for manufacturing an electrode body. 2. The second step is to dispose the coating liquid absorbing means on one surface side of the insulating substrate so as to correspond to the holes and to apply the coating liquid from the other surface side of the insulating substrate. The method for manufacturing an electrode body according to claim 1, wherein