JPS58104771A - Recorder for picture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supply a toner stably by directing charged particles in the direction passing through an opening when the picture is recorded and in the opposite direction when the picture is not recorded by an AC electric field in the device which forms an electric field in the opening, controls passage through the opening of charged particles and obtains the picture. CONSTITUTION:When AC voltage is applied between a base electrode 3 and a toner carrying member 7 by an AC power supply 9, the toner 8 on a conductive material 7 is violently stirred between the base electrode 3 and the toner carrying member 7. When a wave-form (c) is applied between the base electrode 3 and the toner carrying member 7 from the AC power supply 9, the toner 8 on the toner carrying member 7 intends to move to the base electrode. When signal voltage (b) is applied to a signal electrode 1 from a signal power supply 11 at that time, the electric field passing the toner 8 works to the opening 4. When wave-form voltage (a) is applied between the base electrode 3 and a back electrode 6 from an AC power supply 10 under the state, the toner 8 reaches a recording member 5. A reverse wave-form is applied when the picture is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an image recording device that utilizes an electric field generated in independent row-like or slit-like apertures, and in particular to an image recording device that forms an electric field within the apertures using an electric signal to record a charged experimental developer ( The present invention relates to an apparatus for obtaining an image by controlling the passage of toner (hereinafter referred to as toner) through the apertures.

A conventional direct recording technique of this type has been proposed in US Pat. No. 3,689,935. In this method, two electrodes are provided with an insulating layer interposed between them, and a row of holes are formed in the electrodes (hereinafter referred to as a control member), and this control member is used to control the passage of charged toner. However, an image is obtained by the toner that has passed onto a recording member, which is an image receptor that is provided on the opposite side of the toner supply source and receives toner from a control member. However, in this conventional method, the toner is not supplied uniformly, which tends to cause unevenness in the image on the recording member, making high-speed recording difficult, and causing problems such as toner clogging on the aperture board. Not put into practical use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that eliminate the drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional examples, and at the same time, stabilize the supply of toner and enable stable image formation over a long period of time.

A non-explosion @ 8/I'i that achieves the above purpose includes a developer transport member that holds and transports the charged powder developer, an image receptor that receives the developer from above the transport member, and an opening through which the developer passes. means for applying a voltage to the signal electrode to generate an electric field within the aperture of the conveying member and the image receptor member; and means for generating an electric field between the conveying member and the control means;
means for generating an alternating electric field between the control means and the image receptor; when recording an image, the electric field between the conveying member and the image receptor and the electric field within the aperture are directed in a direction in which the developer is directed toward the image receptor; There is an image recording apparatus in which the direction of the electric field between at least the conveying member and the control member and between the control member and the image receptor is reversed during recording.

With the above configuration, an alternating electric field acts between the control member and the developer (toner) conveying member, so even if toner adheres to the control member, the force of the electric field has the effect of removing the adhered toner, thereby opening the holes. to prevent contamination from toner. Furthermore, since an electric field is generated between the control member and the image receptor that moves the toner to the image receptor only during recording, toner is not accidentally received and attached to the image receptor. .

No fogging or the like occurs on the recorded image.

In the above configuration, if an electric field is formed in the opening of the control member to direct the toner toward the conveying member during non-recording,
This makes it possible to effectively remove toner adhering to the inside of the openings.

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

#! 1A is an f-plane view showing the configuration of a control member applicable to the present invention, FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along l-111 in FIG. 1A, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of image formation.

In Figure 1, 1 is a signal electrode that can be applied independently and individually, and 3 is a base electrode that is a reference electrode that is always kept at a constant potential and is connected continuously over all or several holes. An insulating member 2 electrically insulates the signal electrode 1 and the base electrode 3. Reference numeral 4 denotes a hole which penetrates through the signal electrode 1, the base electrode 3, and the insulating member 2.

The basic operation of the present invention will be explained using FIG. 2. In the figure, 6 is a back electrode, 5 is a recording member, and this member 5 is in close contact with the back electrode 6.

Reference numeral 7 is a toner conveying member made of a non-magnetic material, and 8 is a one-component insulating magnetic toner, which is uniformly coated on the toner conveying member 7. The control member described in FIGS. 1A and 1B is arranged between the back electrode 6 and the toner transport member 7, and the back electrode 6 and the signal electrode 1 are opposed to each other, and the toner transport member 7 and the base electrode are disposed between each other. They are facing each other. Further, reference numeral 9 connects an AC power source to the base electrode 3 and the toner conveying member 7. 1
0 is also connected to the back electrode 6 and base electrode 3 with an AC power source. 11 is a signal power source connected to the signal electrode 1 and the base electrode 3.

In the above configuration, when an alternating current voltage or a DC biased current voltage is applied between the pace electrode &3 and the toner conveying member 7 by the AC power source 9, the toner 8 on the conductive material 7 is transferred between the base electrode 3 and the toner conveying member 7. It moves in between. At this time, when a voltage is applied to the signal electrode 1 and the base electrode 3 from the signal power source 11, the moving toner 8 passes through the aperture 4 and is attracted to the signal electrode 1. Further, since an AC voltage is applied between the back electrode 41i6 and the base electrode 3 from the 5e wave power source 10, the toner 8 is further accelerated by the direction of the electric field and adheres to the recording member 5.

3 to 6 are diagrams for explaining the present invention in detail.

In the waveform diagrams of FIGS. 3 and 5, a shows the output waveform from the AC power source 1O, b shows the output waveform from the signal power source 11, and C shows the output waveform from the AC power source 9.

The waveform diagram in FIG. 3 and the configuration diagram in FIG. 4 illustrate the process of causing the negatively charged toner 8 on the toner transport member 7 to adhere to the recording member 5. The toner 8 used for this is negatively charged due to frictional charging, corona discharge, etc., and on the other hand, when using toner charged positively (+l), the polarity of the output voltage in Figure 3 is reversed. In the following explanation, toner 8
The following description assumes that the charge is negative polarity.

In Figure 144, AC power supply 9ei et al. #! When the waveform shown in FIG. 3C is applied between the base electrode 3 and the toner transport member 7, the D donor 8 on the toner transport member 7 tries to move toward the pace electrode 1 3 (in the direction of the arrow).

In this state, when the signal voltage shown in Figure #13 is applied from the signal power source 11 to the signal electrode L, the toner 8 is caused to pass through the opening 4 due to the potential of the signal voltage &1 with respect to the grounded base electrode 3. Electric field E works.

Then, the toner 8# in the opening 4 is further accelerated and the writing member 5
and is attached to its surface.

Next, when the signal voltage is not applied from the signal power source 11 during non-recording, there is no electric field within the aperture 4 that accelerates the toner 8, so the toner 8 that cannot pass through the aperture is During long-term use, toner particles accumulate on the walls of the opening 4, and eventually the opening 4 is blocked by the donor, making it impossible to control the toner passage.

In the control example shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, unnecessary toner 8 is removed from the conveying member 8 for forming an undesirable image in the apertures 4 as described above.
Make it possible to pull it back to the surface. This not only solves the problem of toner clogging in the apertures, but also prevents toner from accidentally reaching the recording member, making it possible to form high-quality recorded images.

That is, when the half-wave AC waveform of AC in FIG. 5 is applied to the base electrode 3 and the back electrode 6, the toner 8 that has accumulated in the aperture 4 as described above becomes as shown in FIG. 6. An electric field E acts in the opposite direction to the electric field E shown in FIG. Also, if necessary, apply a voltage in the opposite direction to the signal voltage as indicated by the chain line in Fig. If a current voltage is applied.

All the electric field pressure between the recording member and the toner transport member is applied to the back electrode 6.
Since the toner 8 is directed from the toner to one conveying member, all of the toner 8 that is not used for recording and is floating not only in the opening 4 but also between the back electrode 6 and the base electrode 3 is returned to the conveying member 7. Therefore, not only is the toner 8 not accumulated on the walls of the apertures 4, but also unnecessary floating toner 8 is returned to the toner conveying member 7, making it possible to prevent toner fogging on the recording member. Note that the above explanation has omitted the movement of the recording member 5, but since the recording member 5 is moving at a predetermined constant speed, the toner that is once attached to the recording member 5 and formed into an image is 8 is not crossed by the reversal of the electric field. However, if the movement (recording speed) of the recording member 5 is slow or if the input signal to the recording signal electrode is driven in segments, the image may be distorted. It is also possible to solve the above-mentioned problems by providing a component or by performing half-wave rectification of the alternating voltage. Note that it is sufficient to apply a voltage to the recording electrode during non-recording to actively form an electric field as necessary.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is implemented as a device.

In addition, in the reference numerals in the drawings, the numbers 41 and 41 in FIGS. 1 to 6 refer to the same members or those having the same functions.

This is a means for conveying a uniform thin layer of toner to the 12Fi recording position shown in the figure. The means 15 is a toner storage container in which the magnetic toner 8 is deposited, and further supports a toner conveying member 16 which rotates in the direction of arrow A. This conveying member 16 is made of a rotatable non-magnetic aluminum cylinder with a diameter of 32 m, and there is a fixed magnet 13 inside thereof, and due to the magnetic field of this magnet, the toner conveying member 16 is moved to the conveying member 7 by the action of the arrow radar 14. A uniform thin layer of toner is formed on top.

On the other hand, 17 is a step-up transformer that amplifies the output from the oscillator 18 with a power amplifier 19, and supplies AC voltage to the toner transport member 16, the base electrode 3, and the back electrode 20 of the control member.

That is, the step-up transformer 17 is connected to the AC power supply QIO in FIG.
1 and 21, which have the same function as the control path, are connected to the signal power source 2 only when a force acts such that the output from the oscillator 18 moves the toner 8 from the toner conveying member 7 to the pole 20.
2 to the signal electrode 1 of the control member.

In an apparatus such as this embodiment, the distance m between the toner conveying member 16 and the pace electrode 30 is suitably about 100 to 1000 microns, and in order to improve the recording speed, it is better to make it as narrow as possible so that the toner 8 is not pressed by the base electrode 3. . In this embodiment, the gap was set to 300 microns, and the output voltage of the step-up transformer 17 was set to 1.6V at Vp-p. The gap between the control electrode 1 and the base electrode 3 is set to 25 by the insulating member 2.
The diameter of the apertures 4 of the control member was 80 microns to maintain the diameter of the toner 8, and as shown in FIG. Each control electrode 1 is electrically independently connected to a signal power source 22, and from the signal power source 22, a DC voltage of +24 (IV) is applied as a signal voltage only to the portions necessary for character generation, l:L-% signal. When no voltage is applied, there is no need to apply a voltage to the inside of the hole that directs the toner toward the conveyed member.
・'1 (-80V DC voltage was applied to form a field.

The distance between the back electrode 20 and the base w camellia 3 is the recording member 23
Although it depends on the thickness of the oscillator 18, in this embodiment, SOO<Cron is set, the output voltage of the external pressure transformer 17 is used to move the oscillator 18, the output frequency of the oscillator 18 is set to 5.76 Hz, and the signal power source 22
By applying the input voltage necessary to record 1 information from
It was possible to obtain an image on the recording member 23 using toner having a resolution of 12 or more. The toner image attached to the recording member 23 is fixed onto the recording member by a fixing device including a heating roller 24 .

In the above embodiments, the handle, back electrode, base electrode, torch
With a simple configuration in which the conveying member is given the same intersection type, it is possible to prevent clogging of toner in the opening of the control member, and also to prevent toner fogging on the recording member. Not only that, conventionally lftl1. Although both a power source and an AC power source were required at the same time, by sharing the AC power source,
We were able to downsize the device.

By the way, the output voltage of the AC power supply α1o of the apparatus shown in FIG.
) waveform has been described, but of course, the same effect can be obtained by using a rectangular, triangular, or square pulse waveform, or a composite waveform of these waveforms. Further, as for the toner, if magnetic toner is used and transported under a magnetic field as in the embodiment, it is possible to easily form a thin toner layer and to prevent scattering of toner particles. However, the toner does not need to be magnetic if a fine charge pattern is formed on the insulator surface or if the toner is carried on a brush with fluffs of approximately Fi3 to 1s11. The image receptor may be composed of an insulated drum, and the formed toner image may be transferred to a recording member.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the control member applicable to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view of the person in FIG. 1. Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention, Figures 3 and 5
The figure is a waveform diagram, Figures 4 and 6 are for explanation of the operation of the device, and Figure 7 is a sectional view of the device which is an embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, 1Fi control electrode, 4 aperture, 5 recording member, 6 back electrode, 7 toner transport member, 8 toner, Q
10 is an AC power source, and 11 is a signal power source. Applicant Canon Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A developer transport member that holds and transports a charged powder developer, an image receptor that receives the developer from above the transport member, a control member having an opening through which the developer passes, and this control member. means for applying a voltage to said signal electrode to generate an electric field within the aperture of said signal electrode; means for generating an alternating electric field between said transport member and a control member; and an alternating electric field between said control member and said image receptor. When recording an image, the electric field between the conveyance member and the image receptor and the electric field within the aperture are directed in the direction of the developer toward the image receptor, and when not recording, KFi, at least the conveyance member, the control member and An image recording device in which the direction of an electric field between a control member and an image receptor is reversed from that during recording. (2) The image recording apparatus according to claim (1), wherein when the control member is not recording, the electric field in the opening of the control member is directed in a direction in which the developer is directed toward the conveying member. (3) The l according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the voltage applied to the control electrode is controlled by the phase of an alternating current voltage that forms an alternating electric field between the conveying member and the image receptor.
1lii image record device.