JPS59150758A - Electrode of image recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily densify electrode arrangement to a high degree, by opposing two electrode substrates each having electrode patterns which are formed thereto at pitches twice electrode arranging pitches when arranged on a toner conveying surface so as to arrange electrode patterns alternately. CONSTITUTION:Two sheets each of which is fabricated by forming electrode patterns on an insulating film 14 from a magnetic material 15 by a hot etching method are mutually opposed, allowed to approach to each other and adhered. For example, even if each electrode width (b) set to 31mum, the interval (a') between adjacent electrodes comes to 93mum and the electrode can be fabricated with a sufficient surplus. In addition, if an insulating layer 19 is thinly coated, even if the electrode width (b) is further widened to be brought to 50mum, the interval (a') between electrodes can be taken widely, for example, can be brought to 74mum and, therefore, the sufficient plating or photoetching of the magnetic material can be performed. As a result, the volume of the magnetic material 15 is increased and electrode function is enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus, particularly an image electric signal, which directly attaches a component conductive magnetic developer (hereinafter abbreviated as toner) to a recording medium to produce an i[iIl image. This invention relates to an image recording device for recording images, and more specifically, to improvements in electrodes used therein.

Conventionally, as this type of image recording device, US Pat. No. 381
There is one disclosed in the specification of No. 6840.

An overview of this conventional image recording apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG. 1, which is a sectional view. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a recording medium, which is a conductive sheet material 2 coated with a thin layer of insulating material 3, and moves in the direction of the arrow in the figure. As the recording medium 1, it is also possible to use a generally commercially available electrostatic recording paper. 4 is a conductive roller-shaped back electrode,
It is in contact with the conductive material 2 of the recording medium ↓ that is being fed in the direction of the arrow. Reference numeral 5 denotes an electrode member for applying an image signal voltage, and a large number of electrode members 5 are arranged in a row on a cylinder 6 described below and are fixed insulated from each other. The electrode member 5 is made of a conductive magnetic material such as permalloy or nickel.

It is made of iron or the like, and its tip is bent to form an electrode protrusion. Reference numeral 6 denotes a non-magnetic stationary cylinder serving as a means for conveying the toner to a recording position, and is immersed in one-component conductive magnetic toner 8 in a toner container 7 . The cylinder 6 and the electrode member 5 are electrically insulated. A rotating magnet 9 is provided inside the toner conveying member 6, which is a non-magnetic cylinder.
This magnet 9 has magnetic poles of different polarity alternately magnetized. Due to the action of the magnet 9, the toner 8 is transported on the toner transport member 6 in a direction opposite to the rotational direction A of the magnet 9. The transported toner is formed into a uniform thin layer by the action of the doctor grade lo and reaches the recording position 11.

Here, the toner adheres to the recording medium 1 and forms an image when a signal voltage corresponding to the image is applied between the electrode member 5 and the back electrode (therefore, the signal power source 12 is in contact with the electrode member 5 and the recording medium 1 in contact with it). be done. The toner image deposited on the recording medium 1 is fixed by means such as heating or pressure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining the behavior of conductive magnetic toner.

In the figure, 13 is a plastic material in which the electrode member 5 is filled. The top is beveled to facilitate toner transfer. The toner forms toner chains on the cylinder 6 along the lines of magnetic force of the magnet 9, extending in the direction of the normal edge of the cylinder 6 directly above the magnetic poles of the magnet 9, and approximately in the circumferential direction between the magnetic poles. becomes.

Therefore, when the magnetic pole is directly under the electrode protrusion of the electrode member 5 as shown in FIG. Contact. When the above-mentioned signal voltage is applied to the electrode member 5 in the hollow state, toner adheres to the recording medium 1 and a good recorded image is obtained. (The reason why the toner adheres is because the toner is conductive, so each toner is essentially a single conductor. When a voltage is applied, the charge of the opposite polarity to the charge on the back side of the insulating material layer of the recording medium is transferred to the toner.) This is because the electrostatic attractive force of both charges induced at the tip of the chain through the chain overcomes the magnetic force of the magnet and attracts and adheres the toner particles at the tip to the recording medium.) (2) Rotation of the magnet 9 When the magnetic pole moves and comes to a position where it is no longer directly under the electrode protrusion as shown in Fig. 2(b), the toner particles on the electrode protrusion are caught in the magnetic lines of force and are about to fall over. Conditions such as insufficient contact with the medium may occur. If a signal voltage is applied in this state, even if the toner adheres to the recording medium, a good recorded image cannot be obtained because the image quality becomes insufficient and image distortion occurs. Therefore, in order to obtain a good recorded image, it is optimal to apply the image signal voltage when the magnetic pole is directly below the electrode protrusion. Details of a conventional example of an electrode (similar to the electrode member 5 in FIG. 1) used in an image recording device are shown.

Fig. 3A shows a film 14 made of an insulating film such as polyimide or mylar, and a conductive magnetic material (15) having a thickness of several microns to several six micrometers, such as nickel or permalloy, bonded to the film 14 and used as an electrode. The electrode group is formed by photo-etching according to the pattern and the pattern.

In FIG. 3B, a thin copper film 16 of several microns is pasted on an insulating film 14, photoetched according to the electrode pattern, and then plated with a magnetic material 15 to form an electrode group.

FIG. 39 shows an electrode group formed by arranging magnetic wires 17 evenly and then fixing them with adhesive 18.

However, these conventional methods have the following drawbacks when increasing the density of the electrode group. That is, 3rd A
, In Fig. 3B, the electrode pattern is thin and i + e°
-Inconveniences such as disconnections and short circuits between electrodes are likely to occur;
Even if you try to install a drive element for applying a signal voltage near the electrode, there are drawbacks such as the difficulty of installing it because the space is narrow and the volume of the magnetic material not being sufficient to achieve its full functionality. In addition, in FIG. 3C, the volume of the magnetic material is sufficient, but there are drawbacks such as a large amount of effort required to arrange the electrodes and a complicated connection to the signal power source after the electrode group is formed.

The present invention eliminates the drawbacks of the conventional electrodes described above, and provides a method of the above-mentioned type that is easy to increase the temperature, is simple to manufacture, and is easy to mount the driving element for voltage application on the electrode. The present invention provides a new and improved electrode for use in an image recording device.

The structural feature of the electrode of the present invention used in the above-mentioned type of image recording device is that the conductive and magnetic electrode glossy turns are arranged on the insulating film at a pitch that is twice the electrode array pitch on the toner transport member. Two electrode substrates, one of which is the same as the one formed in the above, are bonded facing each other so that the four turns of the electrodes are alternate.

Embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described below.

4A and 4B show an embodiment of the present invention,
First, as shown in FIG. 4A, two sheets of insulating film 14 with electrode turns formed by photo-etching or plating magnetic material 15 are made in the same manner as in the conventional example.
Next, these two sheets were made to face each other, moved toward each other in the direction of the arrow, and pasted together as shown in FIG. 4B.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B, citing specific numerical values. FIG. 5A shows a signal electrode pattern in a conventional example, and FIG. 5B shows a signal electrode pattern in this embodiment.

Now, a case will be explained in which 16 electrodes are obtained in one test.

In the conventional example shown in FIG. 5A, if the electrode width and electrode spacing a are made equal, a and b will each be very narrow, 31 microns. For this reason, pattern breakage occurs as described above, and it becomes difficult to increase the thickness of the plating.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention as shown in Figure 5B, even if the electrode width is 31 microns, which is the same as above, the electrode spacing a' is 93 microns. If the insulating layer 19 is applied thinly as shown in Fig. 5C, the electrode width can be further increased to, for example, 50 microns, but the electrode spacing a' can be widened to 74 microns, which is sufficient. This method not only increases the volume of the magnetic material 15 and improves the electrode function, but also eliminates mother turn breakage and short circuits between electrodes.

Furthermore, preferably for the above embodiment, if two facing electrode substrates having the above electrode configuration are bent left and right respectively and installed in the toner feeding cylinder 6 as shown in FIG. As 12, an electrode driving element 12 for applying a signal voltage,
12' can be mounted on the toner carry-in side and the toner carry-out side with sufficient space, and wiring becomes simple.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the previous embodiment in that the electrodes are shaped triangularly, the volume of the magnetic material 15 is further increased, and the density is increased.

As explained above, according to the present invention, by bonding two substrates on which the mother turns of the electrode group are formed, the electrode width and electrode spacing can be increased in the manufacturing process, so that 74 turns can be cut as in the conventional method. This eliminates short circuits between electrodes, making it easier to increase the density of the electrode group and increasing the amount of magnetic material, which makes it possible to obtain clear images and reduce the signal voltage to the electrodes. The electrical components for application can also be mounted easily and easily, and there is an effect of being freed from the complexity of wiring.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of the behavior of toner in FIG. FIG. 3C shows a conventional example of an electrode used in the image recording device.
4A and 4B are diagrams showing an embodiment of the electrode of the present invention. Figures 5 to 5C are diagrams for explaining the embodiments shown in Figures 4A and 4B, in which Figure 5A shows the conventional example, and Figures 5B and 5C show the embodiment of the present invention. It is a diagram. FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view showing an example in which the electrode of the present invention is installed in the image recording apparatus, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the electrode of the present invention. l Recording medium 5... Electrode 6... Toner transport cylinder 8... Toner 9... Rotating magnet 12... Image (8) Signal voltage source 14...
Insulating film 15, 17... Electrode magnetic body first
Figure 2 Figure 5A Figure 5B Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] An electrode is disposed on a stationary, non-magnetic toner transporting surface that is penetrated by a magnetic field emitted from a moving magnetic pole, and a recording medium is placed close to and facing the electrode, so that the toner is transported on the toner transporting surface by the magnetic field. The electrode is used in an image recording apparatus that records multiple images by causing the conductive magnetic toner that has reached the electrode to adhere to the recording medium due to electrostatic force when a voltage is applied between the electrode and the recording medium. Then, two electrode substrates each having a conductive and magnetic electrode pattern formed on an insulating film at a pitch twice the electrode arrangement pitch when disposed on the toner transporting surface are attached to the electrode pattern. An electrode characterized by being formed by facing each other in alternating directions and joining each other.