JPS61254353A - Ion stream static recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable recording at high SN ratio to be available by including a power supply means to apply a voltage of reversed polarity compared to an applied voltage to a roller means with an ion stream generation means. CONSTITUTION:Corona supply voltage 100 generated from a corona generation power supply 38 is subjected to the reversal of phase by a phase reversal circuit 26, and then an ion attraction voltage 102 of a reversed phase compared to the corona supply voltage 100 to be applied to a roller 22. As a result, ions of positive polarity and negative polarity generated by corona discharge between a corona wire 48 and a casing 50 in an ion generator 32 always suffer coulomb force to be attracted toward the roller 22. Consequently, the ions to be projected to the rear of a recording member 1 through a passage hole 40 under the control of electrodes 42, 44 become dense, thus permitting the visualization of a static latent image at high SN ratio and fast recording.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Technical Field The present invention relates to a recording device such as a copying machine or a printer or a profiler used as an output device of an information management system, and particularly relates to a recording device such as a copying machine or a printer or a profiler used as an output device of an information management system. The present invention relates to an ion current electrostatic recording type recording device that forms an electrostatic latent image.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The so-called ion projection recording method, in which images are recorded by controlling ion flow for each pixel, is itself well known. (For example, Nikkei Electronics, July 1982)
(See March 5th issue, pages 139-140).

This conventional ion projection recording method controls the ion flow applied to the intermediate medium based on the image information to be recorded, forms an electrostatic latent image on the intermediate medium, and then transfers this electrostatic latent image to the toner. The toner image is developed using a developing device, and then the toner image is transferred and fixed onto a recording member such as plain paper to obtain a desired recorded image.

The ion flow control head that controls the ion flow is generally configured to irradiate the surface of the recording member with the ion flow through a small hole corresponding to a pixel. ), a pair of electrodes are placed on the inlet and outlet sides of the ion beam, and a voltage is applied between these electrodes to selectively control the passing or blocking of the ion flow, and the voltage between the electrodes is controlled based on image information. The recording member is configured to form an electrostatic latent image on the recording member.

However, according to conventional recording devices, the density of ions that pass through the through holes and are irradiated onto the latent image forming member (equivalent to the current density) is low, so the toner cannot be sufficiently attracted or repelled during development. However, there was a problem in that the SN ratio was poor and the recording speed could not be increased.

OBJECTS It is an object of the present invention to provide an ion current electrostatic sickle type recording device that can eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art and can obtain recording with a high signal-to-noise ratio.

Structure In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that it includes a power supply means for applying a voltage to the roller means having a polarity opposite to the voltage applied to the ion flow generating means. below,
A detailed description will be given based on an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. This embodiment is a recording device configured to directly form an electrostatic latent image on plain paper or the like and simultaneously develop it into a toner image. The present invention is applied to an apparatus, and as shown in the figure, a recording member (for example, plain paper) that is a latent image forming member is used.
It has a basic configuration in which a developing section 2 and an ion flow control section 3 are disposed facing each other with a developing section 1 in between. The developing section 2 includes a cylindrical magnet 20, a cylindrical roller 22 loosely fitted on the outside of the magnet 20, and a doctor blade 24 whose tip is pressed against the upper outer peripheral surface of the roller 22. has been done.

The roller 22 is made of metal or other cylindrical outer circumferential surface made of electrically conductive silicone rubber (for example, a volume resistivity of 105 Ω·cm, 35
1 (approximately S) is attached to the magnet 20, and is rotated around the magnet 20 in the direction of arrow A in the drawing by means not shown.

On the other hand, the ion flow control section 3 includes an ion flow control controller 30, an ion generator 32, a recording power source 34, a bias power source 36, and a corona generator $38.

The ion flow control rod 30 is formed by a pair of electrodes 42 and 44, each having a through hole 40 through which the ion flow passes, with the axes of the through holes aligned and maintained at a predetermined distance by an insulating member 4B. ing. One of the pair of electrodes 42 and 44 of the ion flow control pad 30 (42 in the illustrated case) is arranged close to the recording member 1.

The ion generator 32 is connected to the through hole 40 of the ion flow control head 30.
The corona wire 48 is provided to match the position of the corona wire 48, and the casing 50 is provided so as to surround the corona wire 48 in combination with the ion flow control rod 30. The recording power source 34 is a binary (binary) based on image information.
It is designed to output a voltage of H, L) level, and is connected between the electrode 44 and the earth. The L level of this output voltage is normally set to zero, and the H level is set to a positive voltage higher than the output voltage of the bias power supply 36. Bias power supply 3
Reference numeral 8 applies a positive DC bias to the electrode 42, and is connected to the electrode 42 and the earth's atmosphere. Corona generation power source 38 includes corona wire 48 and casing 50 (ground level)
In this embodiment, an AC high voltage power source is applied.

Corona power supply voltage 10 generated from corona generation power supply 38
0 (FIG. 2) has its phase inverted by the 1-phase inversion circuit 26, and the ion attraction voltage 1 has the opposite polarity to the corona power supply voltage 100.
02 and is applied to the roller 22.

The corona generation power supply 38 and the phase inversion circuit 26 constitute a power supply means.

FIG. 2 shows an example of waveforms of the corona power supply voltage 100 and the ion attraction voltage 102 applied from the corona generation power supply 38 to the corona wire 48.

It is advantageous for the corona power supply voltage 100 and the ion attraction voltage 102 to be, for example, AC voltages of 8.5 KV in peak value and approximately 1° OKV, respectively.

The operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be explained next.

In FIG. 1, high resistance-component magnetic toner (hereinafter simply referred to as toner) is supplied to a toner pool formed by a roller 22 and a doctor blade 24.
As the roller 22 and doctor blade 24 rotate,
When the toner passes through the contact portion of the roller 22, it is charged to one polarity (positive polarity in the illustrated example), and a thin charged toner layer 12 is formed on the surface of the roller 22. This toner layer 12 is the roller 2
2, the through hole 4 of the ion flow control head 30
It is conveyed to the recording unit 14 close to 0. Further, the recording member 1 moves in the direction of arrow B in the figure in accordance with the rotation of the roller 22.
It is transported by a transport means (not shown).

On the other hand, in the ion generator 32, corona discharge occurs between the corona wire 48 and the casing 50, and ions of positive polarity and negative polarity are diffused into the casing 50. At this time, the electrodes 42 and 44 of the ion flow control head 30 are
Depending on the output state of the recording power source 34 (H or H), a voltage is applied as shown in the operating state diagram shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4.

In other words, the potential of the electrode 44 is varied up and down based on the image information with the potential of the electrode 42 as a reference.

When the electrode 44 is at the L level, the dashed line 5 in FIG.
2, since an electric field is formed in the through hole 40 in the direction from the electrode 42 to the electrode 44, only negative polarity ions pass through the through hole 40 and are irradiated onto the back surface of the recording member l. Conversely, when the electrode 44 is at the H level, the direction of the electric field formed inside the through hole 40 is in the opposite direction, as shown by the dashed dotted line 54 in FIG. be done.

In this way, when the back surface of the recording member l is irradiated with ions of polarity according to the image information, the area (pixel) of the recording member 1 that is irradiated with ions of a polarity opposite to that of the toner layer 12 is
One layer of toner 12a is transferred only to the surface of the recording member 1, and a toner image corresponding to the image information is directly formed on the surface of the recording member 1.

Incidentally, since the ion attraction voltage 102 having the opposite polarity to the corona power supply voltage lOO applied to the corona wire 48 is always applied to the roller 22 through the phase inversion circuit 2B, the corona wire 48 and the casing 50 in the ion generator 32 are Ions of positive polarity and negative polarity generated by corona discharge between the rollers 22 are always subjected to a Coulomb force that attracts them toward the roller 22. That is, when positive polarity ions are generated by corona discharge, a negative polarity ion attraction voltage 102 is applied to the roller 22, so that the positive polarity ions receive a Coulomb force that is attracted toward the roller 22, and the negative polarity ions are generated by the corona discharge. When ions are generated, roller 2
Since a positive ion attraction voltage 102 is applied to the roller 22, negative ions are subjected to a Coulomb force that attracts them toward the roller 22.

In this way, the ions passing through the through hole 40 are efficiently attracted by the Coulomb force. Therefore, by controlling the electrodes 42 and 44, the density of ions irradiated onto the back surface of the recording member 1 through the through hole 40 is increased, an electrostatic latent image with a high S/N ratio is obtained, and high-speed recording is possible. .

In this example, the corona power supply voltage 100 is set to a peak value of 8-5
Set the AC voltage to KV, and set the ion attraction voltage 102 to 1, OK.
When the AC voltage was V, the ion flow density (current density) passing through the through hole 40 increased by several tens of percent.

Further, according to this embodiment, a single layer 12 of charged toner is supplied to one surface of the recording member 1 by a roller 22 disposed close to it, and selection control is performed for each pixel according to image information from the other surface. The resulting ion flow is irradiated onto the recording member 1, and the Coulomb force between the ions and the charged toner layer 12 is used to form a toner image directly on the recording member 1, which eliminates the complexity that was conventionally required. The process can be simplified.

In other words, conventionally, before recording images etc. on the recording member 1,
It involved many steps, such as once forming an electrostatic latent image on an intermediate medium, developing it to form a toner image, and transferring and fixing this toner image to a desired recording member l. However, according to this embodiment, as the process is simplified, the configuration of the device is simplified, and the device is inexpensive, compact, and has improved reliability.

In the above embodiment, the corona generating power source 38 uses a sinusoidal alternating current, but it may use a rectangular alternating current or a direct current. It is sufficient to generate only ions of either negative polarity and control the voltage applied to the electrodes 42 and 44 of the ion flow control head 30 to control the passage of the ions through the through hole 40. is phase inversion circuit 2
6, a DC voltage of opposite polarity to the DC voltage applied to the corona generating power supply 38 is applied.

Further, in the above embodiment, a single layer 12 of charged toner is supplied to one surface of the recording member l by nine rollers 22 arranged close to it, and from the other surface, an ion flow is selectively controlled for each pixel according to image information. is irradiated onto the recording member 1, and a toner image is directly formed on the recording member 1 using the Coulomb force between the ions and the charged toner layer 12. It can also be applied to the case where an electrostatic latent image is formed by irradiation, and then developed to form a toner image, and this toner image is transferred to a desired recording member and fixed.

Further, instead of the roller 22, a means for applying a voltage (for example, a planar electrode) is arranged opposite to the through hole 40 with the recording member 1 in between, and the ion attraction voltage 102 is applied to the voltage applying means.
may be applied to form an electrostatic latent image on the recording member 1 as described above, and development may be performed in a subsequent step.

Further, in the above embodiment, one corona wire 48 is provided, but a plurality of corona wires may be provided.

According to the present invention, since the present invention includes the power supply means for applying a voltage of opposite polarity to the voltage applied to the ion flow generation means to the roller means, the density of the ion flow irradiated to the recording member is increased. This has the effect of making it possible to obtain a high-contrast image with a high signal-to-noise ratio and enabling high-speed recording.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of an ion flow electrostatic recording device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a voltage waveform diagram of the corona power supply voltage and ion attraction voltage of the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. , FIG. 4 is an operational state diagram for explaining the operation of the ion flow control head section of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. Description of the symbols of parts L...Recording member 2...Developing section 3...Ion flow control section 22...Roller 28...Phase Inverting circuit 34... Recording power supply 3B... Bias power supply 38... Corona generation power supply 40... Through hole 42.44... Electrode 48・・・・・・Corona wire

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An ion flow generation means for generating an ion flow, an electrode means for forming an electric field in a through hole through which ions supplied from the ion flow generation means pass, and an electrode with a latent image forming member in between. and a roller means disposed opposite the electrode means, the passage of the ion flow through the through hole is controlled by controlling the voltage applied to the electrode means to control the electric field, thereby forming the latent image. An ion flow electrostatic recording device that irradiates a member with an ion flow that has passed through the through hole, the recording device comprising: power supply means that applies a voltage of opposite polarity to the voltage applied to the ion flow generation means to the roller means. An ion flow electrostatic recording device featuring: 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the voltage applied to the ion flow generating means is an alternating current, and the power supply means is an alternating current power source having a phase opposite to the alternating current. Electrostatic recording device. 3. In the apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, the roller means holds toner charged to one polarity on the other surface of the latent image forming member at a position where the ion stream is irradiated. An ion flow electrostatic recording device characterized in that: