JPS62161559A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a recording apparatus having high resolving power and high reliability, by constituting an electrode head so that first and second electric insulating supports having a large number of grooves formed to the surfaces thereof are arranged so that the valley of each groove of one support is meshed with the crest of each groove of the other support and electrode needles are provided in the trough of the grooves of the first and second supports. CONSTITUTION:Grooves arranged at a constant pitch are processed to the surfaces of first and second electric insulating supports 101, 102 and both supports are matched so that the crest of each groove of one support is meshed with the trough of each groove of the other support and electrode needles 103 are provided in the troughs 104. As the material quality of both supports, a sintered body of hexagonal boron nitride or gypsum is pref. and, in a composite such as a resin, hexagonal boron nitride etc. are used as a filler. Each electrode needle 103 is pref. a coated copper wire and the spaces formed by the first and second supports and the electrode needles are perfectly filled with a resin. The depth of each groove is deeper than the dimension of the diameter of the electrode needle and shallower than the twofold dimension of said diameter. Thus constituted electrode head 201 is pressed to recording paper 202 to be moved relatively. A return electrode 203 is provided to a part of the recording paper and electric signal is applied between said electrode 203 and one electrode needle of the electrode head from an electric signal source 204.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording device that records electrical signals as visible images.

Conventional Technology Among various recording devices, those that conduct electricity through electrode needles, such as discharge recording devices, electrolytic recording devices, current-carrying thermal recording devices, and current-carrying transfer recording devices, are known for their high speed, record preservation, and economic efficiency. Excellent (Hard Copy Technology, published by Japan Technical Center, June 1981). However, the print quality of these devices was not very good. That is, the resolution is not very good, 5 to 6 dots/f.
l was common.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Regarding the above-mentioned recording device, for example, a discharge recording device, the resolution of the discharge phenomenon itself is higher, and the recording speed is also lower than that of a paper-width multi-stylus (multi-electrode head).
Even though it would be possible to write for one second per A4 sheet if there were, the reason why the performance is kept low is due to the writing electrode head. The tip of the electrode head (the part that comes into contact with the recording paper) becomes extremely hot, so the electrode needle was forced to protrude. Furthermore, because of this, high-density (high-resolution) electrode heads use thin electrode needles, which pose a problem of bending. To deal with this problem, a method has been adopted in which the electrode needles are made thicker and arranged in a staggered manner. This results in 5-6
Dot/Tsuru had been realized. More than this was considered impossible. In order to overcome this limitation, an implantable electrode head was devised that does not allow the electrode needle to protrude. High-density grooves are created in a support made mainly of a material with excellent heat resistance, lubricity, abrasion resistance, and workability, such as hexagonal crystalline boron nitride, and 20 mm diameter electrode needles are used as electrode needles.
An electrode head with a structure in which a conductor wire with a diameter of ~30μ is inserted into a groove and covered with a lid has appeared. However, this method was extremely difficult to manufacture due to the use of precise processing and extremely thin conductive wires. Also, the distance between the recorded dots was wide compared to the dot diameter. In the case of discharge recording, the impedance of the electrical signal source is lowered, and a wire is connected between each electrode needle and the ground.
A capacitor was connected to each dot and the diameter of the dot was made larger than the diameter of the electrode needle to fill the gap between the dots.

These problems associated with high-density electrode heads are common not only to discharge breakdown recording devices, but also to other recording devices, such as electrolytic recording devices and energization recording devices, which conduct electricity through electrode needles. there were.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a recording device that records an image on a recording paper using an electrode head having electrode needles, the electrodes having a plurality of 7 dots on the surface thereof. Electrically insulating first and second supports having book grooves are arranged such that the valleys and peaks of the respective grooves are engaged with each other, and the electrode needles are provided in the valleys of the grooves of the first and second supports. The structure is as follows.

Effect of the Invention The present invention provides a recording device having a high resolution, easy to manufacture, inexpensive, and highly reliable due to the above-described configuration. Further, in the discharge recording device, a capacitor is omitted, thereby providing an inexpensive recording device.

Embodiments The present invention is characterized by an electrode head. The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an electrode head used in the recording apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is an electrically insulating first support, and 102 is an electrically insulating second support.
It is a support for The surfaces of the electrically insulating first and second supports are partially machined with grooves arranged at a pitch. The first support body and the second support body are fitted together so that the peaks and valleys of their grooves are engaged with each other, and electrode needles 103 are provided in the valleys 104. The material of the support should not only be electrically insulating but also soft enough not to damage the surface of the recording paper since it runs in contact with the recording paper. For example, a sintered body of 60,000-crystalline boron nitride or gypsum may be used.

Further, in the case of a composite with a resin or the like, it is preferable to use 60,000-crystalline boron nitride, calcium carbonate, talc, etc. as a filler.

The electrode needle 103 is a commonly used conducting wire having a circular or square cross section. Steel wire is the easiest to handle. Among these, coated steel wires (often called enamelled wires) are preferred in order to prevent short circuits with adjacent electrode needles when electrode needles are arranged in a high density manner.

Tungsten wire, nickel wire, or stainless steel wire may also be used. However, nickel wire is expensive, and other wires have problems that must be overcome in making electrode heads, such as difficulty in connecting them to electrical circuits. Reference numeral 105 is a part of an electrode needle extending from one side of the support for connection to an electric circuit, and serves as a lead portion. It is easy to fix the first support 101, the second support 102, and the electrode needles 103 with resin. It is preferable that this resin grooves the entire space created by the first support, the second support, and the electrode needles. On the other hand, if it is attached only to the lower part of the screen in FIG. 1 that is not used for recording, the mechanical strength will be weakened.

The first support and the second support may be identical. However, there is a limit to the width of the groove's peaks and valleys. The width of the peak should be narrower than the width of the valley. Otherwise, the peaks and valleys of the grooves will not be able to mesh together. Electrode needle 103
may be inserted after the first support and the second support have been engaged, or electrode needles may be provided on each of the first and second supports before they are engaged, and then You can also mesh them together.

The depth of the groove = depth of the valley = height of the peak) should be deeper than the diameter of the electrode needle provided, but it is easiest to prepare a delay time of 2 dots as the delay time given to the electric signal (because of memory etc.). Therefore, it is preferable that the diameter be about twice the diameter of the electrode needle. Depending on the recording device, the electrode head may be used at an angle with respect to the surface of the recording paper in order to improve running performance. In such cases, the depth of the grooves may be made shallow in order to make the spacing between the first and second rows of the stagger the same as the dot spacing.

That is, the depth of the groove is deeper than the diameter of the electrode needle and shallower than twice it.

Such an electrode head is arranged as shown in FIG. 2 and recording is performed. In FIG. 2, an electrode head 201 is pressed against a recording paper 202 and moved relative to it. A return electrode 203 is provided on a part of the recording paper, and an electric signal is applied from an electric signal source 204 between this electrode and one electrode needle of the electrode head. Although not shown in the figure, there are multiple electrode needles and electrical signal sources. When applying an electrical signal, the electrode needles in the electrode head used here are not lined up in a line, so it is necessary to give an appropriate time delay to the electrical signal applied to each electrode needle. Apart from electrode heads, several recording devices that perform this type of recording method have been known in the past. For example, discharge recording, electric current thermal recording, electric current transfer, electrolytic recording, electrostatic recording, etc.

Example 1 The first and second supports were plate-shaped (length 20 x width 20
A sintered body of 60,000-crystalline boron nitride with a size of 2 tm thick was prepared. On this surface, a 65μ width, 125μ depth, 125μ pitch (8 pieces/,) is formed using a guising tool for semiconductor wafer processing.
The groove was cut from end to end. A coated steel wire with a diameter of 60μ is wound 64 times in the groove of this sintered body of hexagonal crystal boron nitride using a winding machine, and a commercially available room-temperature curing epoxy resin (Araldite manufactured by Ciba Corporation) is applied over it. After aligning the ridges and valleys of the grooves under a microscope, they were tightened using a vise used in mechanical work, and left at room temperature to harden the resin. The tip was ground so as to come into contact with the recording paper, and each of the covered steel wire leads that came out on the other side were connected to a signal generation circuit.

Then, it is pressed against the discharge recording paper and run at 3 cm/sec, the recording paper is grounded, and the electrical signals given to the first and second rows of the staggered pattern are given an appropriate delay time, and the drive circuit shown in Fig. 2 is created. When an electric signal was applied, fine print was obtained with no gaps between the recorded dots of 16 dots/tsuru. Second
The figure shows only the output portion of one of the 128 drive circuits. 301 is an NPN l-transistor,
302 is a protective resistor, and in this experiment, 100 ohm was used. The emitter of transistor 201 is connected to the negative power supply (-45V
), and a print signal was input to the base. resistance 302
The other end A was connected to one of the lead parts of the electrode needle shown in FIG.

Comparative Example 1 In Example 1, the grooves on the first support were arranged at a pitch of 65μ3.
Make it 0μ wide and 30μ deep and insert a 25μ coated conductor into it.
An electrode head was made by pouring resin over the resin and fixing the lid with a plate of sintered hexagonal boron nitride without grooves. When a similar experiment was conducted using the same drive circuit as in Example 1, 16 dots/IIm were obtained, but the dot diameter was small and there were gaps between the dots, and the apparent density of the upper print was fell. To fill the gap between the dots, add at least 0.0046μF between point A in Figure 2 and ground.
(optimal 0.01 μF) capacitor was required.

In Example 1, a coated steel wire was used as the wire, but it is clear that a bare steel wire or other conductive wire may be used. However, in that case, measures must be taken to prevent the parallel wires from coming into contact with each other. It is clear that the cross section of the wire can be of any shape, but a circular shape is common and inexpensive. Further, in the first embodiment, the wire winding method was adopted as the manufacturing method of the electrode head, but there is no necessity to stick to this method in the apparatus of the present invention.

Example 2 Unlike Example 1, the wires were first assembled after winding without applying epoxy resin to the entire interlocking part, and fixed in a vise. Then, acrylic instant adhesive (trademark Aron Alpha) was applied to the first support and the second support. It was poured into the space created by the support and the electrode needle and fixed. When the same experiment as in Example 1 was conducted using this electrode head, almost the same results were obtained.

Example 3 In Example 1, the resin was not applied to the entire interlocking part, but was assembled only to the part near the lead part. When the same experiment as in Example 1 was conducted using this electrode head, almost the same results were obtained.

Example 4 A plate (length 20 mm x width 20 mm x thickness 2 cranes) made of a composite obtained by mixing and curing 90% by weight of hexagonal boron nitride powder and epoxy resin (bisphenol A type resin).
First and second supports were prepared.

The first support and the second support were grooved in the same manner as in Example 1, and assembled in the same manner. When an experiment similar to Example 1 was conducted, results were not as good as in Example 1, but
The print quality was not bad except for some trailing in the dots.

Comparative Example 2 A plate-shaped support (length 20fi x width 20mm x thickness 2m) made of a composite obtained by mixing and curing 90% by weight of 60,000-crystalline boron nitride powder and epoxy resin (bisphenol A type resin). prepared. Groove processing and assembly were carried out in the same manner as in Comparative Example 1, that is, a 16 dont/W single-row array electrode head was produced. The lid was also made of the same composite as the support. When an experiment similar to that of Example 1 was conducted using this electrode head, the results were similar to those of Comparative Example 1, and a capacitor was required in the signal generation circuit to fill the gaps between the dots.

Example 5 First and second supports in the form of plates (length 201×width 20w×thickness 21m) made of a composite material made by mixing and curing 80% by weight of talc powder and epoxy resin (bisphenol A type resin) were prepared. Prepared. The printing quality was slightly inferior to that in Example 1, but there was no electrical short circuit between adjacent electrode needles, and there was no disturbance in the dot array, making it suitable for practical use. was fully usable.

Comparative Example 3 A plate-shaped support (length 201×width 20fi×thickness 2m) made of a composite obtained by mixing and curing 80% by weight of talc powder and an epoxy resin (bisphenol A type resin) was prepared. The groove machining and assembly were the same as in Comparative Example 1, that is, 1.
A single row array of electrode heads with 6 dofts/fi was made. The lid was also made of the same composite as the support. When experiments similar to those in Example 1 were conducted using this electrode head, many short circuits occurred between adjacent electrode needles, and the dots that were supposed to be lined up in the - column were disrupted, making it impossible to print characters. In particular, many short circuits occurred in areas where there were many recording dots.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a recording device that records an image on a recording paper using an electrode head having an electrode needle, the electrode head being on the surface of the recording paper. Electrically insulating first and second supports having a plurality of grooves are engaged with the valleys and peaks of the respective grooves, and the electrode needles are provided in the valleys of the grooves of the first and second supports. It is designed to have a simple configuration.

This provides a recording device with high resolution and high reliability. Further, in the case of a discharge recording device, a capacitor is omitted to provide an inexpensive device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an electrode head used in the recording device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view showing the recording state of the recording device of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is the output part of the signal generation circuit used in the experiment. It is a circuit diagram. 101... Electrically insulating first support, 102
...Electrically insulating second support, 103...
... Electrode needle, 104 ... Valley, 105 ...
...Lead part, 201... Electrode head, 202
... Recording paper, 203 ... Return electrode, 2
04...Electric signal source, 301...Transistor, 302...Protection resistor. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao One idiot lθ5゛°
゛Reed moss p Figure 1

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) A recording device that records an image on a recording paper using an electrode head having an electrode needle, the electrode head having first and second electrically insulating supports having a plurality of grooves on the surface. A recording device characterized in that the troughs and crests of each groove mesh with each other, and the electrode needles are provided in the troughs of the grooves of the first and second supports. (2) The structure of the electrode head is characterized in that the space created by the first support, the second support, and the electrode needle is filled with resin. Recording device. (3) The record set forth in claim 1, wherein the electrode head has a structure in which the first support, the second support, and the electrode needle are only partially fixed with resin. Device. (4) The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the electrode head is composed of a first support member and a second support member having the same shape. (5) The structure of the electrode head is such that the depth of the grooves in the first support body and the second support body is deeper than the diameter of the electrode needle and shallower than double the diameter of the electrode needle. The recording device according to scope 1. (6) The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the first support and the second support of the electrode head are made of a sintered body of hexagonal boron nitride. (7) Claim 1, characterized in that the first support and the second support of the electrode head are a composite consisting of hexagonal boron nitride powder and a thermosetting resin. Recording device as described. (8) The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the electrode needle of the electrode head is a coated conducting wire. (9) The recording device according to claim 8, wherein the electrode needle of the electrode head is a coated steel wire.