JPS6216162A - Apparatus for controlling ion current - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the density of an ion current, by providing an ion converging part to an ion current control head to form an electric field converging an ion. CONSTITUTION:An ion current control head 1 is formed so that a pair of electrodes 12, 14 respectively having through-holes 10 permitting the passage of an ion current are held in such a state that the hole axes of the through-holes 10 are allowed to coincide and a predetermined distance is held between both electrodes 12, 14 by an insulating member 16. A ion converging part 4 is arranged between an ion current control head 1 and a corona discharge device 2 and consists of a converging electrode 42 having an opening part 40 of which the diameter is larger than that of each through-hole 10 and the insulating member 44 supporting said converging electrode 42. An electric field is formed so as to be directed from the converging electrode 42 toward the electrode 12 and the straight polarity ion generated from a corona wire 20 is converged toward the through-holes 10. The ions absorbed by a casing 22 and the electrode 12 can be gathered to the through-holes 10 and the density of the ion current is enhanced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention Technical Field The present invention relates to an ion flow control device that controls ion flow by an electric field applied to a pair of electrodes, and more specifically to a printer used as an output device for a copying machine or an information processing system. Alternatively, the present invention relates to an ion flow control device that can be applied when forming an electrostatic latent image by irradiating a recording member with an ion flow in a recording device such as a profilter.

Conventional technology In recording devices such as copying machines and printers or plotters used as output devices of information processing systems,
When recording an image by controlling the ion flow for each pixel using the lion projection recording method, an ion flow control device is used to control the ion flow applied to the intermediate medium based on the image information to be recorded.

The ion flow control head in such an ion flow control device is generally configured to irradiate the surface of the recording member with an ion flow through small holes corresponding to pixels. A pair of electrodes is placed near the entrance and exit sides of a small hole (hereinafter referred to as a through hole) through which the ion flow passes, and a voltage is applied between the electrodes to selectively control the passing or blocking of the ion flow. The electrostatic latent image is formed on the recording member by controlling the voltage between the electrodes based on image information.

However, according to the conventional ion flow control device, the ions supplied from the ion source are diffused in directions other than through the through holes, so the density of the ion flow passing through the through holes becomes low.

That is, since the current density becomes low, a recording device using a conventional ion flow control device has a problem that the signal-to-noise ratio is poor and the recording density cannot be increased, and therefore the recording speed cannot be increased.

OBJECTS It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art and to provide an ion flow control device that does not reduce the density of the ion flow passing through the through hole.

Structure In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ion flow control head means comprising a pair of electrodes arranged at a distance from each other, each having a through hole through which ions supplied from an ion source pass, and a pair of electrodes. An ion flow control device comprising a control power supply means for controlling passage of ions through the through hole by controlling a voltage applied to the through hole and controlling an electric field formed in the longitudinal direction of the through hole. A focusing electrode means disposed between the head means and the ion source and having an opening larger than the through hole, and forming an electric field for focusing ions between the focusing electrode means and the ion flow control head means. This device is characterized by having an ion focusing power source means. Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained based on examples.

FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration diagram of an ion flow control device according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. This embodiment includes an ion flow control device 1, a corona discharger 2. Ion switch 3, ion focusing section 4. DC power supply Vl, DC power supply V2. It is formed to include an ion generation type [V3] and an ion convergence power supply V4.

The ion flow control head l has a through hole 10 through which the ion flow passes.
A pair of electrodes 12 and 14, each having a through hole 10, are formed by aligning the axes of the through holes 10 and holding them at a predetermined distance by the insulating member 1B.

The corona discharger 2 includes a corona wire 20 provided in alignment with the through hole 10 of the ion flow control head l, and a casing 22 provided so as to surround the corona wire 20 in conjunction with the ion flow control head l. It is formed with In this embodiment, the corona wire 20 is designed to generate positive ions, and is connected to a positive ion generation power supply v.
Connected to 3. Casing 22 is grounded.

The DC power supply Vl applies a positive voltage to the electrode 14, and is configured to be connected to the electrode 14 by the switch 3. The DC power source v2 applies a negative voltage to the electrode 14, and is configured to be connected to the electrode 14 by the switch 3. The other electrodes of DC power supplies Vl and v2 are grounded. The switch 3 has two connection positions 30 and 32, which are connected by a drive circuit (not shown) responsive to image information.
Select either of 2.

Electrode 12 is grounded.

The ion focusing section 4 is disposed between the ion flow controller rad 1 and the corona discharger 2, and includes a focusing electrode 42 having an opening 40 with a larger diameter than the through hole 10, and an insulating member supporting the focusing electrode 42. It consists of 44.

FIG. 2(a) shows the ion convergence unit 4 and the ion flow control controller l viewed from the side of the corona discharger 2, and FIG. 2(b) shows the view from the opposite side. As shown in (a), the focusing electrode 42 is arranged long in the longitudinal direction of the corona discharger 2, and the center of the opening 40 in the width direction is arranged so as to coincide with the center of the through hole 40. There is. In addition, the electrode 12
The same voltage is applied around all the through holes 40 arranged in a plurality of straight lines. On the other hand, the electrode 14 has a plurality of through holes 40 as shown in FIG. 2(b).
The through holes 40 are separated so that different voltages are applied around each hole. Note that the electrodes 14 may be arranged in a staggered manner instead of being arranged linearly as shown in the figure.

The ion focusing power supply v4 applies a positive voltage to the focusing electrode 42, and is connected to the focusing electrode 42 and the electrode 12. The focusing electrode 42 has a positive potential with respect to the electrode 12 due to this ion focusing power source v4.

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

Corona discharge occurs between the corona wire 20 and the casing 22 in the corona discharger 2, and positive ions are diffused into the casing 22.

The switch 3 is controlled based on the image information, and the switch 3
When the electrode 14 is connected to the connection position 30, the electrode 14 is connected to the positive polarity DC power supply ■1. Therefore, a positive voltage is applied to the electric current ai14 of the ion flow controller 1, and as shown by the dashed line in FIG.
Since an electric field is formed in the direction from t toward the electrode 12, ions of positive polarity do not pass through the through hole 10.

Next, when the switch 3 is connected to the connection position 32; the pole 14 is connected to the negative polarity DC power source v2, and a negative voltage is applied to the electrode 14 of the rad 1 for ion flow control.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Since an electric field is formed in the direction from 2 to the electrode 14, positive ions pass through the through hole 10.

In this way, the ion flow is controlled according to the image information.

However, in conventional ion flow control devices like this,
Since the ion convergence unit 4 as in this embodiment was not provided, the ions generated from the corona wire 20 are diffused in all directions, and some are absorbed by the casing 22 and some are absorbed by the electrode 12. Therefore, fewer ions reach the through hole 10, and fewer ions pass through the through hole 10! iL density was low.

Therefore, a recording device using a conventional ion flow control device has a poor signal-to-noise ratio and cannot increase the recording speed.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the ion focusing section 4 is provided and the focusing electrode 42 is set to have a positive potential with respect to the electrode 12 by the ion focusing power supply v4, so that the electric field in the direction from the focusing electrode 42 to the electrode 12 is is formed, and positive ions generated from the corona wire 20 due to this electric field enter the through hole 10.
It is converged in the direction of . In this case, positive polarity ions receive a force from the center of the opening 40 in the width direction toward the center of the through hole 10, and since the opening 40 is formed larger than the through hole 10, the ions around the opening 40 A force is applied from the center portion to the center portion, and is effectively focused toward the through hole 10. Therefore, since the ions that were conventionally diffused and absorbed into the casing 22 and the electrode 12 when the ion converging section 4 was not provided can be collected in the through hole 10, the fitVE degree of ions passing through the through hole 10 can be increased. I can do it. Therefore, the ion flow control v4 according to this embodiment
The recording section δ using the apparatus has the effect that the density of the ion flow irradiated onto the recording member is increased, and an electrostatic latent image with a high signal-to-noise ratio can be obtained.

FIG. 5 shows a fundamental configuration diagram of an ion flow control device according to another embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

In this embodiment, the ion focusing section 4 includes a focusing electrode 402 having an opening 400 with a width larger than that of the through hole 10, an insulating member 404 supporting this focusing electrode 402, and an opening with a width larger than the opening 400. 410 and an insulating member 4 that supports this focusing electrode 412.
It consists of 14. The focusing electrode 402 and the focusing electrode 412 are arranged so that the centers of the openings 400 and 410 in the width direction and the hole axis of the through hole 10 coincide with each other, and the focusing electrodes 402 and 412 are not in contact with each other. There is.

The ion focusing power supply v5 applies a positive voltage to the focusing electrode 402, and is connected to the focusing electrode 402 and the electrode 12. By this ion focusing power supply V5, the focusing electrode 40
2 has a positive potential with respect to the electrode 12.

In addition, the ion focusing power supply ■8 applies a positive voltage to the focusing electrode 412, and connects the focusing type 8i 412 and the focusing electrode 40.
It is connected to 2. The focusing electrode 412 has a positive potential with respect to the focusing electrode 402 due to this ion focusing power supply v8. The rest of the structure is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, since the focusing electrode 402 is made to have a positive potential with respect to the electrode 12 by the ion focusing power supply V5, an electric field is formed in the direction from the focusing electrode 402 toward the electrode 12, and the ion focusing Since the power supply v8 causes the focusing electrode 412 to have a positive potential with respect to the focusing electrode 402, the focusing electrode 412 is connected to the focusing electrode 4.
An electric field is formed in the direction toward 02.

Positive ions generated from the corona wire 20 are focused in the direction toward the through hole 10 by these electric fields. That is, positive polarity ions are first focused by an electric field in a direction from the focusing electrode 412 toward the focusing electrode 402, and then focused by an electric field in a direction from the focusing electrode 402 toward the electrode 12, and collected in one hole IO.

FIG. 6 shows a fundamental configuration diagram of an ion flow control device according to another embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

In this embodiment, a bias power supply V7 is provided,
One electrode of the DC power supply V1 and ■2 is connected to the
Connected to v7. One electrode of the ion focusing "IrL source v4 and the electrode 12 are also connected to the bias power supply v7. The other configurations are the same as the embodiment shown in FIG.

Since the electrodes 12, 14 and the focusing electrode 42 have the function of absorbing ions, one bias power supply v7 is used as in this embodiment.
If not provided, some of the ions passing through the opening 40 and the through hole 10 would be absorbed by the electrode 12.14 and the focusing electrode 42, resulting in a decrease in the density of the ion flow passing through the through hole 10. In the embodiment, a bias power supply v7 is provided and a positive bias voltage is applied to the electrodes 12, 4 and the focusing electrode 42, so that ion absorption by the electrodes 12, 4 and the focusing electrode 42 can be prevented, and the through hole The ion flow density through the IO can be even higher than in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows a fundamental configuration diagram of an ion flow control device according to another embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

In this embodiment, the voltage of the ion focusing power source v4 is made variable, and the other configurations are the same as the embodiment shown in FIG.

According to this embodiment, since the voltage of the ion focusing power supply v4 can be changed, the strength of the electric field for ion focusing can be changed, and as a result, the density of the ion flow passing through the through hole 10 can be changed. can be done. Therefore, the recording device using the ion flow control device according to this embodiment can change the intensity of the electrostatic latent image by changing the density of the ion flow irradiated onto the recording member, and can adjust the density of the entire image. .

Further, in the above embodiment, the corona wire 20 is connected to the positive ion generating power source 3 to generate positive ions, but it is connected to the negative ion generating power source to generate negative ions. However, if the polarity of the ions generated from the corona discharger 2 is to be negative, the polarity of each DC power source used may be reversed.

Effects According to the present invention, since the ion focusing section is provided to form an electric field for focusing ions, the density of the ion flow can be increased.

Therefore, by using it in a recording device, a high-contrast image with a high signal-to-noise ratio can be obtained, and the time required to form an electrostatic latent image can be shortened, so that the recording speed can be increased.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 7FS1 is a basic configuration diagram of an ion flow control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 (a) is a diagram of the ion flow control unit and the ion focusing section as seen from the corona discharger side. FIG. 2(b) is a plan view showing an embodiment, and FIG. 2(b) is a bottom view showing an ion flow control head and an ion convergence unit as viewed from the opposite side from FIG. 2(a). is an operating state diagram for explaining the operation of the ion flow control head of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are ion flow diagrams of other embodiments to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the basic configuration of a control device. Explanation of symbols of main parts 1 Ion flow control head 2 Corona discharger 3 Switch 4 Ion focusing section 10 Through hole 12 , Electrode 14 , Electrode 20 , Corona wire 22 , Casing 40 , Opening 42... Focusing electrode 400 , 410 , Opening 402, 412, focusing electrode Vl, V2. , , DC power supply V3. ,,, ion generation power supply v4, v5, VB, ion convergence power supply V7. ．． ．． ．． ．． bias power supply

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Ion flow control head means comprising a pair of electrodes arranged at a distance from each other, each having a through hole through which ions supplied from an ion source pass; and a control power supply means for controlling passage of ions through the through hole by controlling a voltage and controlling an electric field formed in the longitudinal direction of the through hole, the ion flow control device comprising: a focusing electrode means disposed between the head means and the ion source and having an opening larger than the through hole; and an electric field for focusing ions between the focusing electrode means and the ion flow control head means. An ion flow control device characterized by having an ion focusing power source means for forming an ion flow control device. 2. The ion flow control device according to claim 1, wherein the focusing electrode means is one focusing electrode having an opening. 3. In the apparatus according to claim 1, the focusing electrode means is constructed by stacking a plurality of focusing electrodes each having an opening in the ion passing direction, and the opening of the plurality of focusing electrodes An ion flow control device characterized in that the ion flow control head means is formed to be larger as it is farther from the flow control head means, and the ion focusing power supply means forms an electric field for focusing ions also between the plurality of focusing electrodes. . 4. An ion flow control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ion focusing power source means is a variable power source means. 5. The ion flow control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a bias voltage is applied to the pair of electrodes and the focusing electrode means by a bias power supply means. Device.