JPS62269961A - Picture recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a photosensitive body from being exposed and to remove unfavorable influence due to exposure by transferring a light shielding material applied to the surface of the photosensitive body on which a latent image is formed to a transmission member and arranging the transmission member to the surface of photographic sensitive recording paper to expose the paper. CONSTITUTION:Only a part to be colored with magenta on the photosensitive drum is irradiated by laser beams at a scanner unit 10 and black toner is transferred to the magenta part on a film 36 by a zerographic unit 20. When the film 36 to be a positive mask is carried and superposed to a sheet S, a magenta interference filter in a filter unit 43 is inserted into the optical path and then the superposed film 36 is exposed by an exposure lamp 41, unexposed microcapsules generates no photocurying reaction, and when being pressed together with the sheet S by a press roller 61, generates color developing reaction to form magenta image on the sheet S. Similarly to the magenta development, yellow and cyan filters in the filter unit 43 are inserted into respective optical paths to form yellow and cyan images on the sheet S.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention 3. Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that forms an image on a photosensitive pressure sensitive recording paper.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, the following methods have been used to record image information on photosensitive and pressure sensitive recording paper (hereinafter referred to as a sheet).

Method (1): A method in which the sheet is directly scanned and exposed using switchable light such as a laser.

Method (2) A method of writing optical information between a lamp that emits two consecutive lights and a sheet via a micro-shutter, such as a liquid crystal optical shutter.

However, these methods often have the following problems.

Regarding method (1), the only sheet that can be manufactured at present has a spectral sensitivity of wavelength λ-475 [nm] or less. For this reason, the laser light source as a scanning exposure means has an argon laser wavelength (λ=351 [nm]
>, krypton laser wavelength (λ-351 [nm]), helium cadmium laser wavelength (λ = 325 [nm])
) or an ultraviolet gas laser, both of which are large and expensive.

Regarding method (2), when a liquid crystal optical shutter is used as the micro shutter, the liquid crystal itself deteriorates due to ultraviolet rays.

As a device that solved the above problems, the applicant of the present application proposed a copying device shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 76281/1981.

In such a copying apparatus, a latent image corresponding to an image on a document is formed on a transparent photoreceptor, and a light-shielding material is applied to the latent image.

At the position sandwiching the transparent photoreceptor coated with the light-shielding material,
The sheet and an exposure device are arranged, and the exposure device exposes the sheet to light through a light-shielding material and a transparent photoreceptor.

The sheet has many microcapsules on its surface, and the microcapsules harden when exposed to light.
Since the sheet retains its soft state when not irradiated with light, microcapsules that have been exposed and hardened will not be crushed even if pressure is applied to the sheet, but soft microcapsules that are blocked by a light-shielding material will be crushed and their records will be recorded. Paper develops color due to the coloring material contained within the microcapsules.

As a result, an image is formed on the sheet at a location corresponding to the latent image formed on the transparent photoreceptor, and the image becomes the same as the image on the original, and the image on the original is copied.

Therefore, the copying apparatus proposed by the applicant of the present application is an excellent one that solves the conventional problems that occurred when using photosensitive pressure sensitive recording paper, that is, the exposure scanning means became larger and the microshutter deteriorated.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the case of the copying apparatus described above, the light from the exposure device illuminates the transparent photoreceptor, which adversely affects the characteristics of the transparent photoreceptor.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an excellent image recording device that does not adversely affect the photoreceptor.

[Means for solving the problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the recording device of the present invention has the following features:
A latent image forming means for forming a latent image based on image information on a photoreceptor, a coating means for applying a light-shielding material to the latent image, and a transmitting member for transmitting light through the light-shielding material coated on the photoreceptor. an image forming means for forming an image on the transparent member by transferring the image thereon; a positioning means for arranging the transparent member on which the image is formed on a photosensitive pressure-sensitive paper; and a photosensitive pressure-sensitive paper on which the transparent member is arranged. The apparatus includes an exposing means for exposing the recording paper, and a pressure applying means for applying pressure to form an image on the exposed light-sensitive and pressure-sensitive recording paper.

[Function] According to the above-described recording device of the present invention, the light-shielding material coated on the photoreceptor on which the latent image is formed is transferred to the transparent member, and the transparent member is placed on the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording paper. By being exposed to light, the photoreceptor is not exposed to light by the exposure means. Thereby, the photoreceptor is not adversely affected by being exposed to light.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is embodied in a color image recording apparatus that forms a color image will be described based on the drawings.

This color image recording device includes a laser scanner unit 1
0, a xerography unit 20, a transmission member transport unit 30, an exposure unit 40, a light and pressure sensitive recording paper supply unit 50, a pressure fixing unit 60, and the like.

The laser scanner unit 10 constitutes a latent image forming means that forms a latent image based on image information on a photosensitive drum 22, which will be described later, and includes a motor 11, a polygon mirror 12 rotated by the motor 11, and a polygon mirror 12. It is composed of a semiconductor laser 13 that irradiates laser light to the photosensitive drum 22, an fθ lens 14, and a plane mirror 15 that allows the laser light to reach the photosensitive drum 22.

In recent years, photosensitive drums 22 whose spectral sensitivity has been enhanced to the near-infrared region around 800 nm have become easily manufactured, so that semiconductor lasers 13 can be small and inexpensive with a rating of several milliwatts. .

The laser scanner unit 10 replaces digital image data based on character or graphic information with an optical signal by a controller unit (not shown), and scans the photoreceptor 2 at high speed.
2 Scan above. Since this technique is well known and is used in the optical systems of many commercially available laser printers, detailed explanation of its operation will be omitted.

The xerography unit 20 constitutes a coating unit that applies a light-shielding material to the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 22, and includes the photosensitive drum 22 as a photoreceptor, a toner 24 as a light-shielding material, and a toner containing the toner 24. A case 23, a developing sleeve 25 for attaching the toner 24 to the photosensitive drum 22, and a transparent insulating film (hereinafter referred to as a film) 36 for attaching the toner 24 to the photosensitive drum 22, which will be described later.
a cleaning member 27 that collects the residual toner 24 on the photosensitive drum 22 after being transferred to the film 36, a collected toner case 28 that stores the collected toner 24, and the photosensitive drum 22. an erase lamp 29 for removing residual charges on the photosensitive drum 22;
It is composed of a charge corotron 21 that uniformly charges the .

After the photosensitive drum 22 is uniformly charged by the charger corotron 21, only the image portion is exposed to laser light by the laser scanner unit 10 to form an electrostatic latent image.

In this embodiment, black one-component toner 24 is stored in the toner case 23, and this is uniformly applied onto the developing sleeve 25, and the latent image on the photosensitive drum 22 is developed. In this case, the toner 24 is charged with the same sign as the unexposed portion of the latent image, and adheres to the exposed portion of the drum due to electrostatic repulsion. This is reversal development, which causes toner to adhere to the exposed areas. Note that this process may be carried out by normal rotation development, in which case the outside of the image area will be exposed. Further, a high voltage having a polarity different from that of the toner is applied to the transfer roller 26 from a high voltage power source (not shown). ' The untransferred toner remaining on the drum is removed by cleaning member 2.
The charges remaining on the drum are recovered from the drum at step 7, and the remaining charges on the drum are exposed and erased by an erase lamp 29.

The transmission member transfer unit 30 includes a drive roller 31 and a driven roller 32 that transfer the film 36, a motor (not shown) that drives the drive roller 31 and stops the film 36 at a predetermined position, and a motor (not shown) that drives the drive roller 31 and stops the film 36 at a predetermined position. It is composed of a cleaning grade 33 that collects the transferred toner 24, a collected toner case 33 that stores the collected toner 24, and the like. The film 36 is made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), has flexibility, has a thickness of approximately 70 to 200 [nm], and is resistant to light having a wavelength longer than at least the wavelength λ = 350 [nm]. It has transparency.

As shown in FIG. 2, the photosensitive and pressure sensitive recording paper supply unit 50 includes a paper feeding cassette 53 that stores the sheet S;
Paper feed roller 51 that takes out a sheet from the paper feed cassette 53
and a sheet guide section 52 that guides the sheet fed by the sheet feed roller 51. The sheet guide section 52 is disposed below the film 36 so that the sheet S can be disposed directly below the film 36 (referred to as an exposure station), and the sheet S is placed between a pair of pressure rollers 60 where the sheet S is rearwardly exposed. It is configured so that it can guide S.

In this embodiment, the sheet S is used for color printing, and its surface is coated with microcapsules individually encapsulating coloring materials of the basic colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow. The spectral sensitivity characteristic of this sheet S is, for example, the fourth
As shown in the figure, it has a cyan peak sensitivity at a wavelength λ=350 [nm], a magenta peak sensitivity at a wavelength λ=385 [nm], and a yellow peak sensitivity at a wavelength λ=470 [nm].

The exposure unit 40 includes an exposure lamp 41 and an exposure lamp 4.
In order to selectively photocure the cyan, magenta, and yellow coloring materials, there is an interference filter that transmits only the light of the wavelength corresponding to each color. It is composed of a built-in filter unit 43 and the like.

In this case, when recording a predetermined color on the sheet S, the filter unit 43 selects the cyan filter C, the magenta filter M, and the yellow filter Y by appropriate means. In this case, the exposure lamp 41 has a wavelength λ=300
It is desirable to have a wide wavelength band from the ultraviolet region around [nm] to the visible region, such as a xenon lamp.

The pressure fixing unit 60 crushes the unexposed microcapsules and records an image on the sheet using the dye flowing out from the microcapsules, and is composed of a pair of pressure rows 561 and a sheet feeding member (not shown). There is.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, a magenta image is formed on the sheet S. The scanner unit 10 irradiates laser light only to the portion of the photoreceptor drum 22 that is to be colored magenta. Xerography unit 20 transfers black toner to the portions of film 36 that are to be magenta. The film 36 to which the toner has been transferred becomes a magenta positive mask.
exposed to light. In this case, the filter unit 43 inserts in the optical path a magenta interference filter M that transmits only light around wavelength λ-385 [nm]. As a result, only the magenta color microcapsules on the sheet undergo a photocuring reaction. Then, the wavelength λ=38
Microcapsules that did not receive 5 [nm] light were
When the entire sheet is pressed by the pressure roller 61 without causing a photocuring reaction, a coloring reaction occurs and a magenta image is formed on the sheet.

The same applies to the formation of yellow and cyan images, and the filter unit 43 includes a yellow filter Y,
The xerography unit 20 forms a positive mask for each color on the film 36 by inserting the cyan filter C into the optical path, and the exposure lamp 41 exposes each color. As a result, the manner in which a magenta image is formed on a sheet is performed in the same manner for each color. The film 36 is stationary when the sheet S is exposed.

This shaving sheet S is conveyed from a paper feed cassette to an exposure station by a paper feed roller 51 and a sheet guide section 52, and the sheet is lightly brought into close contact with the film 36 by a pressure plate (not shown) and comes to rest.

During the repeated exposure of the three primary colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow, the sheet S remains stationary, while the positive masks of each color formed on the film 36 by the xerography unit 20 move toward the arrows in FIG. It moves in the direction and stops at a predetermined position, and exposure is performed for each color.

After the exposure, the sheet S is then passed between a pair of pressure rollers 61 in a feed row, the microcapsules to be colored are crushed by pressure, and the sheet is colored by the coloring material contained therein.

Incidentally, after the toner image on the film 36 is used as a mask, the film moves in the six directions of the arrow, and the remaining toner is cleaned and collected from the top of the film by the cleaning grade 33. The film 36 is repeatedly transferred with toner and used as a mask.

In the embodiments described above, when forming a color image, development on the photosensitive drum 22 is performed using only one color of black toner, and therefore, the development of toner of each color is performed using only one color of black toner, which is performed in a xerographic color laser printer. Exposure photoperiod adjustment and development bias control according to development characteristics are no longer required.
Further, there is no need to perform gradation and color tone correction.

Therefore, in the color image recording apparatus of this embodiment, the xerobry process unit has a simpler configuration compared to the xerography method for forming color images, and the apparatus can be miniaturized.
It is possible to reduce the cost and further improve reliability.

In addition, the exposure method of this embodiment requires less light energy than the conventional exposure method in which the sheet is directly exposed and scanned with laser light, and the light energy required for exposure is the laser exposure of the photosensitive drum and the sheet S. A total of 10 uniform exposures
It only takes about 100 W at most. Furthermore, by using a scanner using a semiconductor laser, the exposure apparatus can be simplified and miniaturized.

Furthermore, the thermal transfer toner used in the conventional serography method is not required for developing and fixing the photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper, making it possible to significantly reduce power consumption.

Although the above-mentioned embodiment has been described as a color laser printer, the image recording method is not limited to this. For example, among xerography systems that generate visible images, an LED array or a device combining a fluorescent lamp and a liquid crystal shutter array may be used instead of a laser scanner.

Also, instead of a color printer, you can use black or yellow printers.
It can be used as a single-color printer by using photosensitive and pressure-sensitive paper coated with monochromatic microcapsules containing coloring materials of each primary color, such as magenta and cyan. Also, the patent application 1986-1976
It may also be used in a copying device, such as that shown in No. 281.

Further, as the exposure lamp for the sheet S, fluorescent lamps having peaks at wavelengths λ=350.385 and 470 [nm] may be used instead of the xenon lamps.

[Effects] As described above, according to the recording apparatus of the present invention, the photoreceptor is not exposed and the photoreceptor is not adversely affected.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of essential parts showing the photosensitive pressure-sensitive paper feeding section, the transmission member feeding section, etc. of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an exposure device. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the main part of the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper. In the figure, 10 is a laser scanner unit, 20 is a xerography unit, 22 is a photosensitive drum, 24 is a toner, 26
30 is a transfer roller, 30 is a transparent member transfer unit, 36 is a transparent insulating film, S is a photosensitive pressure sensitive recording paper, 40 is an exposure unit, 43 is a filter unit, and 60 is a pressure roller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A latent image forming means for forming a latent image on a photoreceptor based on image information, a coating means for applying a light-shielding material to the latent image, and a light-shielding material coated on the photoreceptor. an image forming means for forming an image on the transparent member by transferring light onto the transparent member; a positioning means for arranging the transparent member on which the image is formed on a light-sensitive pressure-sensitive paper; 1. An image recording apparatus comprising: an exposure means for exposing a disposed photosensitive pressure sensitive recording paper; and a pressure applying means for applying pressure to form an image on the exposed light sensitive pressure sensitive recording paper.