JPS63205240A - Method for supplying current to ink - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce an instantaneous max. current necessary for driving an electrode and to miniaturize a power source part, by interposing flowable ink between a plurality of recording electrodes and a plurality of opposed electrodes and supplying a current between the opposed electrode selected from a plurality of the opposed electrodes and the corresponding recording electrode. CONSTITUTION:Flowable ink is arranged between recording electrodes 311-3MN and opposed electrodes 41-4M so as to be capable of supplying a current and image data is serially inputted to an N-bit shift register 1 through a flip-flop FF corresponding to a clock and this N-bit image data is supplied to the recording electrodes 311-31N but only the opposed electrode 41 is selected by a ring counter and electric energy is selectively applied to the flowable ink. By supplying a current between the successively selected opposed electrode and the corresponding recording electrode, the peak value of a current having to be supplied from a power source may be 1/M being the reciprocal of the number M of the opposed electrodes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ink energization method suitably used for image recording, which enables low-cost recording while maintaining the advantages of conventionally used recording methods.

Background Technology In recent years, with the rapid development of the information industry, various information processing systems have been developed, and recording methods and recording devices have been developed and adopted for each reporting system. Among these, typical plain paper recording methods include electrophotography and laser beam printers derived from electrophotography, inkjet, thermal transfer, and impact printers (those using wire dots, daisy foils, etc.).

Impact printers make a lot of noise and are difficult to fully print. Electrophotography, laser beam printers, etc. have high image quality resolution, but the equipment is complex and large,
The equipment cost is also high. Although inkjet has low consumable costs, it has the disadvantage that low viscosity liquid ink is ejected from a narrow nozzle, so the ink tends to solidify and clog when not in use. Furthermore, since the ink used for inkjet has a low viscosity, after the ink is transferred to the paper,
Blurring and image blurring are likely to occur.

In addition, the thermal transfer method is a method in which patterned heat is supplied to a solid ink layer provided on a sheet-like support, and the ink is melted and transferred onto plain paper, etc.; , a relatively small-sized device is used, and the device cost is low. However, since an ink ribbon comprising a solid ink layer provided on an expensive support is used, and this ribbon is disposable, this thermal transfer method has the disadvantage of increasing the cost of consumables.

The present inventors previously proposed a new image recording method that eliminates the above drawbacks and enables low running cost recording (Japanese Patent Application No. 175191/1982).

This image recording method uses a fluid ink that has fluid film-forming properties but is substantially adhesive, and can be imparted with tackiness by applying energy, and the fluid ink is applied onto an ink carrier. a step of forming an ink layer; a transfer step of supplying energy in a pattern according to an image signal to the ink layer to transfer fluid ink imparted with tack according to the pattern to a transfer medium; This is an image recording method characterized by:

In this new recording method, fluid ink (
When applying energy according to the image signal from multiple recording electrodes (constituting the signal head), it is necessary to instantaneously flow a large current (peak current) in order to drive the multiple recording electrodes simultaneously. It may happen. As a result, the recording apparatus used in the above-mentioned recording method requires a relatively large-capacity power supply section, so there is still room for improvement in terms of miniaturization of the recording apparatus.

The main purpose of the present invention is to improve the recording head electrode (recording electrode).
By reducing the amount of current that needs to be supplied from the power supply (instantly) to drive multiple recording electrodes when electricity is applied to the fluid ink from the ink, it is possible to use a recording device with a smaller power supply part. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for energizing fluid ink.

Akane"LΩ"L! As a result of intensive research, the inventor has discovered the above-mentioned patent application filed in 1986-17
When applying energy (for example, according to an image signal) from a recording electrode (or signal electrode) to a fluid ink like that used in the image recording method of No. 5191, due to the characteristics of the fluid ink, the image signal Even if the duty ratio (load time rate) of the barrel pulse is sufficiently small (for example, 172 or less in the conventional thermal transfer method), a good image can be formed. It has been found that the application state) can be obtained.

The ink energization method of the present invention is based on the above findings, and more specifically, fluid ink is interposed between a plurality of recording electrodes and a plurality of counter electrodes, and a fluid ink is interposed between a plurality of recording electrodes and a plurality of counter electrodes. It is characterized in that current is passed between the electrode and the recording electrode.

In the ink energization method of the present invention having the above configuration,
By utilizing the fluidity of ink, the length corresponding to the sub-scanning direction (relative movement direction of fluid ink with respect to the recording head) of one dot (one pixel) of an image can be determined by (signal application time (or pulse duration) Even if the time is set to 1 to 100 times the moving speed of the ink (time), an ink energy application state capable of forming a good image can be obtained.

Therefore, in the present invention, it is possible to use a pulse with a sufficiently small duty ratio (short pulse duration), and as a result, one of the divided counter electrodes can be selected (for example, sequentially). By doing this (
It becomes possible to select the recording electrode to be actually energized based on the difference in distance from the counter electrode (selected).

As a result, in the ink energization method of the present invention, the "instantaneous large current" required to drive the recording electrodes is less than half of the normal amount, making it possible to downsize and reduce the cost of the power supply section of the recording device. It happens.

Furthermore, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of recording electrodes are also divided into blocks (so that each block has a plurality of recording electrodes), with the number of blocks M = about 2 to 100,
By forming the recording electrode drive circuit into an M-divided matrix structure and greatly reducing the number of drive elements (for example, semiconductor switching elements), it is possible to downsize the drive element portion of the recording apparatus.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings as necessary. In the following description, "%" represents the quantitative ratio.
"and 1 part" are based on weight unless otherwise specified.

Referring to FIG. 1, which is a circuit diagram showing a drive circuit (for recording at poles and counter electrodes) used in the ink energization method of the present invention, 311 to 3MN are the plurality of signal heads constituting the signal head. The recording electrodes 41 to 4M are counter electrodes corresponding to these recording electrodes, and current is applied between these recording electrodes (311 to 3 MN) and the counter electrodes (41 to 4M) using these electrodes. A flowable ink (not shown) is disposed as possible.

In FIG. 1, to simplify the explanation, there are four counter electrodes and four signal electrodes each in four blocks (first block: 311 to 31N, second block: 321 to 32
N1 3rd block: 331-33N, 4th block = 3
Generally, the number of counter electrodes can be set to M, and the number of recording electrodes can be set to M blocks each having N number of recording electrodes.

Furthermore, it is also preferable to use 2M to 4·M counter electrodes for M blocks of recording electrodes.

In the present invention, the number M of blocks is preferably 2 to 100 (more preferably 3 to 32).

Next, the operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 1 will be explained. The image information is serially input to the N bit shift register 1 via the flip-flop FF in correspondence with the clock, and this N bit
Image information of t is supplied to recording electrodes 311 to 31N (first block) through latch 1.

On the other hand, in contact with the fluid ink (not shown) that contacts the recording electrodes (311 to 31N), the counter electrodes 8i41 to
4M is arranged, but only the counter electrode 41 is selected by the ring counter, and the other counter electrodes 42
~4M is in the state of E) FF.

Therefore, a current based on the image information flows between the recording electrodes 311 to 31N of the first block to which the image information is supplied and the counter electrode 41 that contacts them (via fluid ink). selectively imparts electrical energy to the flowable ink (thereby, e.g.
Selective tack is imparted to the flowable ink based on an electrochemical reaction).

In the circuit of FIG. 1, based on the matrix formation of the drive circuit (in addition to the recording electrodes 311 to 31N of the first block), the recording electrodes 311 to 31N of the first block are
31N and the recording electrodes 331 to 3 of the third block.
33N are electrically connected to each other. As a result, when a signal is applied to the recording electrodes 311 to 31N of the first block, the same signal is applied to each of the recording electrodes 331 to 33N (third block). A signal is applied, but 1. :(7)33
Since the counter electrode 43 facing 1 to 33N is in an OFF state (due to the action of the ring counter), the signal electrodes (third block) 331 to 33N to which the signal is applied in this way
33N and the counter electrode 41 (which is in the ON state due to selection by the ring counter) (
If a) is sufficiently larger than the distance at(b) between the recording electrodes 311 to 31N (first block) and the counter electrode 41 (preferably a/b≧2, more preferably 4)
≦a/b≦100), recording electrode 33 of the third block
From 1 to 33N, the fluid ink is not energized.

In the configuration of FIG. 1 described above, if each of the recording electrodes 311 to 31N of the first block and each of the recording electrodes 321 to 32N of the second block (which is an adjacent block) are electrically connected (common It is also possible to apply the same signal to each combination (for example, 311 and 321), but for example, the recording voltage 8 of the second block
Since it is usually difficult to maintain a sufficient distance between the i321 and the counter electrode 41, there is a tendency for the flowable ink to be easily energized between these electrodes. At this time, if the number of opposing electrodes is 2M, such a problem will not occur.

On the other hand, for the next N bits of image information, shift register 2 and latch 2 are processed by the action of flip-flop FF.
is selected, and the recording electrode 3 of the second block is selected in the same way as above.
21-32. Flowable ink is energized between N and the counter electrode 42 selected by the ring counter.

By repeating the above operation M times, shift register 1 (selected by flip-flop FF)
and the recording electrodes 331 to 33N of the third block to which signals are applied via latch 1 and the counter electrode 43 selected by the ring counter, and further between the recording electrodes of the first block similarly selected. 3M1 to 3MN and counter electrode 4
Electrification is applied to the fluid ink interposed between the two and M, respectively. Thereby, current can be selectively applied to the fluid ink from the MN recording electrodes based on the image information.

In this way, by supplying current between the sequentially selected counter electrodes and the recording electrodes corresponding to the selected counter electrodes, the number of recording electrodes driven simultaneously becomes N, which must be supplied from the power source. The peak value of the current (instantaneous maximum current value) is 1/M, which is the reciprocal of the number of opposing electrodes (M).
That's a good thing.

Furthermore, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the counter electrode is divided into M blocks, the recording electrode is divided into M blocks each having N blocks, and the driving circuit is configured in a matrix configuration with M divisions as shown in FIG. are used to drive these electrodes. As a result, the number of drive elements is basically (2N recordings N
, for driving the poles) and M elements for driving the M counter electrodes, which is the sum of (2N+M) (however, in the case of M=2, the number of driving elements is ( M+N).

As a result, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, compared to the number of drive elements required to drive MN electrodes simultaneously, significantly fewer drive elements are used to drive these electrodes, and the flowable ink is It becomes possible to conduct electricity. Therefore, in this preferred embodiment, furthermore, (the value of the current that simultaneously flows through the drive circuit can be reduced to 1/M at the minimum, the burden on the power supply is reduced), and the recording device is improved by downsizing the drive element portion. Further miniaturization and cost reduction can be achieved.

In the present invention, by increasing the number of counter electrodes (or the number of blocks of recording electrodes) M, the number of drive elements can be more significantly reduced, but the duty ratio of the signal pulse that provides one pixel is not divided into blocks. Case 1
/M or less. In the case where an electrochemical reaction is caused in the fluid ink near the electrode by energizing the ink, M can be about 2 to 100 (or even about 3 to 32).

In the ink energization method of the present invention, it is sufficient that both the recording electrodes 311 to 3MN and the opposing cylinders 8i41 to 4M are in contact with the fluid ink so that the fluid ink can be energized; The mode of contact between the fluid ink and these electrodes is not particularly limited (for example, each of these electrodes may be in contact with the ink surface,
Although the recording electrodes 311 to 3MN may be arranged in the fluid ink, it is preferable that the recording electrodes 311 to 3MN are in contact with the surface of the fluid ink (from the viewpoint of applying energy suitable for image formation).

Further, in the present invention, when energizing fluid ink formed in a layer (for example, on an ink carrier as described later), the counter electrodes 41 to 4M are the recording electrodes 311 to 3MN.
may be in contact with the same surface as the fluid ink surface with which it is in contact, or may be in contact with the surface on the opposite side of the ink layer (for example, on the ink carrier side). In this case, the spacing between the above-mentioned recording electrode and counter electrode is typically 0.3 (depending on the conductivity of the fluid ink) when these electrodes are both in contact with the same surface of the fluid ink layer. ~10
mm, and usually about 0.5 to 5 mm when they are in contact with opposite surfaces of the fluid ink layers.

In the above, the ink energization method of the present invention has been explained with reference to FIG. explain.

Such a signal head 3, for example, as shown in a partial schematic perspective view in FIG. Tip on the electrode (the part that comes into contact with the ink)
A signal head in which an insulating film 33 made of polyimide or the like is provided on the other parts is preferably used. The exposed portion of the recording electrode from the insulating film 33 is preferably plated with gold, platinum, rhodium, or the like. From the viewpoint of durability, platinum plating is more preferable.

Further, referring to the schematic perspective view of the signal head in FIG. 3, on a base body 31 made of a flexible polyimide sheet,
If a recording head 3a is used in which the electrode patterns 311 to 324 are drawn out alternately from opposite sides, the electrode pitch will be doubled when actually connected to a drive circuit, making the actual connection easier. In this case, there is also the advantage that the load on the drive circuit is reduced because the line spacing between adjacent signal lines connected to the recording electrodes is significantly reduced.

Next, the fluid ink suitably used in the energization method of the present invention will be described in some detail below.

The ink suitably used in the present invention has fluidity but is substantially sticky (when no energy is applied) and can be made sticky by the application of energy (for example, electrical energy). It is sexual ink. "Tackiness" here refers to selective tackiness, and when ink comes into contact with an object such as an intermediate transfer body, a portion of the ink is cut off (selectively separated) from the entire ink and the object (In short, it has nothing to do with whether the entire ink is sticky or not).

More specifically, as such a fluid ink, an ink having the following characteristics is preferably used.

(1) Using a fluidity rotational viscometer, such as Bismetron VS-AI type manufactured by Shibaura System Co., Ltd., at room temperature (25°C), SU32
When using a 7g rotor of about 3m+nφ, the viscosity of the fluid ink used in the present invention is as follows: the rotor rotation speed is 0.3r
When pm is 1.0X10'~2. Oxl O' cp
s (centiboise), (further i, oxio'~1
．． 0xlO'cps), 5 at rotation speed 1.5 rpm
．． 0x10'cps or more (even 1. Ox 10'
~4. Ox 10' cps) is preferred.

(2) Gently place a 5cm x 5cm piece of aluminum foil (after weighing accurately) on the surface of the fluid ink in a non-adhesive (or liquid dispersion medium retaining) container at a temperature of 25°C and a humidity of 60%. After leaving the aluminum foil in an atmosphere for 1 minute, gently peel off the aluminum foil from the fluid ink surface and quickly and accurately weigh the aluminum foil to determine the weight increase of the aluminum foil. In the fluid ink used in the present invention, solid components (for example, crosslinked structural substances) are not substantially transferred to the aluminum foil piece, and the weight increase of the aluminum foil is 0 to 1000 mg, more preferably 1 to 100 mg. It is preferable that the degree of In addition, when peeling off the entire fluid ink inside the container and the aluminum foil,
If necessary, it may be gently peeled off with a spatula or the like and weighed accurately.

The fluid ink having the above characteristics includes a liquid dispersion medium (
An ink having a gel state in a broad sense in which the ink (or vehicle) is held by a crosslinked structure substance is preferably used. In such a fluid ink, since the liquid dispersion medium is well held in the crosslinked structure, it is estimated that the fluid ink has substantially no tackiness when no energy is applied.

The above-mentioned "crosslinked structure substance" refers to a substance that can form a crosslinked structure by itself, or a substance that forms a crosslinked structure by adding other additives (for example, a crosslinking agent made of inorganic ions such as borate ions). A substance that enables this is used.

Here, the term "crosslinked structure" refers to a three-dimensional structure having a "bridged bond", and the "bridged bond" is preferably constituted by an ionic bond and/or a hydrogen bond.

On the other hand, as the liquid dispersion medium, various inorganic or organic solvents that are liquid at room temperature can be used, but their volatility is relatively low (e.g., equivalent to or lower than water). Preferably, a solvent is used.

When a hydrophilic dispersion medium such as water or a water-containing dispersion medium is used as the liquid dispersion medium, a hydrophilic (natural or synthetic) polymer or the like is preferably used as the crosslinked structure substance.

Examples of such hydrophilic polymers include guar gum,
Natural polymers such as locust bean gum; Semi-synthetic polymers such as alginic acid polymers such as propylene glycol alginate and alginate; and other polysaccharide derivatives; Vinyl polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol and sodium polyacrylate; Others Synthetic polymers such as polyethylene glycol and ethylene oxide-propylene oxide block copolymers are preferably used alone or in combination of 2 fffi or more as necessary.

These hydrophilic polymers are generally preferably used in an amount of 0.2 to 10 parts, particularly preferably 0.5 to 5 parts, per 100 parts of the liquid dispersion medium.

In the present invention, carrageenan, locust, etc. are preferred among the various crosslinked materials mentioned above, since they can easily obtain favorable fluidity and liquid dispersion medium retention, and furthermore, the crosslinked structure can be easily controlled by applying energy. Hydrophilic polysaccharides such as bean gum, xanthan gum, guar gum, etc., or derivatives thereof are preferably used, and furthermore, a mixture system with locust bean gum, a mixture system of xanthan gum and locust bean gum, guar gum, locust bean gum, etc. A mixed system of a galactomannan such as and a boric acid source compound (a compound capable of liberating boric acid ions in an aqueous solution) as a crosslinking agent is particularly preferably used.

Here, it is preferable to use about 1 to 20 parts of the boric acid source compound, which is a crosslinking agent, based on, for example, 100 parts of guar gum.

The above-mentioned fluid ink contains a coloring agent such as a normal dye/pigment or electrophotographic toner particles in an amount of 0.5 to 80 parts (especially 1 to 5 parts) per 100 parts of a liquid dispersion medium.
0 parts) is preferably included.

The ink energization method of the present invention can be used not only in an embodiment in which an electrochemical reaction is caused, but also in an embodiment in which the viscosity of the ink is changed by the heat generated by energization to impart stickiness. Since this method requires a larger amount of current than the method using a reaction, it is usually difficult to increase the number M of divided blocks of the electrode (to 20 or more, for example).

Next, a description will be given of a mode in which image recording is performed using the above-described ink energization method of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, which is a partial schematic side sectional view showing one aspect of the apparatus system used in such an image recording method, the fluid ink 6 in the ink container 5 has a surface made of stainless steel or the like, and has a cylindrical shape. As the ink-carrying roll 7 rotates in the direction of arrow A, the ink is conveyed in the direction of arrow B while being supported on the surface of the roll 7.

The fluid ink 6 transferred in this manner is applied to the signal head 3 at an energy application position where the ink contacts the signal head 3 provided with a plurality of recording electrodes 311 to 3MN.
A patterned voltage corresponding to the image signal is applied from the source.

A current based on the voltage flows from the signal head 3 through the fluid ink 6 to the counter electrodes 41 to 4M provided on the ink layer thickness regulating means 4 (for example, due to an electrochemical reaction in the ink 6). Selective tackiness is imparted to the fluid ink 6 (based on the change in crosslinking structure).

The fluid ink 6 imparted with selective tackiness is further transported in the direction of arrow B and reaches an ink transfer position where the layer of ink 6 is brought into contact with an intermediate transfer roll 8 serving as an intermediate transfer medium. The intermediate transfer roll 8 is a cylindrical member made of iron or the like and whose surface is plated with hard chrome, and faces the ink carrying roll 7 with a certain gap at the ink transfer position.

At this ink transfer position, the intermediate transfer roll 8 rotates (at least a part of) the ink 6 constituting the ink layer formed on the ink carrying roll 7 in the direction of arrow C based on the selective adhesion described above. Transfer the ink pattern 61 on top.
form.

This ink pattern 61 corresponds to arrow C on the intermediate transfer roll 8.
The ink image is transferred to an ink image transfer position where a transfer roll 10 faces the intermediate transfer roll 8 with the recording material 9 interposed therebetween.

At this ink image transfer position, a recording material 9 made of plain paper or the like and transported in the direction of the arrow is placed in contact with the surface (ink image forming surface) of the intermediate transfer roll 8. . Furthermore, a transfer roll 10, which is a transfer means and rotates in the direction of arrow E, is disposed so as to face the intermediate transfer roll 8 so as to be able to sandwich the recording material 9, and whose surface is made of silicone rubber or the like.

At the ink image transfer position, the ink pattern 61 on the intermediate transfer roll 8 is transferred onto the recording material 9 to form a transferred recorded image 62.

Meanwhile, at the ink transfer position, the intermediate transfer roll 8
The fluid ink 6 that has not been transferred is further transferred in the direction of arrow B, separated from the intermediate transfer roll 8 by the action of gravity (based on its non-adhesive property), and returned to the ink container S. be made available again (based on liquidity).

Note that in the device system shown in FIG. 4, it is also possible to use the ink carrying roll 7 as the counter electrode, but in this case, drawing out the contacts from the counter electrode divided into a plurality of parts becomes somewhat complicated. Therefore, as described above, the counter electrode 41 is placed on the layer thickness regulating member 4 that regulates the thickness of the ink layer.
It is preferable to provide ~4M.

According to the present invention, as described above, from a plurality of recording electrodes,
By energizing a counter electrode selected from among a plurality of counter electrodes (in contact with the fluid ink) through the fluid ink in contact with the recording electrode, the voltage necessary to drive these electrodes is energized. Provided is an ink energization method that can significantly reduce the instantaneous maximum current (peak current) and make it possible to downsize and reduce the cost of a recording device by downsizing the power supply section.

The ink energization method of the present invention is particularly applicable to an image forming method in which the adhesion characteristics of fluid ink to a transfer medium are changed by an electrochemical reaction or heat generation based on the energization, and an image is formed by utilizing this change. It can be used preferably.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples.

After uniformly mixing the above components while heating them to 90°C, by leaving them at room temperature, a gel-like ink with high water retention is created.
In addition, an amorphous (fluid) product was obtained. At this time, it was preferable to adjust the pH to 7 to 11 using an acid or an alkali.

In this gel ink, it is presumed that the C1s OHs of C7 and C5 of the mannose main chain of guar gum and/or the cis-OH groups of C5 and C4 of the galactose side chain are crosslinked by borate ions.

Acid such as hydrochloric acid or acetic acid is added to this gel-like ink to make the pH less than 7 to form a viscous liquid sol, and then a phthalocyanine pigment is uniformly dispersed in a polyester resin to obtain particles. After uniformly mixing 50 parts of toner particles with a diameter of 10 μm (canon NP color copier cyan toner, with no externally added fluidity improver), the pH was adjusted again.
In Examples 7 to 11, gel-like inks in the form of sludge were obtained.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is an ink carrying roll 7 made of a stainless steel cylindrical roll of 20111+nφ (surface roughness Is), and an intermediate transfer roll 8 made of an iron cylindrical roll (20)φ) whose surface is plated with hard chrome. Using the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 4, in which the ink and the ink were opposed to each other with a gap of 2 cm at the ink transfer position, the sludge-like ink 6 obtained above was put into the ink container 5 of this apparatus.

The ink carrying roll 1 is rotated in the direction of arrow A at a rotation speed of about 30 rpm to form a layer of fluid ink 6 on the roll 1, and in contact with this layer, the intermediate transfer roll 8 is
was rotated in the direction of arrow B at a rotation speed of about 25 rpm.

At this time, electrical energy is transferred from the recording head 3 to the ink 6.
When the ink 6 was not supplied to the intermediate transfer roll 8, a very small amount of water was transferred onto the intermediate transfer roll 8, but the ink 6 was not substantially transferred onto the intermediate transfer roll 8.

On the other hand, the area of the recording head 3 having the shape shown in FIG.
μrn x 100 μm) was used as an anode.

The recording electrodes 311 to 3MN are provided with N-108 electrodes per block, M=108 blocks (108×16=1728 electrodes in total), and 8 pixels/mm.

On the other hand, a counter electrode (cathode) that contacts the recording head 3 through a layer of fluid ink 6 is provided on a layer thickness regulating member 4 that regulates the thickness of the ink layer, a schematic perspective view of which is shown in FIG. Nickel electrodes 401 to 416 were formed by dividing an effective width of 216 mm in the longitudinal direction into 16 parts, and used as a plurality of counter electrodes.

In this example, a drive circuit as shown in FIG. 1 is used to drive the 1728 recording electrodes, 2N = 216 on the signal head side and M = 16 on the counter electrode side (2N = 16 in total).
+M=232 drive elements).

Using the drive circuit configured as shown in Figure 1, the image signal is synchronized with the start pulse of 10m5ec period as shown in Figure 6, and 10
Alternately transferred with a clock of 800 pulses/second, 500 μsec, 4
When applied as a 0V pulse, a current flows for about 2 to 3 m per recording electrode, and the fluid ink 6 is selectively transferred onto the intermediate transfer roll 8, forming an ink pattern 6.
1 (8 pixels/mm in the main scanning direction, approximately 4 pixels/m in the sub-scanning direction)
m) was formed.

At the ink image transfer position, a pressure roll 10 (which rotates at the same speed as the intermediate transfer roll 8 in the direction of the arrow E) is attached to the intermediate transfer roll 8 via a recording material 9 made of plain paper that is transported in the direction of the arrow. 4II on a 12mmφ iron cylindrical roll
II11 thick silicone rubber layer) were placed facing each other and a slight pressure was applied from this pressure roll 10. As a result, an image of 8 pixels/mm in the main scanning direction and about 4 pixels/mm in the sub-scanning direction was formed on the recording material 9. Image obtained.

According to the findings of the present inventors, images are formed as described above due to the OH groups at the C2 and C3 cis positions of the mannose main chain of guar gum, and the OH groups at the C3 and C4 cis positions of the galactose side chain. The group is removed from the borate ion (BO4-), which is in a cross-linked state by forming a borate ester, through an anodic reaction, and the cross-linked structure (at least a part of it) is destroyed, and the ink is It is presumed that this is because the viscosity decreased, selectively imparting tackiness to the ink, and a portion of the ink to which this tackiness was imparted was transferred to the intermediate transfer roll 8.

According to the findings of the present inventors, the reaction at this time is estimated as follows, for example.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a drive circuit used to drive a recording electrode and a counter electrode in the present invention, and FIG.
3 and 3 are schematic perspective views showing an example of the configuration of a recording head used in the present invention, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of an image recording apparatus using the ink energization method of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration example of a counter electrode used in the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a timing diagram showing signals applied to the recording electrode in the example. 3... Recording head 311-3MN... Recording electrode 4... Ink layer thickness regulating means 41-4M... Counter electrode 5... Ink container 6... Fluid ink 7... Ink carrying Roll 8... Intermediate transfer roll 9... Recording material 10... Pressure roll Representative diagram: Fig. 1 Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fluid ink is interposed between a plurality of recording electrodes and a plurality of counter electrodes, and current is supplied between a selected counter electrode among the plurality of counter electrodes and the recording electrode. An ink energization method characterized by: 2. Divide the plurality of recording electrodes into two or more blocks each having a plurality of recording electrodes, connect the individual recording electrodes in the plurality of blocks in correspondence with each other, and connect the recording electrodes in correspondence with each other in common. The ink energization method according to claim 1, wherein a common signal is provided. 3. The plurality of recording electrodes are divided into three or more blocks each having a plurality of recording electrodes, and one of the plurality of blocks (A) and a block other than the block adjacent to the block (A) (B) are divided into three or more blocks each having a plurality of recording electrodes. 2. The method of energizing ink according to claim 1, wherein the individual recording electrodes in the recording electrodes are connected in common with each other in correspondence with each other, and a common signal is applied to the recording electrodes in correspondence with each other. 4. According to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the fluid ink is formed in a layer, and the recording electrode and the counter electrode are brought into contact with the same surface of the fluid ink layer. How to energize the ink described. 5. The method for energizing ink according to claim 4, wherein the counter electrode also serves as ink layer thickness regulating means for regulating the thickness of the fluid ink layer.