JPS6363060A - Electrophotographic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To store an image having high quality over a long period of time by coloring a developer by sublimating a sublimate dye, heating and melting a thermoplastic resin and fixing it. CONSTITUTION:Plain paper 20 subjected to pretreatment and a sheet 40 to which sublimable dye-contained particles 38 adhere are fed to a heating and coloring device 14, and by heat of a heater 50, the sublimable dye of the sheet 40 is sublimated, contacts a developer 26 positioned right above and colors it. Subsequently, the plain paper 20 which has been colored so as to form a prescribed image is fed to a fixing device 16. The fixing device 16 consists of a pair of heating rollers 52, and by allowing the mutual paper 20 to pass through between them, thermoplastic resin fine powder 28 which has adhered to the surface of the plain paper 20 is heated and melted, and an image is fixed in a state that the developer 26 and been taken into the inside of a resin layer 54. In this way, where is no possibility that the image is deteriorated over a long period of time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an electrophotographic apparatus that can perform printing on plain paper by coloring using a sublimable dye.

[Prior art] Printing methods using sublimable dyes are conventionally known.
Several methods have already been proposed.

However, in general, only special paper such as clay paper can be used as a recording medium, and the image after fixing has the disadvantage that it quickly fades during storage and cannot withstand long-term storage.

To solve such problems, the exposed area is developed with a toner containing an electron-accepting substance, which is transferred to plain paper and fixed, and a second photoconductor is used to attach filter particles to form the image. There is also a configuration in which the image is exposed to light, transferred to the plain paper, and colored and fixed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In a configuration in which toner containing an electron-accepting substance is transferred and fixed onto plain paper in advance, the storage stability of the image is improved, but since the color developer is embedded, heat color development is difficult. It has the disadvantage of poor color development during the process, making it difficult to obtain clear prints.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, to enable printing using sublimation dyes using plain paper, and to print clear images with good color development. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic device in which images do not deteriorate over a long period of time.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention, which can achieve the above objects, comprises a pretreatment device that electrostatically attaches a color developer and thermoplastic resin fine powder to a printing screen of plain paper; A developing and transferring device that attaches particles containing a sublimable dye that develops color when it comes into contact with the color developer to an electrostatic latent image and electrostatically transfers the image onto the sheet, and the pretreated plain paper and the sheet are opposed to each other. This electrophotographic apparatus is equipped with a heating coloring device that heats and develops color, and a fixing device that heats and melts a thermoplastic resin.

[Operation: The surface of the plain paper is uniformly covered with the color developer and thermoplastic resin fine powder by the pretreatment device. On the other hand, particles containing a sublimable dye are deposited on the electrostatic latent image by a developer and transfer device. By heating the sheet and the plain paper treated in this way, the sublimable dye sublimes and comes into contact with the color developer, causing the color developer to develop color. A predetermined image is thereby printed. Since the color is likely to fade if left as it is, the thermoplastic resin is heated and melted in a fixing device, enveloping the colored developer and the uncolored developer, and fixing the image.

During color development by heating, the color developer is exposed on the surface and therefore easily comes into contact with the sublimable dye, resulting in good color development and a clear image that can be scratched. Furthermore, after the color is developed, the color developer is completely wrapped in the thermoplastic resin by the heat fixing action, so there is no risk of the image deteriorating over a long period of time.

[Example] Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, and Figs. 2 to 5 show the fine structure of plain paper or sheets processed by each of these apparatuses. It is an explanatory diagram.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention includes a plain paper preprocessing device 10 and a sheet development and transfer device 1.
2, a heating coloring device 14, and a fixing device 16.

The plain paper pre-processing device 10 includes a conductive drum 22 in contact with the supplied plain paper 20, and a charging section 24 facing the conductive drum 22.
and ti! This is a device that applies static electricity to the color developer 26 and the thermoplastic resin fine powder 2 almost uniformly on the printing screen of the 20. FIG. 2 shows the state of part A to which they have adhered.As shown in FIG. Structure. As the thermoplastic resin fine powder 28, a resin powder such as wax, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, or epoxy is used, and as the color developer 26, kaolin or the like is suitable.

The development transfer device 12 has a photoconductor drum 30 and a uniform charging section 32 provided above the photoconductor drum 30.

An electrostatic latent image is formed by exposure by a photoimage exposure section 34, and particles 38 containing a sublimable dye are attached to the cough electrostatic latent image by a developing section 36. Then, the image is electrostatically transferred onto the sheet 40 in contact with the photoconductor drum 30 by the transfer charging section 42 . The sheet 40 processed in this way is shown in FIG.
As shown in the enlarged view of section B in Fig. 1, the sheet 40
Sublimable dye-containing particles 38 are attached to the surface of the electrostatic latent image according to the electrostatic latent image. As the sublimable dye, a leuco dye or the like is used.

Pretreated plain paper 20 and sublimable dye-containing particles 38
The sheet 40 with the attached color is sent to the heating coloring device 14.

This heating coloring device 14 has a structure in which a plain paper 20 and a sheet 40 are guided so as to be closely opposed to each other, and a heater 50 is provided in the vicinity thereof. As shown in FIG. 4, the sublimable dye on the sheet 40 is sublimated by the heat of the heater 50, and comes into contact with the color developer 26 located directly above to develop color. As mentioned above, since particles containing sublimable dye are attached to the sheet 40 in a pattern corresponding to the image to be printed, the color developer 26 on the plain paper 20 also transfers the image pattern. The color will appear like this.

A predetermined image is formed. The plain paper 20 colored as follows,
The image is then sent to the fixing device 16. This fixing device 16 consists of a pair of heating rolls 52 , and as the plain paper 20 passes between them, the fine thermoplastic resin powder 28 attached to the surface of the plain paper 20 is heated and melted, and is exposed inside the resin layer 54 . The image is fixed with the colorant 26 taken in (see FIG. 5).

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention attaches a color developer and thermoplastic resin fine powder to the printing screen of plain paper, and heats it while facing a sheet on which sublimable dye-containing particles have been copied as an image pattern. However, since the color developer is developed by sublimation of the sublimable dye, and the thermoplastic resin is fixed by heating and melting, it is possible to print using the sublimable dye on plain paper. Since the color developer is exposed on the surface, color development is extremely good and images can be printed with high fidelity, and when fixed, the sublimable dye and color developer are completely encapsulated in the resin. Therefore, it has the excellent effect of being able to preserve high-quality images for a long period of time without coming into contact with the outside air.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged explanatory diagram of part A, FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory diagram of part B, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of part 0. FIG. 5 is an enlarged explanatory view of section D. 10...9ij! Paper pre-processing device, 12... Development transfer device, 14... Heating coloring device, 16... Fixing device, 20... Plain paper, 26... Color developer, 28... Thermoplastic Resin fine powder, 38... Particles containing sublimable dye, 40... Sheet, 50... Heater, 52...
heating roll. Patent Applicant: Fuji Electrochemical Co., Ltd. Agent: Shigemi Cover Tube Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 U

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pretreatment device that uses static electricity to attach a color developer and thermoplastic resin fine powder to the printing surface of plain paper, and particles containing a sublimable dye that develops color when it comes into contact with the color developer are attached to the electrostatic latent image. An electrophotographic device comprising: a development transfer device that electrostatically transfers images onto a sheet, a heating coloring device that heats and colors the pretreated plain paper and sheet facing each other, and a fixing device that heats and melts a thermoplastic resin. Device.