KR20090018881A - Image forming apparatus, image forming method, pattern forming system and pattern forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

A pattern formation system includes an image formation device (1) which transfers to an object (9), a toner image formed on an outer circumferential surface of a photoconductor drum (31) by wet toner having etching resistance, by using electrostatic transfer performed by applying a transfer voltage between the photoconductor drum (31) and a transferred surface (91) of the object (9), and fixes the transferred toner image onto the object (9) so as to form a resist pattern. Thus, it is possible to surely prevent disturbance or destruction of the toner image upon transfer and form the toner image to be used as a resist pattern on the object (9) with a high accuracy. Moreover, it is possible to reduce the cost required for formation of the resist pattern as well as the time required for formation of the resist pattern.

Description

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, pattern forming system and pattern forming method {IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, IMAGE FORMING METHOD, PATTERN FORMING SYSTEM AND PATTERN FORMING METHOD}

The present invention relates to a technique for forming a toner image on a plate-shaped or film-shaped object, and also to a technique for forming a wiring pattern on an object using the toner image.

Conventionally, the subtractive method, the semi-additive method, the full-additive method, etc. are used as a method of forming a wiring pattern in the object, such as a printed board, In the subtractive method, a wiring pattern can be formed quickly and at low cost as compared with the other two methods.

In the proximity exposure method, which is one of the subtractive methods using photoresist technology, a resist film having photosensitivity and etching resistance is formed on copper foil with respect to an object in which copper foil (Cu) is bonded on an insulating substrate. The resist film is exposed through a glass mask or a film mask having a light transmitting portion or a light shielding portion corresponding to the wiring pattern. Subsequently, by developing the resist film, other than the portion corresponding to the wiring pattern of the resist film is removed, and a pattern (that is, a resist pattern) of the resist film corresponding to the wiring pattern is formed on the copper foil. Then, the etching liquid is applied to the object to remove the portion exposed from the resist film of the copper foil, and then the resist pattern is removed, thereby forming the wiring pattern formed of copper.

In addition, in the subtractive method using the screen printing technique, instead of exposing the resist film through the glass mask or the like described above, the resist pattern is printed on the copper foil using a plate corresponding to the wiring pattern.

On the other hand, as a method of drawing a pattern on a resist film without using a mask or the like, a method of directly drawing a pattern by scanning a spatially modulated light beam on the resist film (hereinafter referred to as a "direct writing method"). Is known.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-273428 (Document 1), an electrostatic latent image corresponding to a resist pattern is formed on a photosensitive drum by an electrophotographic method, and the electrostatic latent image is developed with a hot melt toner to form a toner image. After that, a technique is disclosed in which a toner image is transferred as a resist pattern on a copper foil of a member to be a printed substrate by hot melt transfer, in which the toner image that has been dissolved by heating is press-contacted to the member to be processed. . In Document 1, a dry hot melt toner having a particle size of 7 μm to 15 μm is used. A wet hot melt toner having a particle size of 1 μm to 2 μm is also available.

By the way, in the pattern drawing using the above-mentioned glass mask, board, etc., since it is necessary to manufacture the mask etc. corresponding to a wiring pattern beforehand, and also to store such a mask under predetermined environment, manufacture of a mask etc. And storage costs. In addition, if the wiring pattern is changed, a new mask is required, which is not suitable for producing small quantities of various products. Moreover, in these methods, since the thinning of the resist film formed on copper foil has a limit, there is a limit to the high precision of the wiring pattern formed by etching.

In the direct drawing method, the raster method which draws a pattern as a set of minute dots (pixels), and draws a pattern by a dot unit is common, and in order to cope with the high precision of a wiring pattern, the resolution of a drawing apparatus is raised. (I.e., to make the area of the dot small). For this reason, when drawing a high precision pattern, the number of dots to draw increases, and the time required for drawing increases. Moreover, in forming a resist film on copper foil, since it is the same as the pattern drawing using a mask etc., there exists a limit to the high precision of a wiring pattern similarly to the above. Furthermore, an expensive light source with a large output is needed as a light source for irradiating a light beam to a resist film, and the cost required for drawing increases.

On the other hand, in the formation of the resist pattern of Document 1, by transferring a toner image of a hot melt toner formed by developing an electrostatic latent image to a member to be processed, a resist film is applied over the entire surface of the member without using a mask or the like. A resist pattern is formed on the member to be processed without being formed, and a high precision resist pattern is quickly formed by using a liquid hot melt toner having a small particle size.

However, in the formation of the resist pattern of Document 1, since the toner image is hot melted and then press-contacted to the member to be processed, the toner image may be disturbed by melting or press welding, and thus the limit of the high precision of the resist pattern is limited. have.

On the other hand, as a technique for forming a toner image on a plate-shaped or film-like object, conventionally, an insulator (or having properties close to the insulator) as a paper or a film is used as a target in a copying machine or a printer. The electrostatic transfer is performed by attracting the charged toner to the object by transferring an electric charge between the photoconductor for storing the toner and the object by applying charge from the back side of the object by conductive rollers, belts, or corona discharge. .

Moreover, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-527783 (Document 2), when transferring an image of a liquid toner formed on a photosensitive drum to a glass substrate which is a plate-shaped insulator, a gap is formed between the photosensitive drum and the glass substrate. The printing apparatus which fills this clearance gap with the carrier liquid of a liquid toner is disclosed.

By the way, in such an electrostatic transfer method, in the vicinity of the transfer position where the photosensitive drum and the object approach, discharge (so-called peeling discharge) by a transfer electric field may occur in the space between the photosensitive drum and the object. In addition, in the case where the object has a structure in which charge easily passes, such as paper, when the charge imparted on the back side of the object deviates to the surface side, the charge is transferred to the toner on the photosensitive drum to attract the toner to the object. The power may be lost or transfer may occur, in which charge is transferred to the toner transferred onto the object, causing the toner to return to the photosensitive drum. Here, in the apparatus for electrostatic transfer, various techniques are proposed to prevent the continuous generation of the peel discharge or the transfer omission so that the disturbance of the toner image due to the peel discharge or the transfer omission falls within an acceptable range which is not regarded as a defective transfer. It is.

Since the electrostatic transfer method can easily cope with variable printing and can realize high resolution and high speed processing, application to various industrial devices has recently been considered. In this case, it is conceivable that the object for transferring the toner is a conductor such as a metal sheet or a metal plate, unlike an insulator such as the glass substrate of Document 2.

However, when the electrostatic transfer method is applied to the conductive transfer surface of the object, when peeling discharge occurs between the photosensitive drum on a part of the object, the charge on the conductor is moved to the site where the peeling discharge occurs and the peeling discharge occurs. This lasts. At this time, when a constant voltage power supply is used as a power supply for charging an object, leakage due to peeling discharge is continued without reduction, and the toner image is disturbed over a wide range, resulting in transfer failure. Moreover, when a constant current power supply is used, the transfer efficiency in the vicinity of the site | part which generate | occur | produces peeling discharge will fall by leak by peeling discharge, and a wide range of transfer failure will also generate | occur | produce.

The present invention is suitable for an image forming apparatus for forming a toner image on a plate-shaped or film-shaped object, and aims to form the toner image on the object with high precision, and also has a toner image on a conductive transfer surface. It is also an object to stably transfer transcription.

The image forming apparatus includes a toner image holding portion for circularly moving a cylindrical drum-shaped or flat belt-shaped annular member in which a toner image before transfer by a liquid toner having etching resistance is formed on the outer circumferential surface, and a plate-shaped or An object having a film-shaped insulating substrate and a conductive layer having a specific resistance formed on one main surface of the insulating substrate having a resistivity of 10 ³ Ω · cm or less, and the transfer surface of the conductive layer is closest to the outer peripheral surface at a predetermined transfer position. A moving mechanism for moving the object in the same direction as the direction of travel of the portion of the annular member at the same speed as that of the portion of the annular member in the transfer position and in the movement direction along the transfer surface; and the transfer position A predetermined transfer between the annular member and the transfer surface of the object in And a toner image transfer portion for transferring the toner image to the object by applying a voltage. An image forming apparatus and a toner image can be formed on the object with high accuracy.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the toner image transfer portion has a first polarity equal to the charging polarity of the liquid toner on the outer circumferential surface of the annular member from the toner image before the transfer position of the circular movement. A first potential imparting portion for imparting a potential and a second potential substantially equal to a ground potential to the transfer surface to apply the transfer voltage between the annular member and the transfer surface at the transfer position; It is provided with two potential provision parts. As a result, the transfer of the toner image onto the conductive transfer surface can be performed stably.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the object is a flexible substrate having flexibility, and the image forming apparatus is disposed downstream from the transfer position in the moving direction of the object by the moving mechanism. A fixing unit for fixing a toner image to the to-be-transmitted surface, wherein the moving mechanism holds the roll-shaped object before the toner image is transferred and supplies the object to the transfer position; And an object recovery part disposed downstream of the fixing part in the moving direction of the object by the moving mechanism, and collecting and collecting the object on which the toner image is fixed.

In another embodiment, the image forming apparatus further includes a latent image forming unit that forms an electrostatic latent image on the outer circumferential surface of the annular member, and a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image by the liquid toner to form the toner image. do.

In one aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes a toner image holding portion for circularly moving a cylindrical drum-like or flat belt-shaped annular member on which an toner image before transfer by a liquid toner is formed on the outer circumferential surface; The annular member at the same speed as the site of the annular member at the transfer position, while the conductive transfer surface having a resistivity of the object of 10 ³ Ω · cm or less approaching the outer peripheral surface at a predetermined transfer position. A movement mechanism moving in the movement direction along the transfer surface and in the same direction as the advancing direction of the portion, and charging of the liquid toner to the outer peripheral surface of the annular member from the toner image before the transfer position of the cyclic movement; A first potential providing portion for imparting a first potential having the same polarity as that of the polarity; By applying a second potential substantially equal to the ground potential on the slope, a transfer voltage is applied between the annular member and the transfer surface of the object at the transfer position to transfer the toner image to the object. It is provided with two potential provision parts. As a result, the transfer of the toner image onto the conductive transfer surface can be performed stably.

The present invention is also suitable for a pattern forming system for forming a wiring pattern on an object in addition to being provided with the image forming apparatus, and by this system, the wiring pattern can be formed quickly and with high precision. The present invention is also suitable for an image forming method for forming a toner image on a plate-shaped or film-like object, and a pattern forming method for forming a wiring pattern on the object while using the image forming method.

The above objects and other objects, features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1: is a figure which shows the structure of the pattern formation system which concerns on 1st Embodiment.

2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus.

3 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a process of forming a wiring pattern on an object.

4A is a diagram showing a potential distribution on the surface of a photoconductor.

4B is a diagram showing the potential distribution on the surface of the photoconductor.

4C is a diagram showing the potential distribution on the surface of the photoconductor.

5 is a table showing a relationship between the first potential and the second potential and the transfer quality and transfer efficiency of the toner image.

6 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment.

7 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment.

8 is a plan view of the stage and the adsorption controller.

9 is a side view illustrating the moving mechanism.

10 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

11 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a process of forming a toner image on an object.

12 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 1: is a figure which shows the structure of the pattern formation system 100 which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. The pattern formation system 100 is an apparatus which forms a wiring pattern on the film-like object 9. The object 9 is a flexible substrate having a flexibility (that is, a film substrate), and the resistivity formed on the film-shaped insulating substrate and one main surface of the insulating substrate is 10 ⁻⁶ Ω · cm or more and 10 ³ Ω · cm The following conductive layer (copper foil (Cu) in this embodiment) is provided. In the pattern formation system 100, the circuit board sheet which is a sheet-like member in which several flexible circuit boards were continuous by forming the wiring pattern by copper on the target object 9 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pattern forming system 100 transfers (i.e. forms) a toner image onto the surface of the conductive layer of the object 9, and fixes the toner image on the conductive layer to form a resist pattern. The etching is applied to the image forming apparatus 1 and the portion exposed to the resist pattern of the conductive layer (that is, the portion not covered by the toner image) to perform etching to remove the portion on the insulating substrate. The etching apparatus 61, the 1st cleaning apparatus 62 which wash | cleans the object 9 with which etching was complete | finished, and the image removal apparatus 63 which peels and removes a resist pattern (namely, toner image) from the object 9 And a second cleaning device 64 for cleaning the object 9 from which the resist pattern has been removed. In the following description, the surface 91 of the conductive layer of the object 9 to which the toner image is transferred by the image forming apparatus 1 is referred to as the "transfer surface 91."

2 is an enlarged view of the image forming apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 holds the object 9 having the insulating base 93 and the conductive layer 94, and is a ++ Y which is a moving direction along the transfer surface 91. A moving unit 2 moving in the direction of ()), a process unit 3 for forming a toner image on the photosensitive drum 31 by an electrophotographic method, and a predetermined potential on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 31 from the toner image. A second potential providing portion 5 which contacts the first potential providing portion 4 and the object 9 to be provided and imparts a predetermined potential to the transfer surface 91 is provided. In the following description, the potential given to the photosensitive drum 31 by the 1st electric potential provision part 4 is called "1st electric potential", and is provided to the to-be-transfer surface 91 by the 2nd electric potential provision part 5. The potential which becomes is called a "second potential."

The process unit 3 includes a photosensitive drum 31 having a diameter of 250 mm connected to a motor (not shown) via a speed reducer, and the photosensitive drum 31 has a rotating shaft 310 parallel to the X direction in FIG. 2. It can be rotated clockwise in FIG. The photosensitive drum 31 is formed of a metal such as aluminum, and has a drum body 311 around the rotating shaft 310, and the drum body 311 is electrically grounded.

On the outer peripheral surface of the drum main body 311, for example, a monolayer organic photoconductor (hereinafter referred to simply as "photosensitive member 312") having a phthalocyanine pigment is uniformly applied (or deposited). The diameter of the photosensitive drum 31 is not limited to 250 mm, but preferably 200 mm or more and 400 mm or less. The photoconductor 312 may be formed of, for example, an inorganic photoconductor such as amorphous silicon in addition to the single layer organic photoconductor having a phthalocyanine pigment.

The process unit 3 is further provided on the (+ Z) side of the photosensitive drum 31 so as to face the photosensitive drum 31 so as to charge light for image forming and the charger 32 for charging the photosensitive member 312. A latent image forming portion 33 which exits to form an electrostatic latent image on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member 312, and a liquid toner having an etching resistance (for example, a liquid toner dispersed in an isoparaffinic insulating solvent (carrier liquid)) Develops an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 312 to form a toner image on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312, a cleaner 35 for cleaning the surface of the photosensitive member 312, and light to emit the photosensitive member The static eliminator 36 for static eliminating 312 is provided.

In the process unit 3, the latent image forming part 33, the developing part 34, the cleaner 35, and the rotating direction of the photosensitive drum 31 from the charger 32 (that is, the clockwise direction in FIG. 1) and The static eliminator 36 is arranged around the photosensitive drum 31, and a developing unit 34 is connected with a toner supply unit (not shown) for supplying liquid toner as a developing solution. In the image forming apparatus 1, the first potential providing portion 4 is also arranged around the photosensitive drum 31 between the developing portion 34 and the cleaner 35.

The first potential providing unit 4 is a corona charging mechanism that generates ions by corona discharge and charges the photosensitive member 312 by applying the ions to the photosensitive member 312. A scorotron is used as the provision part 4, and a 1st electric potential is given to the photosensitive member 312. As shown in FIG. Moreover, the charger 32 of the process unit 3 is also a corona charging mechanism which charges the photosensitive member 312 by corona discharge similarly to the 1st electric potential provision part 4.

The second potential imparting portion 5 includes two contacts 51, and the contacts 51 have a brush (for example, a carbon brush or a conductive bristle brush) formed of a conductive material. Each contact member 51 is supported by a supporting member (not shown) and directly contacts the conductive transfer surface 91 of the object 9. Since the electrodes of each contactor 51 are electrically grounded, the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 is also electrically grounded. In other words, the contact potential 51 of the 2nd electric potential provision part 5 gives the 2nd electric potential which is a ground electric potential to the to-be-transmitted surface 91 of the target object 9.

In the image forming apparatus 1, on the (-Z) side of the photosensitive drum 31, the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 that is moved by the moving mechanism 2 to face the photosensitive drum 31 is formed. , The outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is most approached between the first dislocation applying portion 4 and the cleaner 35. Then, the photosensitive drum 31 is positioned at the position where the photosensitive drum 31 and the object 9 are closest to each other by the provision of the potential by the first potential providing portion 4 and the second potential providing portion 5. A predetermined transfer voltage is applied between the target surface 9 and the transfer surface 91 of the object 9, and the toner image on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is transferred onto the transfer surface 91 of the object 9. In the following description, the position which the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 31 and the to-be-transmitted surface 91 of the target object 9 approach most is called "transfer position." The transfer position is a position fixed relative to the process unit 3. In the image forming apparatus 1, the first dislocation applying portion 4 and the second dislocation applying portion 5 are disposed between the photosensitive drum 31 and the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 at the transfer position. A toner image transfer section which transfers a toner image to the object 9 by applying a predetermined transfer voltage.

The image forming apparatus 1 is disposed on the downstream side (i.e., (+ Y) side) from the transfer position in the moving direction of the object 9 by the moving mechanism 2, so that the image to be transferred 91 of the object 9 Is further provided with a fixing unit 52 for fixing the toner image transferred to the toner onto the transfer surface 91. In the image forming apparatus 1, the toner image is fixed to the to-be-transferred surface 91 by the fixing unit 52 to non-contactly heat the to-be-transferred surface 91 of the object 9 to form a resist pattern.

The moving mechanism 2 holds the object 9 in the shape of a roll before the toner image is transferred, and supplies the object 9 to the transfer position, and the object 9 at the transfer position. The fixing roller (204) supported from the (-Z) side, which is the lower surface side (that is, the opposite side to the transfer surface 91), and the fixing unit in the moving direction of the object 9 by the moving mechanism 2 ( 52 is provided on the downstream side (i.e., (+ Y) side), and is provided with an object recovery part 205 for winding up and collecting the object 9 on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing part 52. In FIG. 2, illustration of other apparatuses, such as the etching apparatus 61 arrange | positioned between the fixing | fixed part 52 and the object recovery part 205, is abbreviate | omitted. In this embodiment, the moving speed of the target object 9 in the (+ Y) direction by the moving mechanism 2 is about 2 m to 3 m per minute.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the pattern forming system 100, the etching apparatus 61, the first cleaning apparatus 62, and the image removing apparatus in the moving direction of the object 9 by the moving mechanism 2. The 63 and the second cleaning device 64 are disposed in order between the fixing unit 52 and the object collecting unit 205 of the image forming apparatus 1, and therefore the image removing device 63 It is arranged between the etching apparatus 61 and the object recovery part 205. When one site | part on the object 9 moved by the moving mechanism 2 is paid attention, the said site | part is conveyed by the moving mechanism 2 from one apparatus to another apparatus in order. In other words, the moving mechanism 2 for moving the object 9 includes the image forming apparatus 1, the etching apparatus 61, the first cleaning apparatus 62, the image removing apparatus 63, and the second cleaning apparatus ( It consists of the object conveyance mechanism shared by 64).

The etching apparatus 61 includes a plurality of sprays 611 for spraying an etching solution containing iron chloride (FeCl ₃ ), copper chloride (CuCl ₂ ), etc., toward the target surface 91 of the object 9 on which the toner image is formed. The first cleaning device 62 includes a plurality of sprays 621 for spraying a cleaning liquid such as pure water toward the target surface 91 of the object 9. In addition, the image removal device 63 includes a plurality of sprays 631 for spraying the peeling liquid for peeling the toner image from the object 9 toward the target surface 91 of the object 9, and the second The cleaning apparatus 64 includes a plurality of sprays 641 for spraying a cleaning liquid such as pure water toward the target surface 91 of the object 9, similarly to the first cleaning apparatus 62.

Next, formation of the wiring pattern by the pattern formation system 100 is demonstrated. 3 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a process of forming a wiring pattern on the object 9 by the pattern forming system 100. Incidentally, the steps S11 to S15 in Fig. 3 show the flow of the process paying attention to a part of the photoconductor 312, and these steps are performed substantially in parallel with the entire photoconductor 312 in time. In addition, the steps S16 to S20 show the flow of the process paying attention to a part of the object 9, and in practice, these steps are performed substantially in parallel with the entire object 9.

In the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2, first, the photosensitive drum 31 starts rotation at a constant rotational speed in the clockwise direction in FIG. 2 with the rotation axis 310 as the center, and moves. In (2), the object supply part 203 and the object recovery part 205 rotate counterclockwise, respectively, and the movement of the object 9 to the (+ Y) direction is started at a constant speed. In the process unit 3, by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 31, each peripheral configuration (that is, a charger) in which the photosensitive drum 31, which is a cylindrical drum-shaped annular member centered on the rotating shaft 310, is arranged around (32), the latent image forming portion 33, the developing portion 34, the first dislocation applying portion 4, the cleaner 35, and the static eliminator 36 are continuously circulated along the outer circumferential surface thereof, Processing for the photosensitive member 312 by the configuration is started.

In the charger 32, electric charges are sequentially applied to a part of the photoconductor 312 (hereinafter referred to as "target site") that reaches the opposite position, and the surface of the target site is, for example, +700 V (volts). Is uniformly charged (step S11). The target site after the charging continuously moves to the irradiation position of the light of the latent image forming section 33.

The latent image forming section 33 has, as a light source, an LED array in which a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting light of a predetermined wavelength are arranged. In the latent image forming section 33, image data of a toner image formed on the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 is input, and light for image formation is emitted toward the photosensitive member 312 in accordance with the image data. In the site | part to which light was irradiated in the target site | part of the photosensitive member 312, surface electric charge moves to the photosensitive member 312, and surface potential is reduced to + 100V. In addition, since the charged state is maintained in the part where the light is not irradiated, an image (that is, an electrostatic latent image) is formed on the surface of the photoconductor 312 (step S12). The light source of the latent image forming part 33 does not necessarily need to be LED, For example, it may combine a semiconductor laser, a lamp, and a liquid crystal shutter.

The portion (target portion) in which the electrostatic latent image is formed in the photosensitive drum 31 is moved to a position opposite to the developing portion 34. In the developing portion 34, the developing roller 341 is connected to the developing bias power supply 343, and a potential of +500 V is applied by the developing bias power supply 343. Then, by the bias voltage between the developing roller 341 and the latent electrostatic image, the liquid toner positively charged in the liquid toner (i.e., dispersed in the solvent of the liquid toner and having the same polarity as the surface of the photosensitive member 312) The charged liquid toner is applied to the latent electrostatic image (step S13). In this embodiment, as the liquid toner, particles having a particle diameter of 0.1 µm or more and 2 µm or less (more preferably, 0.1 µm or more and 0.5 µm or less) are used. The main component of the liquid toner is vinyl acetate (C ₄ H ₆ O ₂ ).

4A to 4C are diagrams conceptually showing the potential distribution on the surface of the photosensitive member 312 to which the liquid toner 92 is applied by the developing unit 34 (see FIG. 2). 4A to 4C, the potential of the surface of the photoconductor 312 is drawn by the solid line 81, and the case where the solid line 81 is located on the opposite side to the drum body 311 from the surface of the photoconductor 312 is positive. The distance in the vertical direction between the solid line 81 and the surface of the photoconductor 312 represents the magnitude of the dislocation.

As shown in Fig. 4A, the positively charged liquid toner 92 having the same polarity as the surface of the photoconductor 312 is surface-displaced by the latent image forming section 33 at the target site on the photoconductor 312. Is attached only to the reduced portion, whereby the electrostatic latent image is developed. That is, a toner image before transfer by the liquid toner 92 is formed on the target site on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312. In the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2, the photosensitive drum 31 and the motor for rotating the drum retain the toner image before transfer on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 while circulating the photosensitive member 312. And a toner image holding portion.

In the developing portion 34, the unnecessary liquid toner on the target site is a squeegee roller 342 located on the (-Z) side of the developing roller 341 (that is, downstream of the circular movement of the photosensitive drum 31). Is scraped off and returned to the developing part 34. The squeegee roller 342 is connected to the squeegee power supply 344, and a potential of +500 V is applied by the squeegee power supply 344. Then, the squeegee roller 342 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1 to scrape the liquid toner, thereby causing the excess liquid toner on the photoconductor 312 (that is, on the portion where the surface potential is reduced by the latent image forming portion 33). Liquid toner imparted excessively and liquid toner imparted on the background which is a site where the surface potential is not reduced) are recovered.

Next, on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 from the toner image developed on the photosensitive member 312 by the first dislocation applying portion 4 disposed before the transfer position in the circular movement of the photosensitive drum 31. A positive first potential having the same polarity as that of the counter electrode of the liquid toner is applied (step S14). Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4B, the entire target portion of the outer circumferential surface of the photoconductor 312 is about the same as that of the charging by the charger 32, or a large potential in the absolute value (in this embodiment, about To + 800V). In addition, although the potential in the adhesion region of the liquid toner 92 and the non-attachment region are slightly different in the target site, this potential difference hardly affects the transfer of the liquid toner 92 described later. . In addition, the said potential difference is eliminated by lengthening the provision time of the 1st electric potential by the 1st electric potential provision part 4.

When the provision of the first potential by the first potential providing portion 4 shown in FIG. 2 is finished, the target portion of the photosensitive drum 31 moves in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 31. Reaches the transfer position that is closest to the transfer surface 91, and the target portion at the transfer position is perpendicular to the speed according to the rotational speed of the photosensitive drum 31 (that is, perpendicular to the rotation axis 310 of the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 31). In the tangential direction in the cross section of phosphorus) and move in the (+ Y) direction accurately. In addition, the object 9 is moved by the moving mechanism 2 at the same speed as that of the target portion of the photosensitive member 312 at the transfer position, with the same (+ Y) direction as the moving direction of the target portion as the moving direction. Move. As a result, the position of the object 9 (the part facing the object part of) in the vicinity of the transfer position is relatively fixed with respect to the object part.

At this time, the object 9 is electrically grounded through the two contactors 51 of the second potential applying portion 5 respectively disposed on the (+ Y) side and the (−Y) side of the transfer position (in other words, On the lower surface, the ground potential is applied to the transfer surface 91 of the target object 9 by the second potential providing unit 5, the transfer surface 91 and the photosensitive member of the target object 9 at the transfer position. A predetermined transfer voltage is applied between the target sites of 312). In other words, an electric field is generated from the target site toward the target surface 91, and as shown in Fig. 4C, the direction from the photosensitive member 312 toward the target surface 91 of the target object 9 (i.e., the symbol in Fig. 4C). The force of the arrow facing the arrow 82) acts on the liquid toner 92. Thereby, the positively charged toner image attached on the target portion of the photosensitive member 312 is sequentially transferred to the to-be-transferred surface 91 of the object 9 (step S15).

The target site of the photosensitive member 312 after the transfer of the liquid toner continues to move to the position of the cleaner 35 shown in FIG. In the cleaner 35, the cleaning liquid is applied to the target site by the spray nozzle 351, thereby eliminating unnecessary matter such as a liquid toner remaining on the target site without being transferred to the target object 9 (hereinafter referred to as "zantoner"). Is soaked. As a result, the residual toner adhered to the target site swells, and the fixing force of the residual toner to the photosensitive member 312 is reduced.

Subsequently, the target portion of the photosensitive member 312 is rubbed by the sponge roller 352 rotating in the clockwise direction (that is, the same direction as the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 31) in FIG. It is dispersed in the cleaning liquid on the photosensitive member 312. The spray nozzle 3351 is provided just in front of the position of the sponge roller 352 opposite to the target portion, and the sponge roller 352 is provided with the cleaning liquid by applying the cleaning liquid to the sponge roller 352 from the spray nozzle 3551. Contact with the target site in the state containing. For this reason, the sponge roller 352 is prevented from absorbing the cleaning liquid on the photosensitive member 312, and the residual toner is fully dispersed in the cleaning liquid on the photosensitive member 312.

In addition, a suction nozzle 3252 is provided on the opposite side of the spray nozzle 3551 with a position facing the target portion of the sponge roller 352 interposed therebetween, and the cleaning liquid is removed from the sponge roller 352 by the suction nozzle 3352. Aspirated. Accordingly, even when the residual toner is attached to the sponge roller 352 by friction with the photosensitive member 312, the residual toner is removed on the sponge roller 352 together with the cleaning liquid, and the target portion of the sponge roller 352 is removed. The area in contact is always kept clean.

In the cleaner 35, the time from the provision of the cleaning liquid by the spray nozzle 351 to the friction of the target site by the sponge roller 352 is, for example, 1 second or more. As a result, the residual toner swells sufficiently and is sufficiently dispersed in the cleaning liquid by friction by the sponge roller 352.

Next, the target portion of the photoconductor 312 is rubbed by the dry sponge roller 353 rotating clockwise in FIG. 2, so that the residual toner dispersed in the three semens on the photoconductor 312 is It is absorbed by the sponge roller 353 together with the cleaning liquid and removed on the photosensitive member 312 in a state where it is attached to the sponge roller 353. The residual toner adhered to the sponge roller 353 is applied to the cleaning liquid by the spray nozzle 3531, and is then sucked together with the cleaning liquid by the suction nozzle 3532 to be removed on the sponge roller 353. As a result, the site of contact with the target site of the sponge roller 353 is always kept clean and dry.

Like the sponge roller 353, the sponge roller 354 contacts the target site of the photosensitive member 312 while rotating clockwise in FIG. Accordingly, even when a part of the residual toner is left on the photoconductor 312 without being removed by the sponge roller 353, the residual toner is absorbed by the sponge roller 354 together with the cleaning liquid and removed on the photoconductor 312. . As in the case of the sponge roller 353, the residual toner adhered to the sponge roller 354 is supplied with the cleaning liquid by the spray nozzle 3551, and then sucked together with the cleaning liquid by the suction nozzle 3542 to form a sponge roller ( 354). As a result, the portion of the sponge roller 354 in contact with the target portion is always kept clean and dry.

In the cleaner 35, since the sponge rollers 353 and 354 rotate in the same rotational direction as the photosensitive drum 31, the sponge rollers 353 and 354 can be reliably brought into contact with the remaining toner, and thus the residual toner Can be removed from the photosensitive member 312 more reliably. In addition, when removing the residual toner adhered to the sponge rollers 353 and 354, the cleaning liquid is applied to the sponge rollers 353 and 354 before the suction by the suction nozzles 3532 and 3542, so that the residual toner is applied to the sponge roller ( 353 and 354 can be sucked efficiently, and the residual toner can be prevented from being scattered around by becoming a powder toner by suction.

When the surface of the photoconductor 312 is cleaned by the cleaner 35 and the photoconductor 312 is mechanically returned to an initial state, a combination of a lamp and a filter or a static eliminator 36 having an LED or the like is applied to the target site. Light is irradiated, the photosensitive member 312 is static-discharged, and is electrically returned to an initial state.

As described above, the processing of steps S11 to S15 is performed almost in parallel with respect to each site on the photoconductor 312, and the processing is continuously performed for each site of the photoconductor 312 which sequentially reaches the transfer position. For this reason, the entire toner image on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 is transferred onto the object 9 at the transfer position, and this is repeated, so that a plurality of flexible on the object 9 finally to be a plurality of flexible circuit boards. A toner image corresponding to the wiring pattern of the circuit board is formed.

In the image forming apparatus 1, the portion on which the toner image of the object 9 is formed is moved from the transfer position by the moving mechanism 2 to the (+ Y) side and passes below the fixing unit 52, whereby the transfer surface ( 91 and the toner image on the transfer surface 91 are heated by the fixing unit 52, and the toner image is fixed on the transfer surface 91 to form a resist pattern (step S16).

The portion where the toner image of the object 9 is fixed is moved from the image forming apparatus 1 to the etching apparatus 61 by the moving mechanism 2 shown in FIG. 1, and the etching liquid in the etching apparatus 61 is removed. By being applied, etching is performed on a portion exposed from the toner image (i.e., resist pattern) of the conductive layer 94 (see FIG. 2) to remove the portion on the insulating base 93 (see FIG. 2) (step S17). ). As a result, only the portion of the conductive layer 94 made of copper covered by the toner image is left on the insulating base 93 to form a wiring pattern (i.e., copper electrode and copper wiring) of the flexible circuit board.

The part where the object 9 was etched is moved from the etching apparatus 61 to the 1st cleaning apparatus 62 by the moving mechanism 2, and pure water is sprayed in the 1st cleaning apparatus 62, The object 9 is washed to remove the etchant on the object 9 (step S18).

The portion where the cleaning of the object 9 is completed is moved from the first cleaning device 62 to the image removal device 63 by the moving mechanism 2, and the peeling solution is applied in the image removal device 63. The toner image (i.e., the resist pattern on the wiring pattern formed on the insulating base 93) on the object 9 is peeled off and removed from the wiring pattern (step S19). As a result, a flexible circuit board having a wiring pattern formed of copper on the insulating base 93 and the insulating base 93 is formed.

The portion where the toner image of the object 9 has been peeled off is moved from the image removal device 63 to the second cleaning device 64 by the moving mechanism 2, and pure water is removed in the second cleaning device 64. By spraying, the object 9 is washed and the peeling liquid on the object 9 is removed (step S20). And the site | part which the washing | cleaning of the target object 9 complete | finished is carried out from the 2nd washing | cleaning apparatus 64 by the moving mechanism 2, and if needed, after drying by heating, ventilation, etc., It is wound up by the object recovery part 205 and recovered. As a result, a circuit board sheet in which a plurality of flexible circuit boards are continuous is formed.

As described above, in the pattern forming system 100, the roll-shaped object 9 held by the object supply unit 203 of the moving mechanism 2 is supplied to the transfer position of the image forming apparatus 1. A plurality of flexible circuit boards are recovered by the object recovery unit 205 after the toner image is transferred and fixed and the etching and removal of the toner image are performed by the etching apparatus 61 and the image removing apparatus 63. A circuit board sheet to be formed can be formed quickly.

In the image forming apparatus 1, the toner image formed on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 31 by the liquid toner having etching resistance is transferred between the photosensitive drum 31 and the transfer surface 91 of the object 9. A resist pattern is formed by transferring to the object 9 by applying a voltage, and fixing the transferred toner image on the object 9.

As described above, electrostatic transfer of the toner image, which becomes a resist pattern, to the object 9, compared with the proximity exposure method of forming a resist pattern by irradiating and developing light through a mask or the like on a photosensitive resist film formed on the front surface of the object. The cost associated with the formation of the resist pattern can be reduced by reducing the costs associated with the manufacture and storage of the mask and the like. Further, by not requiring a mask or the like corresponding to the resist pattern, for example, when a small amount of a large variety of flexible circuit boards are produced, formation of a plurality of types of resist patterns can be efficiently performed at low cost.

Further, by performing the scanning and developing of the light beam on the photosensitive resist film formed on the entire surface of the object, the resist pattern can be formed faster than the direct drawing method of forming the resist pattern. In addition, since the sensitivity of the resist film is relatively low, in the direct drawing method, a high power laser light source is required for exposure of the resist film. In the image forming apparatus 1, since the sensitivity of the photosensitive member 312 is higher than that of the resist film, The output of the latent image forming part 33 which exposes the photosensitive member 312 to a pattern corresponding to the resist pattern can be made smaller than the laser light source of the direct drawing method, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

In the proximity exposure method and the direct drawing method, it is difficult to thin the resist film to some extent (for example, 5 µm or less in thickness), and thus there is a limit to the high precision of the wiring pattern formed by the etching in the later step. In the image forming apparatus 1, by making a toner image formed by a small liquid toner having a particle diameter of 2 µm or less as a resist pattern, it is possible to further realize high precision of the wiring pattern formed by etching in a later step.

In addition, in the image forming apparatus 1, instead of the formation process, exposure process, and development process of the resist film required in the proximity exposure method or the direct drawing method, the resist pattern can be formed only by the transfer and fixation process of the toner image. Therefore, the time required for formation of the resist pattern can be shortened. Accordingly, in the formation of the wiring pattern by etching, it is possible to prevent the process of forming the resist pattern from becoming a bottleneck which takes a longer time than other processes, so that a series of processes relating to the formation of the wiring pattern (that is, , A resist pattern forming step, an etching step, a resist pattern peeling step, and the like) can be continuously performed in one system such as the pattern forming system 100. In the pattern formation system 100, a wiring pattern can be formed quickly and with high precision.

Furthermore, in the image forming apparatus 1, the transfer of the toner image to the object 9 is performed by electrostatic transfer as described above, compared with the case where the toner image is melted or press-bonded during transfer such as hot melt transfer. It is possible to reliably prevent the toner image from being disturbed or disturbed during the transfer, and a toner image used as a resist pattern can be formed on the object 9 with high precision.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1, a first potential having the same polarity as that of the liquid toner is applied to the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 by the first potential providing portion 4 from the toner image formed of the liquid toner. The electrically conductive transfer surface 91 of the object 9 is electrically grounded (that is, a ground potential is applied to the transfer surface 91) by the second potential providing unit 5, so that the photoconductor 312 A transfer voltage is applied between the transfer surface 91, and the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive member 312 to the transfer surface 91 of the object 9.

In this manner, in the image forming apparatus 1, by forming the toner image with a liquid toner having a particle size smaller than that of the dry toner, the first potential can be applied to the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 from the toner image, thereby toner The transfer voltage used for the transfer of the image can be caused by applying the first potential to the photosensitive member 312 while giving the ground potential to the object 9. Thus, even when peeling discharge due to the transfer voltage occurs in the space between the photosensitive member 312 and the transfer surface 91, the potential of the portion where the peeling discharge of the transfer surface 91 has occurred remains at ground potential. The continuation of peeling discharge can be prevented. In addition, transfer omission caused by the transfer of charges to the object to the toner (i.e., the phenomenon that the toner on the photosensitive drum is not transferred to the object, or the toner transferred once on the object is returned to the photosensitive drum). It can also be prevented. As a result, the toner image is prevented from being degraded or destroyed due to peeling discharge or transfer failure, thereby stably transferring the toner image (i.e., forming the toner image to the object 9) onto the conductive transfer surface 91. I can do it.

In the process unit 3, the first potential providing unit 4 serves as a corona charging mechanism that imparts ions generated by corona discharge to the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312, thereby easily providing the first potential to the photosensitive member 312. Can be given.

In the process unit 3, the latent image forming unit 33 forms an electrostatic latent image on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312, and the developing unit 34 develops the electrostatic latent image with the liquid toner by an electrophotographic method. By forming the structure, the structures of the process unit 3 and the image forming apparatus 1 can be simplified. Further, by setting the particle size of the liquid toner to 2 µm or less, the provision of the first potential to the photosensitive member 312 from the toner image on the toner image by the first potential providing portion 4 can be reliably and easily realized. Further, the resist pattern formed by the liquid toner can be made thin, and the wiring pattern formed by the etching in a later step can be further refined. Further, by setting the main component of the liquid toner as vinyl acetate, the etching resistance of the resist pattern can be improved.

In the image forming apparatus 1, the first potential and the second potential provided by the first potential applying unit 4 and the second potential providing unit 5 are not necessarily limited to the above-described potentials. For example, the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 does not necessarily need to be electrically grounded by the second potential providing portion 5, and is substantially connected to the ground potential by the second potential providing portion 5. The same second potential may be provided. Specifically, the absolute value of the second potential needs to be 5% or less of the absolute value of the first potential applied to the photosensitive member 312 by the first potential providing portion 4, and as described above, the first potential Is + 800V, -40V or more and + 40V or less. Even in this case, the toner image can be transferred to the conductive transfer surface 91 stably by preventing the deterioration or destruction of the toner image due to peeling discharge or transfer omission.

5 is a table showing the relationship between the first potential and the second potential and the quality (transfer quality) and the transfer efficiency of the toner image by varying the first potential and the second potential. As shown in FIG. 5, when the first potential is set to + 500V which is smaller than the potential (+ 700V) applied to the photosensitive member 312 by the charger 32, the second potential is changed to -200V to -400V so that the first potential is changed. Even if the difference between the potential and the second potential (that is, the transfer voltage) is changed, the discharge pattern and the transfer omission caused by the peeling discharge occur, and the transfer quality is not good. Also, even when the first potential is set to be equal to or higher than the potential applied to the photosensitive member 312 by the charger 32, if the second potential is largely separated from the ground potential OV such as -100 V or -200 V, the transfer is performed. Quality is not good.

On the other hand, when the first potential is equal to or more than the potential (+700 V) applied to the photosensitive member 312 by the charger 32 and the second potential is set to the ground potential, the transfer quality is good. However, if the first potential is largely separated from the potential imparted to the photosensitive member 312 by the charger 32, such as + 900V, the discharge shape also occurs. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 1, the first potential is greater than or equal to (+700 V) applied to the photosensitive member 312 by the charger 32 and is more than +700 V or less than +900 V in a range not significantly separated from the potential. Preferably, it is +700 V or more and +850 V or less, and by setting the second potential to the ground potential (or a potential substantially equal to the ground potential), good transfer quality can be realized. In addition, the transfer efficiency can also be improved by setting the first potential to + 800V. Moreover, the preferable range of a 1st electric potential changes with various factors, such as the kind of liquid toner, the material of the photosensitive member 312, and the radius of curvature of the photosensitive drum 31, For example, the charge amount of a liquid toner, a photoreceptor Good adhesion quality may be obtained even at about + 400V due to the adhesion between the 312 and the liquid toner.

Next, the pattern formation system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the image forming apparatus 1a of the pattern forming system according to the second embodiment. In the image forming apparatus 1a, an intermediate transfer portion 25 having an intermediate transfer member 251 is provided, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 31 is indirectly imaged on the object 9 through the intermediate transfer member 251. Is transferred to. The other structure is the same as the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2, and attaches | subjects the same code | symbol in the following description.

As shown in FIG. 6, the intermediate transfer member 251 is a flat belt-shaped annular member formed of a dielectric material and is provided outside the two rollers 252a and 252b. A motor is connected to one roller 252a, and by driving the motor, the intermediate transfer member 251 circulates along the outer circumferential surface while contacting the toner image on the photosensitive drum 31. In addition, a DC power supply 253 is connected to the other roller 252b. In addition, compared with the image forming apparatus 1 of FIG. 2, the first dislocation applying unit 4 is provided immediately before the transfer position of the intermediate transfer member 251, and is opposed to the intermediate transfer member 251 ( It is further different in that the moving direction of 9) becomes the opposite direction ((-Y) direction).

In the image forming apparatus 1a, the toner image formed on the photosensitive member 312 by the charger 32, the latent image forming unit 33, the developing unit 34, or the like of the process unit 3 is formed by the roller 252b. By the potential applied to the intermediate transfer member 251 via the transfer, it is transferred onto the intermediate transfer member 251. That is, the intermediate transfer portion 25 including the intermediate transfer member 251 or the mechanism for circulating the intermediate transfer member 251 indirectly forms the toner image before transfer on the outer circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer member 251. And a toner image holding portion for holding. In addition, in the image forming apparatus 1a, the first potential providing portion 4 determines the image from the toner image immediately before the transfer position at which the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer member 251 and the object 9 are closest to each other. Dislocation of is substantially uniformly given to the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer member 251, and the target site | part to which dislocation was provided is conveyed toward the target object 9.

In the image forming apparatus 1a, similar to the image forming apparatus 1 of FIG. 2, the portion of the transfer position of the object 9 moves in the same direction at the same speed as the portion of the transfer position of the intermediate transfer member 251. . Then, the ground potential is applied to the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 by the contactor 51 of the second dislocation imparting part 5, whereby the electric force directed to the object 9 to the liquid toner at the transfer position. This action causes the toner image on the intermediate transfer member 251 to be transferred onto the object 9 with high precision.

Next, a pattern forming system according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the pattern formation system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment, in the plate-shaped object provided with the glass substrate which is an insulating base material, and the ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) film which is a conductive layer formed in the whole one main surface of an insulating base material, The wiring pattern is formed. FIG. 7: is a figure which shows the image forming apparatus 1b of the pattern forming system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. In the image forming apparatus 1b, instead of the moving mechanism 2 of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. 7, the moving mechanism 2a is provided. The other structure is the same as that of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2, and the same code | symbol is attached | subjected in the following description.

In the image forming apparatus 1b shown in FIG. 7, the conductive layer 94 having a specific resistance of about 10 ⁻⁶ Ω · cm to about 10 ³ Ω · cm on a glass substrate that is an insulating base 93 having a thickness of about 0.7 mm. The toner by the liquid toner having etching resistance as in the first embodiment is applied to the transfer surface 91 which is the surface of the ITO film of the object 9a having the phosphorus ITO film (formed by application of ITO ink or the like). An image is formed, and the resist pattern is formed by fixing to the to-be-transferred surface 91 by the fixing | fixed part 52. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, the movement mechanism 2a is provided on the stage 21 and the surface plate 11 which are the holding | maintenance parts which hold | maintain and hold | maintain the object 9a, and the slide which slides the stage 21 to a Y direction. The mechanism 22 and the adsorption control part 23 (refer FIG. 8 mentioned later) which controls the adsorption | suction retention of the target object 9a by the stage 21 are provided.

8 is a plan view illustrating the stage 21 and the adsorption control unit 23. In FIG. 8, the object 9a is shown by the dashed-dotted line. As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the holding surface 210 on which the object 9a of the stage 21 is placed is a plane with high precision, and each of the holding surface 210 is an object 9a. Groove 211 which is a plurality of adsorption elements arranged in the conveyance direction while extending in the X direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of is formed.

On the (+ X) side and the (-X) side of the stage 21, a plurality of tubes 212 are mounted, and each groove 211 is connected to the adsorption control unit 23 through two corresponding tubes 212. The suction control unit 23 is connected to a pressure reducing pump (not shown). In the stage 21, air is sucked from the plurality of grooves 211 by a pressure reducing pump, and the object 9a is sucked and held on the holding surface 210, and each groove 211 is provided by the suction control unit 23. Adsorption by means of ON / OFF can be performed individually. In addition, the tube 212 is actually tied and bent long enough so that the movement of the stage 21 may not be disturbed.

In the image forming apparatus 1b illustrated in FIG. 7, when the entirety of the object 9a is attracted to the stage 21, the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 of the process unit 3 at the transfer position and the object ( The photosensitive drum 31 and the stage 21 are positioned so that a design gap of 30 µm to 100 µm (preferably 40 µm to 80 µm) may be formed between the transfer surfaces 91 of 9a). Then, as will be described later, adsorption by the stage 21 is partially released during transfer of the toner image so that the object 9a is electrically attracted to the photosensitive drum 31 as shown in FIG. The site | part of the transcription position of 9a) is bent by 30 micrometers-100 micrometers (preferably 40 micrometers-80 micrometers). In addition, in this embodiment, the curvature amount of the target object 9a is set to 50 micrometers, and FIG. 7 shows the curvature amount of the target object 9a larger than it actually is.

FIG. 9: is a side view which shows the movement mechanism 2a, and has shown the state seen from the (-Y) side in FIG. 7 toward the (+ Y) direction. On the surface plate 11, the slide mechanism 22 has a pair of guide rails 231 which extend in the Y direction, and the stage 21 has a slider at a position opposite to each guide rail 231. 232 is installed. High pressure air is supplied to each slider 232 from the air supply part 233, the slider 232 engages non-contact with the guide rail 231, and the stage 21 is supported so that a movement to a Y direction is possible. In addition, the slide mechanism 22 further has a linear motor 24, the fixed body 241 of the linear motor 24 is fixed on the surface plate 11, and the movable body 242 is mounted to the stage 21. . Then, by driving the linear motor 24, the stage 21 naturally moves in the Y direction together with the object 9a.

The dislocation provision part 5 shown in FIG. 7 is equipped with the two contactors 51 arrange | positioned respectively at the (+ Y) side and (-Y) side of a transfer position similarly to 1st Embodiment, and a contactor 51 has a brush formed of a conductive material. As shown in Fig. 8, the contactors 51 on the (+ Y) side and the (-Y) side are arranged on the (-X) side of the stage 21, and each contact 51 is not shown in the illustration. Supported by the member.

The contactor 51 shown in FIG. 7 directly contacts the transfer surface 91 of the object 9a. In practice, the object 9a moves from the (-Y) side in FIG. 8 toward the (+ Y) direction, so that the (-Y) side while the end of the (9) side of the object 9a is located at the transfer position. Contactor 51 on the (+ Y) side while the contactor 51 contacts the transfer surface 91 of the object 9a and the end portion on the (-Y) side of the object 9a is located at the transfer position. Touches the transfer surface 91 of the object 9a so that at least one of the contacts 51 on the (+ Y) side and the (−Y) side always contacts the transfer surface 91 at the time of transfer of the toner. As shown in Fig. 7, the electrodes of the respective contactors 51 are electrically grounded, so that the transfer surface 91 of the object 9a is also electrically grounded. In other words, the contact potential 51 of the 2nd electric potential provision part 5 gives the 2nd electric potential which is a ground electric potential to the to-be-transmitted surface 91 of the target object 9a.

The flow of formation of the toner image to the object 9a by the image forming apparatus 1b is almost the same as the flow of formation of the toner image (see Fig. 3) in the first embodiment. In the image forming apparatus 1b, the rotation of the photoconductor 312 (that is, the movement of the target site on the photoconductor 312) and (+ Y) of the object 9a at the time of transferring the toner image in step S15 in FIG. The suction control unit 23 (see FIG. 8) is controlled along with the movement in the () direction, whereby the groove 211 located at the transfer position among the plurality of grooves 211 of the stage 21 (exactly, from the transfer position Adsorption by the plurality of grooves 211 positioned within a range of a constant distance in the (± Y) direction is released sequentially, and the portion of the transfer position of the object 9a is bent toward the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 31. It becomes possible state. As a result, the portion of the transfer position of the object 9a is bent toward the photosensitive drum 31 by the electrical suction force resulting from the transfer voltage acting between the photosensitive drum 31 and the object 9a. The transfer surface 91 and the photosensitive member 312 of 9a are in close contact with the liquid toner. In the adsorption control part 23, in order to perform partial release of adsorption at high speed, a blow may be performed to the groove | channel 211 which releases adsorption instantly.

Then, the portion of the transfer position of the object 9a moves in the same direction at the same speed as the portion of the transfer position of the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 31, so that the positively charged toner image on the target portion of the photosensitive member 312 is It is sequentially transferred to the transfer surface 91 of the object 9a. In addition, the site | part which passed the transfer position of the target object 9a is adsorbed-retained by the groove | channel 211 of the stage 21 again. Thereby, only the site | part of the transfer position of the target object 9a can be bent, maintaining the positional precision on the holding surface 210 of the target object 9a.

In the image forming apparatus 1b, similarly to the first embodiment, the toner image formed on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 31 by the liquid toner having etching resistance is transferred to the object 9a by electrostatic transfer. The toner image used as the resist pattern can be formed on the object 9a with high accuracy and speed and further at low cost. Further, by fixing the transferred toner image on the object 9a, a resist pattern can be formed quickly.

In the image forming apparatus 1b, similarly to the first embodiment, the first potential applying portion 4 having the same polarity as that of the liquid toner is applied to the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 by the first potential providing portion 4 from the toner image. When the ground potential is applied to the conductive transfer surface 91 of the object 9a by the second potential providing unit 5, the transfer of the toner image by electrostatic transfer is performed. It is possible to stably transfer the toner image onto the conductive transfer surface 91 by preventing the degradation or destruction of the toner image.

In the image forming apparatus 1b according to the third embodiment, the toner image is transferred while bending the object 9a to the photosensitive member 312 side by the electric suction force caused by the transfer voltage, in particular, thereby applying mechanical pressure. The toner image and the object 9a can be brought into contact with each other (or substantially brought into contact with each other so that they can be regarded as almost in contact with each other). As a result, the toner image and the object 9a can be brought into contact with each other with a magnitude of force capable of preventing the influence of the ups and downs of the object 9a while preventing an unnecessary strong force from acting on the toner image. Toner images can be transferred.

In the pattern forming system according to the third embodiment, the etching apparatus, the first cleaning apparatus, the image removing apparatus, and the second cleaning apparatus are provided similarly to the first embodiment. In these apparatuses, a stage holding the object 9a and a stage moving mechanism for moving the stage in parallel with the transfer surface 91 of the object 9a are provided, and the object 9a is provided as one apparatus. The conveyance mechanism which carries out from another and carries in to another apparatus is also provided.

In the pattern forming system according to the third embodiment, the object 9a is sequentially arranged on the image forming apparatus 1b, the etching apparatus, the first cleaning apparatus, the image removing apparatus, and the second cleaning apparatus by the transfer mechanism. By carrying in and processing, the site | part exposed from the resist pattern formed by the toner image among the ITO film | membrane which is the conductive layer 94 is removed, and wiring patterns, such as an ITO electrode and ITO wiring, on the glass substrate which is the insulating base 93 Is formed. Also in the pattern formation system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment, a circuit board can be formed quickly similarly to 1st Embodiment. In the pattern formation system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment, the formation process of the above-mentioned toner image, the etching process, the 1st washing process, for example with respect to the object to which the copper foil used as an electrode was bonded on the glass epoxy board | substrate, The removal process of the resist pattern (that is, the toner image) and the second cleaning process may be performed.

Next, an image forming apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. 10 is a diagram illustrating the image forming apparatus 1c according to the fourth embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1c is in the form of a plate or film using an electrophotographic method, similarly to the image forming apparatus 1 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) of the pattern forming system 100 according to the first embodiment. A toner image is formed on a target object, and in the image forming apparatus 1c, toner is applied to the main surface 91 (that is, the transfer surface 91) on the (+ Z) side in FIG. 10 of the object 9b. It is transferred and a toner image is formed. In the present embodiment, the object 9b is an aluminum plate having a thickness of about 1 mm, and the transfer surface 91 becomes conductive having a specific resistance of 10 ⁻⁶ Ω · cm or more and 10 ³ Ω · cm or less. In the object 9b, no wiring pattern is formed on the surface, and therefore, the toner used for forming the toner image does not need to have etching resistance.

As shown in FIG. 10, the image forming apparatus 1c has a moving mechanism 2b that is different in structure from the moving mechanism 2 and the second potential applying unit 5 of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2. ) And second dislocation imparting portion 5a. The other structure is the same as the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2, and the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the corresponding structure in the following description.

The movement mechanism 2b is provided with the upper roller 201 and the lower roller 202 which hold | maintain the object 9b between the (+ Z) side and (-Z) side in FIG. 10, and the upper roller 201 ) And the lower roller 202 rotate in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 10, respectively, so that the object 9b moves in the (+ Y) direction, which is a moving direction along the transfer surface 91.

The 2nd dislocation provision part 5a is equipped with the dislocation provision roller 51a formed by covering the circumference | surroundings of a center electrode with electroconductive elastic material (conductive rubber in this embodiment), and the dislocation provision roller 51a is On the (-Z) side of the object 9b, it is possible to rotate in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 10 about the rotation axis 510 parallel to the X direction. In the present embodiment, the specific resistance of the dislocation applying roller 51a is about 10 ³ Ω · cm to about 10 ⁶ Ω · cm. The transfer position of the image forming apparatus 1c (that is, the position where the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 31 and the transfer surface 91 of the object 9b are closest to each other and fixed relative to the process unit 3). In this case, the dislocation applying roller 51a is in contact with the main surface on the (-Z) side of the conductive object 9b, and the second dislocation is applied to the transfer surface 91 of the object 9b via the dislocation applying roller 51a. Is given. In addition, the dislocation applying roller 51a causes the object 9b to be in close contact with the photosensitive member 312 of the photosensitive drum 31 at the transfer position through the toner image. In the image forming apparatus 1c, the potential applying roller 51a is electrically grounded, and the second potential applied to the object 9b by the second potential providing unit 5a becomes the ground potential.

Next, formation of the toner image by the image forming apparatus 1c will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for forming a toner image on the object 9b by the image forming apparatus 1c. In addition, steps S23 to S27 in FIG. 11 show a flow of processing that pays attention to a part of the photoconductor 312 as in steps S11 to S15 in FIG. 3, and these steps are actually temporal for the entire photoconductor 312. Almost in parallel. The flow of formation of the toner image by the image forming apparatus 1c is almost the same as the flow of formation of the toner image by the image forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, and the description of the same process is simplified.

In the image forming apparatus 1c illustrated in FIG. 10, first, the photosensitive drum 31 starts rotation at a constant rotational speed in the clockwise direction in FIG. 10 with the rotation axis 310 as the center. By (2b), the object 9b also starts moving at a constant speed in the (+ Y) direction (steps S21 and S22). Subsequently, similarly to the first embodiment, the photosensitive drum 31 is an annular member having a cylindrical drum shape centering on the rotation shaft 310 by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 31 in the process unit 3. Each peripheral configuration (that is, the charger 32, the latent image forming portion 33, the developing portion 34, the first potential providing portion 4, the cleaner 35, and the static eliminator 36 disposed around the periphery) are disposed. ) Is continuously circulated along the outer circumferential surface, and the process for the photosensitive member 312 by these peripheral configurations is started.

In the charger 32, electric charge is sequentially applied to the target site of the photoconductor 312 that reaches the opposite position, and the surface of the target site is uniformly charged to, for example, +700 V (volts) (step S23). ). The target site after the charging continuously moves to the irradiation position of the light of the latent image forming section 33.

In the latent image forming section 33, light for image formation is emitted toward the photosensitive member 312 in accordance with the image data of the toner image formed on the transfer surface 91 of the object 9b. At the site where the light is irradiated, the surface potential is reduced to +100 V, and an image (that is, an electrostatic latent image) is formed on the surface of the photoconductor 312 (step S24).

The target portion where the electrostatic latent image is formed moves to a position opposite to the developing portion 34. In the developing unit 34, the liquid toner is positively charged in the liquid toner (i.e., dispersed in the solvent of the liquid toner) by the bias voltage between the developing roller 341 to which the potential of +500 V is applied and the electrostatic latent image. In addition, a liquid toner charged with the same polarity as the surface of the photosensitive member 312 is applied to the latent electrostatic image (step S25). Unnecessary liquid toner on the target site is scraped off by the squeegee roller 342 to which a potential of +500 V is applied and returned to the developing unit 34. In this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, as the liquid toner, particles having a particle size of 0.1 µm or more and 2 µm or less (more preferably, 0.1 µm or more and 0.5 µm or less) are used.

In the developing unit 34, similarly to the first embodiment (see FIG. 4A), the positively charged liquid toner having the same polarity as the surface of the photoconductor 312 is formed at the target site on the photoconductor 312. It adheres only to the site | part in which surface potential was reduced by the latent image formation part 33, and an electrostatic latent image is developed by this. That is, the toner image before the transfer by the liquid toner is formed on the target portion on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312. In the image forming apparatus 1c shown in FIG. 10, the photosensitive drum 31 and the motor for rotating the drum retain the toner image before transfer on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 and circulate the photosensitive member 312. And a toner image holding portion.

Next, the first potential providing portion 4 imparts a positive first potential having the same polarity as that of the liquid toner to the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 from the toner image developed on the photosensitive member 312. (Step S26). Thereby, similarly to 1st Embodiment (refer FIG. 4B), the whole target site | part of the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member 312 is the same as the charging by the charger 32, or a large electric potential in absolute value (this In an embodiment, up to about + 800V) is charged.

When the provision of the first potential is completed, the target portion of the photosensitive drum 31 reaches the transfer position. At this time, the object 9b is electrically grounded through the second potential providing portion 5a (in other words, by the second potential providing portion 5a, to the transfer surface 91 of the object 9b). A ground potential is applied), and a predetermined transfer voltage acts between the target surface of the target surface 9b of the target object 9b and the photosensitive member 312 at the transfer position. That is, an electric field directed from the target site to the target surface 91 is generated (see FIG. 4C), and a force in the direction from the photosensitive member 312 toward the target surface 91 of the object 9b acts on the liquid toner. Thereby, the positively charged toner image attached on the target portion of the photosensitive member 312 is sequentially transferred to the transfer surface 91 of the object 9b (step S27).

The target portion of the photosensitive member 312 after the transfer of the liquid toner continues to move to the position of the cleaner 35 shown in FIG. 10, and the liquid toner remaining on the target portion by the cleaner 35 (i.e., the object 9b). ), And the surface of the photosensitive member 312 is cleaned, and the photosensitive member 312 is mechanically returned to an initial state. Then, the light is irradiated by the combination of the lamp and the filter, or the static eliminator 36 having the LED or the like, so that the photosensitive member 312 is discharged and is returned to the initial state electrically.

As described above, the processing of steps S23 to S27 is performed almost in parallel with respect to each site on the photoconductor 312, and the processing is performed continuously for each site of the photoconductor 312 that sequentially reaches the transfer position, and thus, finally, As a result, the entire toner image on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 is transferred onto the object 9b at the transfer position. Then, the rotation of the photosensitive drum 31 stops, the moving mechanism 2b stops, and the print processing by the image forming apparatus 1c ends, toner image on the transfer surface 91 of the object 9b. Are formed (steps S28, S29). In the image forming apparatus 1c, the photosensitive drum 31 may be rotated a plurality of times to transfer the toner image continuously to the plurality of objects 9b.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1c, similarly to the first embodiment, the first potential providing portion 4 has the first potential having the same polarity as that of the liquid toner from the toner image formed of the liquid toner. It is applied to the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312, and the electrically conductive transfer surface 91 of the object 9b is electrically grounded by the second potential providing portion 5a (that is, the ground potential is transferred to the transfer surface 91). And a transfer voltage is applied between the photosensitive member 312 and the transfer surface 91, and the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive member 312 to the transfer surface 91 of the object 9b.

In this manner, in the image forming apparatus 1c, by forming the toner image with the liquid toner having a smaller particle size than the dry toner, the first potential can be applied to the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member 312 from the toner image. The transfer voltage used for the transfer of the toner image can be caused by applying the first potential to the photosensitive member 312 while giving the ground potential to the object 9b. Thus, even when peeling discharge due to the transfer voltage occurs in the space between the photosensitive member 312 and the transfer surface 91, the potential of the portion where the peeling discharge of the transfer surface 91 has occurred remains at ground potential. The continuation of peeling discharge can be prevented. In addition, transfer omission (i.e., the phenomenon that the toner on the photosensitive drum is not transferred to the object or the toner once transferred on the object returns to the photosensitive drum) occurs due to the transfer of the charge applied to the object to the toner. Can also be prevented. As a result, the toner image is prevented from being degraded or destroyed due to peeling discharge or transfer failure, thereby stably transferring the toner image (i.e., forming the toner image to the object 9b) onto the conductive transfer surface 91. I can do it.

In the process unit 3, the first potential providing unit 4 serves as a corona charging mechanism for applying ions generated by corona discharge to the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312, thereby easily providing the first potential to the photosensitive member 312. You can give it.

In the process unit 3, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 312 by the latent image forming unit 33, and the developing unit 34 uses an electrophotographic method of developing the electrostatic latent image with liquid toner. By forming the toner image, the structures of the process unit 3 and the image forming apparatus 1c can be simplified. Further, by setting the particle size of the liquid toner to 2 µm or less, it is possible to reliably and easily realize the provision of the first potential to the photosensitive member 312 from the toner image by the first potential providing portion 4.

In the image forming apparatus 1c, the first potential and the second potential provided by the first potential providing part 4 and the second potential providing part 5a are not necessarily limited to the above-described potentials. For example, the transfer surface 91 of the object 9b does not necessarily need to be electrically grounded by the second potential providing portion 5a, and is substantially connected to the ground potential by the second potential providing portion 5a. The same second potential may be provided. Specifically, the absolute value of the second potential should be 5% or less of the absolute value of the first potential applied to the photosensitive member 312 by the first potential providing portion 4, and the first potential is +800 V as described above. In the case of, it is -40V or more and + 40V or less. Even in this case, the toner image can be transferred to the conductive transfer surface 91 stably by preventing the deterioration or destruction of the toner image due to peeling discharge or transfer omission.

In the image forming apparatus 1c, similarly to the first embodiment (see FIG. 5), the first potential is equal to or more than the potential (+700 V) applied to the photosensitive member 312 by the charger 32, and from the potential Good transfer quality can be realized by setting + 700V or more and less than + 900V (more preferably, + 700V or more and + 850V or less) within a range that does not fall significantly, and setting the second potential to the ground potential (or substantially the same potential as the ground potential). have. In addition, the transfer efficiency can also be improved by setting the first potential to + 800V. Moreover, the preferable range of a 1st electric potential changes with various factors, such as the kind of liquid toner, the material of the photosensitive member 312, and the radius of curvature of the photosensitive drum 31, For example, the charge amount of a liquid toner, a photoreceptor Good adhesion quality may be obtained even at about + 400V due to the adhesion between the 312 and the liquid toner.

Next, an image forming apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. 12 is a diagram illustrating the image forming apparatus 1d according to the fifth embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1d has a structure substantially the same as the image forming apparatus 1a according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 6, and replaces the moving mechanism 2 in FIG. The same moving mechanism 2a as the image forming apparatus 1b according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is provided. In the present embodiment, similarly to the third embodiment, the object 9a having an ITO film having a specific resistance of about 10 ⁻⁶ Ω · cm to about 10 ³ Ω · cm on a glass substrate that is an insulating substrate is used. The toner image is formed.

In the image forming apparatus 1d, the toner image formed on the photosensitive member 312 by the charger 32, the latent image forming portion 33, the developing portion 34, or the like of the process unit 3 is formed by the roller 252b. By the potential applied to the intermediate transfer member 251 via the transfer, the intermediate transfer member 251 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer member 251. In addition, immediately before the transfer position where the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer member 251 and the object 9a are closest to each other, the first potential applying unit 4 causes the intermediate transfer member 251 to have a predetermined potential from the toner image. The target site which is given substantially uniformly to the outer circumferential surface of), and to which dislocation is applied, is conveyed toward the object 9a.

In the image forming apparatus 1d, similarly to the image forming apparatus 1b shown in FIG. 7, the portion of the transfer position of the object 9a is partially released by partially releasing suction by the stage 21 of the moving mechanism 2a. Becomes bendable toward the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer member 251. And similarly to the image forming apparatus 1a shown in FIG. 6, the site | part of the transcription | transfer position of the object 9a is the same direction (namely, (-Y) at the same speed as the site | part of the transcription | transfer position of the intermediate | middle transcription | transfer body 251. Direction), and the ground potential is applied to the transfer surface 91 of the object 9a by the contactor 51 of the second potential providing portion 5. Accordingly, in the transfer position, the electric force directed to the object 9a acts on the liquid toner, and the object 9a is bent toward the intermediate transfer member 251 by the electric suction force, and the intermediate transfer member 251 And the toner image on the intermediate transfer member 251 are transferred onto the object 9a with high precision while bringing the object 9a into close contact.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible.

For example, in the image forming apparatus according to the first, third and fourth embodiments, a flat belt-shaped photosensitive belt may be used in place of the photosensitive drum 31, and according to the second and fifth embodiments, In the image forming apparatus according to the aspect, the intermediate transfer member 251 may have a drum shape.

The first potential providing portion 4 may have a configuration other than the corona charging mechanism. For example, in the image forming apparatus according to the first, third and fourth embodiments, the rotation of the photosensitive drum 31 about the central axis facing the same direction as the rotation axis 310 of the photosensitive drum 31 is performed. A potential may be applied to the cylindrical conductive sponge rotating in a direction opposite to the direction, and the first potential may be applied to the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member 312 from the toner image by contacting the conductive sponge with the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member 312. In the image forming apparatuses according to the second and fifth embodiments, the first electric potential may be applied to the outer circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer member 251 by the same conductive sponge.

The electrostatic latent image formed by the latent image forming section 33 may be negative or positive. In the process unit 3, an electrostatic latent image may be formed directly by the ion flow to the photosensitive member 312. In the developing unit 34, the liquid toner containing the negatively charged liquid toner may be applied to the photosensitive member 312. In this case, the photosensitive member 312 is provided by the charger 32 and the first potential providing unit 4. ) (Or the intermediate transfer member 251) also becomes negative of the same polarity.

In the image forming apparatus according to the first to third and fifth embodiments, the contactor 51 of the second dislocation applying unit 5 uses, for example, an elastic material, a dislocation applying roller, or the like in addition to the brush. A potential may be provided to the transfer surface 91.

In the image forming apparatus, the second potential imparted to the transfer surface 91 by the second potential imparting portion becomes substantially the same as the ground potential, for example, the type of the liquid toner or the photosensitive member 312 (or the intermediate). By properly changing the material of the transfer member 251, the radius of curvature of the photosensitive drum 31 (or the roller 252a), and the like, as long as the transfer of the toner image to the transfer surface 91 can be performed stably, The second potential may be a potential sufficiently far from the ground potential. In addition, the provision of the first potential to the photosensitive member 312 (or the intermediate transfer member 251) by the first potential providing portion 4 may be omitted.

In the fixing unit 52 of the image forming apparatus, for example, fixing of the toner image may be performed by applying a fixing liquid to the toner image by means of a fixing spray. Further, the toner image may be fixed by contacting the heating roller with the toner image. Fixation may be performed. However, from the viewpoint of forming a high-precision resist pattern, fixing by non-contact heating as in the above embodiment or non-contact fixing by applying a fixing solution is more preferable. In the pattern forming system according to the above embodiment, a fixing apparatus independent of the image forming apparatus may be provided between the image forming apparatus and the etching apparatus 61 in place of the fixing unit 52 of the image forming apparatus. .

The image forming apparatus of the pattern forming system according to the embodiment is an apparatus for forming a toner image on an object, and includes an etching apparatus 61, a first cleaning apparatus 62, an image removing apparatus 63, and a second cleaning apparatus. Apart from (64), they may be used alone. For example, when the image forming apparatuses according to the first and second embodiments are used alone, the roll-shaped object 9 held by the object supply part 203 of the moving mechanism 2 is transferred to the transfer position. After the toner image has been transferred and fixed, the object recovery unit 205 recovers the toner image, thereby quickly forming a resist pattern on the object 9 serving as a plurality of flexible circuit boards.

While the invention has been described and described in detail, the description in the prior description is illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, it is understood that many variations and aspects are possible without departing from the scope of this invention.

Claims (23)

An image forming apparatus 1 which forms a toner image on a plate-like or film-like object 9, Toner image retaining portion 25 for circularly moving annular members 251 and 312 having a cylindrical drum shape or flat belt shape formed on the outer circumferential surface of the toner image before transfer by the liquid toner 92 having etching resistance along the outer circumferential surface. , 31), An object 9 having a plate-like or film-like insulating base 93 and a conductive layer 94 having a specific resistance of 10 ³ Ω · cm or less formed on one main surface of the insulating base 93, The object 9 is the same as the site of the annular members 251 and 312 at the transfer position, while the transfer surface 91 of the conductive layer 94 is closest to the outer circumferential surface at a predetermined transfer position. A moving mechanism 2 which moves at a speed in the same direction as the traveling direction of the portion of the annular members 251 and 312 and in the moving direction along the transfer surface 91; A toner image for transferring the toner image to the object 9 by applying a predetermined transfer voltage between the annular members 251 and 312 and the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 at the transfer position. An image forming apparatus comprising transfer portions (4, 5). The method according to claim 1, An image forming apparatus, wherein a main component of the liquid toner (92) is vinyl acetate. The method according to claim 1, An image forming apparatus, wherein the object is a flexible substrate having flexibility. The method according to claim 3, A fixing unit 52 is further provided in the moving direction of the object 9 by the moving mechanism 2, and is disposed downstream of the transfer position to fix the toner image to the transfer surface 91. and, The moving mechanism 2, An object supply part 203 which holds the object 9 in a roll shape before the toner image is transferred, and supplies the object 9 to the transfer position; The object collection | recovery which arrange | positions downstream of the said fixing | fixed part 52 in the said moving direction of the said object 9 by the said moving mechanism 2, and winds up and collect | recovers the said target object 9 to which the toner image was fixed An image forming apparatus comprising a portion 205. The method according to claim 1, The toner image transfer sections 4 and 5 A first potential imparting portion for imparting a first potential having the same polarity as that of the counter electrode of the liquid toner 92 to the outer circumferential surface of the annular members 251 and 312 from the toner image before the transfer position of the cyclic movement; (4) and, By applying a second potential substantially equal to the ground potential to the transfer surface 91, the transfer voltage is applied between the annular members 251 and 312 and the transfer surface 91 at the transfer position. An image forming apparatus comprising two dislocation applying portions (5). An image forming apparatus for forming a toner image on a plate-like or film-like object 9, Toner image holding portions 25 and 31 for circularly moving the cylindrical drum-shaped or flat-belt-shaped annular members 251 and 312 along the outer circumferential surface on which the toner image before transfer by the liquid toner 92 is formed on the outer circumferential surface. Wow, The said annular member in the said transfer position was made to move the said target object 9 in the said transfer position, making the electrically conductive to-be-transmitted surface 91 whose specific resistance of the object 9 is 10 ³ ohm * cm or less closest to the said outer peripheral surface at a predetermined transfer position. A moving mechanism 2 which moves in the same direction as the direction of travel of the portions of the annular members 251 and 312 in the movement direction along the transfer surface 91 at the same speed as that of the portions 251 and 312, A first potential portion for imparting a first potential of the same polarity as that of the counter electrode of the liquid toner 92 to the outer circumferential surface of the annular members 251 and 312 from the toner image before the transfer position of the cyclic movement; Whether or not (4), By giving the transfer surface 91 a second potential that is substantially equal to the ground potential, the predetermined transfer is made between the annular members 251, 312 and the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 at the transfer position. And a second potential providing portion (5) for transferring the toner image to the object (9) by applying a transfer voltage of. The method according to claim 6, And the first potential providing portion (4) is a corona charging mechanism for imparting ions generated by corona discharge to the toner image holding portions (25, 31). The method according to claim 6, The object 9, Plate-like or film-shaped insulating base 93, An image forming apparatus comprising: a conductive layer (94) having the transfer surface (91) formed on one main surface of the insulating base (93). The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, And the absolute value of the second potential is 5% or less of the absolute value of the first potential. The method according to claim 9, And the second potential is ground potential. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, An image forming apparatus, wherein the liquid toner (92) has a particle diameter of 2 m or less. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, A latent image forming portion 33 forming an electrostatic latent image on the outer circumferential surface of the annular members 251 and 312, And a developing portion (34) for forming the toner image by developing the latent electrostatic image by the liquid toner (92). An image forming method of forming a toner image on a plate-shaped or film-shaped object 9, a) forming a toner image before transfer by the liquid toner 92 having etching resistance on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical drum-shaped or flat belt-shaped annular members 251, 312 circulating along the outer circumferential surface; b) the object 9 which has the plate-shaped or film-shaped insulating base 93 and the conductive layer 94 whose specific resistance formed in one main surface of the said insulating base 93 is 10 ³ ohm * cm or less, The object 9 is the same as the site of the annular members 251 and 312 at the transfer position, while the transfer surface 91 of the conductive layer 94 is closest to the outer circumferential surface at a predetermined transfer position. Moving in the same direction as the travel direction of the portion of the annular members 251 and 312 at a speed and in the moving direction along the transfer surface 91; c) in parallel with the step b), a predetermined transfer voltage is applied between the annular members 251, 312 and the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 at the transfer position to produce the toner image. An image forming method comprising the step of transferring to said object (9). The method according to claim 13, An image forming method in which the main component of the liquid toner (92) is vinyl acetate. The method according to claim 13, C) the process, d) applying a first electric potential having the same polarity as that of the counter electrode of the liquid toner 92 to the outer circumferential surface of the annular members 251 and 312 from the toner image before the transfer position of the circular movement; e) In parallel with the step d), the annular members 251 and 312 and the to-be-transmitted surface 91 are provided at the transfer position by applying a second potential substantially equal to the ground potential to the to-be-transmitted surface 91. And a step of applying the transfer voltage in between. An image forming method of forming a toner image on a plate-shaped or film-shaped object 9, a) forming a toner image before transfer by the liquid toner 92 on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical drum-shaped or flat belt-shaped annular members 251, 312 circulating along the outer circumferential surface; b) The annular object at the transfer position while the conductive transfer surface 91 having a resistivity of the object 9 of 10 ³ Ω · cm or less is most approached to the outer circumferential surface at a predetermined transfer position. Moving in the same direction as the direction of travel of the portions of the annular members 251 and 312 in the movement direction along the transfer surface 91 at the same speed as the portions of the members 251 and 312, c) in parallel with the step b), the same polarity as that of the counter electrode of the liquid toner 92 is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the annular members 251 and 312 from the toner image before the transfer position of the circular movement. 1 step of applying a potential, d) in parallel with the process b) and the process c), by applying a second potential substantially equal to the ground potential to the transfer surface 91, the annular members 251 and 312 at the transfer position; And transferring a toner image to the object (9) by applying a predetermined transfer voltage between the target surfaces (91) of the object (9). The method according to claim 15 or 16, And the absolute value of the second potential is 5% or less of the absolute value of the first potential. The method according to claim 17, And the second potential is a ground potential. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, An image forming method, wherein the liquid toner (92) has a particle diameter of 2 m or less. An object that is a flexible substrate having flexibility while having a plate-like or film-like insulating base 93 and a conductive layer 94 having a specific resistance of 10 ³ Ω · cm or less formed on one main surface of the insulating base 93 ( 9) A pattern forming system for forming a wiring pattern on Toner image retaining portion 25 for circularly moving cylindrical drum-shaped or flat belt-shaped annular members 251 and 312 formed on the outer circumferential surface of the toner image before transfer by the liquid toner 92 having etching resistance along the outer circumferential surface. , 31), The annular member at the transfer position while retaining the object 9 and making the target surface 91 of the conductive layer 94 approach the outer peripheral surface at a predetermined transfer position. A moving mechanism 2 which moves in the same direction as the direction of travel of the portions of the annular members 251 and 312 in the moving direction along the transfer surface 91 at the same speed as the portions of 251 and 312, At the transfer position, a predetermined transfer voltage is applied between the annular members 251 and 312 and the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 so that the toner image is transferred to the transfer surface of the object 9 ( The toner image transfer sections 4, 5 to be transferred to 91; A fixing unit 52 arranged downstream of the transfer position in the moving direction of the object 9 by the moving mechanism 2 to fix the toner image to the transfer surface 91; An etching apparatus 61 disposed downstream of the fixing unit 52 in the moving direction and etching to a portion exposed from the toner image of the conductive layer 94; The moving mechanism 2, An object supply part 203 which holds the object 9 in a roll shape before the toner image is transferred, and supplies the object 9 to the transfer position; The object collection | recovery which arrange | positions downstream of the said fixing | fixed part 52 in the said moving direction of the said object 9 by the said moving mechanism 2, and winds up and collect | recovers the said target object 9 to which the toner image was fixed A pattern forming system having a portion 205. The method of claim 20, And an image removal device (63) disposed between the etching apparatus and the object recovery portion in the moving direction of the object (9), and for removing the toner image on the object (9). As a pattern formation method which forms a wiring pattern on the target object 9, a) forming a toner image before transfer by the liquid toner 92 having etching resistance on the outer circumferential surfaces of the cylindrical drum-shaped or flat belt-shaped annular members 251, 312 circulating along the outer circumferential surface; b) holding the object 9 which has the plate-shaped or film-shaped insulating base 93 and the conductive layer 94 whose specific resistance formed in one main surface of the said insulating base 93 is 10 ³ ohm * cm or less, and said The object 9 is at the same speed as that of the annular members 251 and 312 at the transfer position, while the transfer surface 91 of the conductive layer 94 is closest to the outer circumferential surface at a predetermined transfer position. A process of moving in the direction of movement of the portions of the annular members 251, 312 in the same direction as the travel direction along the transfer surface 91; c) in parallel with the step b), a predetermined transfer voltage is applied between the annular members 251, 312 and the transfer surface 91 of the object 9 at the transfer position, to produce the toner image. Transferring the to the transfer surface 91 of the object 9, d) fixing the toner image transferred to the transfer surface 91 after the step c); e) A pattern forming method comprising a step of etching the portion exposed from the toner image of the conductive layer 94 after the step d). The method according to claim 22, and f) removing said toner image on said object (9) after said step e).

Images