JP2003094711A - Electrostatic carriage recording method and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize an electrostatic carriage recording method and an apparatus therefor in which recording can be carried out without passing toner through a hole by utilizing an electrostatic carrying technology, and troubles incident to passage of toner through a hole, e.g. clogging, can be eliminated. SOLUTION: In the electrostatic carriage recording method and the apparatus therefor, charged toner for forming an image is carried by an electrostatic carriage electrode array 2, in the way thereof, with a large number of gate electrodes 2-1, 2-2,..., 2-n which are applied with an image signal selectively such that the toner is carried over the gate electrodes and applied to a recording material 6 at the end thereof. Since the toner is not required to be passed through the holes of a ring-like image electrode on contrary to prior art, troubles incident to passage of toner through a hole, e.g. clogging, can be eliminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a static recording technique in which recording is performed by using an electrostatic conveyance technique in which an AC signal is applied to an electrostatic conveyance electrode array to convey an image forming powder (dry toner or wet toner). The present invention relates to an electro-conveyance recording method and an electrostatic conveyance recording device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, research and development have been made on recording devices such as printers, plotters, copying machines, and facsimiles of an electrostatic transport recording system which records by utilizing electrostatic transport technology.
As an electrostatic transport recording method for electrostatically transporting image forming powder (hereinafter referred to as toner) for recording, two electrostatic transport electrode array substrates are opposed to each other, and dry toner is electrostatically transported between them. A recording method in which toner is selectively drawn out from holes vacant in an electrostatic transfer electrode array substrate on one side by a toner jet-like method and recorded on plain paper on a counter electrode is disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,780,733. Description (JP-A-2-25
No. 82). A color recording apparatus for performing color recording by this recording method is disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,132,708 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-234).
No. 080). Further, as another electrostatic conveyance recording method, an electric field is applied to a dry-charged toner which is being electrostatically conveyed by a normal three-phase alternating current by a ring electrode of a toner jet method, and the toner is selected through a hole in the ring electrode. A recording method in which a recording medium is pulled out and attached to plain paper on a counter electrode is described in US Pat. No. 4,568,955. However, in the electrostatic transport recording method described above, dry toner is fed from the electrostatic transport electrode to a narrow hole (1
Since the particles are made to fly to the plain paper on the counter electrode through (100 μm or less), the holes are likely to be clogged with the toner.

[0003]

As in the prior art described above, the toner is selectively extracted from the electrostatic carrier electrode by the toner jet ring electrode and passed through the hole in the center of the ring electrode to form a plain paper on the counter electrode. In the recording method, it is difficult to avoid clogging of the holes with toner. Therefore, a cleaning device for cleaning the holes is indispensable, and the size of the device becomes larger, the cost becomes higher, and the noise becomes louder.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to perform recording without passing toner through the holes by using the electrostatic transport technology, and to eliminate the problem caused by passing the toner through the holes. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel electrostatic transport recording method and electrostatic transport recording apparatus that can perform the above.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is an electrostatic transport recording method using an electrostatic transport technology, which is a charged powder for image formation (hereinafter referred to as toner). (To say) is carried by the electrostatic carrying electrode array,
A large number of gate electrodes independent of each other are provided in the course of transporting the toner by the electrostatic transport electrode array, and an image signal is selectively applied to the gate electrodes in accordance with an image signal to gate the toner only in that portion. It is characterized in that it is transported beyond the electrodes and attached to the recording material at the end.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electrostatic transport recording method according to the first aspect, a wet toner dispersed in an insulating solvent is used as the toner. The invention according to claim 3 is the electrostatic transport recording method according to claim 1, wherein when the passage of the toner is blocked corresponding to the background portion of the image, the gate electrode has the same polarity as the charging polarity of the toner. Is applied, or the ground voltage is applied. Further, the invention according to claim 4 is, in the electrostatic transport recording method according to claim 1, between the minimum value and the maximum value of the electrostatic transport voltage when the toner is passed through corresponding to the image portion of the image. The voltage is applied. Furthermore, the invention according to claim 5 is
The electrostatic transport recording method according to claim 1, wherein a block electrode is provided on the side opposite to the recording material as viewed from the gate electrode, and when a voltage having the same polarity as that of the toner is applied to the gate electrode, the toner becomes the block electrode. It is characterized in that it is prevented from moving backward so that the next image portion signal can quickly rise. Furthermore, the invention according to claim 6 is
The electrostatic transport recording method according to claim 1, wherein when the toner is transported over the gate electrode corresponding to the image portion,
The same voltage as the normal electrostatic transfer mode that should be applied when the electrostatic transfer electrode is present at the position where the gate electrode is placed,
It is characterized in that it is applied to the gate electrode.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrostatic transport recording apparatus using an electrostatic transport technology, which is a static transfer system for transporting charged image forming powder (hereinafter referred to as toner) onto an insulating substrate. 7. An electrostatic transfer according to claim 1, further comprising: an electrostatic transfer electrode array and a plurality of gate electrodes that are provided in the middle of the transfer of the toner by the electrostatic transfer electrode array and are independent of each other. It is characterized in that a toner image is formed on a recording material by using a recording method.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The inventors of the present invention used an electrostatic transfer technique of applying an AC voltage of 3 to 6 phases to an electrostatic transfer electrode array to transfer powders or particles by electrostatic force, and used a dry method. Alternatively, an electrostatic transport recording device that transports wet toner has been developed. At that time, I happened to notice that when the lead wire connecting one electrostatic carrying electrode and its power supply was cut and the electrode was in a floating state, the toner that had been carried to that point was completely stopped there. It was The present invention is based on this fact. That is, instead of stopping the toner conveyance over the entire width, a large number of dot-shaped electrodes are provided as gate electrodes instead of one electrostatic conveyance electrode at that portion, and the stopped state and conveyance are performed by the voltage applied thereto. The state is formed in a dot size, and an image is formed by the toner that has passed therethrough. More specifically, a plurality of gate electrodes (dot-shaped electrodes) that are independent of each other are transferred while the charged toner for image formation is transferred by the electrostatic transfer electrode array and the toner is transferred by the electrostatic transfer electrode array. An image signal is selectively applied to the gate electrode according to the image signal, and the toner is conveyed over the gate electrode only at that portion and is attached to the recording material at the end. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the electrostatic transport recording method according to the present invention and the electrostatic transport recording apparatus using the electrostatic transport recording method will be described in detail based on specific examples.

[0009]

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration and recording principle of an electrostatic transport recording apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 1B is a schematic plan view, and FIG. 1B is a schematic sectional view of the electrostatic transport recording apparatus. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a glass substrate as an insulating substrate having an electrostatic transfer electrode array 2 formed on its surface, and the electrostatic transfer electrode array 2 is composed of a plurality of electrostatic transfer electrodes 2-1, 2-2 ,. .. 2-n are arranged at predetermined intervals in the toner conveying direction (directions of arrows a and b in the figure). Reference numeral 3 is the electrostatic carrier electrode array 2
, A plurality of dot-shaped gate electrodes 3-1, 3-2, ..., 3-m that are independent of each other are provided in the toner transport direction ( They are arranged at a predetermined interval in a direction orthogonal to the directions of arrows a and b in the figure. Reference numeral 4 is a lead wire connected to each of the gate electrodes 3-1, 3-2, ..., 3-m of the gate electrode group 3 and is connected to an image signal pulse applying power source (not shown). Reference numeral 5 is a common electrode which is arranged above the electrostatic transport electrode array 2 with a predetermined interval, but the common electrode 5 is not an essential component. Reference numeral 6 is a recording material, which is plain paper used in, for example, a printer or a copying machine. Reference numeral 7 is a roller as a counter electrode which is arranged on the right end side of the glass substrate 1 at a predetermined interval in a direction orthogonal to the toner conveying direction.

A plurality of electrostatic transport electrodes 2 of the electrostatic transport electrode array 2.
-1, 2-2, ... 2-n has a width (length in the array direction) of 10μ
m, the length in the direction orthogonal to the toner conveyance direction is 210 m.
m, and the distance between the electrostatic carrier electrodes 2-1, 2-2, ... 2-n (the distance excluding the portion where the gate electrode group 3 is arranged) is 20.
μm. The electrostatic carrier electrodes 2-1, 2-2, ... 2-n
Are connected to the same carrying power supplies A, B, and C (not shown) by every three consecutive lead wires (not shown) in the toner carrying direction.

The gate electrode group 3 is arranged so as to replace one electrostatic carrier electrode in the electrostatic carrier electrode array 2, and each of the gate electrodes 3-1, 3-2 ,. .., 3-m
Is shaped like a square dot, and its size is 20
μm × 20 μm, which are arranged at a pitch of 42.3 μm in the direction orthogonal to the toner transport direction. The distance from the gate electrode group 3 to the end surface of the glass substrate 1 on the side of the counter electrode roller 7 is, for example, 360 μm.
The gap to the surface of the counter electrode roller 7 is, for example, 200
μm. A bias voltage of +200 V is constantly applied to the counter electrode roller 7 by a bias power source (not shown) during printing.

A method of forming the above-mentioned electrode pattern on an insulating substrate such as glass or polyimide film and forming a lead wire for connecting each electrode pattern to a power source is an integrated circuit (IC) or the like. Since the electrode pattern forming method and the lead wire forming method used in the manufacturing process can be used and are well known techniques, description thereof will be omitted here. Although the number of gate electrodes 3-1, 3-2, ..., 3-m of the gate electrode group 3 looks small in the drawing,
In practice, the gate electrode group 3 is composed of gate electrodes corresponding to the number of pixels in one image line (for example, about 5,000), and each gate electrode group 12
It is controlled by 39 ICs with 8 channels. An IC with an operating voltage of 50-60V is a general-purpose component, and one 100
It's available at about a yen, so it's low cost.

The plain paper 6, which is a recording material, is fed from a paper feed unit (not shown), and comes into contact with a counter electrode roller 7 which is rotating at the same speed and in the same direction by a drive roller (not shown).
It is conveyed from the bottom to the top of the drawing at a conveyance speed of mm / sec. After that, the sheet is discharged to the outside of the apparatus through a fixing device (not shown). A bias voltage of +200 V is constantly applied to the counter electrode roller 7 by a bias power source (not shown) during printing.

On the left side of the glass substrate 1 in FIG. 1, a one-component developing device (not shown) is arranged. With this one-component developing device, the average particle size charged to an average charge amount of -15 μC / g is set. 8.0 μm dry toner for electrophotography (eg black toner)
Is replenished to one end portion on the left side of the glass substrate 1 in the figure so as to cover a part of the electrostatic transport electrode array 2, and then the voltages of the transport power supplies A, B and C are cycled every 300 μsec for a period of 300 μsec. , (+ 100V, + 100V, 0V),
(+ 100V, 0V, + 100V), (0V, +100
V, +100 V), the toner started moving on the glass substrate 1 in the direction of arrow a in the figure.

At this time, an image signal pulse applying power source (not shown) for each of the gate electrodes 3-1, 3-2, ... The lowest value (0V) and highest value (+ 100V) of electrostatic carrier voltage
Voltage (for example, +50 V) and 0 V (ground voltage) to the non-image area for 423 μsec, the toner selectively passes through only the gate electrode to which +50 V is applied, and the gate electrode group 3 The toner runs in the direction of the arrow b in the figure on the electrostatic transport electrode array on the right side of the middle, and about 0.6 from the end surface of the glass substrate 1 on the right side in the figure toward the counter electrode roller 7.
Toner jumped out at a speed of m / sec and adhered to the plain paper 6. In addition, the state from the transportation to the flight at this time could be confirmed by the image of the high-speed camera equipped with the microscope lens. Then, the plain paper 6 to which the toner adheres is conveyed to a fixing device (not shown) and fixed, and then 600 dpi (dots / inch)
It was possible to obtain a black image of.

(Embodiment 2) The print obtained in the above-mentioned Embodiment 1 had some background stains. The cause is that from the analysis of the image of the high-speed camera, there is toner that exceeds the gate electrode of the non-image portion to which 0V (ground voltage) is applied to stop the toner conveyance, and the toner causes background stains. I found out. That is, depending on the size of the toner and the amount of charge, it cannot be stopped when the voltage applied to the gate electrode of the non-image area is 0V. Therefore, an experiment was conducted by changing the height of the negative voltage pulse applied to the gate electrode, and it was found that any toner can be completely blocked by applying a voltage of the same polarity as the toner charge polarity, for example, −70 V to the gate electrode. .

(Example 3) In Example 1 described above, the reflection image density of the black solid image portion was 1.2. Since this density did not reach the planned density of 1.4, the cause was investigated by an image of a high speed camera, and it was found that the transport speed was lowered when passing through the gate electrode group 3. Therefore, the voltage applied to the gate electrode selected as the image portion is changed to a constant voltage of +50 V, and when the electrostatic transport electrode is originally present at the position of the gate electrode, the static voltage applied to the electrostatic transport electrode is applied. When the same voltage as the voltage in the electric transfer mode (three ahead or the voltage applied to the electrostatic transfer electrode three before) is applied to the gate electrode in the image area, the decrease in the transfer speed is eliminated and the image density is reduced. Rose to 1.4.

(Embodiment 4) When the print image is checked in detail in the above-mentioned Embodiment 2, the density of the image portion (black) next to the background portion (white) is low and the sharpness of characters and lines is not good. Was found. Therefore, when the movement of the toner in the vicinity of the gate electrode at the corresponding time of the corresponding portion is observed by a high-speed camera, from the moment when the blocking voltage of −70 V is applied to the gate electrode, the left side of the gate electrode (counter electrode roller 7 Toner on the opposite side) starts to recede (moves to the left) and 100 μm on the left side of the gate electrode after 1 msec.
It was found that the toner almost disappeared in the range of m. After that, when an image signal is applied to the gate electrode, it takes some time until the toner is depleted in the toner-depleted region, so that the density of the edge of the black image portion becomes thin. Therefore, when viewed from the gate electrode, the left side 3
A block electrode having the same shape as the gate electrode is placed in place of the second electrostatic carrying electrode, and when a blocking voltage of −70 V is applied to the gate electrode, a backward block voltage of −50 V is applied to the block electrode. A sharp print was obtained without a decrease in the density of the edge portion. At this time, the inside of one dot becomes thinner than the edge portion of the black image, but this has little effect on the appearance.

(Embodiment 5) A liquid developer (wet toner) obtained by using dimethyl silicone oil having a viscosity of 50 cSt as a solvent in place of the dry toner in the above-mentioned Embodiment 1 and dispersing the toner in the insulating solvent. When used and recorded by the electrostatic transport recording apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 1, similar printing was possible. However, since the toner of the liquid developer is transported in the solvent, the electrostatic transport speed of the wet toner is slower than that of the dry toner, so that the transport speed of the recording material 6 is set to 1.
/ 10/10 mm / sec, and the image signal application time is 1
It is set to 4.32 msec which is 0 times. In the case of wet toner,
Since it was not possible to accelerate to a speed sufficient to horizontally fly from the end of the electrostatic transport glass substrate 1, the wet toner was dripped downward from the right end of the electrostatic transport glass substrate 1 in the figure, and from there, It was pulled by electrostatic force and dropped onto the recording material 6 on the counter electrode roller 7. As a result, good printing was possible.

[0020]

As described above, according to the electrostatic transport recording method of the first aspect, the charged toner for image formation is transported by the electrostatic transport electrode array, and the toner is transported by the electrostatic transport electrode array. A large number of gate electrodes that are independent of each other are provided in the course of transportation, and an image signal is selectively applied to the gate electrode according to the image signal so that toner is transported beyond the gate electrode only in that portion, The toner does not need to pass through the hole of the ring-shaped image electrode as in the prior art because it is attached to the recording material by the above method. Therefore, the clogging of the toner does not occur, the cleaning means is not necessary, and the conventional method is used. I was able to solve the problem.

According to the electrostatic transport recording method of claim 2,
In addition to the effect of claim 1, since a wet toner dispersed in an insulating solvent is used as the toner, there is no possibility that the toner diffuses into the air and contaminates the inside of the machine.

According to the electrostatic transport recording method of claim 3,
In addition to the effect of claim 1, when blocking the passage of the toner corresponding to the background portion of the image, a voltage having the same polarity as the charging polarity of the toner or a ground voltage is applied to the gate electrode. The electrodes can efficiently and completely block the toner.

According to the electrostatic transport recording method of claim 4,
In addition to the effect of claim 1, when the toner is allowed to pass through corresponding to the image portion of the image, a voltage between the minimum value and the maximum value of the electrostatic carrier voltage is applied, so that the gate electrode is efficient. The toner can then be passed through.

According to the electrostatic transport recording method of claim 5,
In addition to the effect of claim 1, when the block electrode is provided on the side opposite to the recording material as viewed from the gate electrode and a voltage having the same polarity as the toner is applied to the gate electrode, the toner retreats behind the block electrode. To prevent the occurrence of light, and to enable a quick start-up with the next image part signal, it is possible to prevent the density of the image part (black) next to the background part (white) from becoming thin, and to record sharp characters and lines. Images can be obtained.

According to the electrostatic transport recording method of claim 6,
In addition to the effect of claim 1, when the toner is transported beyond the gate electrode corresponding to the image portion, a normal electrostatic charge that should be added when the electrostatic transport electrode is present at the position where the gate electrode is arranged. Since the same voltage as that in the transport mode is applied to the gate electrode, it is possible to prevent the transport speed from decreasing at the gate electrode.

According to the electrostatic transport recording apparatus of claim 7,
On an insulating substrate, an electrostatic transport electrode array that transports charged toner for image formation and a large number of gate electrodes that are independent of each other and are provided on the way of transporting the toner by the electrostatic transport electrode array. By providing the toner image on the recording material by using the electrostatic transport recording method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the effect of any one of claims 1 to 6 can be obtained. Therefore, by using the electrostatic transport technology, it is possible to perform recording without passing the toner through the holes, and it is possible to eliminate problems such as toner clogging caused by passing the toner through the holes.
It is possible to realize a low-cost electrostatic transport recording apparatus that does not require a cleaning unit and has a novel structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a configuration and a recording principle of an electrostatic transport recording apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the electrostatic transport recording apparatus, and FIG. 3B is a schematic sectional view of the electrostatic transport recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Glass substrate 2: Electrostatic transfer electrode array 2-1, 2-2, ... 2-n: Electrostatic transfer electrode 3: Gate electrode group 3-1, 3-2, ... 3-n: Gate electrode 4: Lead wire for gate electrode 5: Common electrode 6: Recording material (eg plain paper) 7: Counter electrode roller

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C057 AF72 AG22 AH07 BD07 BD12                 2C162 AE25 AE31 AE47 AE75 AE84                       CA02 CA12 CA27                 2H029 AA01 AB03 AB08 AB16 AB23                       AC02 AC08

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A multiplicity of gate electrodes, which are independent of each other during the course of transporting charged toner particles for image formation (hereinafter referred to as toner) through an electrostatic transport electrode array and during transport of the toner through the electrostatic transport electrode array. An image signal is selectively applied to the gate electrode in accordance with the image signal, and the toner is conveyed over the gate electrode only at that portion and adhered to the recording material at the end. Electronic transport recording method. 2. The electrostatic transport recording method according to claim 1, wherein a wet toner dispersed in an insulating solvent is used as the toner. 3. The electrostatic transport recording method according to claim 1, wherein a voltage having the same polarity as the charging polarity of the toner or a ground is applied to the gate electrode when blocking passage of the toner corresponding to the background portion of the image. An electrostatic transport recording method characterized by applying a voltage. 4. The electrostatic transport recording method according to claim 1, wherein when the toner is made to pass corresponding to an image portion of an image,
An electrostatic transport recording method comprising applying a voltage between a minimum value and a maximum value of the electrostatic transport voltage. 5. The electrostatic transport recording method according to claim 1, wherein a block electrode is provided on the side opposite to the recording material as viewed from the gate electrode, and a voltage having the same polarity as the toner is applied to the gate electrode, An electrostatic transport recording method characterized in that the toner is prevented from retreating to the back of the block electrode so that the toner can quickly rise at the next image portion signal. 6. The electrostatic transport recording method according to claim 1, wherein when the toner is transported over the gate electrode corresponding to the image portion, and the electrostatic transport electrode is present at the position where the gate electrode is disposed. An electrostatic transport recording method characterized in that the same voltage as that of a normal electrostatic transport mode that should be applied is applied to a gate electrode. 7. An electrostatic transport electrode array for transporting charged image forming powder (hereinafter referred to as toner) on an insulating substrate, and an electrostatic transport electrode array for transporting the toner. And a plurality of gate electrodes independent of each other, wherein a toner image is formed on a recording material by using the electrostatic transport recording method according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Transport recording device.