JPH05100595A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image recorder where a recording material which is ejected after finishing fixing once is processed to be a recording material excellent in light transmissivity or glossiness by feeding the recording material again to the image recorder. CONSTITUTION:This recorder is constructed so that the toner surface of the recording material T ejected after finishing the fixing is opposed to a thin film F1, and the recording material T is interposed and held between the thin film F1 and a film supporting body F2 and fed by a paper feeding means again so as to make the film supporting body F2 abut on a feeding roller side with a bonding part F3 as a head, then the film supporting body F2 is opposed to an image carrier in a transfer part in a feeding path, and the thin film F1 is opposed to the soft roller made of rubber material in the fixing part to perform the fixing again.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus in which a toner image is transferred and fixed on a recording material by an electrophotographic method, and in particular, an image recording capable of obtaining an image with high glossiness. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many image recording apparatuses for transferring and fixing a toner image on a recording material by an electrophotographic method and image recording apparatuses for forming color images in addition to monochrome images have been provided. It was

Further, as a recording material, a toner image has been formed on a transparent film other than plain paper. A transparent light-transmitting sheet in which images such as figures and graphs are formed on a transparent film with black or color toner is projected on a screen by an overhead projector (OHP).

However, a translucent sheet obtained by copying and fixing a color toner image on a transparent film by a conventional general electrophotographic copying machine cannot obtain a clear color projected image even when projected by OHP. The reason why a clear color projection image cannot be obtained is that the surface of the color toner deposited on the transparent film has fine irregularities and the projection light is scattered or irregularly reflected, and the color toner portion is projected as a shadow on the screen. It depends. The translucent sheet from which a clear color projected image can be obtained is obtained by smoothing the surface of the fused color toner.

Conventionally, in order to prepare a light-transmitting sheet capable of obtaining a clear color image, a color toner image is transferred and fixed on a transparent film by a general electrophotographic copying machine, and then the light-transmitting sheet is discharged outside the copying machine. With the thin film facing the toner image side of the sheet, it is sandwiched and passed between the rollers of the image quality improvement device, which is composed of a pair of rollers with a heater separately prepared for the purpose of improving the transparency and glossiness. , By re-fixing.

Even when the color toner is transferred and fixed on the plain paper, a glossy color toner image can be obtained by passing the thin film opposite to the toner image and passing through the image quality improving device.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An image quality improving device prepared separately from the above copying machine has a structure similar to that of a fixing device provided in the copying machine. Therefore, it would be highly desirable if the translucent sheet or color copy discharged from the copying machine could be re-fed to the copying machine to enhance the translucency or the gloss. However, it is necessary to arrange and feed a thin film on the translucent sheet or the color copy surface, and this cannot be easily realized.

When the paper feeding means of the image recording apparatus is reused to pass through the feeding member and the double feeding prevention member, wrinkles are generated in the thin film, and even if the fixing is performed again, the unevenness of gloss or the unevenness of light transmission is caused. Occurs.

An image carrier (photoreceptor drum) is located in the vicinity of the transfer section in the conveying path, and wrinkles are generated on the thin film or the film is blistered when passing by the electric charge remaining during image formation. However, a jam accident occurs, uneven gloss, and uneven light transmission occur.

In order to feed the toner image surface and the thin film in a state of being opposed to each other, the fixed recording material is sandwiched between the thin film joined by the joining portion and the film support, and the sheet is re-fed. The feeding method causes blind spots and wrinkles, which causes a jam accident, uneven luster, and uneven translucency.

The toner image surface and the thin film face each other.
If the rollers facing each other do not have elasticity when they come into close contact with each other and pass through the fixing device, it is difficult to obtain smoothness of the toner, and gloss and translucency are not sufficiently improved.

The toner image surface and the thin film face each other.
When passing through the fixing device in close contact, unless the hardness relationship between the upper and lower rollers is properly set, wrinkles occur and a uniform gloss / translucent screen cannot be obtained.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems (1) to (3) and re-feeds a translucent sheet or a color copy that has once been fixed, thereby improving the gloss and translucency of an image. An object is to provide a recording device.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an image recording apparatus which solves the above problems. A first invention which solves the above problem is a paper feeding means and a recording material fed by the paper feeding means. In an image recording apparatus having an image forming unit for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier and a fixing unit for fixing the recording material having the transferred toner image, the toner surface of the fixed recording material is Face the thin film,
It is sandwiched between the thin film and a film support, and the film support is provided on the delivery member side of the paper feeding means.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus characterized in that the thin film is opposed to the double feed preventing member side, re-fed, and re-passed through the fixing means to enable smoothing of a toner image. ..

A second aspect of the present invention which has solved the above-mentioned problems is a paper feed means, and an image forming means for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier on a recording material fed by the paper feed means. In an image recording apparatus having a fixing means for fixing a recording material having a transferred toner image, the toner surface of the fixed recording material is opposed to a thin film and sandwiched between the thin film and the film support. An image recording apparatus characterized in that the film support is opposed to the image carrier, the paper feeding unit is re-fed, and the fixing unit is re-passed to enable smoothing of a toner image. Is provided.

A third invention which solves the above problem is a paper feeding means, and an image forming means for transferring the toner image formed on the image carrier on the recording material fed by the paper feeding means. In an image recording apparatus having a fixing means for fixing a recording material having a transferred toner image, the toner surface of the fixed recording material is fixed between the thin film joined by a joining portion and a film support. It is sandwiched so as to be opposed to, and the paper feeding means is re-fed so that the joint portion is at the front, and the toner image can be smoothed by passing through the fixing means. An image recording device is provided.

A fourth aspect of the present invention which has solved the above-mentioned problem is a paper feeding means, and an image forming means for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier on a recording material fed by the paper feeding means. In an image recording apparatus having a fixing means for fixing a recording material having a transferred toner image, the toner surface of the fixed recording material is opposed to a thin film and sandwiched between the thin film and the film support. An image characterized in that the paper feeding means is re-fed, the thin film is made to face the fixing member having elasticity of the fixing means, and the toner image is smoothed by passing through the fixing means. A recording device is provided.

A fifth aspect of the present invention which has solved the above problem is a paper feeding means, and an image forming means for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier on the recording material fed by the paper feeding means. In an image recording apparatus having a fixing means for fixing a recording material having a transferred toner image, the toner surface of the fixed recording material is opposed to a thin film and sandwiched between the thin film and the film support. The sheet feeding means is re-fed, and the conveying member that is in contact with the film support side of the fixing means, which is composed of conveying members having different vertical hardnesses, has a higher hardness, and the surface hardness is 90 ° or more in Asker C. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording apparatus characterized in that a toner image can be smoothed by passing through a fixing unit.

[0019]

EXAMPLES In the following, the image recording apparatus of the present invention, which will be described with reference to Examples, has the function of the image recording apparatus for recording a color image, and the recording material discharged once fixing is discharged. A color image recording apparatus having a function of improving transparency or glossiness by re-feeding the toner image surface from a manual paper feeding unit so that the toner image surface faces a separately prepared thin film.

First, the construction of the color image recording apparatus of the present invention and the operation of forming a color image will be described with reference to FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes a drum-shaped image bearing member, that is, a photosensitive drum, which is formed by coating an OPC photosensitive member on the drum and is grounded and rotated clockwise. Reference numeral 35 is a scorotron charger that applies electric charges to the photoconductor on the peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum 30, and 40 is a photoconductor drum by an exposure optical system.
It is an image exposure unit where a laser beam is projected so that the laser beam is focused on the 30th circumferential surface.

A laser writing system unit is used for the exposure optical system, for example. When the color signal output from the image reading device is input to the laser writing system unit, the laser beam generated by the semiconductor laser (not shown) is rotationally scanned by the polygon mirror 41 in the laser writing system unit, and the fθ lens 42 is used. After that, the optical path is bent by the reflection mirror 43, and is projected onto the peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum 30 which is uniformly charged by the charger 35 in advance.

On the other hand, when the scanning is started, the laser beam is detected by the index sensor, the modulation of the laser beam by the first color signal is started, and the modulated laser beam moves on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 30. To scan. Therefore, a latent image for the first color is formed on the image portion on the photosensitive drum 30 by the main scanning by the laser beam and the sub-scanning by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 30. This latent image is subjected to reversal development in a non-contact state by a developing means 36 (Y) containing a toner of yellow (Y) as a first color to form a yellow toner image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 30. It
The toner image of the obtained image portion passes under the transfer unit 37 and the cleaning unit 39 which are separated from the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 30 while being held on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 30, and is ready for the next copy cycle. enter.

That is, the photoconductor drum 30 is recharged by the charger 35, and then the second color signal output from the signal processing unit is input to the writing system unit so that the first color signal In the same manner as described above, writing with the second color signal is performed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 30 to form a latent image. This latent image is subjected to reversal development in a non-contact state by a developing unit 36 (M) containing a magenta (M) toner as a second color to form a magenta toner image. The magenta toner image is formed on the previously formed yellow toner image.

The toner image of the image portion thus obtained is held on the peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum 30 while being held on the photoconductor drum 30.
After passing under the transfer means 37 and the cleaning means 39 separated from the peripheral surface, the next copy cycle is started.

Similarly, writing is performed by the third color signal on the photosensitive drum 30 to form a latent image. This latent image is subjected to non-contact / reversal development by the developing means 36 (C) which contains, for example, cyan (C) toner as the third color.

A color image can be obtained by forming the cyan toner image on the yellow and magenta toner images described above. Further, a developing means 36 (BK) containing a black toner is provided, and a high-quality color image can be obtained by further superposing the black toner image in the same manner as described above.

As described above, the charging is carried out by the photoconductor drum 30 and the charging device 35 provided at the peripheral portion thereof, and the exposure and developing device 36 (Y) (M) by the laser writing system unit for each color.
The development processing by (C) and (BK) is 4 according to each color.
The image portion on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 30 is superposed to form a color toner image by superposition.

Reference numerals 61 and 62 denote conveying paths for conveying one recording material. The recording material loaded in the paper feed cassette 50 is lifted at its leading end by a paper lifting plate (not shown), and is fed out by the delivery roller 51. The upper recording material was sent out,
The multi-feed preventing rollers 52a and 52b, which include a driving roller 52a and a stop roller 52b, separate and convey the sheets one by one, and the conveying path 6
After tracing 1 and 62, the registration rollers 53a and 53b temporarily stop.

The registration rollers 53a and 53b discharge the recording material in synchronism with the toner image on the photosensitive drum 30, and the transfer portion 37 transfers the toner image onto the recording material.

The transfer means 37 of this embodiment is a rotating roller.
It is composed of a belt 373 stretched between 371 and 372, and a transfer charger 374 provided at a position behind the belt 373 and facing the transfer portion. The recording material adheres to and moves on the belt 373 during transfer. The toner image is transferred to the recording material by pressing against the photoconductor drum 30 and the action of the charging device 374 at the back. The recording material after the transfer is separated from the belt 373 by the roller 372, is carried into the fixing device 70 via the conveyor belt 63, is fixed, and is then discharged outside the device.

On the other hand, the blade of the cleaning device 39 is attached to the photosensitive drum 30 in which the recording paper is separated from the peripheral surface of the drum.
39A contacts and removes the residual toner, and after the completion of the removal, the toner is separated from the peripheral surface of the drum again, and a new color image forming process is started.

After the transfer, the transfer means 37 is separated from the photosensitive drum 30 and retracted to the position indicated by the dotted line.

When it is desired to improve the translucency or the glossiness of the recording material discharged through the above process, it is re-fed as follows.

FIG. 2 shows a means for making a thin film face the recording material to be re-fed. It has a heat resistance of 50 μm or less and is hard to cause toner welding, for example, a thin film such as a polyester film or a polyimide film. F
1 and a film support F2 which is a thicker sheet and also has heat resistance and is made of paper or a resin sheet, and the end face of the thin film F1 and the end face of the film support F2 are bonded to each other at a joint F3 and sandwiched. Separately prepared as body F. The recording material T to be re-fed is sandwiched by the sandwiching body F so that the toner image surface faces the thin film F1.

When refeeding is attempted in the image recording apparatus of this embodiment, the operation is explained above by pushing the refeed selection button provided in the operation section of the image recording apparatus. The image forming mode (copy mode) is switched to the re-feeding mode.

In this re-feeding mode, operations such as charging, image exposure, and development are not performed, but only the feeding operation of the paper feeding means from the manual feeding section and the fixing operation by the fixing means are performed.

FIG. 3 shows the state of re-feeding in the manual paper feeding section. The recording material T sandwiched by the sandwiching body F is
The joining portion F3 is inserted into the manual feeding portion with the leading end thereof, that is, the joining portion F3 is brought into contact with the sheet feeding means, and the feeding roller 64 is brought into contact with the film support F2.

Re-feeding is performed by the rotation of the delivery roller 64, but since the feeding is performed starting from the joining portion F3, the thin film F1 may be turned up or bent from its end face and wrinkled. Absent.

Further, the rotational force of the feeding roller 64 is transmitted to the film support F2 which is in contact with the feeding roller 64, and the holding body F is moved along the conveying path.
No load is applied to 1 and wrinkles do not occur.

The sandwiching body F sent out by the sending-out roller 64 has the double-feeding prevention rollers 65a, 65b and the registration roller 53.
It is succeeded by a and b and is fed. In this case as well, the film support F2 contacts the roller 65a that rotates to drive the double feed prevention rollers 65a and 65b, and the thin film F1 contacts the stop roller 65b that is connected to the torque limiter to prevent double feed. A force in the pulling direction acts on the thin film F1, but no wrinkles occur.

The registration rollers 53a and 53b also have only the function of feeding in the re-feeding mode, and the driving roller 53a of the registration rollers 53a and 53b has a film support F.
Since the thin film F1 contacts the driven roller 53b, the thin film F1 does not wrinkle or bend when passing through the registration roller 53.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the re-feeding state in the transfer section.

In the re-feed mode, the transfer belt 373
Rotates at the position retracted from the photosensitive drum 30 (the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. 1). The holding body F is a transfer belt 373.
It is transported through the transfer part as if it was placed on top,
It moves to the adjacent conveyor belt 63. The sandwiching body F passing through the transfer portion is configured such that the film support F2 faces the photosensitive drum 30. When the thin film F1 passes through the photoconductor drum 30 so as to face it, the thin film F1 is electrostatically attracted and adheres to the charged photoconductor drum 30, causing wrinkles, or in extreme cases, adsorption. As a result, poor transportation may occur.

When the film support F2 is made to face the photosensitive drum 30 so as to pass through the transfer portion as in the present invention, the holding body F holding and holding the recording material T causes such a situation. It is transported normally without any.

FIG. 5 is a main part diagram showing a state in which the sandwiching member F holding the recording material T in the fixing unit 70 is smoothed by the sandwiching and conveying by the rotating fixing rollers 70a, 70b. Is.

The upper roller 70a of the fixing unit of this embodiment is a thin aluminum cylinder having an infrared lamp as a heat source in the center thereof, and the outer periphery thereof is covered with a PFA tube, and the surface temperature is 195 ° C. by a sensor. The temperature is controlled back and forth.

On the other hand, the lower roller 70b is a roller having a surface layer made of a rubber material such as silicon rubber having a thickness of about 5 mm, the surface of which is coated with Teflon, and is pressed against the upper roller 70a to rotate. Heat is conducted from the upper roller 70a to the lower roller 70b, and the surface temperature of the lower roller 70b is about 130.
It is about ℃.

When the sandwiching body F is sandwiched and re-fixed to the fixing section 70 and is carried out, the thin film F1 is brought into contact with the elastic lower roller 70b so as to pass therethrough, so that the elastic property can be improved. It was confirmed that the smoothness of the toner surface in the toner image area was improved, and the light-transmitting property and the glossiness were improved, as compared with the case where the toner image was passed in the opposite direction to the roller having no image.

FIG. 6 shows the transparent film (a) before the re-feeding and (b) after the re-feeding, the smoothness of the toner surface is improved so that the light passes through the toner when illuminated, and on the screen. It shows that a sharp color image is projected on.

The inventors of the present invention tested the upper roller and the lower roller of the fixing unit for sandwiching and re-fixing the sandwiching body F under various conditions. As a result, the film support F
Film F1 in which the surface hardness of the roller facing 2 is thinner
It has been recognized that it is necessary that the surface hardness of the roller facing the thin film F1 is 90 ° or less as the surface hardness of the roller facing the thin film F1. The re-fixed sandwiching body F is cooled after being carried out, and the recording material T can be peeled off from the thin film F1 and used.

[0052]

According to the present invention, the recording material which has been fixed is re-fed to the image recording apparatus according to the present invention, and the thin film of the sandwiching member is peeled from the recording material to obtain a light-transmitting property and a glossiness. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to separately provide a device for increasing translucency and gloss, which is conventionally provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a means for facing a recording material to be re-fed with a thin film.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a re-feeding state in a manual paper feeding unit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a re-feeding state in a transfer section.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a re-feeding state in a fixing unit.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of an illuminated translucent film (transparency) before (a) re-feeding and (b) after re-feeding.

[Explanation of symbols] 30 Image carrier (photosensitive drum) 37 Transfer means 373 Transfer belt 374 Charger 53a, b Registration roller 63 Conveyor belt 64 Sending roller 65a, b Double feed prevention roller 70a Upper roller (fixing) 70b Lower side Roller (Fixing) F Clamping body F1 Thin film F2 Film support F3 Joint (of thin film and support)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A paper feeding means, an image forming means for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier onto the recording material fed by the paper feeding means, and a recording material having the transferred toner image. In an image recording apparatus having a fixing means for fixing, the toner surface of the fixed recording material is opposed to a thin film, and is sandwiched between the thin film and a film support, and is attached to the delivery member side of the paper feeding means. An image recording apparatus characterized in that the thin film is opposed to the film support, and the thin film is opposed to the double feed prevention member side, and is re-fed, and the toner image is smoothed by passing through the fixing unit again. .. 2. A paper feeding means, an image forming means for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier onto the recording material fed by the paper feeding means, and a recording material having the transferred toner image. In an image recording apparatus having fixing means for fixing, the toner surface of the fixed recording material is opposed to a thin film, and is sandwiched between the thin film and a film support, and the image carrier is provided with the film support. An image recording apparatus, characterized in that the toner image is smoothed by re-feeding the paper feeding means while facing each other and re-passing through the fixing means. 3. A paper feed means, an image forming means for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier onto the recording material fed by the paper feed means, and a recording material having the transferred toner image. In an image recording apparatus having fixing means for fixing, a thin film bonded by a bonding portion and a film support are sandwiched so that the toner surface of the fixed recording material faces the thin film, An image recording apparatus, characterized in that the paper feeding means is re-fed so that the joining portion is at the top, and the toner image can be smoothed by passing through the fixing means. 4. A paper feeding means, an image forming means for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier onto the recording material fed by the paper feeding means, and a recording material having the transferred toner image. In an image recording apparatus having a fixing means for fixing, the toner surface of the fixed recording material is opposed to a thin film, sandwiched between the thin film and a film support, and the paper feeding means is re-fed. An image recording apparatus characterized in that the thin film is made to face a fixing member having elasticity of the fixing means and passed through the fixing means to enable smoothing of a toner image. 5. A paper feeding means, an image forming means for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier onto the recording material fed by the paper feeding means, and a recording material having the transferred toner image. In an image recording apparatus having a fixing means for fixing, the toner surface of the fixed recording material is opposed to a thin film, sandwiched between the thin film and a film support, and the paper feeding means is re-fed. , The conveying member with which the film supporting body side of the fixing means, which is composed of conveying members having different vertical hardnesses, has a higher hardness and a surface hardness Asker C
An image recording apparatus capable of smoothing a toner image by passing through the fixing means having an angle of 90 ° or more.