JPH1090800A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium without winding inclination after an image is formed by providing a device with a winding inclination elimination means eliminating the winding inclination of the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium wound in a roll- state. SOLUTION: The image forming device 1 is constituted of a driver 3, a pair of pressure developing rolls 4 and 5, an LED array 6, a winding inclination elimination device 8, a cutter 9 and a light shielding container 2 housing the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 by winding it in the roll-state. The winding inclination elimination means is constituted of the elimination device 8. The elimination device 8 is constituted of a guide member 81 provided with a recessed part having small curvature and a roll 82 so that the medium 7 with the winding inclination is carried between the recessed part of the guide member 81 and the roll 82 while being bent in a reverse direction to the winding inclination by the small curvature. Thus, the winding inclination of the medium 7 with the winding inclination is eliminated by the elimination device 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using a photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-45090,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-88740, a technique is known in which each step of exposure and pressure development is performed on a photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium to record an image on the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium.

An image output can be easily obtained by winding such a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium into a roll, placing it in a light-shielding container, sequentially pulling it out from the end, and performing exposure and pressure development.

Further, such a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is designed so that the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium after an image is formed is not dropped by its own weight when it is held in a hand. The recording medium is required to have a certain degree of rigidity.

[0005]

However, if a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium having a strong stiffness which does not hang down due to its own weight as described above is wound in a roll shape, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is strong. It has a curly habit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and uses a stiff photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium wound in a roll shape so as to prevent the curl after image formation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can obtain the output of the image forming apparatus.

[0007]

To achieve this object, an image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises a first sheet-like support layer through which light is transmitted, and a light-sensitive sheet. A photosensitive microcapsule containing a component whose mechanical strength changes and a color image-forming substance, and a photosensitive pressure-sensitive layer composed of a developer contributing to color development of an image in cooperation with the color image-forming substance; The photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium formed by laminating the second sheet-like support layer is wound into a roll and placed in a light-shielding container, and the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is sequentially pulled out from the light-shielding container. In particular, the present invention is provided with a curl eliminating means for eliminating the curl of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium wound in a roll shape, which is intended for exposure and pressure development. Therefore, the curl eliminating means eliminates the curl of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium having the curl, so that a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium having no curl after image formation can be obtained.

[0008] The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 is
The curl eliminating means for strongly bending the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium with the curl in a direction opposite to the direction of the curl. Therefore, the curl eliminating means can surely eliminate the curl of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium with a simple configuration.

Further, the image forming apparatus according to claim 3 is
The curl eliminating means is provided downstream of the main body of the image forming apparatus. Therefore, the curl is eliminated immediately before the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium after image formation is output from the image forming apparatus main body, so that an output without curl and wrinkles can be obtained more reliably.

The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 is
The curl eliminating means is provided in the light shielding container. Therefore, since the curl is eliminated before the exposure and the pressure development, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium can be transported more accurately during the exposure and the pressure development. Further, since it is not necessary to pass through the curl eliminating means in the image forming apparatus main body, when a transport trouble such as a jam occurs in the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium, processing such as removing the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is easily performed. be able to.

Further, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that:
A heating means is provided for heating the curled photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium when the curled photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is affected by the curl eliminating means. Therefore, since the heating means heats the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium immediately before or when the curl eliminating means operates, the curl can be eliminated more easily and surely.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a driver 3, a pair of pressure developing rolls 4, 5, an LED array 6, a curl eliminating device 8, a cutter 9, And a light-shielding container 2 in which the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 is wound into a roll and stored. Incidentally, the curl eliminating device 8 constitutes curl eliminating means of the present invention.

The driver 3 is an electric control section for controlling the driving of the LED array 6.

The LED array 6 is configured by arranging a large number of LEDs, and exposes the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 by emitting light based on image signals from the driver 3.

The curl eliminating device 8 comprises a guide member 81 having a concave portion having a small curvature and a roll 82. The curl-sensitive curable photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 is rolled over the concave portion of the guide member 81 and the roll 82. The photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 is conveyed while being bent at a small curvature in the direction opposite to the winding habit.

The pair of pressure developing rolls 4 and 5 are for developing by applying pressure to the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 after exposure.

The cutter 9 is a member for cutting the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 after development.

Next, the structure of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

The photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 is constituted by laminating a light-transmissive support 71, a photosensitive pressure-sensitive layer 73, and a white support 72. The light-transmitting support 71
Represents the first sheet-shaped support layer of the present invention as a white support 7
Reference numeral 2 designates each of the second sheet-like support layers.

The light-transmitting support 71 is made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PEN (polyethylene naphthalate), PPS (polyphenylene sulfide),
A transparent resin film such as polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polymethyl methacrylate, and polystyrene is used, and PET is particularly preferably used.

On the white support 72, a white pigment such as titanium oxide or zinc oxide, or an extender such as talc or kaolin is dispersed in a resin material in advance at the time of film production, and this is obtained by stretching. The obtained white resin film is suitably used.

Further, a light-weight white resin film formed of a number of voids (voids) such as PET or polypropylene may be used.

Further, a white ink may be applied to at least one surface of the transparent resin film to form a white substrate.

Next, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive layer 73 is formed by dispersing a microcapsule 74 and a developer 75 in a binder 76. The microcapsules 74 include a color image forming substance for obtaining a color image, a photocurable resin of an acryloyl group-containing compound such as trimethylolpropane triacrylate, and a photopolymerization initiator such as benzophenone and benzoylalkyl ether. Known materials such as those encapsulated in a wall material such as gelatin, polyamide polyvinyl alcohol, and polyisocyanate resin can be used. The microcapsules 74 constitute the photosensitive microcapsules of the present invention.

As the color image forming substance, so-called dye precursors such as triphenylmethane-based and spiropyran-based dyes, and various dyes and pigments which are themselves colored are used.

The developer 75 is provided in the microcapsule 7.
4 is determined in consideration of the color image forming substance used in the inclusions, and when the color image forming substance is a dye precursor, an acidic substance such as acid clay, kaolin,
A known developer such as an inorganic oxide such as zinc oxide or titanium oxide, a phenol novolak resin or an organic acid is used. When the color image forming substance is a dye or a pigment, the dye or the pigment is easily absorbed. Resins such as polymethyl methacrylate, polystyrene, melamine, and benzoguanamine.

These are dispersed in water-soluble resins such as polyvinyl alcohol and hydroxypropyl cellulose, and various resin emulsions such as an acrylic emulsion and a polyester emulsion together with a filler and a viscosity adjusting agent. The photosensitive pressure-sensitive layer 73 is formed by coating by a known coating means. Further, by the action of a known adhesive or adhesive, the white support 7
2, the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 is formed.

As shown in a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 70 shown in FIG. 3, a light-transmitting support 71, a photosensitive pressure-sensitive layer 73, and a white support 72 are sequentially laminated. 77 and the separator 78 may be laminated. In this case, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 70 carrying the image is separated from the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 77 by peeling off the separator 78 on the back surface.
Is exposed, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium carrying the image can be attached to any household furniture or album.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 is pulled out of the light-shielding container 2 and guided to an exposed portion below the LED array 6 such that the light-transmitting film side faces the LED array 6.

Next, when the LED array emits light in accordance with the pattern for one line based on the image signal from the driver 3, the microcapsules 74 in the portion of the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 which has received this light. Then, the photocurable resin inside the capsule is cured, and the mechanical strength of the microcapsule 74 is increased. Each time one line of exposure is completed, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 is conveyed by one line.
By repeating this, the entire photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 is exposed by the LED.

Next, the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 is pressed by a pair of pressure developing rolls 4 and 5 as shown in FIG. As a result, the microcapsules 74 having low mechanical strength on the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 are destroyed, and the color image forming substance enclosed therein reacts with the developer to cause a reaction on the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 7. Latent image is visualized.

Next, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 bearing an image is passed through a curl eliminating device 8 comprising a guide member 81 and a roll 82. In the curl eliminating device 8, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 having curl is conveyed while being bent at a small curvature in a direction opposite to the curl. Thereby, the curl of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 is eliminated. Note that the curl eliminating device 8 is provided downstream of the image forming apparatus main body 1 and eliminates curl immediately before being output from the image forming apparatus main body. Obtainable.

Then, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 from which the curl has been eliminated is further conveyed and then cut by the cutter 9 into a predetermined length.

Next, an image forming apparatus 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The image forming apparatus 10 includes a curl eliminating device 8 inside the light shielding container 2. In the present embodiment, the curl has already been eliminated when the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 comes out of the light-shielding container 2. A line-shaped LE is applied to the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
Exposure is performed by D6 to form a latent image, and then visualized by a pair of pressure developing rolls 4 and 5. The photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 carrying the obtained image is cut into a predetermined length by the action of the cutter 9. In the present embodiment, since the curl eliminating device 8 is incorporated in the light-shielding container 2, the medium is conveyed by the linear LED 6 as the exposure unit or the pair of pressure development rolls 4 and 5 as the pressure development unit. It will be easier. Further, when a transport trouble such as a jam of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 occurs, it is not necessary to pass the curl eliminating device 8 in the image forming apparatus 10 main body. 7 can be easily performed.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described in detail above, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the curl eliminating device 8 is configured to convey the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 while bending the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 with a small curvature in a direction opposite to the curl of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a flat guide member and rollers may be used.

The photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 7 may be provided with a built-in heater in the curl eliminating device 8 or a heater provided at a portion adjacent to the upstream of the curl eliminating device 8.
Is heated, the curl can be more effectively eliminated. The heater constitutes a heating means of the present invention.

[0041]

As is apparent from the above description, the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises a first sheet-like support layer through which light is transmitted, and a light-sensitive first sheet-like support layer. A photosensitive microcapsule containing a component whose mechanical strength changes and a color image-forming substance, and a photosensitive pressure-sensitive layer composed of a developer that contributes to color development of an image in cooperation with the color image-forming substance; The photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium obtained by laminating the sheet-like support layer 2 is wound into a roll and placed in a light-shielding container, and the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium is sequentially pulled out from the light-shielding container and exposed. In particular, the apparatus is provided with a curl eliminating means for eliminating the curl of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium wound in a roll shape. Therefore, the curl eliminating means eliminates the curl of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium having the curl, so that a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium having no curl after image formation can be obtained.

Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention,
The curl eliminating means for strongly bending the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium with the curl in a direction opposite to the direction of the curl. Therefore, the curl eliminating means can surely eliminate the curl of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium with a simple configuration.

Further, the image forming apparatus according to claim 3 is
The curl eliminating means is provided downstream of the main body of the image forming apparatus. Therefore, the curl is eliminated immediately before the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium after image formation is output from the image forming apparatus main body, so that an output without curl and wrinkles can be obtained more reliably.

Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention,
The curl eliminating means is provided in the light shielding container. Therefore, since the curl is eliminated before the exposure and the pressure development, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium can be transported more accurately during the exposure and the pressure development. Further, since it is not necessary to pass through the curl eliminating means in the image forming apparatus main body, when a transport trouble such as a jam occurs in the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium, processing such as removing the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is easily performed. be able to.

Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention,
A heating means is provided for heating the curled photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium when the curled photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is affected by the curl eliminating means. Therefore, since the heating means heats the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium immediately before or when the curl eliminating means operates, the curl can be eliminated more easily and surely.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium including an adhesive layer and a separator.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is pressure-developed.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 image forming apparatus 2 light-shielding container 3 driver 4, 5 pressure developing roller 6 LED array 7 photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 8 curl eliminating device 10 image forming apparatus 70 photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI G03F 7/26 521 B41M 5/12 112

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A light-transmitting first sheet-like support layer, a photosensitive microcapsule containing a component whose mechanical strength changes upon exposure to light and a color image-forming substance, and said color A photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium, which is formed by laminating a photosensitive pressure-sensitive layer made of a developer contributing to color development of an image in cooperation with an image forming substance, and a white second sheet-like support layer, is wound into a roll. The photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is sequentially drawn out of the light-shielding container and subjected to exposure and pressure development. An image forming apparatus comprising: a curl canceling means for eliminating curl of a medium. 2. The curl removing device according to claim 1, wherein the curl eliminating means strongly bends the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium having the curl in a direction opposite to the direction of the curl. Image forming device. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the curl eliminating means is provided downstream of the image forming apparatus main body. 4. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said curl eliminating means is provided in said light-shielding container. 5. A heating means for heating the curled photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium when the curled photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is subjected to the action of the curl eliminating means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: