JPS63249849A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decrease consumables and to miniaturize the whole device by developing an image on a transfer medium by breaking down a microcapsule whose mechanical rupture strength is low, on a photosensitive medium irradiated by an radiating means. CONSTITUTION:A multicolor printing device is constituted by providing a photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper conveying unit 1, a three-color exposing unit 2, a laser scanner unit 3, a xerography unit 4, an exposing unit 5, a transfer paper supply unit 6 and a pressure fixing unit 7. That is, by an image forming means, a negative or position image consisting of a light shielding substance is formed on the reverse side of a photosensitive medium, and thereafter, light is radiated from the reverse side of the photosensitive medium, on which an image is formed by an radiating means, and is accordance with the image, the mechanical rupture strength of a microcapsule is varied. Thereafter, by breaking down the microcapsule whose mechanical rupture strength is low on the photosensitive medium by the use of a developing means, the image is developed on a transfer medium. In such a way, the consumables are decreased and the whole device can be miniaturized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image using a photosensitive medium carrying microcapsules.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of image forming apparatus uses photosensitive paper that supports microcapsules containing dye. The photosensitive paper is exposed to light using the photosensitive paper (JP-A-61-143739, etc.).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the image forming apparatus of the above-mentioned prior art still requires further improvement in the following points.

That is, since this device uses a positive film, there is a problem in that a large number of consumable film sheets are required. Furthermore, since a device such as a conveyor is required to convey such a positive film, there is also a problem that the entire device becomes large.

The present invention was made in view of these problems, and aims to reduce the number of consumables and downsize the entire device by eliminating the need for positive film.

Means for Solving the Problems] The image forming apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object contains a component for displaying an image and changes mechanical breaking strength in response to light. An image forming device that forms an image on the transfer medium using a photosensitive medium in which microcapsules are supported on the surface of a light-transmitting support, and a transfer medium that develops color by reacting with a component for making the image visible. an image forming means for forming an image to be formed on the transfer medium on the surface of the photosensitive medium using a light blocking substance; and an image forming means for forming an image on the surface of the photosensitive medium on the surface of the photosensitive medium on which the image is formed by the image forming means. an irradiation means that irradiates the microcapsules and changes the mechanical breaking strength of the microcapsules according to the image; and a irradiation means that destroys the microcapsules with a low mechanical breaking strength on the photosensitive medium irradiated with the irradiation means to perform the transfer. and a developing means for developing an image on the medium.

[Function] The image forming apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration uses a photosensitive medium in which microcapsules are supported on the surface of a light-transmitting support, and a transfer medium that develops color by reacting with the photosensitive medium. An image is formed, and in detail, the image is formed as follows.

That is, a negative or positive image made of a light-blocking substance is formed on the back surface of the photosensitive medium by an image forming means,
Thereafter, the irradiation means irradiates light from the back side of the photosensitive medium on which the image has been formed, thereby changing the mechanical breaking strength of the microcapsules in accordance with the image. Thereafter, the developing means destroys microcapsules with low mechanical breaking strength on the photosensitive medium to develop an image on the transfer medium.

[Example] In order to further clarify the structure and operation of the present invention described above, preferred examples of the present invention will be described next. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a multicolor printing apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, this multicolor printing apparatus includes a photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper transport unit 1. Three-color exposure unit 2, laser scanner unit 3. Xerography unit 4° Exposure unit 5. It is configured to include a transfer paper supply unit 6 and a pressure/force fixing unit 7.

The photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper conveying unit 1 is for conveying the photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper OP, and includes a photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper storage section 11 in which a long photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper OP is wound and stored, and a photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper storage section 11 that is pulled out from the photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper storage section 11. Conveyance roller 1 that conveys the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive paper OP
2, 13, a photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper storage section 14 for storing the transported photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper OP, and the like. Photosensitive pressure sensitive paper O
In this embodiment, P is used for color printing, and it reacts with a color developer on the transfer paper TP, which will be described later, to turn into cyan.

Microcapsules individually encapsulating dye precursors that develop the basic colors of magenta and yellow are supported on their surfaces. The spectral sensitivity characteristic of this photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP is, for example, as shown in FIG.
It has a cyan peak sensitivity at a wavelength λ=550 [nml], a magenta peak sensitivity at a wavelength λ=450 [nml], and a yellow peak sensitivity at a wavelength λ=450 [nml].

The three-color exposure unit 2 includes a red filter 21a and a green filter 22a between halogen lamps 21, 22, and 23 that emit white light and the light-sensitive and pressure-sensitive paper OP.

A blue filter 23a is provided so that red, green, and blue light is exposed to the light-sensitive pressure-sensitive paper OP, and the wavelength of each irradiated color is determined according to the spectral sensitivity characteristics of the light-sensitive pressure-sensitive paper OP described above. 450 [nml (blue>) corresponding to 550 [nml
(green) and 650 [nml (red), respectively.

The laser scanner unit 3 forms a latent image based on image information on a photoreceptor drum 25, which will be described later. It is composed of a semiconductor laser 33 for irradiation, an fθ lens 34, and a plane mirror 35 for allowing laser light to reach the photoreceptor drum 25. The laser scanner unit 3 replaces digital image data based on text or graphic information with optical signals by a controller unit (not shown) and scans the photosensitive drum 25 at high speed, but this technology is well-known and commercially available. Since this is used in the optical system of many laser printers, a detailed explanation of its operation will be omitted.

The xerography unit 4 applies a light-shielding material to the latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum 25, and includes the photoreceptor drum 25 as a photoreceptor, toner 41 as a light-shielding material,
A toner case 42 containing toner 41 and toner 41
a developing sleeve 4 for attaching the image to the photoreceptor drum 25;
3, a transfer corotron 44 that transfers the toner 41 attached to the photosensitive drum 25 onto the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP, and a cleaning unit that collects the residual toner 41 on the photosensitive drum 25 after being transferred to the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP. a member 45 , a collected toner case 46 that accommodates the collected toner 41 , and an erase lamp 4 that removes residual charges from the photosensitive drum 25 .
7, and a charging corotron 48 that uniformly charges the photosensitive drum 25.

After the photosensitive drum 25 is uniformly charged by the charging corotron 48, only the image portion is exposed to laser light by the laser scanner unit 3, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image. In this embodiment, black monocomponent toner 4 is contained in the toner case 42.
1 is stored therein, and this is uniformly applied onto the developing sleeve 43, and the latent image on the photosensitive drum 25 is developed.

In this case, the toner 41 is charged with the same sign as the unexposed portion of the latent image, and adheres to the exposed portion of the drum due to electrostatic repulsion. Most of the toner 41 that has adhered to the photosensitive drum 25 in this way is transferred and removed at the contact area with the photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper OP, but the untransferred toner 41 that remains on the photosensitive drum 25 is removed by cleaning. Member 45
It is scraped off and collected. Thereafter, the photosensitive drum 25 is exposed to light by the erase lamp 41,
That residual charge is erased. The photosensitive drum 20 that has rotated once in this manner is uniformly charged again by the charging corotron 48, and is used for the next latent image formation and development.

The exposure unit 5 is a xerography unit 4 and the toner 4 is
It exposes the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP after the latent image of 1 has been formed, and includes an exposure lamp 51 made of a halogen lamp, and a flapper 52 that focuses the light irradiated from the exposure lamp 51 onto the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP. It consists of

The transfer paper supply unit 6 supplies the transfer paper TP to the pressure fixing unit 7, and has a cassette 61. A spring 62 that pushes the transfer paper TP upward from the bottom. A guide 63 that restricts the upward movement of the pushed-up transfer paper TP, a paper feed roller 65 that rotates and takes out only one sheet of transfer paper TP, a pair of transport rollers 66 and 67 that transports the taken-out transfer paper TP, and transfer Registration gate 68 and registration gate 6 for positioning the leading edge of the paper TP
It is composed of a solenoid 69 that opens and closes the 8. Therefore, when the registration gate 68 is opened, the transfer paper TP
is fed into the pressure fixing unit 7. In addition, transfer paper TP
has a color developer layered on its surface, and the color developer reacts with the dye precursor in the microcapsules supported on the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP to develop each basic color.

The pressure fixing unit 7 presses the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP exposed by the exposure unit 5 and the transfer paper TP supplied from the transfer paper supply unit 6 by bringing them into close contact with each other, and uses a pair of pressure rollers 71 and 72. It consists of

The printing procedure in the multicolor printing apparatus of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained using FIG. 3 as appropriate.

(1) The photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP pulled out from the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper storage section 11 is conveyed by the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper conveyance unit 1 in six directions in FIG. In this case, first, the halogen lamp 21 that emits red light through the red filter 21a in the three-color exposure unit 2 and the halogen lamp 22 that emits green light through the green filter 22a are turned on, and the dye precursor that emits cyan color is activated. The microcapsules encapsulating a dye (hereinafter referred to as a dye) and the microcapsules encapsulating a dye precursor that develops a magenta color (hereinafter referred to as a magenta dye) are cured. Subsequently, after transporting a predetermined amount of the photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper OP, the halogen lamp 22 that emits green light through the green filter 22a and the halogen lamp 23 that emits blue light through the blue filter 23a are turned on to remove the magenta dye-encapsulated microcapsules. and microcapsules containing a dye precursor that develops a yellow color (hereinafter referred to as yellow dye) are cured. Next, photosensitive pressure sensitive paper O
After conveying a predetermined amount of P, the halogen lamp 23 emits blue light through the blue filter 23a and the red filter 21a.
A halogen lamp 21 that emits red light is turned on through the tube to harden the microcapsules containing the yellow dye and the microcapsules containing the cyan dye.

As a result, as shown in Figure 3, only the microcapsules encapsulating the yellow dye were uncured.
01, Cyan layer 102 in which only microcapsules containing cyan dye are not cured, Magenta layer 10 in which only microcapsules containing magenta dye are not cured
3 are sequentially formed on the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP.

(2) Next, the laser scanner unit 3 and the xerography unit 4 are operated to create a horizontally inverted image of the portion to be colored yellow, a horizontally inverted image of the portion to be colored cyan, and a horizontally inverted image of the portion to be colored cyan. Similarly, a left-right inverted image of the portion to be colored magenta is formed using toner 41.

(3) The toner 41 thus formed is transferred onto the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP by the transfer corotron 44 as follows. That is, a horizontally reversed image of the yellow portion on the photosensitive drum 25 by the toner 41 is formed on the back side of the yellow layer 101 formed on the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP, and a horizontally reversed image of the cyan portion is formed on the back side of the cyan layer 102. , and the left-right inverted images of the magenta portion are transferred to the back surface of the magenta layer 103, respectively.

(4) The photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP is further transported and exposed by the exposure unit 5. That is, the back side of the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP is exposed to light by the exposure lamp 51, and the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper to which the above-mentioned toner is transferred becomes a positive mask of each color of yellow, cyan, and magenta, and a yellow latent image (104''), A cyan latent image (105) and a magenta latent image (106) are formed, respectively.

(5) At that moment, the photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper OP is transported, and the formed latent image is sent to a position near the pressure fixing roller 7. At this time, the transfer paper TP is supplied from the transfer paper supply unit 6, and first, the transfer paper TP is pressed while being in close contact with the yellow layer 101 on the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP. When the photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper OP is conveyed by a predetermined amount, the transfer paper TP is then pressurized while being in close contact with the cyan layer 102, and then similarly pressurized while being in close contact with the magenta layer 103. As a result, unhardened microcapsules in the yellow layer,
The unhardened microcapsules in the cyan layer and the unhardened microcapsules in the magenta layer are crushed, and a desired image is formed on the sheet by the respective dyes contained therein.

As described in detail above, the multicolor printing apparatus of this embodiment is configured to form a latent image on the back surface of the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP using the light-shielding toner 41. This eliminates the need for the positive film used in conventional printing devices, making it possible to realize a highly economical multicolor printing device with fewer consumables.Moreover, it eliminates the need for a transport means for the positive film, resulting in a smaller size. You can also do that. In particular, since this embodiment is configured as a multicolor printing device, three sheets of positive film are not required, making it more economical.

Note that the image forming apparatus of the present invention is not a multicolor printing apparatus;
It goes without saying that it may be used as a monochrome printing device, and the application is not limited to printing am. It may also be configured as a copying apparatus replaced with a unit. Further, instead of the laser scanner unit 3, an LED array or a device combining a fluorescent lamp and a liquid crystal shutter array may be used.

In addition, in the xerography unit 4, the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper OP
Instead of attaching the toner 41 to the surface, a light-shielding film may be formed using, for example, a thermal transfer printer.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the number of consumables can be reduced to improve economic efficiency, and the entire apparatus can be downsized.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a multicolor printing device as an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a graph showing the spectral sensitivity characteristics of microcapsules on photosensitive pressure-sensitive paper, and FIG. 3 is a printing diagram of the multicolor printing device described above. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the procedure. 1... Photosensitive and pressure sensitive paper transport unit 1 2... Three color exposure unit 3... Laser scanner unit 4... Xerography unit

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A photosensitive medium in which microcapsules containing components for displaying an image and whose mechanical breaking strength changes in response to light are supported on the surface of a light-transmitting support, and a photosensitive medium for displaying the image. An image forming apparatus that forms an image on the transfer medium using a transfer medium that develops color by reacting with a component of the transfer medium, wherein the image to be formed on the transfer medium is exposed to the photosensitive material using a light-blocking substance. an image forming means for forming an image on the back side of a medium; and an irradiation means for irradiating light from the back side of the photosensitive medium on which an image has been formed by the image forming means and changing the mechanical breaking strength of the microcapsules according to the image. , a developing means for developing an image on the transfer medium by destroying microcapsules with low mechanical breaking strength on the photosensitive medium irradiated by the irradiation means, an image forming apparatus comprising: .