JPH03215874A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image recording device that can be used in copying machines, printers, plotters, and the like.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, an image recording apparatus that obtains an image on a support by controlling the passage of toner particles through an aperture by applying an image signal to an electrode with an aperture is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-248662.
No. 44457, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 58-44457, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 58-44457
It has been proposed in Publication No. 114974 and the like. In these proposals, as a means for supplying toner to the vicinity of the aperture, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-248662 proposes a method in which the toner is carried on the surface of a toner carrying roller and the toner is conveyed to the vicinity of the aperture by rotation of the roller. Showa 58
JP-A-44457 discloses a method in which an alternating electric field is applied between a toner conveying body and a control electrode to convey toner in the form of a cloud, and JP-A-58-114974 discloses a method in which toner particles are conveyed in an air stream. A method was proposed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional image recording device described above, which uses a carrier roller to supply toner particles near the aperture, the force with which the toner adheres to the carrier roller is comparatively low. It's a big target. Therefore, a strong electric field is required to peel the toner from the carrier roller and pass it through the aperture.
Therefore, a high voltage power source is required. Furthermore, those that utilize an alternating electric field require a high-voltage AC power supply, and the alternating electric field disturbs the signal electric field that encourages toner to pass through the aperture, resulting in unclear images and expensive devices. Those that utilize airflow require equipment such as a compressor to generate the airflow.
The disadvantage is that the entire image forming apparatus is complicated and expensive.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides an inexpensive image forming apparatus by using a toner supply means that allows easy aperture passage control without requiring special equipment such as a high-voltage AC power supply or a compressor. is intended to provide.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve this object, the image recording device of the present invention applies an image signal to an electrode with an aperture to control the passage of toner particles through an aperture, thereby forming an image on a support. An image forming apparatus for obtaining an image forming apparatus includes a toner carrier having a plurality of elastic parts in a part thereof and carrying toner between the elastic parts, and toner particles for elastically deforming the elastic part of the toner carrier. and a detachment member, and the toner particle detachment member is configured to cause the toner particles to fly after elastically deforming the elastic portion of the toner carrier.

Further, it is preferable that the toner carrier is a brush roller.

Further, it is preferable that the toner particle separating member is a blade.

[Operation] According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the charged toner is charged and carried by the brush roller and is conveyed to the vicinity of the portion facing the aperture. When the brush is scratched by the brush scraping member, the charged toner is thrown up by the elasticity of the brush and forms a cloud near the aperture. At this time, when a voltage is applied to the apertured electrode according to the image signal, the cloud-shaped toner passes only through the aperture of the applied electrode and is received on the support. Thereafter, the toner image on the support is fixed to complete the image.

[Examples] Examples that embody the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view and a partially sectional view showing an example of an apertured electrode used in the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the control electrode 1 with an aperture has an insulating layer 2
It is composed of a reference electrode 3 on one side with a reference electrode 3 in between, and segment electrodes 4 divided into columns corresponding to pixels on the other side, and furthermore, an aperture 5 is formed for each segment electrode through the layer. There is.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention using the control electrode with an aperture described above. In FIG. 1, a counter electrode roller 11 for conveying the support 10 is arranged on the segment electrode 5 side of the control electrode with a small gap of 0.5 mm to several mm. Further, a fixing device 13 is provided at the discharge destination of the support.

On the reference electrode 3 side of the control electrode 1, a brush roller 20 and a supply roller 23 arranged parallel to the axis of the brush roller 20 are arranged in a toner case 21 storing toner 22. The brush of brush roller 20 and the supply roller are in contact with each other.

A brush scraping blade 24 is in contact with the brush roller 20 at a position before it rotates to the aperture surface. This brushing blade 24 extends downward from the reference electrode 3 above the axis of the brush roller 20, and its lower portion contacts approximately the center of the brush portion of the brush roller 20. The brush portion of the brush roller 20 is made of an elastic material such as acrylic or Teflon. The length of the brushes is approximately 1 mm, and the brushes are evenly arranged at a density of approximately 30,000 brushes per inch square.

-6 The counter electrode roller 11 is connected to the DC power source 12, the segment electrode 4 is connected to the signal voltage application circuit 6, and the reference electrode 3, brush roller core 25, and toner case 21 are connected to the ground.

The operation of the configuration as described above will be explained in detail below.

Due to the rotation of the brush roller 20 and supply roller 23,
The toner 22 is rubbed by the brush, triboelectrically charged, and carried by the brush. The toner 22 is conveyed near the aperture by the rotation of the brush roller 20. When the brush of the brush roller 20 is scratched by the brush scraping blade 24, the charged toner 22 is thrown up by the elasticity of the brush and forms a cloud near the aperture.

On the other hand, a support such as paper on which an image is to be formed is conveyed between the segment electrodes 4 and the counter electrode roller 11 by the rotation of the counter electrode roller 11.
The toner 22 is received and a toner image is formed by the image signal applied to the toner.

Here, a voltage opposite to the charging polarity of the toner 22 is always applied to the counter electrode roller 11, but in the non-image area, the segment electrode 4 is at ground potential or a voltage with the same polarity as the charging polarity of the toner 22 is applied. Since the voltage is applied, toner 2
2 does not pass through the aperture, and in the image area, a voltage of opposite polarity to the toner charging polarity is applied to the segment electrode 4.
The potential gradient causes the toner 22 to pass through the aperture and apply the toner 22 to the support surface. The thus formed 1.color image on the support passes through the fixing device 13 together with the support 19 and is fixed thereon.

Since the toner 22 exists in the form of a cloud near the aperture, there is no adhesion force such as van der Waals force with the surface of the toner carrier when the toner 22 is supplied with the toner carrier, so a relatively low potential gradient is generated. The toner 22 can be pulled out to the support body side. In addition, since an alternating electric field is not used to generate the toner 22 in a cloud shape,
The electric field that draws out the 1.ner 22 is not disturbed by an alternating electric field.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above detailed description, according to the present invention, an inexpensive image forming apparatus can be provided without requiring a high-voltage power supply, a compressor, or the like. Further, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can obtain a clear image without disturbing the signal electric field for forming the image.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 2 show an embodiment embodying the present invention. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment embodying the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an aperture diagram used in this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view and a partially sectional view showing an example of an attached electrode. In the figure, 1 is a control electrode, 2 is an insulating layer, 3 is a reference electrode, 4 is a segment electrode, 5 is an aperture, 6 is a signal voltage application circuit, 10 is a support, 11 is a counter electrode roller, 12 is a DC power supply, 13 is a fixing device, 20 is a brush roller, 21
is a toner case, 22 is a toner, 23 is a supply roller,
24 is a blade, and 25 is a brush roller core.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus that applies an image signal to an electrode with an aperture to control passage of toner particles through an aperture to form an image on a support, which has a plurality of elastic parts in a part thereof. a toner carrier that carries toner between its respective elastic portions; and a toner particle detachment member for elastically deforming the elastic portion of the toner carrier, the toner particle detachment member supporting the toner carrier. An image forming apparatus characterized in that the toner particles are made to fly after the elastic portion is elastically deformed. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner carrier is a brush roller. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner particle separating member is a blade.