JPH03296055A - Pressure developing 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 a pressure developing device that develops a pressure-sensitive sheet by applying pressure on which a latent image has been previously recorded by a pressure-sensitive capsule.
In particular, the present invention relates to an improvement in a pressure developing device that presses and sends out a pressure-sensitive sheet between a pair of work rolls.

In copying machines, printers, etc. that use conventional technology pressure-sensitive sheets,
Generally, (a) a pair of work rolls are arranged to be rotatable about mutually parallel axes and to be able to approach and separate from each other, and (b)
(C) a rotational drive means for rotationally driving one of the pair of work rolls; The pressure-sensitive sheet on which the latent image has been recorded is pressed between the pair of work rolls by the pressure means, and the rotary drive means rotates one of the work rolls to send it out. A pressure developing device is used which develops the latent image by crushing a portion of a pressure capsule depending on its hardness.

In such a pressure developing device, a large force of several tons is applied between a pair of work rolls, so conventionally, the pair of work rolls has a large diameter and has sufficient rigidity to withstand the large force. Each work role was configured as follows.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention However, when the pair of work rolls is constructed of large-diameter work rolls as described above, the pressing area against the pressure-sensitive sheet becomes large, so it is difficult to obtain a predetermined pressing force. It was necessary to apply an even greater load.

The present invention has been made to address these problems, and its purpose is to enable a large pressing force to be obtained with a relatively small load.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the object, the gist of the present invention is to provide a method comprising: (a) a pair of work rolls; (b) a pressurizing means; and (C) a rotational drive means. , a pressure-sensitive sheet on which latent images have been recorded in advance by a large number of pressure-sensitive capsules having different hardnesses is pressed between the pair of work rolls by the pressure means, and one work roll is rotationally driven by the rotation drive means; In the pressure developing device which develops the latent image by crushing some of the plurality of pressure-sensitive capsules according to their hardness, the pair of work rolls are used as a large-diameter roll and a large-diameter roll having different diameters. It is configured with small diameter rolls, and while the small diameter rolls are backed up by banked up rolls, the large diameter rolls having a large diameter are rotationally driven by the rotation drive means.

Function and Effect of the Invention With this arrangement, since one of the pair of work rolls is a small diameter roll, the area of pressure applied to the pressure sensitive sheet is reduced, and a relatively small load can be applied by the pressure means. Just by adding it, you will be able to obtain a large pressure force. In addition, since the small diameter roll is backed up by a backup roll, deformation due to insufficient rigidity is prevented, and the pressure sensitive sheet is developed satisfactorily.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, since the large-diameter roll, which has greater torsional rigidity than the small-diameter roll, is rotationally driven by the rotation drive means, image disturbances and wrinkles caused by roll torsion can be effectively prevented. This makes it possible to avoid this problem and to significantly reduce the diameter of the small diameter roll.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

1 and 2 are diagrams showing the state of a pressure developing device 10, which is an embodiment of the present invention, during development; FIG. 1 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 2 is a ■Cross-sectional view. In each figure, 12 and 14 are a pair of work rolls, and the pair of work rolls 12.14
The pressure sensitive sheet 16 and the color developing sheet 18 are conveyed while being pressed between them, and development is performed.

The large-diameter work roll 12 is attached to a pair of base plates 22a and 22 of a fixed frame 20 provided in a fixed position.
b through bearings 24a and 24b so as to be rotatable around the axis f. On the other hand, the small-diameter work roll 14 includes a pair of movable plates 26a, which are arranged rotatably about an axis 12 parallel to the axis l, inside the pair of base plates 22a and 22b.
and 26b, the above-mentioned axis via bearings 28a and 28b! 2, and is rotatably arranged around an axis 13 parallel to 2. In such a case where the work roll 1 is pinched between a pair of work rolls 12 and 14, the work roll 1
Since 4 has a small diameter, the pressing area against the pressure sensitive sheet 16 is small, and a large pressing force can be obtained even with a small pressing load.

Then, on the lower side of the work roll 14, that is, at a position opposite to the work roll 12, a backup roll 30 that contacts the work roll 14 with the work roll 12 sandwiched between the work rolls 12 and 12 is provided. Bearings 32a and 32b on movable play) 26a and 26b
is parallel to the axis 12 via the axis 12, and in FIG. 2 the axis ! , and the axis l, and is arranged to be rotatable about a fine point 14 located approximately on a straight line connecting the axis l. The backup roll 30 has substantially the same diameter as the work roll 12, and serves to back up the work roll 14 by regulating its movement in the substantially vertical direction in the developing state shown in the figure. In other words, since the work roll 14 has a small diameter, it would be bent and deformed by the pressure reaction force when it presses the pressure sensitive sheet 16 and the color developing sheet 18, but it is supported by the backup roll 30. As a result, the bending deformation is prevented, and the pressure applied to the pressure sensitive sheet 16 is maintained uniformly.

The fixed frame 20 includes the pair of base plates 22
The upper portions of a and 22b are connected by a reinforcing rod 34 and are integrally fixed to a fixing member (not shown). In this fixed frame 20, an eccentric camshaft 36 shown in FIG. 3 is attached to the lower part of the pair of base plates 22a and 22b via a pair of bearings 38a and 38b, which is parallel to the axis 11. , arranged so that it can rotate around. The eccentric camshaft 36 has a pair of bearings 40a located inside the bearings 38a and 38b, where the shaft center is eccentric.
and 40b, and a pulley 42 is mounted on one shaft end so as to be non-rotatable, and is rotated via a timing belt 44 by a step motor 46 disposed on the base plate 22b. It has become.

Further, as can be seen from FIG. 3, the axes of the hair rings 40a and 40b are offset by a distance e from the axis of the eccentric camshaft 36, so that the eccentric camshaft 36 is not in the state shown in FIG. In a state rotated by 180 degrees, in other words, the axes of the bearings 40a and 40b are the axes! The bearings 40a and 40b are moved as the eccentric camshaft 36 is rotated by a predetermined angle by the step motor 46, starting from a position on the right side in the horizontal direction. Based on the amount of movement of the bearings 40a and 40b in the horizontal direction, pressurizing units 50a and 50b, which will be described next, are
through the pair of movable plays 1-26a and 26b.
is the axis! 2, the work roll 1
4 is brought close to the work roll 12 and pressurized. The state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a state in which the bearings 40a and 40b have been horizontally moved a full stroke of 2e from the starting point and are pressurizing the pressure sensitive sheet 16 between the work rolls 12 and 14. .

The pair of movable plates 26a and 26b are centered on the axis! 2, the work rolls 14 are rotatably supported by rotating shafts 48 respectively erected on the base plate 22a and 22b, and are rotated clockwise in FIG. is allowed to approach the work roll 12. At the bottom of the pair of movable plates 26a and 26b,
A pair of pressurizing units 50a and 50b are respectively provided.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the pressurizing unit) 50a is
A bolt 52 disposed so that its axis is substantially orthogonal to the axis 15 of the eccentric camshaft 36, a pair of flanged sleeves 56 through which the bolt 52 is passed, and a compression coil spring 54 inserted therein; 58, a cap 60 that is screwed onto the tip end side of the threaded portion of the bolt 52 and is brought into contact with the bearing 40a, an adjustment pad 62 that defines the position of the sleeve 58 with respect to the bolt 52, and the screwing position of the cap 54. A lock nut 64 is attached to the inner side surface of the movable plate 26a by a pair of brackets 66 and 6. Note that the movable plate 26a
An opening window 70a is formed in order to secure a housing space for the compression coil spring 54 and the pair of sleeves 56 and 58. In addition, the movable plate 26b
The side pressure unit) 50b has substantially the same configuration as the pressure unit 50a, and is attached to the inner side surface of the movable plate 26b.

In the pressure units 50a and 50b, each cap 60 is always brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of each of the bearings 40a and 40b due to the weight of the movable plate 26a26b, the work roll 14, the backup roll 30, etc. Further, the precompression state of each compression coil spring 54 is adjusted by changing the position of the sleeve 58 using an adjustment nut 62, and when the cap 60 is not pushed into the bracket 68, the precompression state is adjusted. teeth,
The bolt 52 is biased rightward in the figure by a biasing force corresponding to the amount of contraction, and its head is brought into contact with the end surface of the sleeve 56 on the opposite side from the flange. Further, by appropriately changing the screwing position of the cap 60 with respect to the bolt 52, the work roll 12 can be adjusted in a state where the bearings 40a and 40b are located at the starting point.
The gap between the work roll 14 and the work roll 14 is adjusted.

The movable plates 26a and 26b on which the pressure units 50a and 50b are disposed are such that the cap 60 is moved to the left in FIG. , until the movable plates 26a and 26b stop rotating when the work roll 14 comes into contact with the work roll 12 with the pressure sensitive sheet 16 and the color developer sheet 18 sandwiched therebetween. It is designed so that it can be rotated. After the rotation of the movable plates 26a and 26b is stopped, the cap 6
The compression coil spring 54 is compressed and deformed by the amount that 0 is further moved, and a biasing force corresponding to the amount of compression acts on the movable plates 26a and 26b. A biasing load of the same magnitude is applied to the work roll 14 via the bearings 28a and 28b.

That is, the rotation angle of the eccentric camshaft 360 is controlled by the drive of the step motor 46, so that the pressing force of the work roll 14 that presses the pressure-sensitive sheet 16 becomes a desired value suitable for development. Specifically, work roll 1
The amount of compression deformation of the compression coil spring 54 can be changed depending on the width dimension of the color developer sheet 18 in the axial direction of the color developer sheets 2 and 14. Above eccentric camshaft 3
The rotation angle 6 is preset by the size selection operation of the color developer sheet 18, and the operation of the step motor 46 is controlled so that the set rotation amount is obtained. In this embodiment, the step motor 46
, eccentric camshaft 36, and pressure units 50a and 5
0b functions as a pressure means for bringing the work roll 14 close to the work roll 12 and applying pressure for development.

A sprocket 72 is mounted on one shaft end of the work roll 12 so as not to be relatively rotatable, and is driven to rotate clockwise in FIG. 2 via a chain 74 by a motor 76 fixed to the base plate 22a. It has become. The pressure sensitive sheet 16 and the color developing sheet 18 sandwiched between the work roll 12 and the work roll 14 are
By driving the motor 76, which is the rotational driving means in this embodiment, the sheets are sequentially subjected to pressure development and sent out. As mentioned above, the work roll 12 has a larger diameter than the work roll 14, so it has high torsional rigidity, and it is difficult to twist due to the rotational drive resistance when feeding out the pressure sensitive sheet 16 and the color developing sheet 18 while pressurizing them. Since the deformation is small, disturbances and wrinkles in the output image due to such torsional deformation can be avoided.

Note that the pressure-sensitive sheet 16 contains three layers each containing a photosensitive resin that is cured by being exposed to light of different colors, dye precursors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, and a polymerization initiator. Different types of microcapsules are uniformly coated, and a latent image is recorded due to the difference in curing of the photosensitive resin of each exposed microcapsule. Further, the color developer sheet 18 is a sheet on which an image in which the latent image is visualized is printed by the applied color developer particles reacting with the dye precursors of the respective colors to develop color.

The pressure developing device 10 configured as described above is operated as follows. First, in a state where the eccentric camshaft 36 is not driven, the pair of work rolls 12 and 1
Pressure-sensitive seam from the right side in Figure 2 toward the gap of 4)
The IS and color developing sheet 18 are conveyed by a feeding device (not shown) to a position where the two sheets can be sandwiched together.

Then, the eccentric camshaft 36 is connected to the step motor 46.
The eccentric bearings 40a and 40b rotate the pair of movable plates 26a and 26b via the pressure units 50a and 50b, and the work roll 14 and pack amplifier are rotated by a predetermined angle. Roll 30 to work roll 12LH! l
The pressure sensitive sheet 16 and the color developer sheet 18 are pressed with a predetermined pressure. Thereafter, the work roll 12 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 2 by the drive of the motor 76, and the pressure sensitive sheet 16 and the color developer sheet 18 are sent out to the left while being pressurized.

Then, when the pressure sensitive sheet 16 and the color developer sheet 18 are fed a predetermined length and development is completed, the motor 76
is stopped, the step motor 46 is driven in the opposite direction, and the eccentric camshaft 36 is rotated in the opposite direction,
A pair of movable plays) 26a and 26b are returned to their original positions.

Here, in order to obtain a predetermined pressure suitable for development,
Conventionally, pressure was applied between a pair of work rolls, both of which had a large diameter, so the pressure area against the pressure-sensitive sheet 16 was relatively large, and it was necessary to apply a large load between the work rolls.

However, in this embodiment, one work roll 14
Since the pressure sensitive sheet 16 has a small diameter, the pressing area against the pressure sensitive sheet 16 is relatively small, and a predetermined pressing force can be obtained even if the urging load applied to the work roll 14 by the compression coil spring 54 is not very large. , members such as the base plates 22a and 22b and the movable plates 26a and 26b that support each roll can be constructed to be lightweight and simple to accommodate a small urging load.

Moreover, since the work roll 14 is backed up by the backup roll 30, the work roll 14
Even if the rigidity of the sheet 16 is low, its bending and deformation can be prevented, and the pressure-sensitive sheet 16 can be developed satisfactorily without worrying that the applied force will be uneven.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the pressure-sensitive sheet 16 and the color developer sheet 18 are fed and moved, the large-diameter work roll 12, which has greater torsional rigidity than the work roll 14, is rotationally driven. While the occurrence of disturbances and wrinkles in the output image due to torsional deformation of the work roll 14 can be effectively avoided, the diameter of the work roll 14 can be significantly reduced, so the ratio of pressing force to urging load can be further increased. At the same time, it is possible to make the device more compact.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above based on the drawings,
The invention can also be applied in other embodiments.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the pressing force is changed depending on the color developer sheet 18 of various sizes, but when handling only the color developer sheet 18 of a certain size, etc. The eccentric camshaft 36 may be rotated by a certain angle to apply a constant load at all times for pressure development.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the pair of movable plates 2
6a and 26b are axial centers with respect to the fixed frame 20! 2
The configuration was such that the pair of work rolls 12 and 14 were moved relatively toward and away from each other by being rotated, but for example, the movable plates 26a and 26b were guided linearly and 12
and 14 may be configured to be linearly approached and separated.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the backup roll 3
0 was disposed in contact with the work roll 14 over substantially its entire length, but instead of this, the work roll 1
A backup roll may be provided that backs up in partial contact with 4.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, one backup roll 30 for backing up the work roll 14 was arranged in such a state that the axes of the work roll 12 and the like were located approximately on a straight line. Alternatively, a plurality of backup rolls may be arranged in a wide range on the opposite side of the work roll 12. In this case, horizontal bending deformation of the work roll 14 is also reliably prevented.

Further, in the above embodiment, the step motor 4
6. The eccentric camshaft 36, the pressure units 50a and 50b, etc. constituted the pressure means, but instead of this, for example, a fluid actuator equipped with a cylinder and a piston, a crank mechanism, a gear-rack mechanism, etc. It is also possible to use other well-known driving and pressing mechanisms such as the following.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the pressure-sensitive sheet 16 and the color developer sheet 18, which are separate bodies, are overlapped and pressurized, but the color developer particles are mixed with the microcapsules and the like. The material applied to the pressure-sensitive sheet 16 may be pressurized alone.

In addition, in the above embodiment, color development was carried out using three types of microcapsules that harden when exposed to light of different colors. In cases where a pressure-sensitive sheet with an image recorded thereon is pressure developed to obtain a light and shade image, or where a pressure-sensitive sheet with a latent image recorded thereon is developed using multiple types of pressure-sensitive capsules that are each cured by an action outside the tip. The present invention can also be applied to such cases.

Note that the above is just one embodiment of the present invention,
The present invention can be implemented with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from its spirit.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pressure developing device which is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the eccentric camshaft, etc. of the device shown in FIG. 1. 10: Pressure developing device 12: Work roll (large diameter roll) 14: Work roll (small diameter roll) 16: Pressure sensitive sheet 30: Backup roll 3rd! ! l

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A pair of work rolls arranged to be rotatable around axes parallel to each other and capable of approaching and separating, a pressurizing means for pressurizing the pair of work rolls by bringing the pair of work rolls relatively close to each other, and the pair of work rolls. a rotation drive means for rotationally driving one of the work rolls, and the pressure-sensitive sheet, on which a latent image has been recorded in advance by a large number of pressure-sensitive capsules having different hardness, is moved between the pair of work rolls by the pressure means. A pressure developing device that develops the latent image by crushing some of the plurality of pressure-sensitive capsules according to their hardness by rotating and feeding one of the work rolls by the rotation drive means while applying pressure, The pair of work rolls is composed of a large diameter roll and a small diameter roll having mutually different diameter dimensions, and the small diameter roll is backed up by a backup roll,
A pressure developing device characterized in that a large diameter roll having a large diameter is rotationally driven by the rotation driving means.