JPH04176665A - Manufacture of ion generating device for electrostatic recording - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a highly durable, high-definition image by forming a specified pattern of metal foil on an insulating substrate through an adhesive layer and squeezing the metal foil, thermally pressed, into the adhesive layer to form the first electrodes. CONSTITUTION:A specified pattern of copper foil is bonded to an insulating substrate 11 through an epoxy adhesive layer 12, then the adhesive is cured and the copper foil is selectively etched to form the first electrodes 13. After that, the entire surfaces of the first electrodes 13 are pressed using a chromium-plated flat metal plate heated, for example, at 160 deg.C. In addition, a dielectric paste is applied to the surface of the first electrode 13 and then is dried, cured to form a dielectric layer 15. Further, the second electrode 16 to which an adhesive is applied is matched to the position of the first electrode 14, then both layers are tightened under pressure to become fixed with the dielectric layer 15. Following this procedure, an opening corresponding to the opening of the second electrode 16 is provided on the second electrode 16 and further, the third stainless steel electrode is positioned over the opening so that the opening corresponds to the opening of a photosensitive insulating resin film. Then the third stainless steel electrode is bonded using a silicon adhesive. Thus it is possible to generate ions stably over a long period of time.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ion generator for electrostatic recording, and in particular to a method for producing an ion generator for electrostatic recording, and in particular, an ion generator for ion flow electrostatic recording used in electrostatic printing and copying. The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a generator.

[Conventional technology] In electrostatic printing, etc., ions are generated at a high current density,
A method is known in which this is extracted and selectively applied to a member to be charged to imagewise charge it, and an apparatus for this purpose is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-501348. The ion generator used in this method has a plurality of first electrodes fixedly extending in one direction on one surface of the dielectric layer, and a plurality of first electrodes extending in one direction on the other surface of the dielectric layer, and a plurality of first electrodes extending in one direction on the other surface of the dielectric layer. It is made by fixing a plurality of extending second electrodes, and the first electrode and the second electrode constitute a matrix.

When a high voltage is applied alternately between the first electrode and the second electrode corresponding to a selected portion of the matrix, positive and negative ions are generated near the second electrode corresponding to the selected portion. The generated ions are selectively extracted by the third electrode and applied to the member to be charged, thereby making it possible to charge the member to be charged. Therefore, electrostatic recording using dots can be performed by selectively driving the electrodes in the matrix structure.

The first electrode used here is usually about 9 μm thick and laminated with adhesive on an insulating substrate such as polyimide.
It is obtained by patterning a copper foil with a thickness of . Also, the second electrode is typically about 9μ
It is obtained by patterning stainless steel foil or nickel foil with a thickness of m by etching.

On the other hand, a method of forming the first and second electrodes by vapor deposition without using these copper foils, stainless steel foils, and nickel foils is disclosed in JP-A-61-185879.

Next, a dielectric paste made of a silicone-modified polyester alkyd resin filled with titanium oxide powder as a filler is applied onto the first electrode by screen printing or the like, and is dried and hardened to form a dielectric layer. A second electrode is attached using an ultraviolet curable adhesive.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, in the above method, when the dielectric paste is applied on the first electrode, the paste also enters the grooves between the patterns of the first electrode, so that the dielectric layer is On the surface, gentle valleys corresponding to the grooves are formed. The depth of this valley is about half the depth of the trench.

After forming the dielectric layer, a second electrode is attached using an adhesive, but due to the presence of valleys, it is not possible to secure a sufficient bonding area, and as a result, over time, the second electrode becomes attached to the dielectric layer. It is easy to peel off from the layer and prevent the generation of ions. If the depth of the valley exceeds 2 μm, for example, 2.1 μm, the surface of the adhesive layer can be flattened by making the thickness of the adhesive layer 2 μm or more. Ion generation between the second electrodes becomes extremely poor. Therefore, the thickness of the adhesive layer is limited to 2 μm or less.

In the method disclosed in JP-A-61-185879, the first and second electrodes are formed by vapor deposition, which seems to solve the above-mentioned problems. but,
In a normal ion generator, ions are generated by applying a high voltage of 1000 to 3000 V between the first and second electrodes.

Voltages formed by vapor deposition have many defects such as pinholes, so such high voltages do not have long-term durability. In addition, when using a flexible insulating substrate for the purpose of miniaturization, if a layer of 1 μm or more is formed by vapor deposition, the insulating substrate will largely follow the vapor-deposited film side due to residual stress during vapor deposition, and this will be forced. Attempts to planarize the layer will lead to destruction of the deposited film over time.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and it ensures uniform flatness of the electrode surface, prevents defects such as pinholes, and residual stress during vapor deposition, and produces durable, high-definition images. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing an ion generator for electrostatic recording.

[Means for Solving the Problem] The present invention includes a plurality of first electrodes extending in one direction and parallel to each other on an insulating substrate, and a dielectric electrode having one surface fixed to the first electrode. In the method of manufacturing an ion generator for dielectric recording, the ion generator comprises a body layer and a plurality of second electrodes fixed to the other surface of the dielectric layer and extending in a direction intersecting the first electrode. The first electrode is formed by forming a metal foil in a predetermined pattern on the insulating substrate via an adhesive layer, and then pressing the metal foil into the adhesive layer by hot pressing. A method for manufacturing an ion generator for electrostatic recording is provided.

In the method of the invention, the thickness of the metal foil is preferably 4 to 18 μm. As the metal foil, for example, copper foil, stainless steel foil, or nickel foil can be used.

The metal foil may be pasted onto the insulating substrate via an adhesive layer and then patterned, or a metal foil that has already been patterned may be pasted. In this case, it is preferable to use a sheet adhesive.

It is also possible to apply the adhesive to a uniform thickness on the insulating substrate.

Various adhesives such as epoxy and acrylic can be used as the adhesive.

The metal foil with a predetermined pattern has a groove depth of 2 between the patterns.
It is preferable to press it into the adhesive layer so that the thickness is .mu.m or less. The depth of the grooves between the patterns can be determined by controlling the hot press conditions.

[Operation] In the method of the present invention, a predetermined pattern of metal foil is forced into the adhesive layer. Therefore, it is possible to make the depth of the groove between the patterns 2 μm or less, and as a result, the depth of the four parts formed on the surface of the dielectric layer formed on the metal foil is 1 μm or less.

A recess of this depth can be easily filled with the adhesive formed on it, making it possible to secure a sufficient adhesive area, which in turn greatly improves the durability of the ion generator. I can do it.

Further, since the electrodes are formed of metal foil, there are no defects such as pinholes, and they have sufficient durability even under high voltage. Furthermore, if a film with a thickness of 1 μm or more is deposited by vapor deposition, the flexible insulating substrate will warp due to the influence of residual stress, but since the method of the present invention uses metal foil, such problems do not occur. This does not occur and durability can be ensured over time.

[Examples] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, specific examples of the present invention will be described.
explain.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a cross section of an ion generator manufactured by the method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a perspective view thereof.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of first electrodes 2 formed on an insulating substrate 1 extend parallel to a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper,
A plurality of second electrodes 4 are arranged in a direction different from this first electrode 2.
is growing. A dielectric layer 3 is sandwiched between these first and second electrodes.

The second electrode 4 has an opening at a position corresponding to the first electrode 2, that is, at a crossing region. A third electrode 6 is arranged on the opposite side of the second electrode 4 from the first electrode 2, and this third electrode 6 has an opening corresponding to the opening of the second electrode 4. An insulator layer 5 is sandwiched between the second electrode 4 and the third electrode 6, and this insulator layer 5 has an opening 17 corresponding to the opening of the second electrode 4 and the third electrode 6. have.

In the ion generator configured as described above, by selectively applying a voltage between the plurality of first electrodes 2 and the second electrodes 4, the second electrode corresponding to the selected portion is Positive and negative ions are generated near the opening of No. 4. Second
A bias voltage is applied between the electrode 4 and the third electrode 6, and only ions determined by the polarity are extracted from the generated ions. The extracted ions pass through the insulator layer 5 and the opening of the third electrode 6, and selectively charge a member to be charged (not shown) disposed opposite the third electrode 6. In this way, the plurality of first electrodes 2
By selectively driving the second electrode 4, a dot latent image is formed on the charged member.

That is, this ion generator functions as an electrostatic recording head.

Hereinafter, an example of specifically manufacturing the ion generator described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

Example 1 As shown in FIG. 3, a copper foil 13 with a thickness of 18 μm is placed on an insulating substrate 11 made of a polyimide film with a thickness of 125 μm.
were bonded together via an epoxy adhesive layer 12 with a thickness of 20 μm. After the adhesive layer 12 was cured, the copper foil was selectively etched by ordinary photolithography to form a plurality of first electrodes 13 in a predetermined pattern.

Thereafter, the entire surface of the first electrode 13 was pressed by a chrome-plated metal flat plate heated to a temperature near the glass transition point of the adhesive layer 12, for example, 160°C. As for the pressurizing conditions, the pressurizing time and pressure are adjusted depending on the thickness, softening point, and viscosity of the adhesive layer 12 when softened, but in this example, the pressure was 60 k.
It was 10 minutes at a pressure of g/cm2. As a result, almost all of the first electrode 13 with a thickness of 18 μm was pushed into the adhesive layer 12. That is, the adhesive layer 12
The thickness of the part protruding from the surface was very small.

Next, a dielectric paste was applied thereon by screen printing, dried and cured to form a dielectric layer 15 having a thickness of 22 μm. The thickness of the valleys appearing on the surface of this dielectric layer 15 was almost zero.

Next, a second electrode 1 is placed on the dielectric layer 15, which has been patterned in advance and whose surface is coated with an adhesive to a thickness of 2 μm.
6 is aligned with the first electrode 14 and clamped,
It was fixed to the dielectric layer 15.

Further, a photosensitive insulating film having a thickness of 100 μm was vacuum laminated thereon, and this film was patterned by photolithography to provide openings corresponding to the openings of the second electrode 16. Then, on top of that, a thickness of 30 μm
A third electrode made of stainless steel (not shown) is positioned so that its opening corresponds to the opening of the photosensitive insulating resin film, and is bonded with a silicone adhesive with a thickness of 2 μm. Obtained a generator.

In the ion production device manufactured in this manner, the depth of the valleys on the dielectric surface is almost 0, and a sufficient bonding area between the dielectric surface and the second electrode can be secured. Therefore, even if used for a long time, the second electrode 16 may be damaged by the dielectric layer 15.
Ions were generated stably over a long period of time without peeling off.

Additionally, ultra-thin metal foils as thin as 5 μm are not commonly used, and for handling purposes, for example, an aluminum carrier with a thickness of 35 μm is pasted on the metal foil, and then the metal foil is pasted on an insulating substrate. It is formed by peeling off the

However, according to the present invention, it is possible to use a general-purpose metal foil with a thickness of 18 μm, which eliminates the need to peel off the aluminum carrier, and allows the first electrode to be formed at low cost.

Note that in this example, a dielectric layer with a thickness of 22 μm was used, but the thickness of the dielectric layer may be varied between 15 and 30 μm. In addition, in this example, the second electrode coated with adhesive in advance was attached to the dielectric layer, but it is also possible to apply adhesive to the dielectric layer to a thickness of 2 μm and then attach the second electrode. good.

Example 2 A copper foil with a thickness of 9 μm for forming the first electrode 13
An ion generator was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1, except that acrylic adhesive with a thickness of 20 μm was used as the adhesive layer 12. Note that, compared to the epoxy adhesive used in Example 1, acrylic adhesives generally have a lower softening point and have the advantage that processing conditions can be easily controlled.

In the ion production device manufactured in this way,
The depth of the valley on the dielectric surface is almost 0, and a sufficient bonding area between the dielectric surface and the second electrode can be secured. Therefore, even after long-term use, the second electrode 16 did not peel off from the dielectric layer 15, and ions were stably generated over a long period of time.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the ion generator for electrostatic recording obtained by the method of the present invention, the depth of the valleys on the dielectric surface is almost 0.
Therefore, a sufficient bonding area between the dielectric surface and the second electrode can be secured. Therefore, even after long-term use,
The second electrode does not peel off from the dielectric layer, and it is possible to generate ions stably over a long period of time.

Furthermore, since metal foil is used, there are no defects such as pinholes, and the device has sufficient durability even under high voltage.

Furthermore, if a film with a thickness of 1 μm or more is deposited by vapor deposition, the flexible insulating substrate will warp due to the influence of residual stress, but since the method of the present invention uses metal foil, such problems do not occur. This does not occur and durability can be ensured over time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an ion generator manufactured by the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view thereof, and FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the manufacturing process of an ion generator according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Insulating substrate, 2... First electrode, 3... Dielectric layer, 4... Second electrode, 5... Insulator layer, 6...
- Third electrode, 7... opening. l Figure 1 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] a plurality of first electrodes extending in one direction and parallel to each other on an insulating substrate; a dielectric layer having one surface fixed to the first electrode; and a dielectric layer having one surface fixed to the first electrode; In a method of manufacturing an ion generator for dielectric recording, the method includes a plurality of second electrodes that are fixed and extend in a direction crossing the first electrode,
The first electrode is formed by forming a metal foil in a predetermined pattern on the insulating substrate via an adhesive layer, and then pressing the metal foil into the adhesive layer by hot pressing. A method for manufacturing an ion generator for electrostatic recording, characterized in that: