JPH04248552A - powder coating equipment - 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]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a powder coating device for coating powder on a support such as plain paper.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as a color copying machine, an image is exposed on a microcapsule paper carrying microcapsules containing a dye precursor, etc., and a color developer that reacts with the dye precursor to form a color is coated. A system has been put into practical use in which an image is copied by overlapping and pressing a developed color developer paper with exposed microcapsule paper.

By the way, the color developer paper coated with the color developer described above is not versatile and is difficult to obtain, so plain paper or the like is used as a support for the color developer, and the color developer is coated on the plain paper or the like. A device has been proposed.

[0004] This type of coating device uses a color developer carrier such as a roller that carries a charged powdery color developer.
There is one in which the color developer is placed facing plain paper or the like in a non-contact state, and uses static electricity generated by an electric field to transfer the color developer to the support such as plain paper.

[0005]

However, although such a conventional powder coating apparatus uses a counter electrode as a means for forming an electric field, the shape of the counter electrode is cylindrical. As a result, the electric field strength in the tangential direction of the cylinder is significantly reduced, resulting in a problem of low coating efficiency.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a powder coating device with higher coating efficiency.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve this object, the powder coating device of the present invention is provided with a flat counter electrode.

[0008]

[Operation] In the powder coating apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration, an electric field is formed between the cylindrical carrier roller and the flat counter electrode, so the range of strong electric field is expanded, resulting in coating efficiency. will improve.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a color developer coating apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

The developer coating device 1 carries microcapsules in which a dye precursor substance is sealed and whose mechanical strength changes in response to light, and the microcapsules are exposed to light according to image information. Capsule paper is brought into close contact with an image forming medium prepared by applying color developer 3 to the surface of an arbitrary support such as plain paper selected by the user, and then the mechanical strength of the microcapsule paper is The lower microcapsules are destroyed by pressure development, and the dye precursor material that flows out due to this destruction is reacted with a color developer to form an image on the support. Details of the forming device 40 will be described later.

[0012] The developer coating device 1 is connected to the image forming device 4 described above.
This is an apparatus for forming a color developer paper by coating a color developer 3 on plain paper 2 as a support in 0. A conveyance unit 10 for plain paper 2 is provided on the left side of the color developer application device 1, and a supply unit 13 for the color developer 3 is provided on the right side. The outer wall of the coating device 1 has an insertion slot 12 on the lower side for inserting the plain paper 2 and an upper side insertion opening 12 for taking out the plain paper (color developer paper) 2 after applying the color developer to the plain paper 2. Outlet port 1
1 has been established.

The conveying unit 10 includes a pair of electrode rollers 6, an endless conductive belt 8 wrapped around the electrode rollers 6, a pair of small-diameter feed rollers 7, and a pair of small-diameter take-out rollers 9. It is made up of. Also,
A high voltage power source E is connected to either one of the pair of electrode rollers 6. Plain paper 2 inserted from the insertion slot 12
is conveyed while being attracted to the conductive belt 8, and is discharged from the outlet 11 after being coated with the color developer 3.

The supply unit 13 is composed of a carrier roller 4 for carrying the color developer 3 and a supply roller 5 auxiliary provided to cause the carrier roller 4 to carry the color developer 3. There is. The carrier roller 4 and the supply roller 5 are each grounded. Furthermore, particulate color developer 3 is stored in the hopper 15 of the supply unit 13 . The transport unit 10 and the supply unit 13 face each other with a predetermined distance d between them.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

In FIG. 1, plain paper 2 is fed into the color developer coating device 1 from the insertion opening 12 by a paper feeding device (not shown).
When the roller is inserted, the feed roller 7, electrode roller 6, or take-out roller 9 is rotated by a drive means such as a motor (not shown). Along with this, the plain paper 2 is conveyed via the feed roller 7 to the electrode roller 6, and is further adsorbed and held by the conductive belt 8 and conveyed to the position opposite the color developer supply unit 13, that is, the application area 14.

On the other hand, since the color developer 3 stored in the hopper 15 is made of a dielectric material that is easily charged,
Individual particles are constantly charged by contact with or friction with other particles. When the carrier roller 4 and the supply roller 5 each rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 1, the color developer 3 stored in the hopper 15 is supplied to the carrier roller 4 via the supply roller 5 and is carried thereon. In this way, the charged color developer 3 is carried on the carrying roller 4, and the application area 1
It is transported towards 4.

Since a predetermined high voltage is applied to the electrode roller 6, an electric field is formed around the area including the application area 14 between the conductive belt 8 and the carrier roller 4. The color developer 3 carried on the carrying roller 4 is attracted toward the conductive belt 8 by electrostatic attraction according to the electric field present in the coating area 14 . As a result, the color developer 3 is applied to the plain paper 2 held by the conductive belt 8. At this time, since the conductive belt 8 has a flat plate shape around the coating area 14, the electric field strength near the coating area 14 is stronger than when a cylindrical electrode is used. Therefore, the transfer efficiency also increases. For comparison, a diagram showing equipotential lines in the vicinity of the transfer area 14 when a flat electrode is used and when a cylindrical electrode is used is shown. FIG. 3 shows the case when a flat plate electrode is used, and FIG. 4 shows the case when a cylindrical electrode is used. Gap is 0.3mm
, the applied voltage is 1.5 kV. The medium potential line in the figure is 200
The electric field strength is strong where the equipotential lines are dense, and weak where the equipotential lines are sparse. As can be seen from these figures, in the transfer region 14, the electric field strength is the same for both the flat plate and cylindrical electrodes at the narrowest part, but the electric field strength for the flat plate electrode becomes stronger when even slightly away from the narrowest part. Therefore, as described above, the flat plate electrode has higher transfer efficiency.

In this way, the color developer 3 is applied to the plain paper 2, and the plain paper (color developer paper) 2 after the application is transferred to the conductive belt 8.
As the developer moves, the developer is discharged to the outside of the developer coating device 1 from the outlet 11 by the outlet roller 9 .

Next, an image forming apparatus using the developer coating apparatus according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a color image forming apparatus 40 equipped with an embodiment of a color developer coating apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus 40 is roughly divided into four units. That is, manuscript 45
an exposure device 41 that exposes the microcapsule paper 44;
a color developer application device 1 that applies a color developer 3 to plain paper 2;
A pressure developing device 47 that develops color by pressing the plain paper (color developer paper) 2 coated with a color developer and the exposed microcapsule paper 44 to form a color image on the plain paper 2;
It is comprised of a heat fixing device 49 for imparting good color to the image formed on the plain paper 2 and giving gloss to the surface of the image.

The exposure device 41 includes a halogen lamp 50.
A document table 52 is provided below the halogen lamp 50.
is provided. The original 45 is placed on the original platen 52, and the microcapsule paper 44 pulled out from the paper feed roll 42 is exposed through the original 45. The document table 5
A small-diameter guide roller 53 and a large-diameter guide roller 54 are provided on the left and right sides of 2 and above the pressure developing device 47. After that, it is wound up on a winding roll 43.

[0023] At the lower left of the color developer application device 1, there is plain paper 2.
A support cassette 20 is provided, in which a support cassette 20 is stored, and a plain paper 2 is inserted into the developer coating device 1 through an insertion opening 12 by an insertion roller 21 through an upper opening of the support cassette 20. The plain paper (color developer paper) 2 coated with the color developer 3 is taken out from the take-out port 11 and placed in the pressure developing device 47 in close contact with the exposed microcapsule paper 44.
It is configured to be inserted into. The pressure developing device 47 is composed of a set of pressure rollers 55 to which a pressure of about 1 ton is applied between the rollers, and an image is formed on the plain paper 2 here. The microcapsule paper 44 that has passed through the pressure development device 47 and the plain paper 2 on which the image has been formed are separated at the exit of the pressure development device 47, and the microcapsule paper 44 is wound up on a take-up roll 43, and The plain paper 2 on which the image has been formed is conveyed to a thermal fixing device 49 .

The heat fixing device 49 is provided with a heat source 51 that can maintain the temperature at about 140° C., and the heat fixing device 49 is equipped with a heat source 51 that can maintain the temperature at about 140° C.
By applying heat to the image, the image is fixed.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

By pressing the start button of the image forming apparatus 40 (not shown), the halogen lamp 50 is turned on, and an image is exposed onto the microcapsule paper 44 through the document 45 placed on the document table 52. The exposed microcapsule paper 44 is moved to the guide rollers 53 and 54.
The image is conveyed to the pressure developing device 47 by the pressure developing device 47. On the other hand, the plain paper 2 stored in the support cassette 20 is inserted into the developer coating device 1 by the insertion roller 21, and the developer 3 is applied in the developer coating device 1 as described above. It is applied to plain paper 2.

Thereafter, the microcapsule paper 44 exposed by the exposure device 41 and the plain paper (developer paper) 2 coated with the developer 3 by the developer coating device 1 are separated by guide rollers 53 and 56. are sent between the pressure rollers 55 of the pressure developing device 47 in a superimposed state and subjected to pressure development, and the dye precursor substance encapsulated in the microcapsules reacts with the color developer to form a color image. Formed on paper 2.

After the color image has been formed on the plain paper 2 by the pressure developing device 47, the image is fixed by the heat fixing device 49, and the paper passes through the guide roller 57 and is discharged to the outside. Further, the microcapsule paper 44 that has passed through the pressure developing device 47 is wound up by a winding roll 43.

It should be noted that the developer coating apparatus of the present invention described above is not limited to this embodiment, and can be modified within the scope of the spirit thereof. For example, in this implementation order, a color developer is applied to plain paper, but the color developer may be applied to exposed microcapsule paper and then developed by overlaying it on plain paper. Even in this case, the support (ie, microcapsule paper) must be flat around the coating area.

[0030]

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a powder coating device with high coating efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a developer coating device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus equipped with a developer coating device.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram showing equipotential lines near the transfer area.

FIG. 4 shows a diagram showing equipotential lines near the transfer area.

[Explanation of symbols]

2... Plain paper 3... Color developer 6... Electrode roller 7...Feed roller 8... Conductive belt 9...Take-out roller 21... Insertion roller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transport means for transporting a support to which powder is applied; a support means for supporting the powder; A powder coating device having a counter electrode at a position, wherein the counter electrode is formed into a flat plate shape.