JPH0445965A - Photo printer - 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 optical printing machine that performs printing by selectively irradiating light in accordance with a printing signal.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional optical printing machines simply use a transfer member cleaning means such as cloth to wipe off dirt and dust adhering to the surface of the transfer member.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, when a fibrous puff is used as a transfer body cleaning means, lint and dust generated from the cleaning means can be removed, causing printing defects such as blurred prints. There was a technical challenge to do so.

Therefore, the present invention solves these technical problems,
The purpose is to provide an optical printing machine that does not allow dust or dirt to re-adhere to the surface of the transfer member.

[Means to solve the problem]

The optical printing machine of the present invention is mainly composed of at least one transfer member, at least one transfer member regenerating means using at least one light irradiation, and the transfer member cleaning means, and the optical printing machine is configured to apply a print signal to the transfer member. An optical printing machine that performs selective light irradiation according to the present invention is characterized in that an air circulation device is disposed in the transfer member cleaning means.

[For production]

According to the above configuration of the present invention, the air circulation device is used to remove dirt and dust such as dirt floating in the transfer member cleaning means and residual solidified ink that falls from the transfer member cleaning unit to the outside. This makes it possible to prevent dust and contaminants from re-adhering to the surface of the transfer body and to perform good printing.

〔Example〕

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a main configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the main part of FIG. 1 for explaining the present invention in detail. First, the operation of the main components related to the present invention will be explained using FIGS. 1 and 2.

The light beam 4 taken out from the laser generator 1, which has been moderately modulated by a printing signal, is shaped by a collimator lens group 2, and is condensed while being rotated in the direction A by a rotating polygon mirror 3. Scanning was performed on drum 6. When the surface of the photosensitive drum 6 is irradiated with light of a predetermined wavelength, the ink 7 changes between the irradiated area and the non-irradiated area due to changes in the molecular structure, etc.
Photoreceptors are formed that have significantly different wettability.

Next, by irradiating the light beam 4, a printing latent image 12 that has good wettability with the ink 7 is formed on the photosensitive drum 6'' according to the printing signal, and an ink roller 9 installed in the developing device 8 is formed on the photosensitive drum 6''. The printed latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 6]2
The ink 7 was transferred in accordance with the above, and pressure transfer was performed using a transfer roller 11 onto a paper 10 as a printing medium. After printing,
Residual ink and dust on the photosensitive drum 6 are removed by a cleaning buff 13, which is a transfer member cleaning flat stage, and the photosensitive drum 6 is removed by a reset lamp 14, which is a transfer member resetting means 41'' equipped with a reflecting plate]5. The cleaning buff 13 is stored in an upper cassette 20 in which an air circulation fan 21 serving as an air circulation device is installed. I kept it.

While performing the above printing, the air circulation fan 21 was rotated to discharge dust floating in the upper cassette 20 and dust falling from the mechanical part of the cleaning buffco 3 to the outside. As a result, even if continuous or intermittent printing is performed for a long period of time, there is little dust or residual solidified ink falling on the photosensitive drum 6''2, and the print quality is good with less printing defects such as smearing and less surface damage to the transfer body. Stable printing was achieved.

At this time, the paper 10 to be printed was heated by the transfer roller 11 and kept away from the photosensitive drum 6, or was kept on standby at a different position. Furthermore, when the reset I lamp 15 was turned on during this time, the surface of the photosensitive drum 6 could be stabilized even better. In this embodiment, when the optical printing machine is kept on standby without receiving a print signal, the ink roller 9, which is an ink applying body, is moved in the moving direction B to bring it into contact with the photosensitive drum 6, and the ink is kneaded. 0.0 while contacting the roller 17. 01kg/cn? ~100kg/cJO
When pressure is applied at a predetermined value between 1 and 2 and the rotation is performed, a fresh and very uniform ink layer is formed on the surface of the ink roller 9, the thickness of which is set according to the applied pressure, which is then used for printing in the next step. A very stable and good print was obtained during the process.

Furthermore, the ink 7 in the developing device 8 may be stirred with the material in the ink tank 9 by rotating the ink take-out roller 18 in forward and reverse directions, thereby making the ink 7 have a uniform and stable composition. Although not shown in the drawings, a suitable ink scraping plate may be installed in the above process to adjust the thickness of the ink layer formed on the surface of the ink roller 9.

When the optical printing press of the present invention is stopped and stored, measures are taken to prevent the ink roller 9 and the photosensitive drum 6 from coming into contact with each other.
Appropriate shielding was applied to prevent ink evaporation. Furthermore, the transfer roller 11 and the cleaning buff 13 are also connected to the photosensitive drum 6.
By storing the machine in a more isolated state while it was stopped, it was possible to print more stably when printing started.

Here, an example of specific materials and devices used in the present invention will be explained. The laser generator 1 used a nitrogen laser, and the photosensitive drum 6 was an aluminum cylinder coated with a polymer abrasive containing an azobenzene polymer to a thickness of 1 to 500 μm.

Ink 7 was formed mainly of a dye or pigment dissolved or decomposed in a polar solvent containing at least 0.1% of water. The rollers in the developing machine 8 have fine-grained surfaces, are subjected to hydrophilic treatment such as plasma processing, or are not subjected to various groove treatments to adjust their wettability and retention characteristics with the ink 7. Adjust printing characteristics1
-ta. The cleaning buff 13 is made of a nonwoven fabric or a woven fabric made of natural fibers such as cellulose, acetate, or cotton, semi-synthetic fibers, or synthetic fibers such as polyester, TeI-lon, and nylon.

Cleaning buff] 3 cleaned the surface of the photosensitive drum 6 while moving, but when printing the same pattern or when there is little residual ink, each cleaning buff 1B should be used for printing without contacting the photosensitive drum 6 for a certain period of time. It was possible to control the wear and tear of the cleaning buff 13 by not cleaning the cleaning buff 13 by touching it intermittently. When performing the same printing as described above, reset lamp 15
Although not shown in the figure, a shutter or the like was used to shield the surface of the photosensitive tram 6 from light. Reset [-Lamp 15 used a low-pressure mercury lamp. When the optical printing machine of the present invention was impregnated with a cleaning solution containing a surfactant or the like in the cleaning buff [3], better and more stable printing was obtained.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 3 shows an example of another embodiment of the present invention. Tatashi 3rd
The figure has a configuration similar to that of the first embodiment, and portions unnecessary for the explanation of this embodiment are not shown at t1^.

The optical printing machine of this embodiment prints a large number of sheets [aimed at 1 yen]. In FIG. 3, in order to efficiently downsize the entire configuration of the optical printing press, a reset lamp 14 and a reflector plate 15 are shown.
Also, the developing unit 8' and the ink tank 19 are integrated. Furthermore, in order to print a large number of sheets, as shown in the figure, a two-part cassette 20 of a size that can store a large amount of cleaning buffs] 3 is installed independently (7. The surface of the photosensitive drum 6 was cleaned while maintaining tension using a mechanism or the like.

Further, in addition to the air circulation fan 21, a filter 22 is installed in the upper power cellar I/20 to serve as an air inlet to prevent dirt from entering the upper cassette 20 from the outside. The other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment.

With the above configuration, the air circulation fan 21 is rotated, the intake air is normalized by the filter 22, and then the outside air is transferred in the direction C.
When printing was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 after taking in the sample and ejecting it in the same direction as in Example 1, removing dust that had adhered to or floated on the parts and inner surface of the upper force cellar l-20, even better printing was obtained. Obtained.

In this embodiment, a plurality of air circulation fans 21 and filters 2 are used.
2 may be installed. Further, their installation locations were determined in consideration of air circulation within the cassette 20.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the optical printing machine of the present invention can remove and discharge fallen objects such as dust from the cleaning buff and the mechanical parts that drive them on the surface of the transfer body, and can be further cleaned by using a filter etc. It has the effect of being able to do things.

Furthermore, since no dust gets in, it has the effect of being able to print stably for a long time from the beginning of printing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3 are main configuration diagrams each showing an embodiment of the present invention. 6 ・ 13 ・ 14 ・ 15 ・ 20 ・ 21 ・ 22φ ・Photosensitive drum・Cleaning buff・Reset lamp・Reflector plate・Upper cassette・Air circulation fan・Filter and more Applicant Seiko Epson Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an optical printing machine, which mainly comprises a transfer body, a transfer body regenerating means using light irradiation, and a transfer body cleaning means, and selectively irradiates the transfer body with light according to a printing signal, the transfer body cleaning means is an optical printing machine characterized by having an air circulation device.