JPH0446340A - Powder applicator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To uniformly apply a color developer on a base by setting the distance between a carrier which carries powder and a base at the value equiv. to the coating thickness of the powder to be applied on the base in a transfer region where the powder is made to fly. CONSTITUTION:The color developer S supplied from a supply roller 21 sticks onto a color developer carrying roller 22 and is transported to a coating region 27 while the adhesion is regulated by a blade 30. The color developer S is electrified by the contact with the roller 22 and the roller 21 at this time. On the other hand, plain paper P is inserted from an insertion port 29 into the powder applicator 2 by guide rollers 19 and is transported to the region 27 by a transporting belt 24. The electrolysis suited to the polarity of the electrified color developer S is applied to an electrode roller 23 by a power source 26 and the electrified color developer S is made to fly from the roller 22 to the plain paper P by electrostatic force. The flying spacing (d) is packed by the color developer S. The roller 22 slides on the surface of the plain paper P coated with the color developer S and levels off the coated surface as the outer peripheral part of the roller 22 moves faster than the plain paper.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a powder coating device for electrostatically coating charged powder onto a support such as plain paper in image recording, etc. .

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as a color copying machine, there is one that exposes microcapsule paper to light, overlaps it with developer paper, and then develops it under pressure to record a desired image on the developer paper. Although it has been put into practical use, the color developer paper used in this color copying machine is a commercially available color developer paper coated with a color developer in advance.

However, since using commercially available color developer paper has poor versatility, the applicant has developed a powder that allows users of color copiers to easily create color developer paper using plain paper, etc. A body coating device is proposed, for example, in the specification and drawings attached to the application of Utility Model Application No. 170660/1982.

In this device, a carrier such as a roller carrying a charged powder color developer faces a support such as plain paper in a non-contact state, and an electric field is generated there to develop color using electrostatic force. This is a device that applies the agent onto a support.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, in the powder coating device as described above,
There was a problem in that the color developer was not uniformly supported on the support, and even if it was uniformly supported, it was not evenly distributed, resulting in uneven coating of the color developer on the support.

The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a powder coating device that can uniformly coat a color developer on a support.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve this object, the powder coating device of the present invention has the following features:
It is characterized in that in the transfer area where the powder is made to fly, the distance between the carrier carrying the powder and the support is the same as the coating thickness of the powder applied to the support.

[Function] According to the powder coating apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration, in the transfer region where the powder is flown, the distance between the carrier carrying the powder and the support is adjusted to the distance between the powder applied to the support. By making the coating thickness the same as that of , the gap in the transfer area is filled with powder. By moving the carrier at a higher speed than the support, the carrier slides on the powder-coated surface of the support, thereby leveling the coated surface. Thereby, the powder can be uniformly applied to the support.

[Example 1] Hereinafter, an example embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of a color image recording apparatus M equipped with the powder coating apparatus of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the color image recording apparatus M is broadly divided into an exposure device W1, a powder coating device 2, a pressure developing device 3, and a heat fixing device 4.

An exposure device 1 is provided at the top of a casing C of a color image recording device M. This exposure device 1 includes a halogen lamp 8 that exposes a microcapsule paper 7, and an original platen 1 located below the halogen lamp 8 and on which an original 10 is placed.
It is composed of 1. Here, microcapsule paper (
A latent image is formed on photosensitive pressure sensitive paper 7 by exposure.

A pressure developing device 3 is provided below the exposure device 1 . The microcapsule paper 7 exposed by the exposure device 1 is fed into the pressure developing device [3] via a guide roller 12.

This pressure developing device 3 is composed of a pair of pressure rollers 14 that sandwich the superimposed color developer paper and microcapsule paper 7 and develop them under pressure.

On the other hand, a powder coating device 2 is provided in the center of the casing C of the color image recording device M.

A paper feed cassette 18 for storing plain paper P in a stack is provided on the right side of the powder coating bag W2, and the plain paper P is inserted into the powder coating device 2 through an insertion opening 29 by a guide roller 19. The inserted plain paper P is electrostatically coated with powdered color developer S to become color developer paper. The developing paper discharged from the outlet 28 is conveyed by the guide roller 13, and then superimposed on the microcapsule paper 7 on which the latent image has been formed, and supplied into the pressure developing device 3, where it is pressure developed.

A thermal fixing device 4 is provided on the downstream side of the pressure developing device 3, and the developing paper subjected to pressure development is conveyed to the thermal fixing device 4 by a guide roller 15.

The heat fixing device 4 heats and fixes the recorded image on the color developing paper on which the recorded image has been formed. The color developing paper on which the image has been fixed by the thermal fixing device 4 is further conveyed by a guide roller 16 and discharged to the outside of the color image recording apparatus M.

The microcapsule paper 7 is supplied from the paper feed roll 5, passed through each guide roller and the pressure roller 14, and then wound onto the take-up roll 6.

Next, the powder coating device 2 will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The powder coating device 2 includes a developer-carrying roller 22, an electrode roller 23 disposed apart from the developer-carrying roller 22 by an interval equal to the coating thickness (approximately 40 μm), and a guide roller between the electrode roller 23 and the guide roller. 25a.

A conveyor belt 24 is provided which extends over the conveyor belt 25b. A part of the color developer carrying roller 22 is arranged inside the color developer case 2o that stores the granular color developer S. The developer carrying roller 22 is grounded, and the electrode roller 23 is connected to a power source 26. As a result, a coating electric field is applied to both rollers 22,23. Further, on the outer periphery of the developer carrying roller 22, a rotatable supply roller 21 is arranged on the upstream side in the rotational direction of the developer carrying roller 22 from the position of the developer application area 27. 2
It is provided so as to be in pressure contact with 2.

Further, in order to regulate the amount of the color developer S placed on the color developer carrying roller 22, a plate-shaped blade 30 is inserted with a certain gap or in contact with the circumferential surface of the color developer carrying roller 22. It is provided. Moreover, inside the color developer case 20,
A color developer S is housed therein, and an agitator 31 is rotatably supported. This agitator 31 has a rotating shaft,
It is composed of three plate-shaped wings that protrude from the circumferential surface of this rotating shaft. The agitator 31 is rotated by a drive device (not shown) to agitate the developer S in the developer case 20. Note that the wings may be flat or comb-like. Also, the number of pieces may be any number.

Next, the operation of the color image recording apparatus M will be explained.

After placing the original 10 on the original table 11, the user presses a start switch (not shown) to start image recording. Then, the halogen lamp 8 is turned on, and a latent image of the document 10 is formed by exposure on a portion of the microcapsule paper (photosensitive and pressure-sensitive paper) 7 running between the paper feed roll 5 and the take-up roll 6. Microcapsule paper 7 exposed by exposure device 1
is supplied into the pressure developing device 3. On the other hand, in the powder coating apparatus, when the start switch is pressed, the agitator 31 rotates and the color developer S is agitated and reaches the supply roller 21 . Then, the developer is supplied to the developer carrying roller 22 by the supply roller 21 . Then, the developer S adheres to the developer carrying roller 22 and the blade 30
The amount of adhesion is regulated by the coating method, and the coating material is transported to the coating area 27. At this time, the color developer S is electrically charged by contact with the color developer carrying roller 22 and the supply roller 21.

On the other hand, the plain paper P is inserted into the insertion slot 29 by the guide roller 19.
It is inserted into the powder coating device 2 from there. The inserted plain paper P is conveyed to the coating area 27 by the conveyor belt 24. An electric field suitable for the polarity of the charged developer S is applied to the electrode roller 23 by the power source 26, so that
The color developer S charged by electrostatic force is transferred to the color developer carrying roller 2.
2 to plain paper P. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the flying gap d between the developer carrying roller 22 and the plain paper P is
By narrowing , this flight gap d is filled with the color developer S. As the outer circumference of the developer carrying roller 22 moves at a higher speed than the plain paper P, the developer carrying roller 22 slides on the developer S coated surface of the plain paper P. This will make it uniform. Thereby, the color developer S can be uniformly applied to the plain paper P.

Note that the thickness of the color developer layer on the plain paper P is the same as the flight gap d. In this way, it is electrostatically applied and becomes color developing paper. The developing paper discharged from the outlet 28 is conveyed by the guide roller 13, and then superimposed on the exposed microcapsule paper 7 and supplied into the pressure developing device 3.

The microcapsule paper 7 and color developer paper supplied to the pressure developing device 3 are sandwiched between a pair of pressure rollers 14 and subjected to pressure development, and a color image is recorded on the color developer paper. The color developing paper subjected to pressure development by the pressure developing device 3 is conveyed to the heat fixing device 4 by a guide roller 15. The color developer paper is heated by the heat fixing device 4, and the recorded image on the color developer paper is fixed. The developing paper with the image fixed thereon is further moved to a guide roller 16.
The color image recording apparatus M is conveyed by and discharged to the outside of the color image recording apparatus M.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments detailed above, but
Various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

For example, instead of applying color developer S onto plain paper P,
It may also be applied onto microcapsule paper 7 on which a latent image has been formed.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the detailed description above, according to the present invention, the gaps in the transfer area are filled with powder. By moving the carrier at a higher speed than the support, the carrier slides on the powder-coated surface of the support, thereby leveling the coated surface. Thereby,
The powder can be uniformly applied to the support. In other words,
This provides an industrially advantageous effect in that it is possible to provide a powder coating device that can stably coat a large amount of color developer onto a support with a very inexpensive configuration.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 show embodiments embodying the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a color image recording device to which a powder coating device is applied, and FIG. 2 is a powder coating device. The configuration diagram of the apparatus, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the transfer area. In the figure, 2 is a powder coating device, 21 is a supply roller, 22 is a color developer carrying roller (carrier), 27 is a transfer area, 30 is a blade, S is a color developer (powder), and P is plain paper. (Support),
d is the flight gap (distance).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a powder coating device that performs electrostatic coating by flying charged powder onto a support from a carrier supporting the powder, the powder is applied in a transfer region where the powder is flown. A powder coating device characterized in that the distance between the carrier and the support is the same as the coating thickness of the powder applied to the support.