JPH0632052A - Forming method and device of image on reversible heat-sensitive recording film - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a forming method and device of an image on a reversible heat-sensitive recording film which enables image making to the reversible heat-sensitive recording film by making use of a photoelectric process performing the image making to an existing ordinary paper sheet without adding an exclusive and large-scale image making device and is capable of controlling an increase of a cost or capacity of the device and complication of image forming and controlling system. CONSTITUTION:A reusable reversible heat-sesitive recording film which is initiated by heating at a fixed temperature is fed and conveyed to an intermediate transfer belt 150 by a feed roller 1 and an image is formed onto the reversible heat-sensitive recording film by irradiating and heating a toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 150 by an irradiating device 15 under a state wherein the toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 150 from a sensitive body 10 comes into contact with the reversible heat-sensitive recording film.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reversible thermosensitive recording film image forming method using an electrophotographic process such as a copying machine, a facsimile or a printer, and a plain paper sheet and a reversible thermosensitive recording film. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for a reversible thermosensitive recording film using an electrophotographic process that can be used for image recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the protection of the global environment including forest resources has become one of the major problems in various industrial fields. In the OA equipment industry as well, the reuse of recording sheets used in image forming apparatuses such as copying machines is steadily being implemented as part of this environmental protection measure. In the currently practiced method for reusing recording sheets, it is general to collect used recording sheets collectively and to chemically process them in a reprocessing plant such as a paper manufacturing factory to produce recycled paper.
However, in such a chemical treatment method, there is a physical limit to the number of retreatments (progress of fiber decomposition), and a certain amount of new wood is required for the retreatment. On the other hand, as another method of reusing a recording sheet, a rewritable recording material that can be rewritten any number of times, more specifically, a reusable recording material that is initialized by heating to a predetermined temperature A method using a reversible thermosensitive recording film (hereinafter referred to as TC film) has been variously proposed for its easy handling.

[0003]

The present invention is to study reusable reversible thermosensitive recording films (TC films) among the above-mentioned conventional techniques. By the way, all the conventional image forming methods for a reversible thermosensitive recording film are configured to record the image information by directly contacting a heating means (thermal head) with the film surface. Further, various uses of this reversible thermosensitive recording film are considered. However, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a laser facsimile, or a laser beam printer, which is widely used and whose amount of paper used is enormous and a large effect of reusing the paper is expected, An apparatus to which this reversible thermosensitive recording film can be applied has not yet been put to practical use. The reason is that the conventional image forming apparatus usually uses an electrophotographic process as the image forming method, so that the reversible thermosensitive recording film can be applied to this type of image forming apparatus. In addition to the electrophotographic process means, the image forming means (for example, heat generating means, conveying means, control means, etc.) dedicated to the reversible thermosensitive recording film must be newly provided. That is, an image forming apparatus having a configuration in which an image forming means dedicated to such a reversible thermosensitive recording film is added is, in other words, a device in which an image forming apparatus for a reversible thermosensitive recording film is simply combined with a conventional copying machine or the like. Although no special technical difficulties are recognized, the overall cost of the device is significantly increased, the size is increased, and
It is inevitable that the image formation control system will be complicated, and this is considered to be the reason why it is not yet put to practical use.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to form an existing plain paper sheet without adding a large-scale image forming means exclusively for a reversible thermosensitive recording film. A reversible thermosensitive recording capable of forming an image on a reversible thermosensitive recording film by using an electrophotographic process for forming an image, capable of suppressing an increase in cost and apparatus volume and complicating an image forming control system. An object is to provide a film image forming method and an image forming apparatus.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method for forming an image on a reusable reversible thermosensitive recording film which is initialized by heating to a predetermined temperature. There is a latent image writing step of writing image information on the photoconductor as an electrostatic latent image, a developing step of visualizing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor with toner, and a developing step on the photoconductor. An intermediate transfer step of transferring the toner image onto an intermediate transfer belt to which the formed toner image is transferred; a film transport step of transporting the reversible thermosensitive recording film in contact with the toner image forming surface of the intermediate transfer belt, On the reversible thermosensitive recording film, the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt is in contact with the reversible thermosensitive recording film to irradiate their contact surfaces to heat the toner image on the intermediate belt. A structure comprising a radiation step of forming an image.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a method for forming an image on a reusable reversible thermosensitive recording film which is initialized by heating to a predetermined temperature. A latent image writing step of writing image information on the body as an electrostatic latent image, a developing step of visualizing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor with toner, and an image formation of the reversible thermosensitive recording film. Paper feeding process of feeding and conveying to the unit,
An erasing step of initializing the fed and conveyed reversible thermosensitive recording film by a heating means, and an intermediate transfer step of transferring the toner image onto an intermediate transfer belt to which the toner image formed on the photoconductor is transferred. The reversible thermosensitive recording film by heating the toner image on the intermediate belt by irradiating the contact surfaces of the reversible thermosensitive recording film on which the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt is initialized in contact with the reversible thermosensitive recording film. The irradiation step of forming an image on the upper side.

[0007]

According to the present invention, reusable pre-initialization initialized by heating to a predetermined temperature, or
The reversible thermosensitive recording film initialized by the erasing step is fed and conveyed to the image forming section by the sheet feeding and conveying means, and is formed on the photoconductor by the latent image writing means and the developing means. After the toner image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt by the intermediate transfer means, the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt is irradiated to the contact surfaces of the reversible thermosensitive recording film in contact with the toner image. By heating the toner image on the intermediate belt by the above, an image is formed on the reversible thermosensitive recording film by the existing electrophotographic process.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

However, with respect to the configuration and operation of the range that can be clearly recalled from the description of this specification, illustration and disclosure thereof will be omitted or simplified in order to avoid complication of description.

The image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention is
An image can be recorded on a plain paper sheet (hereinafter simply referred to as plain paper) and a reversible thermosensitive recording film; a thermochromic film (hereinafter abbreviated as TC film) by using a common image forming means. I am trying. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus of the first embodiment has two paper feed trays, a paper feed tray A and a paper feed tray B. These paper feed trays A and B are arranged in parallel, and both paper feed trays are configured without any difference. Here, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the TC film is set in the paper feed tray A and the plain paper is set in the paper feed tray B.

First, the image recording on the plain paper in the first embodiment will be described. In FIG. 1, paper feed tray B
The plain paper in the bundle set in (1) is pulled out from the paper feed tray B by the paper feed roller 1, and only the uppermost one sheet is conveyed by the rotation of the paper feed roller 1 by the separation pad 35.
Plain paper conveyed by the paper feed roller 1 is conveyed by the conveyance roller 3
The sheet 7 is conveyed to a pair of registration rollers composed of the registration driving roller 9 and the registration driven roller 40, and is abutted against the nip portion of the registration roller. At this time, the front end of the plain paper is detected by the pre-registration sensor 31, and the timing for writing an image on the plain paper is set.

On the other hand, while the plain paper is being fed and conveyed as described above, the original image is written as a latent image on the photoconductor 10 by the optical unit 5, and the latent image on the photoconductor 10 is The toner supplied from the developing unit 4 visualizes the image. The toner image formed on the photoconductor 10 is transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150 of the intermediate transfer unit that is in contact with the photoconductor 10 and is driven to rotate at a constant speed with the photoconductor 10. From this photoreceptor 10 to the intermediate transfer belt 1
The transfer of the toner image onto the transfer bias roller 1 is performed by transferring the toner image onto the transfer bias roller 1 while the photoconductor 10 is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 150.
This is performed by applying a predetermined bias voltage to 51. Here, the transfer bias roller 151 is disposed so as to sandwich the intermediate transfer belt 150 and rotate in pressure contact with the surface of the photoconductor 10.

Then, the plain paper sent toward the intermediate transfer belt 150 by the registration roller which is rotated at a timing by the pre-registration sensor 31 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 150 by another transfer which is arranged so as to rotate under pressure. A toner image is transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 150 by applying a predetermined bias voltage to the bias roller 154. The plain paper on which the toner image is transferred is
A fan 36 disposed on the back side of the transport guide plate 13
Is attracted to the transport guide plate 13 and is transported toward the fixing unit 34. The plain paper conveyed to the fixing unit 34 is a pair of pressure roller 19 and heating roller 2.
When 0, the toner image transferred by being pressed and heated is fixed. As a result, the plain paper that is guided by the fixing outlet upper guide plate 22 and the fixing outlet lower guide plate 23 and discharged from the fixing unit 34 is further conveyed by the conveying roller 38, passes through the paper discharge guide plate 28, and is discharged by the paper discharge rollers. Two
The sheet 9 is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 30.

On the other hand, in the step of transferring the toner image onto the plain paper, the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 150 without being transferred onto the plain paper contacts the toner carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150 with the toner removing blade. The plain paper is removed from the intermediate transfer belt 150 after being separated from the intermediate transfer belt 150 by the belt cleaning unit 156 thus arranged.

Next, the image recording on the TC film in the first embodiment will be described. In FIG. 1, the bundle of TC films set in the paper feed tray A is pulled out from the paper feed tray A by the paper feed roller 1 and separated by the separation pad 3
According to 5, only the uppermost one sheet is conveyed by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 1. Here, in the first embodiment, the TC film set in the paper feed tray A is initialized (whitened) in advance. The TC film transported by the paper feed roller 1 is transported by the transport roller 37 to a pair of registration rollers including the registration driving roller 9 and the registration driven roller 40, and is abutted against the nip portion of the registration roller. At this time, the front end of the TC film is detected by the pre-registration sensor 31, and the timing of writing an image on the TC film is set.

On the other hand, while the TC film is being fed and conveyed as described above, the optical unit 5 is attached to the photosensitive member 10.
The original image is written as a latent image by the
The latent image on 0 is visualized by the toner supplied from the developing unit 4. The toner image formed on the photoconductor 10 is transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150 which is driven to rotate at a constant speed with the photoconductor 10 while being in contact with the photoconductor 10 as in the case of plain paper. Next, the TC film is sent toward the intermediate transfer belt 150 by the registration roller that rotates at a timing by the pre-registration sensor 31. Here, the TC film is a pair of drive rollers 152 that drive the intermediate transfer belt 150.
A bias voltage having a reverse polarity opposite to that of plain paper is applied to the transfer bias roller 154 when the image is formed on the TC film, which is opposed to the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 150 by 153. By doing so, the toner image is controlled so as not to be transferred to the TC film.

When recording an image on the TC film, the TC film is arranged so as to face the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 150 as described above while sandwiching the intermediate transfer belt 150. Irradiation means 15
The irradiation lamp 16 is turned on. The irradiation light from the irradiation lamp 16 is condensed and irradiated onto the transfer belt surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150 by the reflecting plate 17 and the condenser lens 18. Here, the intermediate transfer belt 150 is formed of a transparent member having a light-transmitting property, and an unfixed toner image is transferred to the surface thereof, while the TC film itself is in a cloudy state. . Therefore, the irradiation light emitted and condensed by the irradiation lamp 16, the reflection plate 17, and the condenser lens 18 is absorbed by the unfixed toner image portion, which is the black portion of the transfer belt surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150, Even if the temperature of the black portion is raised, it is reflected at the other part of the belt surface which is in a cloudy state (non-image part) and has no effect. As a result, a temperature difference is generated between the toner image portion and the non-image portion on the transfer belt surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150, and a similar temperature difference is generated on the TC film in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 150. Only the portion of the film surface of the TC film corresponding to the toner image portion of the intermediate transfer belt 150 changes from the cloudy state to the transparent state due to the temperature difference, and a cloudy portion (non-image area) is formed on the TC film surface. An image including a transparent portion (toner image portion) is recorded.

The TC film on which an image is recorded due to the heat discoloration of the cloudy portion is conveyed toward the fixing means 34 while being attracted to the conveyance guide plate 13 by the suction force of the fan 36. Here, at the time of recording an image on the TC film, the film surface of the TC film conveyed to the fixing unit 34 comes into contact with the heating roller 20 and is reheated, so that the image recorded on the film surface is imaged. The heating roller 20 of the fixing means 34 is previously displaced in the direction of arrow a in FIG.
The TC film is retracted to a position where it does not contact the film surface (chain line position), that is, to a position where the heat of the heating roller 20 is not transferred to the TC film.

In this way, the TC film on which the image composed of the cloudy part (non-image part) and the transparent part (image part) is recorded is further carried by the carrying roller 38 consisting of a pair of rollers, and the paper discharge guide plate. The sheet is guided by 28 and discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 30 by the sheet discharge roller 29.

On the other hand, the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 150 without being transferred to the TC film is a belt cleaning means arranged so that a toner removing blade is in contact with the toner carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150. 156, TC film is an intermediate transfer belt 1
After being separated from 50, it is removed from the intermediate transfer belt 150.

Next, the erasing step for initializing the image recorded on the TC film in the first embodiment will be described. In order to reuse a used TC film on which an image has been recorded once, the entire surface of the TC film may be heated to a temperature at which the transparent portion (image portion) of the TC film is turned into a cloudy color. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the same process as that for feeding plain paper may be executed without writing an image.

That is, specifically, first, a used TC film is set in the paper feed tray A or the paper feed tray B, and the paper feed roller 1, the transport roller 37, the registration drive roller 9, and the registration driven roller 40 are set. Thus, the used top TC film is fed and conveyed. At this time, the image signal is not sent and the optical unit 5 does not write an image as a latent image on the photoconductor 10 so that the toner is not attached to the photoconductor 10 by the developing means 4. As a result, the used TC film is
The toner passes through the transfer portion (on the intermediate transfer belt 150) without being attached to the film surface. The used TC film that has been transported without toner adheres to the heating roller 2 of the fixing means 34 when passing through the fixing means 34.
When 0, the entire surface of the TC film is heated to a temperature at which the transparent part (image part) of the TC film is changed to a cloudy color. As a result, the entire surface of the TC film is initialized to a cloudy color, and the used image recorded by the transparent part and the cloudy part is erased. The TC film initialized in this way is
It is further conveyed by the conveying roller 38, and the discharge guide plate 28
The sheet is guided by the sheet discharge roller 29 and discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 30 by the sheet discharge roller 29.

Next, other components of the first embodiment will be described. In FIG. 1, the paper feed guide plate 2 has a function of guiding the plain paper and the TC film fed by the paper feed roller 1 while being conveyed to the registration drive roller 9 and the registration driven roller 40.
The pre-transfer guide plate 11 is a plain paper or T transported by the registration driving roller 9 and the registration driven roller 40.
It has a function of guiding the C film toward the intermediate transfer belt 150. The fixing entrance upper guide plate 14 and the fixing entrance lower guide plate 39 have a function of guiding the plain paper or the TC film separated and conveyed from the intermediate transfer belt 150 to the nip portion of the pressure roller 19 and the heating roller 20 of the fixing unit 34. Have The thermistor T provided in the fixing means 34 has a function of detecting the surface temperature of the heating roller 20, and the heating roller 20 is detected based on this detection signal.
The heating temperature of the heating roller 20 is varied by controlling the amount of heat generated by the heater 21 disposed inside. The charging unit 6 arranged around the photoconductor 10 has a function of initializing the surface potential of the photoconductor 10 by discharging. Paper ejection sensor 3 arranged on the conveyance path of the paper ejection guide plate 28
2 is plain paper or TC conveyed from the fixing means 34.
Detects whether the film has passed at a predetermined timing,
Jam or the like of plain paper or TC film is detected.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, since the image can be formed on the TC film by using the conventional electrophotographic process for forming the image on the plain paper, the image recording of the TC film can be performed. Therefore, it is not necessary to add a large-scale dedicated image forming means, and it is possible to suppress an increase in cost and device volume and a complication of the image forming control system.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a plain paper sheet (hereinafter, simply referred to as plain paper) and a reversible thermosensitive recording film; For TC film), an image can be recorded using a common image forming means, and a dedicated heat source for erasing the recorded image on the TC film to initialize the film surface is provided. It is characterized by doing. As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus of the second embodiment has two paper feed trays, a paper feed tray A and a paper feed tray B, as in the first embodiment. . These paper feed trays A and B are arranged in parallel, and both paper feed trays are configured without any difference. Here, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the TC film is set in the paper feed tray A and the plain paper is set in the paper feed tray B.

First, the image recording on plain paper in the second embodiment will be described. In FIG. 2, paper feed tray B
The plain paper in the bundle set in (1) is pulled out from the paper feed tray B by the paper feed roller 1, and only the uppermost one sheet is conveyed by the rotation of the paper feed roller 1 by the separation pad 35.
Plain paper conveyed by the paper feed roller 1 is conveyed by the conveyance roller 3
The sheet 7 is conveyed until it abuts on the nip portion between the registration driving roller 9 and the heat generating head 3. At this time, the front end of the plain paper is detected by the pre-registration sensor 31,
The timing of writing an image on the plain paper is set. Here, the contact force between the registration driving roller 9 and the heat generating head 3 is set so that the frictional force between the registration driving roller 9 and the TC film is larger than the frictional force between the heat generating head 3 and the TC film. . As a result, the plain paper is conveyed according to the rotation of the registration driving roller 9.

On the other hand, while the plain paper is being fed and conveyed as described above, the original image is written as a latent image on the photoconductor 10 by the optical unit 5, and the latent image on the photoconductor 10 is The toner supplied from the developing unit 4 visualizes the image. The toner image formed on the photoconductor 10 is transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150 of the intermediate transfer unit that is in contact with the photoconductor 10 and is driven to rotate at a constant speed with the photoconductor 10. From this photoreceptor 10 to the intermediate transfer belt 1
The transfer of the toner image onto the transfer bias roller 1 is performed by transferring the toner image onto the transfer bias roller 1 while the photoconductor 10 is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 150.
This is performed by applying a predetermined bias voltage to 51. Here, the transfer bias roller 151 is disposed so as to sandwich the intermediate transfer belt 150 and rotate in pressure contact with the surface of the photoconductor 10.

Then, the plain paper sent toward the intermediate transfer belt 150 by the registration roller rotating at a timing by the pre-registration sensor 31 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 150 by another transfer which is arranged so as to rotate under pressure. A toner image is transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 150 by applying a predetermined bias voltage to the bias roller 154. The plain paper on which the toner image is transferred is
A fan 36 disposed on the back side of the transport guide plate 13
Is attracted to the transport guide plate 13 and is transported toward the fixing unit 34. The plain paper conveyed to the fixing unit 34 is a pair of pressure roller 19 and heating roller 2.
When 0, the toner image transferred by being pressed and heated is fixed. As a result, the plain paper that is guided by the fixing outlet upper guide plate 22 and the fixing outlet lower guide plate 23 and discharged from the fixing unit 34 is further conveyed by the conveying roller 38, passes through the paper discharge guide plate 28, and is discharged by the paper discharge rollers. Two
The sheet 9 is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 30.

On the other hand, in the step of transferring the toner image to the plain paper, the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 150 without being transferred to the plain paper contacts the toner carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150 with the toner removing blade. The plain paper is removed from the intermediate transfer belt 150 after being separated from the intermediate transfer belt 150 by the belt cleaning unit 156 thus arranged.

Next, the image recording on the TC film in the second embodiment will be described. In FIG. 2, the bundle of TC films set in the paper feed tray A is pulled out from the paper feed tray A by the paper feed roller 1 and separated by the separation pad 3
According to 5, only the uppermost one sheet is conveyed by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 1. The TC film transported by the paper feed roller 1 is transported by the transport roller 37 until it abuts against the nip portion between the registration drive roller 9 and the heat generation head 3. At this time, the front end of the TC film is detected by the pre-registration sensor 31, and the timing of writing an image on the TC film is set. Here, the contact force between the registration driving roller 9 and the heat generating head 3 is set so that the frictional force between the registration driving roller 9 and the TC film is larger than the frictional force between the heat generating head 3 and the TC film. . As a result, the plain paper is transferred to the registration drive roller 9
It is transported according to the rotation of.

Further, the heating head 3 has a function of heating the TC film to a temperature at which the transparent portion (image portion) of the TC film is turned white turbid and is initialized. Therefore, in the second embodiment, when the TC film passes through the nip portion between the resist driving roller 9 and the heat generating head 3, the heat generating head 3 heats the entire surface of the TC film to a temperature at which the TC film turns into a cloudy color. Even when the recorded TC film is conveyed, the recorded image is automatically erased.

On the other hand, while the TC film is being fed and conveyed as described above, the optical unit 5 is attached to the photoconductor 10.
The original image is written as a latent image by the
The latent image on 0 is visualized by the toner supplied from the developing unit 4. The toner image formed on the photoconductor 10 is transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150 which is driven to rotate at a constant speed with the photoconductor 10 while being in contact with the photoconductor 10 as in the case of plain paper. Next, the TC film is sent toward the intermediate transfer belt 150 by the registration roller that rotates at a timing by the pre-registration sensor 31. Here, the TC film is a pair of drive rollers 152 that drive the intermediate transfer belt 150.
A bias voltage having a reverse polarity opposite to that of plain paper is applied to the transfer bias roller 154 when the image is formed on the TC film, which is opposed to the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 150 by 153. By doing so, the toner image is controlled so as not to be transferred to the TC film.

When recording an image on the TC film, the TC film is arranged so as to face the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 150 as described above with the intermediate transfer belt 150 sandwiched therebetween. Irradiation means 15
The irradiation lamp 16 is turned on. The irradiation light from the irradiation lamp 16 is condensed and irradiated onto the transfer belt surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150 by the reflecting plate 17 and the condenser lens 18. Here, the intermediate transfer belt 150 is formed of a transparent member having a light-transmitting property, and an unfixed toner image is transferred to the surface thereof, while the TC film itself is in a cloudy state. . Therefore, the irradiation light emitted and condensed by the irradiation lamp 16, the reflection plate 17, and the condenser lens 18 is absorbed by the unfixed toner image portion, which is the black portion of the transfer belt surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150, Even if the temperature of the black portion is raised, it is reflected at the other part of the belt surface that is in a cloudy state (non-image part) and has no effect. As a result, a temperature difference is generated between the toner image portion and the non-image portion on the transfer belt surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150, and a similar temperature difference is generated on the TC film in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 150. Only the portion of the film surface of the TC film corresponding to the toner image portion of the intermediate transfer belt 150 changes from the cloudy state to the transparent state due to the temperature difference, and a cloudy portion (non-image area) is formed on the TC film surface. An image including a transparent portion (toner image portion) is recorded.

The TC film on which an image is recorded due to the heat discoloration of the cloudy portion is conveyed toward the fixing means 34 while being attracted to the conveyance guide plate 13 by the suction force of the fan 36. Here, at the time of recording an image on the TC film, the film surface of the TC film conveyed to the fixing unit 34 comes into contact with the heating roller 20 and is reheated, so that the image recorded on the film surface is imaged. In order to prevent the heat loss from being lost, the heating roller 20 of the fixing means 34 is displaced in advance in the direction of arrow a in FIG.
The TC film is retracted to a position where it does not contact the film surface (chain line position), that is, to a position where the heat of the heating roller 20 is not transferred to the TC film.

In this way, the TC film on which the image composed of the cloudy portion (non-image portion) and the transparent portion (image portion) is recorded is further conveyed by the conveying roller 38 composed of a pair of rollers, and the paper discharge guide plate. The sheet is guided by 28 and discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 30 by the sheet discharge roller 29.

On the other hand, the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 150 without being transferred to the TC film is a belt cleaning means arranged so that the toner removing surface is in contact with the toner carrying surface of the intermediate transfer belt 150. 156, TC film is an intermediate transfer belt 1
After being separated from 50, it is removed from the intermediate transfer belt 150.

The other components in the second embodiment are constructed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, since the image can be formed on the TC film by using the conventional electrophotographic process for forming the image on the plain paper, it is possible to record the image on the TC film. Therefore, it is not necessary to add a large-scale dedicated image forming means, and it is possible to suppress an increase in cost and device volume, and to suppress complication of the image forming control system,
Since the erasing means for initializing the used TC film is provided in the image forming process, even if the TC film in any state is set, the image formation on the TC film can be performed without any trouble. The convenience of the device is improved.

[0039]

According to the present invention, an image can be formed on a reversible thermosensitive recording film (TC film) by using the conventional electrophotographic process for forming an image on plain paper.
It is not necessary to add a large-scale dedicated image forming means for recording an image on the film, and it is possible to suppress an increase in cost and device volume and a complication of the image forming control system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Paper Feeding Roller 2 Paper Feeding Guide Plate 3 Heating Head 4 Developing Means 5 Optical Unit 6 Charging Means 7 Photosensitive Body Cleaning Means 9 Registration Driving Rollers 10 Photosensitive Body 11 Pre-Transfer Guide Plates 13 Conveying Guide Plates 14 Fixing Entrance Guide Plates 15 Irradiation Means 16 Irradiation lamp 17 Reflector 18 Condenser lens 19 Pressure roller 20 Heating roller 21 Heater 22 Fixing exit upper guide plate 23 Fixing exit lower guide plate 28 Paper ejection guide plate 29 Paper ejection roller 30 Paper ejection tray 31 Pre-registration sensor 32 Paper ejection sensor 34 Fixing means 35 Separation pad 36 Fans 37, 38 Conveying roller 39 Fixing entrance lower guide plate 40 Register driven roller 150 Intermediate transfer belt 151 Belt transfer bias roller 152,153 Driving roller 154 Transfer bias roller 156 Belt cleaner Means A, B Paper feed tray

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical indication location G03G 15/00 6830-2H (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Iwata 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks Inside the Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Hideki Toinaga 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Stock Company Ricoh Company (72) Masato Otani 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Ricoh Company Within

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for forming an image on a reusable reversible thermosensitive recording film which is initialized by heating to a predetermined temperature, the latent image in which image information is written on a photoreceptor as an electrostatic latent image. A writing step, a developing step of developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor with toner, and a toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt to which the toner image formed on the photoconductor is transferred. An intermediate transfer step for transferring the reversible thermosensitive recording film to the toner image forming surface of the intermediate transfer belt. In a state of irradiating the contact surfaces to heat the toner image on the intermediate belt to form an image on the reversible thermosensitive recording film. The image forming method of the thermal recording film. 2. A method of forming an image on a reusable reversible thermosensitive recording film initialized by heating to a predetermined temperature, the latent image in which image information is written on a photoconductor as an electrostatic latent image. A writing step, a developing step that visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor with toner, a paper feeding step that feeds and conveys the reversible thermosensitive recording film to an image forming section, and a paper feeding step An erasing step of initializing the transported reversible thermosensitive recording film by a heating means, an intermediate transfer step of transferring the toner image onto an intermediate transfer belt to which the toner image formed on the photoconductor is transferred, On the reversible thermosensitive recording film, by heating the toner image on the intermediate belt by irradiating the contact surfaces of the reversible thermosensitive recording film in which the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt is initialized, in contact with the reversible thermosensitive recording film. image The image forming method of the reversible thermosensitive recording film characterized by comprising the irradiation step of forming. 3. A latent image writing means for writing image information as an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor, a developing means for visualizing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor with toner, and the photoconductor. An intermediate transfer means for transferring the toner image onto an intermediate transfer belt to which the toner image formed thereon is transferred; a paper feeding and conveying means for feeding and conveying a plain paper sheet for image recording to an image forming section; The plain paper sheet fed and conveyed to the image forming section has a transfer means for transferring the toner image from the intermediate transfer belt, and a fixing means for fixing the transferred toner image on the plain paper sheet. The reusable reversible thermosensitive recording film initialized by being heated to the temperature is fed to the image forming section by the sheet feeding means, and the latent image writing means and the developing means are used. Formed on the photoreceptor The toner image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt by the intermediate transfer means, and the contact surface is irradiated with the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt in contact with the fed and conveyed reversible thermosensitive recording film. An image forming apparatus for a reversible thermosensitive recording film, characterized in that an image is formed on the reversible thermosensitive recording film by heating the toner image on the intermediate belt by an irradiation means. 4. A latent image writing means for writing image information as an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor, a developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor with toner, and the photoconductor. An intermediate transfer means for transferring the toner image onto an intermediate transfer belt to which the toner image formed thereon is transferred; a paper feeding and conveying means for feeding and conveying a plain paper sheet for image recording to an image forming section; The plain paper sheet fed and conveyed to the image forming section has a transfer means for transferring the toner image from the intermediate transfer belt, and a fixing means for fixing the transferred toner image on the plain paper sheet. The reusable reversible thermosensitive recording film initialized by being heated to the temperature is fed to the image forming section by the paper feeding and conveying means, and the fed reversible thermosensitive recording film is heated. When initialized by means The toner image formed on the photoconductor by the latent image writing means and the developing means is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt by the intermediate transfer means, and the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt is initialized. An image is formed on the reversible thermosensitive recording film by heating the toner image on the intermediate belt by irradiation means for irradiating the contact surfaces of the fed and conveyed reversible thermosensitive recording film. An image forming apparatus for a reversible thermosensitive recording film, which is characterized by: