JPH0664300A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To easily remove residual ink after transfer. A thermal head section (4) for forming a latent image by heating a surface of a recording medium (22) in contact with a liquid or vapor or a solid which becomes a liquid by heating, and a color on the formed latent image. The recording medium (22) and the moving direction are provided with a developing roller portion (7) that forms a visible image by bringing ink containing a material into contact with the transfer roller (9). Is the same and the relative speed with respect to the recording medium (22) is zero or the rotary member (20) rotating at a higher speed than the recording medium (22) removes the residual ink on the recording medium (22) after transfer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a novel recording apparatus, and more particularly to a recording apparatus capable of easily removing residual ink on a recording medium after transfer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An offset printing apparatus is well known as a method for forming an image by dividing a surface of a recording material into a liquid adhesive area and a non-liquid adhesive area. Further, the applicant of the present invention discloses in JP-A-3-178478 that selectively or selectively and reversibly the surface of a recording medium having a surface which has a low receding contact angle when heated and brought into contact with a liquid by an easy means. A recording device is proposed in which a desired pattern area can be formed selectively (that can be repeatedly used).

FIG. 6 shows an example of a recording apparatus proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-178478, which heats a surface of a recording material with a recording material containing a coloring material to form a visible image according to the heating temperature. It is a figure which shows the structural example. This recording apparatus includes a belt member 50 coated with a recording material having a surface having a receding contact angle that is reduced when brought into contact with a liquid in a heated state, and a pair of conveying rollers 5 that rotate the belt member 50 in a stretched state.
1, 52, and a thermal head unit 53 provided near the lower side of one of the transport rollers 51, which selectively heats in response to a recording signal and forms a latent image in a latent image forming solution.
A developing unit 56 that visualizes the formed latent image by using the ink 55 of a predetermined color contained in the container 54, and recording as a recording material that is provided so as to face the other conveying roller 52. By the transfer roller 58 that conveys the paper 57 in a state of being pressed against the belt member 50, the cleaner unit 59 that removes the recording agent after being transferred to the recording paper 57, and the thermal head unit 53 that selectively heats the recording material. It has a heater unit 60 for erasing the formed latent image by heating the entire surface.

In this recording apparatus, the recording body of the belt member 50 is heated on the basis of the image signal supplied to the thermal head section 53 to form a latent image corresponding to the image signal, and the ink 55 in the developing section 56. To convert the latent image into a visible image. The area of the belt member 50 which is a visible image is transferred by the transfer rollers 51 and 52.
The recording paper 57 is conveyed to the 8th position and is transferred in synchronization with the recording paper 57. Then, the residual ink on the belt member 50 is cleaned by the cleaner unit 59, and the heater unit 60
Thus, the latent image is erased to prepare for the next image formation.

As described above, the latent image formation by selective heating, visualizing (developing), transfer to recording paper, cleaning, and latent image erasing by whole surface heating are repeatedly performed as one cycle, thereby continuously recording paper. It is possible to provide a recording device capable of forming a desired image on 57.

[0006]

However, in the recording apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the cleaner portion 59 uses a porous sponge or the like to scrape the remaining ink while sucking it. In this method, the sponge is brought into contact with the recording medium with a strong pressure in order to improve the scraping efficiency of the ink. In this case, the surface of the recording material is rubbed, and the recording material formed on the surface of the belt member 50 may be destroyed. In addition, the sponge may act as a brake pad to apply a considerable load to the movement of the recording medium, causing uneven running, or in an extreme case, the movement of the recording medium may stop. Therefore, there has been a demand for a cleaning method that does not destroy the recording medium and does not impose a load on the traveling of the recording medium.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a recording apparatus adopting the recording method proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-178478, there is no fear of damaging the recording body, and An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus having a cleaning unit that does not interfere with running.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 has a recording body having a surface which has a low receding contact angle when brought into contact with a liquid at a heating temperature, A latent image forming means for forming a latent image by heating the surface of the recording medium in contact with a liquid or vapor or a solid which becomes a liquid by heating, and a coloring material contained in the latent image formed by the latent image forming means. In a recording apparatus including a developing unit that forms a visible image by bringing the recording material into contact with the recording medium, and a transfer unit that transfers the visible image to a recording sheet, the relative movement between the recording medium and the recording medium is the same. It has a cleaning means for removing the residual recording material on the recording medium after transfer by a rotating member which rotates at zero speed or at a higher speed than the recording medium. The rotating member and the recording body may be configured so as not to be in contact with each other. Further, it is preferable that the surface of the rotating member is composed of an ink-philic surface.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the residual recording agent present on the recording medium by the rotating member which has the same moving direction as the recording medium and has a relative velocity with the recording medium of zero or rotating at a higher speed than the recording medium. Can be absorbed by the surface of the rotating member to prevent the recording medium from being damaged, and the recording agent on the recording medium can be removed without imposing a burden on the traveling of the recording medium.

Further, the load on the recording medium can be further reduced by configuring the rotating member and the recording medium so that they are not in contact with each other. Further, by configuring the surface of the rotating member with an ink-philic material, the rotating member can more efficiently absorb the residual recording material (ink) on the recording medium, and improve the degree of cleaning. You can

[0011]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing the basic concept of the present invention.
The principle of the present invention is based on one phenomenon of liquid adhesion discovered by the present inventors. As shown in FIG. 2, the roller-shaped rotating member 20 and the recording body 22 are arranged so as to be in contact with each other with a space or no load, and droplets 21 are previously formed on the surface of the recording body 22.
Is attached. When the moving directions of the contact portions of the rotating member 20 and the recording body 22 are the same direction and the relative speed is zero or the rotating member 20 is faster, the droplet 21 is drawn toward the rotating member 20, and the rotating member is rotated. It was found that the droplets 21 did not exist on the surface of the recording body 22 after passing 20 and became extremely small. On the contrary, when the relative speed of the recording body 22 is high or the moving direction of the rotating member 20 and the recording body 22 is opposite, the droplet 21 is thinly spread by the rotating member 20 as shown in FIG. It was found that the liquid droplets 21 spread over the entire recording body 22.

The feature of the cleaning means of the present invention is that the cleaning member is a rotating member 20 and is in contact with the recording body 22 with a space or close to an unloaded state, and the moving directions of the contact portions are the same direction and relative to each other. The condition is that the speed is zero or the rotating member 20 is faster. In addition, since the ink is strongly adhered to the latent image portion, it is desirable that the surface of the rotating member 20 be ink-philic so that the ink can be easily peeled off.

If the recording member 22 and the rotary member 20 are arranged with a space therebetween, the recording member 22 will not be destroyed at all.
If the interval is 5 μm or less, the ink peeling efficiency can be obtained to the same extent as when the interval is zero. When the recording body 22 and the rotating member 20 are in contact with each other, if there is almost no load, the recording body 22 is not loaded, and running unevenness does not occur. In the case of contact, if the relative speed between the recording body 22 and the rotating member 20 is set to zero, the recording layer is less likely to be destroyed.

When the recording member 22 and the rotating member 20 are spaced apart from each other and the relative speed of the rotating member 20 is faster than that of the recording member 22, the speed is preferably about 10 times or less than that of the recording member 22. This is because even if the speed is high, there is no difference in the effect of drawing in the ink, and the drive system of the rotating member 20 is burdened.

As a method of making the surface of the rotating member 20 ink-philic, one is to roughen the surface of the member as a physical method, or to form a thin film of a member (cloth, sponge, paper) on which a capillary force acts. The way to do is good. As a chemical method, a method of forming an ink-philic functional group by a CVD method or a PVD method or a method of applying an ink-philic organic thin film is preferable. For example, in water-based ink, hydrophilic functional groups (hydroxyl group, carbonyl group,
Amino groups, sulfone groups, etc.) are formed on the surface of the rotating member 20. The removed ink accumulates on the rotary member 20, so the ink is removed from the rotary member 20 constantly or periodically. An example of the configuration is shown in FIG. Figure 4
Causes the counter blade 24 to contact the rotating member 20,
The ink 21 accumulated on the rotating member 20 is scraped off.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a recording apparatus adopting the method of the present invention. This recording apparatus includes a belt member 1 having a surface coated with a recording body 22 having a surface having a receding contact angle that is reduced when brought into contact with a liquid in a heated state, and a pair of a belt member 1 rotated in a stretched state. Conveying rollers 2 and 3, a thermal head unit 4 provided near the lower side of one of the conveying rollers 2 for selectively heating according to a recording signal and forming a latent image in a latent image forming solution, and a formed latent image. A developing roller portion 7 for visualizing a latent image by using an ink 6 of a predetermined color contained in the container 5, and a recording paper 8 as a recording material provided so as to face the other conveying roller 3. A transfer roller 9 that conveys the belt member 1 in a pressure contact state.
And a cleaner unit 10 composed of a rotating member 20 for removing the recording material after being transferred to the recording paper 8 and a latent image formed by being selectively heated by the thermal head unit 4 over the entire surface. It has a heater section 11 that is erased by.

In this recording apparatus, the recording body of the belt member 1 is heated on the basis of the image signal supplied to the thermal head section 4 to form a latent image corresponding to the image signal, and at the same time, the developing roller section 7 uses ink. The latent image is visualized as shown in FIG. Belt member 1 as a visible image
The area (1) is conveyed to the position of the transfer roller 9 by the conveying rollers 2 and 3, and is transferred to the recording paper 8 conveyed in synchronization.
The residual ink on the belt member 1 is almost unloaded by the cleaner unit 10 including the rotating member 20.
2 is cleaned without deteriorating and the heater part 1
The latent image is erased by 1 to prepare for the next image formation.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which the recording body 22 is formed on the surface 25 of the cylindrical substrate. In this recording apparatus, the heating means 3 is placed in the latent image forming liquid 30 containing the coloring material.
1 is arranged, and the latent image forming process and the developing process are integrated. Also in this embodiment, the residual ink after transfer can be removed by the rotating member 20 without damaging the recording body 22 and with almost no load.

[Specific Example 1] (Production of Recording Material) Fluoron-containing acrylate material VISCOAT 17F (Osaka Organic Chemical Industry) was solution-polymerized in 1-1-1 trichloroethane to prepare Freon 113 (manufactured by Mitsui Fluorochemical Co., Ltd.). ), A polyimide seamless film (manufactured by Toray DuPont: Kapton, diameter 30)
mm) was spin coated. Then 1 at 130 ° C
A recording material was produced by drying over time.

(Ink used) An aqueous black ink was used. The latent image forming liquid was also used as ink. (Heating source) A thermal head having a recording density of 8 dots / mm was used. (Structure of Cleaning Section) Rotating member: A round bar made of aluminum having a diameter of 10 mm was used as a substrate to roughen the surface by sandblasting.

(Relative speed of recording member and rotary member) It was set to zero (both 20 / mm). (Gap between recording member and rotating member) It was set to zero.

(Results) Even when printing was repeated 100 times, abrasion of the recording layer did not occur at all while exhibiting the same cleaning characteristics as the conventional method.

[Specific Example 2] (Production of Recording Body) Freon 113 (manufactured by Mitsui Fluorochemical Co., Ltd.) was prepared by solution polymerization of biscoat 17F (Osaka Organic Chemical Industry), which is a fluorine-containing acrylate material, in 1-1-1 trichloroethane. ), And a polyimide seamless film (manufactured by Toray DuPont: Kapton, diameter 30 mm) was spin-coated as a recording medium substrate. Then, it was dried at 130 ° C. for 1 hour to produce a recording material.

(Ink used) An aqueous black ink was used. The latent image forming liquid was also used as ink. (Heating source) A thermal head having a recording density of 8 dots / mm was used.

(Construction of Cleaning Section) Rotating member: A hydrophilic group was introduced on the surface by corona treatment using a polyamide round bar having a diameter of 10 mm as a substrate. (Relative Speed of Recording Body and Rotating Member) The rotating member was set twice as fast (recording body 20 mm / s, rotating member 40 mm /
s).

(Gap between recording member and rotating member) 4 μm was set. (Results) Even when printing was repeated 100 times, abrasion of the recording layer did not occur at all while exhibiting the same cleaning characteristics as in the conventional method. In addition, the uneven running of the recording material was reduced.

[0027]

As described above, the invention according to claim 1 has an effect that it can provide a recording apparatus that does not deteriorate the recording body and does not hinder the running of the recording body as compared with the conventional configuration.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the basic principle of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the basic principle of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a rotating member including a blade.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Belt Member 4 Thermal Head Part 7 Developing Roller Part 9 Transfer Roller 10 Cleaner Part 22 Recording Body 31 Heating Means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yutaka Ebi 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium having a surface having a receding contact angle which is reduced when brought into contact with a liquid at a heating temperature, and heating the surface of the recording medium in contact with a liquid or vapor or a solid which becomes a liquid by heating. A latent image forming means for forming a latent image, a developing means for forming a visible image by bringing a recording material containing a coloring material into contact with the latent image formed by the latent image forming means, and a visible image In a recording apparatus provided with a transfer means for transferring the recording medium onto a recording sheet, the recording medium is transferred onto the recording medium after the transfer by a rotating member that has the same moving direction as the recording medium and has a relative speed of zero or higher than the recording medium. A recording apparatus having a cleaning means for removing the remaining recording material.