JPH0672007A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] The purpose of the present invention is to remove the color developer remaining on the non-image portion of the recording medium before transfer to prevent background stains during transfer and to improve image quality. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus having a structure capable of preventing deterioration. The present invention forms a latent image by utilizing the fact that the wettability of a liquid is changed by being heated in contact with a liquid, and forms a latent image. It is characterized in that a means 11 is provided for moving or removing the color developer remaining on the non-image portion of the recording body 2 to a position where the background stain does not occur during transfer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, and more specifically, to the surface of a recording medium having a specific surface, which is selectively or selectively and reversibly provided with a receding contact angle according to a heating temperature. The present invention relates to a recording apparatus using the method for forming the area shown.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, offset printing using lithographic printing without water (fountain solution) as one of means for dividing a surface into a liquid-adhesive area and a non-liquid-adhesive area for image formation. There is.

However, in such offset printing, it is difficult to incorporate the process from the original plate to the plate making process and the printing process from the printing plate into one device, and it is necessary to miniaturize the device relating to the plate making and printing. Was often difficult.

Therefore, as a method for solving such a problem, in particular, as a recording method capable of forming a liquid adhering region and a specific liquid adhering region on the surface and capable of being repeatedly used, The photoconductive layer having a hydrophilic property is externally subjected to the steps of charging, exposing, and developing to separately form the hydrophobic part and the hydrophilic part, and the aqueous developer is adhered only to the hydrophilic part. A water-based development method that allows it to be transferred to paper. (2) A method that uses the optical reaction of the photochromic material by irradiating the photochromic material with ultraviolet light and modifying the irradiated portion into a hydrophilized photochromic compound. (3) Amorphous state and crystalline state are formed by physical change,
A method utilizing the action of an internal biasing force for forming a region where liquid ink is attached / not attached has been proposed.

However, in such a system, many steps are required (aqueous developing system), or reaction time and recording time are lengthened or stabilized due to poor quantum efficiency. Property (method utilizing the optical reaction of photochromic material), the physical structure state before recording becomes unstable due to temperature change, and there is a problem in storage stability, and it is complicated when erasing the recorded information pattern. There was a problem such as that there is a property (method using internal biasing force).

Therefore, in order to deal with such a problem,
The present inventors have proposed the following image recording method. That is, in this method, the surface of the recording medium is heated in a state of being in contact with a liquid, or a vapor, or a solid that changes into a liquid by heating, and the receding contact angle with respect to the liquid is changed according to the heating temperature to wet the liquid Is used to form a latent image, and the latent image is brought into contact with a recording material containing a color developing agent to transfer the visible image to the recording paper (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-178478). Issue). In this way,
It is possible to form a latent image according to the image by utilizing the fact that the liquid easily gets wet without being repelled at the position where the receding contact angle is reduced by heating according to the image signal. By increasing the receding contact angle by heating without heating, the surface of the recording medium is returned to the liquid repellent state, and the image can be recorded selectively or selectively and reversibly. it can.

An example of a recording apparatus using this method will now be described with reference to FIG. The recording apparatus 1 includes, for example, a latent image forming unit 3, a primary developing unit 4, and a primary developing unit 4 along a moving direction of a belt-shaped recording member 2 that forms a recording member.
A secondary developing unit 5, a transfer unit 6 and a cleaning unit 7 are arranged respectively. The recording body 2 is composed of a substrate and a recording layer, and the recording layer is heated under the contact of the liquid so that the receding contact angle with respect to the liquid is reduced and the liquid is easily attached.

In the latent image forming section 3, a thermal head 3A (not shown) located on the side of the solution tank is arranged so as to face the recording body 2, and the latent image having a low receding contact angle with respect to the liquid is heated by the image signal. To form a part.

On the other hand, the primary developing section 4 and the secondary developing section 5
Each has a sponge roller that comes into contact with the recording body 2 and supplies a developer, and the developer supplied by the sponge roller has the following characteristics. That is, the primary developing solution used in the primary developing section 4 has an affinity for a recording material such as a coloring material contained in the transferred visible image and, when dried and solidified, has a releasability from the recording material 2. The characteristics of forming a good film are set, and the resin having this characteristic is dispersed or dissolved. As the above-mentioned resin, a resin that is not easily torn when modified into a film and has a weak adhesive force to the recording body 2 is selected and contained in the liquid. Further, the secondary developing solution used in the secondary developing section 5 is set to have a property that when dried and solidified, the adhesiveness to the recording paper becomes high, that is, the so-called ink has good adhesion to the recording paper.
It is configured by dispersing or dissolving a resin having this characteristic. Since this secondary developer is laminated on the resin layer formed in the primary development, it has a high affinity with the resin of the primary developer, and actually, it has a high affinity with the resin layer of the primary developer. The receding contact angle must be 0 °.

Therefore, the resin layer of the primary developing solution is adhered onto the recording medium 2, and then the secondary development is carried out, so that the resin of the secondary developing solution is deposited on the resin layer of the primary developing solution.
So-called ink layers are laminated.

On the other hand, the recording body 2 in which the ink layer is laminated on the resin layer of the primary developer is transferred onto the recording paper at the transfer section 6, and at this time, the releasability from the recording body 2 is improved. Since it has a strong adhesive force to the recording paper,
The transfer residue can be eliminated. Further, the recording body 2 that has completed the transfer is subjected to the removal of the residual ink by the liquid supplied by the sponge roller 7A in the cleaning unit 7, and the residual ink is removed by the image removing heater 7B which heats the ink without being in contact with the liquid. The recording layer is restored to its original state having liquid repellency.

[0012]

By the way, as shown in FIG. 7, on the recording medium 2 which has undergone the above-mentioned primary development and secondary development, a so-called non-image area other than the image area is treated as a developer. The used ink P may be attached. Adhesion of the ink P on the non-image portion causes background stains on the recording body 2 and significantly deteriorates the quality of the transferred image. Therefore, in view of the problems in the above-described conventional recording apparatus, an object of the present invention is to remove the color developer remaining on the non-image portion of the recording body before transfer,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus having a structure capable of preventing background stains during transfer and preventing deterioration of image quality.

[0013]

In order to achieve this object, the invention according to claim 1 makes a surface of a recording medium contact with a liquid or a vapor or a solid which is changed into a liquid by heating. A latent image formed by heating and changing the receding contact angle to the liquid according to the heating temperature is brought into contact with a recording material containing a developer to form a visible image, and the visible image is recorded on a recording paper. In a recording apparatus that obtains a printed matter by transferring to a recording medium, the developer that remains in the non-image area on the recording medium is moved in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the recording body at the position before the transfer in the moving direction of the recording body. It is characterized in that it is provided with a means for urging the moving direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the surface of the recording medium is heated in a state in which a liquid or a vapor or a solid which changes into a liquid by heating is brought into contact with the surface of the recording medium, and the receding contact angle with respect to the liquid according to the heating temperature. The recording material containing the color developer is brought into contact with the latent image formed by the method of changing the temperature to form a visible image, and the visible image is transferred to recording paper, and then the recording medium is heated to remove the latent image. In a recording apparatus provided with a means for performing an image, at a position before the transfer in the moving direction of the recording medium, a developer remaining on a non-image portion on the recording medium is moved in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the recording medium. It is characterized in that it is provided with a means for urging in the direction of movement.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
The recording apparatus described above is characterized in that the urging means for the developer is configured to apply an electric field between the developer and the developer.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the recording apparatus described above, when the developer is a magnetic material, the biasing means for the developer is made of a magnetic material having the same polarity as the magnetic pole.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the urging means for the developer is constituted by an air knife by a blower for blowing air to the developer.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the urging means for the color developer is configured to vibrate the recording material to drop it by gravity when the recording material moves in a direction against gravity. There is.

[0019]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the developer remaining on the non-image area on the recording medium can be removed before transfer to prevent background stains during transfer. In addition, claim 2
In the described invention, the developer remaining in the non-image area on the recording medium is removed before the transfer which is performed before the heating for removing the image. Therefore, at the time of heating for removing the image, a state where the developer is not in contact with the liquid is obtained,
The same state as latent image formation is prevented, and formation of an abnormal image is prevented.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the developer can be moved by applying an electric charge to the developer and generating a repulsive force between the charged charge and the high-voltage charging section.

According to the present invention, the magnetic developer is attracted to the magnetic material so that the magnetic developer does not move as it moves on the recording material and remains on the background portion of the recording material during transfer. Be prevented.

In the fifth aspect of the invention, the developer remaining on the non-image portion of the recording material is blown off from the recording material by an air knife and removed.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, when the recording medium is moved in a direction against gravity, the developer can be shaken off by vibrating the recording medium.
The developer remaining on the non-image area of the recording body is removed.

The principle of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the same components as those shown in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In the present invention, as a result of observing the adhesion state of the ink P, it was found that the developer remaining on the non-image portion of the recording body 2 can be removed for the following reasons. That is, the ink P adhering to the non-image portion is lower than the ink P adhering to the image portion corresponding to the latent image portion due to the low wettability with the recording body 2. The adhesion to is weak. On the other hand, the ink P adhering to the image portion has a low receding contact angle, and therefore has a stronger adhesive force than the ink P adhering to the non-image portion. Further, in the case of the above-described double development method, since the wettability to the image portion is sufficiently exhibited, the adhesive force thereof is particularly strong. Therefore, when a force is applied to the ink P attached to the non-image portion of the recording body 2, the ink P of the image portion does not move, but the ink P attached to the non-image portion, as shown in FIG. That is, the background stain ink P can move. Then, the moved ink P in the non-image area can be integrated with the ink in the image area to remove the background stain.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the above-described movement of the ink P. In this case, in the moving direction of the recording body 2, the ink P is moved in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the recording body 2 before the transfer process. An electrostatic force with respect to the ink P is used as the structure for moving. That is, the high-voltage wire 11 connected to the high-voltage power supply 10 is arranged at a position of the recording body 2 facing the recording layer, and the charging wire 11 does not cause electrostatic damage toward the recording body 2. Is applied. Therefore, the ink P adhering to the non-image portion moves to the image portion side of the recording body 2 due to a repulsive force with the charging wire 11 due to electrostatic induction. In addition, the generation of high voltage is
Instead of the high voltage power source 10, it may be generated by frictional charging. Further, instead of using a repulsive force due to electrostatic induction, the high voltage wire 1 is obtained by previously charging the ink P with a corona charger or the like and then applying a high voltage having the same polarity as the charging characteristics of the ink P.
A repulsive force may be generated between the repulsive force and 1.

FIG. 3 shows another example for moving the ink P. In this case, a magnetic material is added to the ink P. Then, with respect to the ink P, the magnet 12 is arranged at a position before transfer in the moving direction of the recording body 2 so as to face the recording layer of the recording body 2. Therefore, the ink P remaining on the non-image portion of the recording body 2 is adhered.
Are concentrated toward the magnet 12 by a magnetic attraction force, and are prevented from moving toward the transfer portion. In this case, the ink P remaining on the non-image portion on the transfer portion side with respect to the position of the magnet 12 is also sucked toward the magnet 12,
In particular, the shield member described above is not required. A permanent magnet, an electromagnet, or the like can be used as the magnet.

Further, FIG. 4 shows another example for moving the ink P, and in this case, the residual adhered ink P is not blown off by the blowing of air to reach the transfer portion. It has become. For this reason, a nozzle 13 having a blowout opening facing the recording layer is provided above the recording body 2, and the ink P is removed by an air knife from the nozzle 13.

On the other hand, FIG. 5 shows still another modification for moving the ink P. In this case, the moving direction of the recording body 2 is against the gravity, that is, moving upward in the figure. The direction to be set is set. Then, with respect to the recording body 2, at a position before transfer in the moving direction,
A vibration excitation unit 14 such as an electromagnet or a piezoelectric element that faces and abuts on the back side of the image surface is provided. Therefore, in this example, the recording medium 2 is vibrated by the vibration exciting means, and the ink P remaining on the non-image portion where the adhesive force is weak remains.
Is moved in the direction of gravity, that is, in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the recording medium, and is removed from the non-image portion.

[0030]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited thereto. (Experimental example 1) [Recording body] A fluorine-containing acrylate material TG-702 (manufactured by Daikin Industries) was diluted with Freon 113 at a volume ratio of 3 times, and a polyimide film (manufactured by Toray DuPont, thickness 12.5 μm) was coated. After that, it is dried at 130 ℃ for 30 minutes. [Primary developer] Liquid in which ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer is dispersed in water [Secondary developer] Water-based black ink [Structure] Configuration shown in FIG. 2 (applied voltage 100 V) [Result] Good printing without scumming I was able to do it.

(Experimental example 2) [Recording body] Fluorine-containing acrylate material VISCOAT 17F (manufactured by Osaka Organic Chemical Industry) was solution polymerized (solution: 1-1-1 trichloroethane), and the volume ratio was tripled with Freon 113. Diluted, polyimide film (Toray DuPont, thickness 12.5
(μm) coating. After that, it is dried at 130 ℃ for 30 minutes. [Primary developer] Liquid in which ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer is dispersed in water [Secondary developer] Aqueous black magnetic ink [Structure] Configuration shown in FIG. 5 (using electromagnet) [Result] Good result without scumming I was able to print.

(Experimental Example 3) [Recording body] Fluorine-containing acrylate material VISCOAT 17F (manufactured by Osaka Organic Chemical Industry) was solution-polymerized (solution: 1-1-1 trichloroethane), and the volume ratio was tripled with Freon 113. Diluted, polyimide film (Toray DuPont, thickness 12.5
(μm) coating. After that, it is dried at 130 ℃ for 30 minutes. [Primary developer] Liquid in which ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer is dispersed in water [Secondary developer] Water-based black ink [Structure] Configuration shown in FIG. 4 (air knife by air blowing) [Result] Good without scumming I was able to print.

(Experimental Example 4) [Recording body] Fluorine-containing acrylate material VISCOAT 17F (manufactured by Osaka Organic Chemical Industry) was subjected to solution polymerization (solution: 1-1-1 trichloroethane), and the volume ratio was tripled with Freon 113. Diluted, polyimide film (Toray DuPont, thickness 12.5
(μm) coating. After that, it is dried at 130 ℃ for 30 minutes. [Primary developer] Liquid in which ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer is dispersed in water [Secondary developer] Water-based black ink [Structure] Configuration shown in FIG. 5 (vibrating member uses piezoelectric element with frequency of 40 KHz) [ Results] Good printing without scumming was achieved.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, the developer remaining on the non-image portion of the recording material can be removed before the transfer in the moving direction of the recording material. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the color developer remaining on the non-image portion during transfer from causing background stains and prevent the image quality from deteriorating.

Further, according to the present invention, as a means for moving the developer in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the recording medium, a simple structure is used in which electrostatic, magnetic, aerodynamic or gravity is utilized. It is possible to reliably remove the color developer remaining on the non-image area.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the principle of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a configuration used in the principle of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the configuration used in the principle of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing still another example of the configuration used in the principle of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing another example of the configuration used in the principle of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration for explaining a recording method executed by the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a problem with the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 recording device 2 recording body 3 recording unit 4 developing unit 5 transfer unit 10 high-voltage power supply 11 high-voltage wire P residual adhered ink

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tetsuo Watanabe 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo ・ Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method in which a liquid, or vapor or a solid that changes into a liquid by heating is heated in contact with the surface of a recording medium, and the receding contact angle with respect to the liquid is changed according to the heating temperature. In a recording device for forming a visible image by bringing a recording material containing a color developer into contact with the formed latent image and transferring the visible image to a recording paper to obtain a printed matter, To the position before transfer,
A recording apparatus, comprising means for urging the developer remaining on the non-image area on the recording medium in a direction of moving in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the recording medium. 2. A method in which a liquid or vapor or a solid that changes into a liquid by heating is heated in contact with the surface of a recording medium and the receding contact angle with respect to the liquid is changed according to the heating temperature. The latent image thus formed is brought into contact with a recording material containing a color developer to form a visible image, and the visible image is transferred to recording paper, and then the recording medium is heated to remove the image. In the recording apparatus, the recording medium is moved to a position before the transfer in the moving direction of the recording medium.
A recording apparatus, comprising means for urging the developer remaining on the non-image area on the recording medium in a direction of moving in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the recording medium. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the urging means for the developer is configured to apply an electric field between the developer and the developer. 4. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the biasing means for the developer is composed of a magnetic material having the same polarity as the magnetic pole when the developer is a magnetic material. Recording device. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the urging means for the developer is an air knife by a blower that blows air onto the developer. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the urging means for the color developer is configured to vibrate the recording material to drop by gravity when the recording material moves in a direction against gravity. Recording device.