JPH08192528A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a recording apparatus that maintains a constant image quality, is small, and has good durability. A toner carrier 1, a back electrode 2, an opening 6 arranged between the toner carrier 1 and the back electrode 2 for passing toner, and a control electrode 8 for electrostatically opening and closing the opening 6. The image control electrode body 3 is provided, and while the recording paper is conveyed between the image control electrode body 3 and the back electrode 2, the opening 6 is selectively opened and closed by the control electrode 8 according to image information. In a recording device that attracts toner to a recording sheet, the recording device has a cleaning unit 20 for removing the toner adhering to the opening 6 and a conveying unit for conveying the image control electrode body 3. A suction port facing the opening 6, a suction unit for sucking air from the suction port when being transported by the transport unit, and an air-passing magnetic force generating unit 25 disposed at the suction port for magnetically attracting the toner. Have and.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus which produces a latent charge pattern of an electric signal and attaches toner to a recording paper according to the latent charge pattern.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Swedish patent application 8704883-1
And a subsequent international application, PCT-SE88-00653, describes computer generated electrical signals without the need for temporary conversion to optical energy for intermediate storage as in photoconductive printers such as laser printers. Directly on an information carrier, a method of developing a picture or text with particles of pigment is shown.

[0003]

The above-mentioned method has the problem that the quality of the finished print is not high enough, especially when used repeatedly and continuously.
One of the problems that arises when using such a device continuously and repeatedly in this way is that the electrodes of the electrode matrix are gradually covered with toner. This does not always directly result in poor print quality, but in some cases it can also cause mesh clogging, resulting in non-uniform printing, which can lead to shading or the amount of toner adhering to the bristles. There are too many border lines and the print is too black overall.

Therefore, a developing region is provided with a recording region (a region having a weak magnetic force) and a cleaning region (a region having a strong magnetic force), and the magnetic force and the air flow in the cleaning region move the toner adhering to the electrodes of the electrode matrix. Then, a method for preventing clogging of the mesh and obtaining stable image quality was introduced in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-505899.

In this method, one recording sheet is recorded and cleaned by one rotation of the developing roller. Therefore, the cleaning area is not allowed to come to the recording portion before the recording of one recording sheet is completed, and the outer diameter of the developing roller must be necessarily increased. For example, considering recording on A4 recording paper, the length of the A4 recording paper in the longitudinal direction is about 300 mm. If the conveyance speed of the recording paper and the peripheral speed of the developing roller are the same, and the cleaning area is 60 ° of the rotation angle of the developing roller and the recording area is 300 ° of the rotation angle of the developing roller, the diameter of the developing roller is calculated. , 30
0 mm × 300 ° / 360 ° × 1 / π≈80 mm, which is larger than the conventional developing roller having a diameter of 10 to 20 mm.

The method utilizing the magnetic force of the developing roller has a problem that the diameter of the developing roller becomes large and the recording apparatus becomes large in size.

Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62-248662 discloses a method of electrostatically removing toner by applying a high voltage to the toner attached to the control electrode to the control electrode. In this method, it is necessary to apply a high voltage of the order of several kV to the control electrode, so that the durability of the control electrode is deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. A first object of the present invention is to prevent clogging by unnecessary toner in a control electrode for controlling toner flying of the recording apparatus as described above. The purpose is to remove the clogging so as not to cause the deterioration of the recorded image.

The second object is to more effectively carry out the first object, that is, the removal of the clogging.

A third object is to stably operate the first and second cleaning means for a long period of time so that the clogging can be removed for a long period of time.

A fourth object is to remove the first object, that is, the clogging, and to prevent the inside of the recording apparatus from being contaminated with unnecessary toner by means different from the first object.

A fifth object is to more effectively remove the fourth clogging and not to make the recording apparatus itself large.

A sixth object is to perform the fifth clogging removal more effectively.

A seventh object is to more effectively remove the fourth clogging and to prevent the recording apparatus itself from becoming large-scale.

An eighth object is to more effectively eliminate the seventh clogging, and also to make the recording apparatus compact and to reduce vibration.

[0016]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A toner carrier including a magnet that carries a magnetic toner, a back electrode that faces the toner carrier, a back electrode that is disposed between the toner carrier and the back electrode, and is arranged in the main scanning direction. Further, it has an opening for passing the toner and an image control electrode body having a control electrode for electrostatically opening and closing the opening, and a space between the image control electrode body and the back electrode is in the main scanning direction. In the recording apparatus that conveys the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the direction, selectively opens and closes the opening according to the image information by the control electrode, and attracts the toner to the recording paper, A cleaning means for removing toner and a carrying means for carrying the image control electrode body, wherein when the cleaning means carries the image control electrode body by the carrying means,
A suction port that faces the opening, a suction unit that sucks air from the suction port, and an air-permeable magnetic force generation unit that is disposed in the suction port and magnetically sucks the residual toner. And

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the first aspect, there is provided a moving unit that reciprocates the cleaning unit relative to the opening.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the cleaning means has a toner removing means for removing the toner adhering to the magnetic force generating means. To do.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a toner carrying member including a magnet carrying a magnetic toner, a back electrode arranged to face the toner carrying member, the toner carrying member and the back electrode. An image control electrode body having an opening arranged in the main scanning direction for passing the toner and a control electrode for electrostatically opening and closing the opening; and the image control electrode body. While the recording paper is conveyed between the back electrode and the main scanning direction in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, the opening is selectively opened and closed by the control electrode in accordance with image information, and the toner is recorded on the recording paper. The recording device that attracts to the recording medium has a cleaning unit that removes the residual toner adhering to the opening, and a conveyance unit that conveys the image control electrode body, and the cleaning unit uses the image control electrode body as the conveyance unit. When ejected, it is disposed so as to sandwich the image control electrode body by the ejection port facing the opening, the ejection unit ejecting an air flow from the ejection port, and the ejection unit, and is blown off by the ejection unit. Magnetic force generating means for magnetically attracting the residual toner.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the magnetic force generating means is formed in a roller shape and rotates.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the magnetic force generating means has magnetic poles alternately changing.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the fourth aspect, there is provided a moving means for reciprocating the cleaning means relative to the opening.

According to an eighth aspect of the invention, in the recording apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the magnetic poles of the magnetic force generating means are alternately changed.

[0024]

According to the present invention, while the recording paper is conveyed between the control electrode body and the back electrode in the sub-scanning direction, the opening is opened and closed by the control electrode by the electrostatic action according to the image information, An image is recorded by electrically attracting the toner to the recording paper. The residual toner adhering to the openings is removed by the magnetic force of the cleaning means and the air flow.

[0025]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 represents a recording means in the recording apparatus, and reference numeral 20 represents a cleaning means.

The recording means 10 is arranged between the toner carrier 1 carrying the toner T, the back electrode 2 arranged to face the toner carrier 1, and the toner carrier 1 and the back electrode 2. The image control electrode body 3 selectively electrically attracts the toner T on the toner carrier 1 according to image information.

The toner carrier 1 is made of aluminum or the like and has a diameter of 10
It is formed in a tubular shape of ˜20 mm, and the magnet 4 is arranged inside thereof to hold the toner T magnetically. In this example, the toner T is a negatively charged magnetic toner. The toner T on the toner carrier 1 has its thickness
It is regulated by a blade 5 arranged in the vicinity of the toner carrier 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image control electrode body 3 has an insulating sheet 7 having an opening 6 formed in the main scanning direction S.
And a control electrode 8 that surrounds each opening 6 and electrostatically opens and closes the opening 6. A signal voltage for electrostatically opening and closing the opening 6 according to image information is applied to the control electrode 8.

The insulating sheet 7 is made of, for example, polyimide having a thickness of 30 to 50 μm, and the insulating sheet 7 is provided with an opening 6 having a diameter of 50 to 100 μm for passing the toner T. . A reinforcing member may be attached to improve the transportability of the insulating sheet 7. In order to increase the resolution of the recorded image, the openings 6 may be arranged in two staggered rows as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the openings 6 arranged in a line in the main scanning direction S will be referred to as an opening row 6a, and one or more openings 6a will be referred to as an opening row group A.

The back electrode 2 is formed in the shape of a roller and conveys the recording paper P in the sub-scanning direction F orthogonal to the main scanning direction S. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a high-voltage DC voltage is applied to the back electrode 2 to attract the toner T having passed through the opening 6 onto the recording paper P.

As shown in FIG. 4, the image control electrode body 3 is fixed to the frame 11 along the entire circumference thereof.
A rack 12 for transporting the image control electrode body 3 in the sub-scanning direction F is fixed to an end portion of the main scanning direction S in FIG.
A pinion 13, which is normally and reversely rotated by a driving unit (not shown), meshes with the rack 12. At the end of the rack 12,
A blade 14 is provided as a toner removing unit that removes the toner T attached to the magnetic force generating unit 25 of the cleaning unit 20 described later. Here, the rack 12, the pinion 13, and the driving means constitute a conveying means. The transport means uses the image control electrode body 3 at a recording position between the toner carrier 1 and the back electrode 2 (position shown by a solid line in FIG. 1) and a cleaning position separated from the toner carrier 1 and the back electrode 2. (The position shown by the phantom line in the figure) is reciprocated.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the cleaning means 20 has a suction port 21a arranged so as to face the opening row group A when the image control electrode body 3 is conveyed to the cleaning position. Unit 21 and suction port 21a
A fan 22 as suction means for sucking the toner T remaining in each opening 6 of the opening row group A from the above by the suction force of air,
A driving unit 23 that drives the fan 22, a magnetic force generating unit 25 that is disposed in the suction port 21a and magnetically sucks the toner T remaining in each opening 6, and a suction unit 21 that is detachably supported. It is mainly composed of a recovery container 24 for recovering the toner T sucked from the opening 6, and is reciprocally moved relative to the opening 6 by a moving means (not shown).

The moving means is the cleaning unit 21,
At the time of cleaning, as shown in FIG. 6a, a position facing the opening 6 (hereinafter referred to as a home position) is moved to the left as shown in FIG. 6b and further to the right as shown in FIG.

When the cleaning unit 21 moves,
The direction of the magnetic field generated by the magnetic force generation means 25 and the direction of the streamline of the air flow generated by the fan 22 change, and the toner T attached to the opening 6 moves and the adhesion force to the opening 6 is weakened.

The magnetic force generating means 25 is composed of, for example, a magnet having a mesh shape or a minute opening in order to allow the toner T to pass therethrough. The size of the mesh or opening of the magnetic force generating means 25 is at least 20 μm because the size of the toner T is generally 5 to 10 μm in this example.
It is set to m or more.

Although the fan 22 and the driving means 23 are shown in the vicinity of the suction port 21a in the same drawing, they may be installed in a place apart from the cleaning means 20. Further, the example in which the cleaning means 20 is moved with respect to the opening 6 has been shown, but the image control electrode body 3 may be moved by the above-mentioned transport means.

Next, the operation based on the above configuration will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 1, the image control electrode body 3 is conveyed by the conveying means to the recording position where the opening row group A is located between the toner carrier 1 and the back electrode 2. The thickness of the toner T attached to the toner carrier 1 by the magnetic force of the magnet 4 is regulated by the blade 5. A signal voltage is applied to the control electrode 8 according to image information, the opening 6 is selectively opened and closed by an electrostatic action, and the recording paper P conveyed by the back electrode 2 is conveyed.
Then, the toner T that has passed through the opening 6 is attached and an image is recorded.

When the predetermined recording is performed, the pinion 13 is rotated by the driving means (not shown), the rack 12 is moved in the sub-scanning direction F, and the image control electrode body 3 is directed to the cleaning position shown by the phantom line in FIG. Be transported. On the other hand, at the same time when the conveyance of the image control electrode body 3 is started, the driving means 23 rotates the fan 22 to start suction. As shown in FIG. 7, the blade 14 fixed to the rack 12 during the transportation of the image control electrode body 3 makes sliding contact with the surface of the magnetic force generating means 25 to scrape off the toner T adhering to the surface, To clean.

When the image control electrode body 3 is conveyed to the cleaning position, the moving means (not shown) moves to the cleaning means 2.
6 from the home position shown in FIG. 6a to the left as shown in FIG. 6b and further to the right as shown in FIG.
To change the direction of the airflow streamline. The toner T attached to the opening 6 is sucked by the rotation of the fan 22 and stored in the recovery container 24 while the adhesive force to the opening 6 is weakened. The toner T stored in the collection container 24
Are regularly discarded. Further, the toner T stored in the collection container 24 may be reused.

FIG. 8 shows an example of another cleaning means 30. The cleaning unit 30 has the ejection ports 31a arranged so as to face the opening row group A when the image control electrode body 3 is transported to the cleaning position by the transport unit (see FIG. 4) as in the above-described embodiment. An injection unit 31,
A fan 32 as an ejection unit that ejects air to the ejection port 31a, a driving unit 33 that drives the fan 32, and the ejection unit 31 are arranged so as to sandwich the image control electrode body 3 and magnetically eject the toner T from the opening 6. The magnetic force generating means 35 sucks the toner T blown away by the fan 32 and sucks the toner T blown off by the fan 32, and is reciprocated relative to the opening 6 by a moving means (not shown).

As in the above-mentioned embodiment, the moving means reciprocates the cleaning means 30 with respect to the opening 6 at the time of cleaning so that the direction of the magnetic field by the magnetic force generating means 35 and the direction of the streamline of the blast air flow by the fan 32 are changed. Change the opening 6
The toner T attached to is moved to weaken the adhesion to the opening 6.

In this example, the magnetic force generating means 35 is composed of one strip magnet.

When the image control electrode body 3 is conveyed to the cleaning position, the moving means (not shown) is moved to the cleaning means 3.
0 is reciprocated with respect to the opening 6 to change the direction of the magnetic field of the magnetic force generating means 35 and the direction of the streamline of the air flow by the fan 32. The toner T adhering to the opening 6 is blown off by the rotation of the fan 32 while adhering to the opening 6 is weakened, and is adsorbed to the magnetic force generating means 35.

According to this example, the toner T removed from the opening 6 does not scatter inside the recording apparatus, the contamination by the toner can be reduced, and stable recording can be performed for a long time.
If the magnetic force generating means 35 is composed of one belt-shaped magnet, the size of the device can be reduced.

An example of another magnetic force generating means 45 is shown in FIG.
The magnetic force generating means 45 is formed by arranging a plurality of band-shaped magnets so that the magnetic poles alternately change. When the magnetic force generating means 45 whose magnetic poles are alternately changed in this way is used, the magnetic force generating means 4 can be used even if the number of reciprocating movements by the moving means is reduced as compared with the case of the cleaning means 30 shown in FIG.
It is possible to sufficiently change the direction of the magnetic field due to 5, and to reduce the vibration and noise of the device caused by the movement of the cleaning means.

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment. The magnetic force generating means 55 shown in this embodiment is formed in a roller shape having a diameter of 10 to 20 mm, and is formed by arranging a plurality of magnets so that the magnetic poles are alternately changed, and is rotationally driven by means not shown. To be done. A blade 51 for scraping off the adhered toner T and a blade 51 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the magnetic force generating means 55.
A container 52 for collecting the toner T scraped off by is disposed.

When the image control electrode body 3 is conveyed to the cleaning position as in the above-described embodiment, the magnetic force generating means 55 is rotated, the direction of the magnetic field is changed, and the toner T adhering to the opening 6 is transferred to the opening 6. The magnetic force generating means 55 is blown away by the rotation of the fan 32 while weakening the adhesive force to the magnetic force generating means 55.
Adsorb to. The toner T adsorbed to the magnetic force generating means 55 is scraped off by the blade 51 and collected in the container 52.

According to this example, the surface of the magnetic force generating means 55 is constantly cleaned by the blade 51 and the attracting force of the toner T is kept constant, so that the cleaning ability of the image control electrode body 3 is also kept constant. .

[0049]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the residual toner adhering to the opening is removed by the magnetic force of the cleaning means and the suction force of the air, so that toner scattering can be prevented and stable image quality is improved. The record of is obtained. Further, since the air suction action is used, the toner does not scatter inside the recording apparatus, and a highly reliable high image quality recording apparatus is realized.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the cleaning means is reciprocally moved relative to the opening to change the direction of the magnetic field, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the toner attached to the opening is easily moved. Therefore, the image control electrode body can be reliably cleaned.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the toner removing means removes the toner attached to the magnetic force generating means,
The cleaning ability can be maintained constant, and stable high image quality recording can be performed for a long time.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the residual toner adhering to the opening is removed by the two functions of the magnetic force of the cleaning means and the jet air flow, so that stable high image quality recording can be performed for a long period of time. It was Further, since the jet air flow is used, the air flow can be focused on the clogged area, so that the action force is stronger and the cleaning effect is higher than the method of sucking air. Further, since the magnetic force generating means is arranged at the facing position, the scattered toner can be surely captured by applying the air flow, and a highly reliable high image quality recording device is realized while keeping the inside of the recording device clean. .

According to the invention of claim 5, the magnetic force generating means is formed in a roller shape and is rotated, so that in addition to the effect of claim 5, the apparatus can be downsized and the cost can be reduced.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the direction of the magnetic field is changed by rotating the roller-like magnetic force generating means whose magnetic poles are alternately changed. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the fifth aspect, the toner attached to the opening is added. Became easier to move, and the cleaning removal effect became even higher.

According to the invention described in claim 7, since the magnetic force generating means is reciprocated relative to the opening to change the direction of the magnetic field, the toner adhering to the opening moves in addition to the effect of claim 4. It became easier, and the cleaning removal effect became even higher. Further, since the magnetic force generating means is reciprocally moved relative to the opening, the moving mechanism can be made smaller than the method of changing the orientation next time by rotating the roller, and the recording apparatus as a whole can be made compact.

According to the eighth aspect of the invention, since the magnetic poles of the magnetic force generating means are formed so as to be alternately changed, in addition to the effect of the seventh aspect, the reciprocating movement by the moving means can be performed at high speed and frequently. , The direction of the magnetic field can be changed sufficiently,
The drive source of the moving means can be made small, and the entire recording apparatus can be made compact. Further, it is possible to reduce the vibration and noise of the device caused by the movement of the cleaning means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a recording apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the image control electrode body shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of another image control electrode body.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a main part of a transporting means of the image control electrode body shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an image control electrode body and a cleaning means during cleaning.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the cleaning unit moved by the moving unit.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing the main parts of the magnetic force generating means and the toner removing means.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing another cleaning means of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing another magnetic force generating means.

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view of a recording apparatus showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 toner carrier 2 back electrode 3 image control electrode body 4 magnet 5 blade 6 opening 7 insulating sheet 8 control electrode 10 recording unit 20, 30 cleaning means 25, 35, 45, 55 magnetic force generating means A opening row group

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A toner carrying member including a magnet carrying a magnetic toner, a back electrode arranged opposite to the toner carrying member, and a main electrode arranged between the toner carrying member and the back electrode. An opening for passing the toner and an image control electrode body having a control electrode for electrostatically opening and closing the opening, which are arranged in the scanning direction, are provided, and between the image control electrode body and the back electrode. , While conveying the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction,
In a recording device that selectively opens and closes the opening according to image information by the control electrode to attract the toner to a recording sheet, a cleaning unit that removes residual toner adhering to the opening and the image control electrode body are provided. A suction means facing the opening when the cleaning means is carried by the carrying means, and a suction means for sucking air from the suction opening; A recording apparatus, comprising: an air-permeable magnetic force generating unit that is disposed at a suction port and magnetically sucks the residual toner. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a moving unit that reciprocates the cleaning unit relative to the opening. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cleaning means has a toner removing means for removing the toner attached to the magnetic force generating means. 4. A toner carrying member including a magnet carrying a magnetic toner, a back electrode arranged so as to face the toner carrying member, and a main electrode arranged between the toner carrying member and the back electrode. An image control electrode body having an opening for passing the toner and a control electrode for electrostatically opening and closing the opening, which are arranged in the scanning direction, and is provided between the image control electrode body and the back electrode. While conveying the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction,
In a recording device that selectively opens and closes the opening according to image information by the control electrode to attract the toner to a recording sheet, a cleaning unit that removes residual toner adhering to the opening and the image control electrode body are provided. An ejecting port that opposes the opening when the cleaning unit conveys the image control electrode body by the conveying unit, and an ejecting unit that ejects an air flow from the ejecting port. A recording apparatus, which is arranged so as to sandwich the image control electrode body by the ejecting means, and has a magnetic force generating means for magnetically attracting the residual toner blown off by the ejecting means. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic force generating means is formed in a roller shape and rotates. 6. A recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic force generating means has alternating magnetic poles. 7. A recording apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising moving means for moving said cleaning means reciprocally relative to said opening. 8. The recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the magnetic force generating means has alternating magnetic poles.