JPH09142017A - Image forming method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) 【Abstract】 PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent deterioration of resolution of a thermal head, to prevent deterioration of resolution, to heat the entire surface of a recording medium in a liquid, and to neglect the influence of the preservation environment of the recording medium. To do. SOLUTION: The receding contact angle decreases when heated in contact with a liquid, and the receding contact angle increases when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. When a recording material 3 is applied to a substrate 2 and dried, the surface becomes hydrophilic, A recording material 1 exhibiting lipophilicity is obtained (Fig. 1
(A)). When the recording body 1 is selectively heated by the thermal head 4 which is energized by an image signal, the recording body material 3 in the heated portion has an increased receding contact angle and becomes water / oil repellent.
A latent image is formed (FIG. 1 (B)). The recording medium 1 on which the latent image is formed is developed by a developing roller 5 having an ink film to obtain an image 6 (FIG. 1 (C)).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming method and an apparatus therefor, and more specifically, when heated in contact with a liquid, the receding contact angle decreases, and the liquid is heated in a non-contact state with the liquid. The present invention relates to a method for forming an image using a recording material having an increased receding contact angle and an image recording apparatus using the image forming method, and is preferably used in the field of digital printing machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An offset printing method is a representative means for forming an image by distinguishing a liquid adhesive area and a non-liquid adhesive area according to image information. The offset printing method is a plate making process from an original plate. And a printing process of printing using the plate obtained in the plate making process. However, it is difficult to reduce the size of the equipment having the function of fulfilling these steps so that it can be housed in one apparatus and used for office work.

As a method of solving such a defect of the offset printing method, an electric charge is externally applied to a hydrophobic photoconductor layer and then exposed to expose a hydrophobic portion and a hydrophilic portion on the surface of the photoconductor layer. Aqueous development method that forms a pattern and has an aqueous developer attached to the hydrophilic part for printing, or a method that utilizes the photochemical reaction of the photochromic material to make the photochromic compound hydrophilic by irradiating it with ultraviolet light, or a physical change Has proposed a method using an internal biasing force which forms an amorphous state and a crystalline state and constitutes a region where liquid ink adheres and does not adhere.

However, the water-based developing system is basically based on an electrophotographic process and requires a process consisting of charging, exposure, development, transfer and charge removal, so that it is difficult to make the apparatus compact and maintenance-free. , The method using photochemical reaction of photochromic material has drawbacks that the quantum efficiency is poor and the reaction time is long, the recording speed is slow, and the stability is lacking. The method using the internal biasing force is the information recording member. However, there is a problem in that there is a problem in retention property because the physical structure may change due to temperature change before recording although it is stable after recording.

On the other hand, the applicant of the present invention has filed Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-17.
Japanese Patent No. 8478 discloses a recording material which is reduced in receding contact angle when heated in contact with a liquid and increased in receding contact angle when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid by a simple means. A method for obtaining a visible image by heating to form desired pattern regions having different receding contact angles and developing with a developer containing a coloring material has been disclosed. This image forming method will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a conventional image forming method, and FIG. 6A is a diagram showing the structure of a recording medium.
6B is a diagram showing a wet latent image forming method, and FIG. 6C is a diagram showing a dry latent image forming method, in which 2 is a substrate, 3 is a recording material, 4 is a thermal head, 21 is a recording body, 22 is a liquid
Reference numeral 23 is a sponge roller (containing liquid). In the drawings other than FIG. 6 shown below, parts having the same functions as those in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals as in FIG.

A recording body 21 shown in FIG. 6 (A) has a recording body material 3 formed on a substrate 2 such as paper or film, and the recording body material 3 has water repellency and oil repellency. Known as a material, the recording material 3 is applied onto the substrate 2 and heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of the recording material 3 to form a film. The recording body 21 configured in this manner has a film that is water and oil repellent.

In the wet latent image forming method shown in FIG. 6 (B), the recording body 21 shown in FIG. 6 (A) is selectively heated by the thermal head 4 while being in contact with the liquid 22 from the front side of the recording body material 3. Then, the hydrophilic and lipophilic state corresponding to the heated portion is obtained. On the other hand, in the dry latent image forming method shown in FIG. 6C, the sponge roller 23 containing the liquid is in contact with the front side of the recording material 3 of the recording body 21, and the thermal head 4 is in contact with the back side thereof. The recording body 21 by the thermal head 4.
Heat from the back side of the to make the heated part hydrophilic and lipophilic.

However, in the wet latent image forming method shown in FIG. 6B, when a line type high density, high speed writable commercial thermal head is used as the thermal head 4 which is heated in contact with the liquid 22, Since the deterioration of the thermal head 4 due to the liquid 22 is obvious, an expensive thermal head 4 having a protective film considering at least the liquid 22 is manufactured.
Must be used.

In the dry latent image forming method shown in FIG. 6C, since the recording medium 21 is sandwiched between the sponge roller 23 containing liquid and the thermal head 4, the thermal head 4 directly contacts the liquid 22. That can be prevented, but substrate 2
Since heating is performed from the back side, there are drawbacks such as a large applied energy, a usable substrate material is limited due to a temperature difference between the front side and the back side, and an image is deteriorated due to expansion of a heating region. The present applicant has proposed the image forming method shown in FIG. 7 in order to solve these problems.

7A and 7B are views for explaining another example of the conventional image forming method. FIG. 7A is a diagram showing the structure of a recording medium, and FIG. 7B is a dry latent image forming method. Yes, 24 in the figure
Is a hot plate.

The recording body 31 shown in FIG.
The recording material 3 formed by the same manufacturing method as that of the recording body 21 shown in (A) is heated at a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point, and a description thereof will be omitted. As shown, the recording material 3 of the recording body 31 is placed on the hot plate 24.
The entire surface is kept hydrophilic and lipophilic by being brought into contact with the liquid 22 which has been heated by the method of FIG. With respect to the recording body 1 thus prepared, the thermal head 4 is opposed to the front side of the recording body material 3 and the recording body material 3 is selectively heated by the dry latent image forming method shown in FIG. 7C. This is a method of forming water-repellent and oil-repellent areas on the heated portion.

[0013]

According to the dry latent image forming method shown in FIG. 7, the drawbacks of the latent image forming method shown in FIG. 6 are solved, but a recording medium as shown in FIG. A liquid supply means and a heating means for heating 1 in the entire surface liquid are necessary, and it is difficult to compactly incorporate these liquid supply means and the heating means in the apparatus. Further, in order to store the recording body 31 which has been treated in a hydrophilic or lipophilic state over the entire surface, the receding contact angle increases when the recording body 31 is heated at least in a non-contact state with the liquid. There is a problem that it needs to be kept below the temperature at which it is applied.

An object of the present invention is to provide a recording material 3 as a substrate in contrast to the above-mentioned problems of the prior art in which a recording material which has been treated in a heated liquid in advance to make the entire surface hydrophilic and oleophilic is prepared. To provide a novel image forming method and its apparatus based on the new finding that the surface of the coating composition exhibits hydrophilicity and lipophilicity when coated on 2 and dried at room temperature.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel image forming method and apparatus capable of forming images by superimposing them on the same substrate.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the invention, the receding contact angle decreases when heated in contact with a liquid, and the receding contact angle increases when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. Prevents deterioration of durability of the thermal head by applying and drying the body material on the substrate, then selectively heating it in a non-contact state with the liquid, and developing it with a developer containing a coloring material to obtain an image. The applied energy is increased to prevent resolution deterioration. According to a second aspect of the present invention, a receding contact angle decreases when heated in contact with a liquid, and a receding contact angle increases when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. And a heating means for selectively heating the recording material on the plate to make a plate,
By forming an image recording device with a developing unit that obtains an image on the plate by developing with a developer containing a color material and a transfer unit that transfers the image on the plate to paper, the entire surface of the plate is It is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the invention of claim 1 without the need for treatment such as heating in liquid. According to the invention of claim 3, the receding contact angle decreases when heated in contact with the liquid, and the receding contact angle increases when heated in the non-contact state with the liquid. Coating means, heating means for selectively heating the recording material on the plate to make a plate, developing means for obtaining an image on the plate by developing with a developer containing a coloring material, and on the plate. Of a transfer means for transferring the image onto paper and a cleaning means for removing the image on the plate. After the cleaning means removes the image, the applying means applies the recording material onto the substrate. By using an image recording device to newly form an image, the recording material can be applied again after cleaning the image to reduce the running cost and significantly reduce the frequency of plate replacement. so That. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a receding contact angle decreases when heated in contact with a liquid, and a receding contact angle increases when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. After that, an image is obtained by selectively heating the liquid in a non-contact state with the liquid and developing with a developer containing a coloring material, and applying the recording material material on the image, and selectively heating and developing the image. By repeating the above process, a superimposed image can be obtained on the image, the same effect as that of the invention of claims 1 and 2 can be obtained, and further, a good color image with less color misregistration can be obtained. is there. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a receding contact angle decreases when heated in contact with a liquid, and a receding contact angle increases when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. A coating means, a heating means for selectively heating the recording material on the plate to make a plate, and a developing means for developing an image on the plate by developing with a developer containing a coloring material, By providing an image recording apparatus capable of obtaining a superposed image with the image by repeating application of the recording material, selective heating, and development on the image on the plate obtained by the developing means, a plurality of times. The same effect as the invention of claim 4 is obtained.

[0016]

1A and 1B are views for explaining an embodiment of an image forming method according to the present invention. FIG. 1A is a structure of a recording medium and FIG. 1B is a latent image forming method. 1C shows a developing method, in which 1 is a recording material, 5 is a developing roller,
6 is an image.

The recording medium 1 shown in FIG. 1 (A) has a structure shown in FIG. 6 (A).
The recording body material 3 has the same structure as that of the recording body 21 shown in FIG. 1, and the recording body material 3 is formed on the substrate 2 such as paper or film. The recording material 3 has a characteristic that the receding contact angle decreases when heated in contact with a liquid and the receding contact angle increases when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. However, FIG.
The conventional recording body 21 shown in (A) is obtained by heating the recording material 3 applied on the substrate 2 to a temperature equal to or higher than its melting point to form a film, and the recording body 21 starts from this state. This is for the purpose of heating the recording material 3 applied on the substrate 2 to form a film, thereby forming a film-like coating, and improving the adhesion between the substrate 2 and the recording material 3. there were.

On the other hand, the recording body 1 shown in FIG.
Is a method for forming a film of the recording material 3 on the substrate 2. Applicants apply the recording material 3 to the substrate 2 and dry it at a temperature near room temperature to make the surface hydrophilic or lipophilic. And that the adhesiveness with the substrate 2 can sufficiently withstand the pressing and friction of the thermal head 4, and that the developed image 6 has sufficient printing durability even when transferred to paper. It was The recording body 1 is formed by depositing the recording material 3 on the basis of this method. For example, the substrate 2 is PET (polyethylene terephthalate), the recording material 3 is a fluorine-containing acrylate material synthesized by emulsion polymerization (LS317, manufactured by Asahi Glass), and the recording material 3
And 15% were diluted with water, and the recording material 3 was coated on the PET substrate 2 having a thickness of 100 μm to a thickness of 3 μm and dried at room temperature.

In the latent image forming method shown in FIG. 1B, a thermal head (F2459A, manufactured by Toshiba) 4 is energized and selectively heated by a signal from a personal computer (not shown). A latent image with an increased receding contact angle is formed on the heated portion. The recording body 1 is formed by a developing method shown in FIG. 1C, for example, an ink film (Aqualess Super K) on a developing roller 5 made of a rubber material having a hardness of 60 degrees.
B ink M, manufactured by Toyo Ink Co., Ltd.), and the recording medium 1 is manually moved in the direction of the arrow for development. When the present inventors perform latent image formation and development by the above method, a good image 6 is obtained.
was gotten.

As described above, in the image forming method shown in FIG. 1, unlike the conventional wet latent image forming method shown in FIG. 6 (B), there is no deterioration in durability of the thermal head 4, and FIG. )
It is possible to increase the applied energy and prevent the deterioration of resolution as in the dry latent image forming method shown in (1), and it is possible to perform dry plate making from the front side of the recording material 3 (corresponding to claim 1).

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of an embodiment of an image recording apparatus using the image forming method shown in FIG. 1, in which 7 is a recording material liquid tank and 8 is a coating roller. ,
9, 14 are impression cylinders, 10 are cutters, 11 are conveying rollers,
Reference numeral 12 is a plate, 13 is a plate cylinder, 15 is a blade, and 16 is a recording paper.

The recording material 3 contained in the recording material liquid tank 7 is, for example, a fluorine-containing acrylate material (LS317, manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.) synthesized by emulsion polymerization diluted with water by 15%. 3 is impregnated into a coating roller 8 made of sponge (for example, hardness of 30 degrees, made of Toyo Polymer), and the impregnated recording material 3 is rolled into a substrate (PE).
T, thickness: 50 μm) 2. The recording medium 1 is moved in the direction of the arrow by the conveyance roller 11, and a signal obtained by reversing black and white with respect to the original image is applied to the thermal head (F2459A, made by Toshiba) 4 from a personal computer (not shown) to selectively. The plate 12 was prepared by heating to 12.

The plate 12 is cut into a desired length by the cutter 10 and wound around the plate cylinder 13 as shown in the drawing. Hardness 6
An ink film (Aqualess Super KB ink M, manufactured by Toyo Ink) was formed on a developing roller 5 made of a rubber (Viton) material of 0 degree by a resin (for example, urethane) blade 15 and developed on a plate. When recording paper (Type 6200, Ricoh PPC paper) 16 was conveyed at a speed of 120 sheets per minute, a good image having a density of 1.3 was obtained on the recording paper.

The conveyance, cutting, winding around the plate cylinder 13, feeding and discharging of the roll-shaped substrate 2 are well-known techniques in the printing machine field, and a stencil printing machine (PRIPORT VT3820,
Ricoh's) was modified and used. Further, as described above, the ink film was formed on the developing roller 5 by the blade 15, and the ink was supplied manually.

As described above, since the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 2 incorporates the apparatus for applying the recording material 3 to the substrate 2, the recording is performed before the recording as in the prior art shown in FIG. The receding contact angle increases when the recording material is made hydrophilic or lipophilic over the entire surface of the recording material 3 of the body 1 or when the recording material 1 subjected to this treatment is heated in a non-contact state with the liquid. There is an advantage that it is not necessary to provide a temperature control device that is maintained below the temperature (corresponding to claim 2).

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining another example of the embodiment of the image recording apparatus using the image forming method shown in FIG. In the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 3, the recording material 1 having the recording material 3 applied on the substrate 2 is used as a plate 12, and the plate 12 is selectively heated to form a plate for development, and the developed image is transferred to paper. Having each means is similar to the case of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 2, but in addition to this, it also has a cleaning means for removing the image on the plate 12 after transferring the developed image to the paper 16. A configuration is added in which a new image is formed by applying the recording material 3 to the plate 12 from which the image has been removed by applying means. This embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

A roll-shaped substrate (PET, thickness: 50 μm) 2 is cut into a desired length by a cutter 10, and the plate cylinder 1 is cut.
3 wrapped around. Fluorine-containing acrylate material (LS31
Recording material 3 prepared by diluting 15% of No. 7, manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. with water was applied to the substrate on plate cylinder 13 by application roller 8 made of sponge (hardness 30 °, made by Toyo Polymer). A plate 12 is obtained by applying a signal obtained by reversing black and white with respect to an original image to a thermal head (F2459A, made by Toshiba) provided on the plate cylinder 13 from a personal computer (not shown) and selectively heating the plate. And

Next, an ink film (Aqualess Super KB Black M, manufactured by Toyo Ink) was formed on the developing roller 5 made of a rubber (Viton) material having a hardness of 60 degrees, and developed on the plate 12. At this time, the ink is smoothed by resin (urethane)
The blade 15 was used, and the ink was supplied manually. A recording paper (Type 6200, Ricoh PPC paper) 16 is conveyed at a speed of 120 sheets per minute, and a density of 1.3 is recorded on the recording paper 16.
Image was obtained. After that, the ink is washed off from the plate 12 by a cleaning roller 17 made of a sponge (hardness 30 degrees, made by Toyo Polymer) containing a cleaning liquid (offset cleaner TypeNA, made by Ricoh), and the substrate is placed on the plate cylinder 13 by the application roller 8. It was found that a good image can be obtained by applying the recording material 3 again to 2 and developing and transferring in the same manner as above.

The conveyance, cutting, winding around the plate cylinder 13, feeding and discharging of the roll-shaped substrate 2 are well-known techniques in the printing machine field, and a stencil printing machine (PRIPORT VT3820,
Ricoh's) was modified and used. In addition, in FIG.
The roll-shaped substrate 2, the transport roller 11 and the cutter 10 are not provided in the substrate supply means, and the substrate 2 is previously attached to the plate cylinder 13.
The structure may be formed. As described above, in the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 3, since it is possible to clean the image on the plate 12 and apply the recording material 3 again,
Not only the cost performance of the plate material is excellent, but also the selectivity of the plate material is widened (corresponding to claim 3).

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining another example of the embodiment of the image forming method according to the present invention, and FIG.
First recording material application, FIG. 4B shows second latent image formation,
4C is the first color development, FIG. 4D is the application of the second recording material, 4E is the second latent image formation, and 4F.
Indicates each step of developing the second color.

The image forming method shown in FIG. 4 is an improvement of the image forming method shown in FIG. 1, and shows a method capable of forming a plurality of images in an overlapping manner. 4A to 4C, each step of the image forming method, that is, application of the first recording material 3a (FIG. 4A), first latent image formation (FIG. 4A).
(B)), and developing method for the first color (FIG. 4 (C))
Is the recording material 3 shown in FIGS. 1 (A) to 1 (C).
The same as the coating, latent image formation, and development method of
The first latent image is formed (FIG. 4 (B)) on the recording body 1 (FIG. 4 (A)) coated with the recording body material 3a of FIG.
The image is developed by the developing roller 5a of the color to obtain the image 6a by the ink of the first color (FIG. 4 (C)). Next, the second recording material 3b is further applied and dried on the ink image 6a of the first color (FIG. 4 (D)), and is selectively heated by the thermal head 4 corresponding to another image. To form a second latent image 3c (FIG. 4E), and the second color developing roller 5b superimposes the second latent image 3c on the image 6b (FIG. 4).
(F)). In this way, it was possible to superimpose images of a plurality of colors on the same recording medium. Hereinafter, a specific example of the image forming method shown in FIG. 4 will be described.

Fluorine-containing acrylate material (LS317,
Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. was diluted with water by 15%, and a fluorine-containing surfactant (Surflon,
Recording material 3 was obtained by adding 0.1% of Asahi Glass). This recording material 3 was coated on a substrate (PET, thickness: 100 μm) 2 to a thickness of 3 μm and dried at room temperature (FIG. 4 (A)). A thermal head (F2459) is supplied by a signal from a personal computer (not shown).
A, manufactured by Toshiba) 4 was energized and selectively heated (Fig. 4
(B)). An ink film (Aqualess Super KB Ai M, made by Toyo Ink) is formed on the first developing roller 5a made of a rubber material having a hardness of 60 degrees, and manually developed (see FIG. 4).
(C)). A recording material 3b is further applied onto this ink (FIG. 4 (D)), and is selectively heated by the thermal head 4 to form a second latent image 3c (FIG. 4 (E)), which is different in color. Second color ink (Aqualess Super KB Ben M,
Image 6b was developed with Toyo Ink (Fig. 4 (F)).
However, a good color image was obtained (corresponding to claim 4).

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of an image recording apparatus according to the present invention using the image forming method shown in FIG. 4, in which 18 is a drying device. The image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 5 is, for example, an apparatus for forming a color image on the same substrate 2 by using an OHP (overhead projector) film as the substrate 2, and the substrate 2 is manually wound around the plate cylinder 13. . On the substrate 2 on the plate cylinder 13, a recording material 3 in which a fluorine-containing acrylate material (LS317, manufactured by Asahi Glass) was diluted with water by 15% and a fluorine-containing surfactant (surflon, manufactured by Asahi Glass) was added at 0.1%. Was applied with a coating roller 8 made of sponge (hardness 30 °, made by Toyo Polymer). For the purpose of accelerating the drying of the applied recording material 3, a drying device 18 such as a fan is attached to the plate cylinder 13.
Placed close to.

For the recording body 1 wound around the plate cylinder 13, a personal computer (not shown) separates the original color image into three primary colors, and a signal obtained by reversing the negative and positive colors is applied to the plate cylinder 13. The plate 12 is formed by applying and selectively heating the provided thermal head (F2459A, manufactured by Toshiba) 4. First, the thermal head 4 is generated by an inversion signal corresponding to [yellow] obtained by color separation.
Was heated to form an ink film (Aqualess Super KB Yellow M, manufactured by Toyo Ink Co., Ltd.) on a yellow developing roller 5c made of a rubber (Viton) material having a hardness of 60 degrees, and developed on the plate 12. At this time, the ink was smoothed with a resin (urethane) blade (not shown), and the ink was supplied manually.

Next, the recording material 3 is coated again using the coating roller 8 and selectively heated by the thermal head 4 in accordance with the color separation [indigo], and the indigo ink is applied by the indigo color developing roller 5d. Developed. Further, in order to deal with [red] color-separated by the same method, when the red ink was overlaid by the red developing roller 5e, a good color image in both reflection and transmission was obtained. As described above, according to the present invention, since a color image is formed on the same plate without replacing the plate, there is an advantage that the image position accuracy is significantly improved (corresponding to claim 5).

[0036]

【The invention's effect】

Effect corresponding to claim 1: A recording material material having a receding contact angle that decreases when heated in contact with a liquid and an increasing receding contact angle when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid is applied and dried on a substrate. After that, the image was obtained by selectively heating without contacting with the liquid and developing with a developer containing a coloring material, so the durability deterioration of the thermal head was prevented and the applied energy was increased. It has become possible to prevent deterioration of resolution, and further, it is possible to obtain an effect that the treatment such as heating the whole surface in liquid is not necessary and the storage environment can be ignored. Effect corresponding to claim 2: When a recording medium material is heated in contact with a liquid, the receding contact angle decreases, and when heated in a non-contacting state with a liquid, the receding contact angle increases. Coating means, heating means for selectively heating the recording material on the plate to make a plate, developing means for obtaining an image on the plate by developing with a developer containing a coloring material, and the plate Since the image recording device is constituted by the transfer means for transferring the above image onto the paper, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the invention of claim 1, because the processing such as heating the entire surface of the plate in the liquid is unnecessary. Became. Effect corresponding to claim 3: The receding contact angle decreases when heated in contact with a liquid, and the receding contact angle increases when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. Coating means, heating means for selectively heating the recording material on the plate to make a plate, developing means for obtaining an image on the plate by developing with a developer containing a coloring material, and the plate It comprises a transfer means for transferring the above image onto paper and a cleaning means for removing the image on the plate. After the image is removed by the cleaning means, the recording material material is applied onto the substrate by the applying means. However, since the image recording apparatus for newly forming an image can be used by applying the recording material again after cleaning the image, the running cost can be reduced and the frequency of plate replacement can be greatly reduced. Effect corresponding to claim 4: A recording material material having a receding contact angle which is reduced when heated in contact with a liquid and which is increased when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. Then, it is selectively heated in a non-contact state with a liquid, and an image is obtained by developing with a developer containing a coloring material. Application of the recording material on the image, selective heating, and development are performed. Since the superimposed image is obtained on the image by repeating a plurality of times, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the invention according to claims 1 and 2, and further, to obtain a good color image with little color misregistration. became. Effect corresponding to claim 5: A recording material material is applied to a substrate to reduce the receding contact angle when heated in contact with a liquid and increases the receding contact angle when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. Coating means, a heating means for selectively heating the recording material on the plate to make a plate, and a developing means for obtaining an image on the plate by developing with a developer containing a coloring material, An image recording apparatus is provided which can obtain a superimposed image with the image by applying the recording material material, selectively heating, and repeating the development a plurality of times on the image on the plate obtained by the developing means. The same effect as that of the invention of claim 4 can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of an image forming method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of an embodiment of an image recording apparatus using the image forming method shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining another example of the embodiment of the image recording apparatus using the image forming method shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining another example of the embodiment of the image forming method according to the present invention.

5 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of an image recording apparatus according to the present invention using the image forming method shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a conventional image forming method.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining another example of the conventional image forming method.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording medium, 2 ... Substrate, 3 ... Recording medium material, 4 ... Thermal head, 5 ... Developing roller, 6 ... Image, 7 ... Recording medium material liquid tank, 8 ... Coating roller, 9, 14 ... Impression cylinder, 10 ... Cutter, 11 ... Conveyor roller, 12 ... Plate, 13 ... Plate cylinder, 15 ...
Blade, 16 ... Recording paper, 18 ... Drying device.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Minoru Morikawa 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock company Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Shinji Tanaka 1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Shares Company Ricoh

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A recording material, on which a receding contact angle is reduced when heated in contact with a liquid, and increased when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid, is applied onto a substrate and then dried. An image forming method, wherein an image is obtained by selectively heating the liquid without contact with a liquid and developing with a developer containing a coloring material. 2. A recording material material applied to a substrate to form a plate, the receding contact angle of which decreases when heated in contact with a liquid, and the receding contact angle of which increases when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. Means, heating means for selectively heating the recording material on the plate to make a plate, developing means for obtaining an image on the plate by developing with a developer containing a coloring material, and an image on the plate An image recording apparatus comprising: a transfer unit configured to transfer a sheet onto a sheet. 3. A recording material material applied to a substrate to form a plate, the receding contact angle of which decreases when heated in contact with a liquid, and the receding contact angle of which increases when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. Means, heating means for selectively heating the recording material on the plate to make a plate, developing means for obtaining an image on the plate by developing with a developer containing a coloring material, It comprises a transfer means for transferring the image to the paper and a cleaning means for removing the image on the plate. After the cleaning means removes the image, the applying means applies the recording material material onto the substrate, An image recording apparatus for forming an image on a sheet. 4. A recording material, on which a receding contact angle is reduced when heated in contact with a liquid, and increased when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid, is applied onto a substrate and then dried. An image is obtained by selectively heating the liquid without contact with the liquid and developing with a developer containing a colorant, and repeating the application of the recording material on the image, selective heating, and development a plurality of times. An image forming method, characterized in that a superimposed image is obtained on the image. 5. A recording material material coated on a substrate to form a plate, the receding contact angle of which decreases when heated in contact with a liquid, and the receding contact angle of which increases when heated in a non-contact state with a liquid. Means, heating means for selectively heating the recording material on the plate to make a plate, and developing means for developing an image on the plate by developing with a developer containing a coloring material. An image recording apparatus, characterized in that an overlapping image with the image is obtained by repeating the application of the recording material, the selective heating, and the development to the image obtained on the plate in plural times.