JPH1083095A - Image forming method, and method and device for reproducing reproducible image recording body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for forming an image on a reproducible image recording body and a method and a device for reproducing the image recording body from which an image forming material can be easily removed without damaging the surface of the image recording body. SOLUTION: In this image forming method, a layer consisting of a hot-melt material 15 whose affinity to the image forming material is higher than the affinity to the image recording body 13 is formed on the image recording body 13 and the image consisting of toner 14 is formed thereon. In this reproducing method of the image recording body, the recording body 13 on which the image consisting of the toner 14 is formed is reproduced by bringing the recording body 13 into press-contact with a faced peeling material, for example, a roller for peeling 5 while heating the image forming material and transferring image forming material to the peeling material from the recording body 13. This recycling device is provided with a means heating the image consisting of the image forming material and a means bringing the recording body 13 into press- contact with the peeling material and transferring the image forming material to the peeling material from the recording body 13.

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 using a reproducible image recording medium used in an electrophotographic system or a thermal transfer system, a reproducing method of an image recording body on which an image is formed, and a reproducing apparatus therefor. More specifically, a method for forming an image made of an image forming material on a reproducible image recording material, removing the image forming material from the image recording material holding the image forming material, forming an image with the image forming material, and removing the image forming material The present invention relates to a method of reproducing a reproducible image recording medium capable of repeating the above, and a reproducing apparatus therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, global environmental problems have surfaced and the importance of protecting forest resources has been recognized, and reducing the use of wood resources as paper raw materials has become an important issue. As part of measures to reduce usage, paper that has been used once is not being discarded as garbage, but is being reused as used paper. However, while recycled paper is an important resource recovery, it has many problems before it can be recycled. For example, regarding the collection of used paper, especially in a company, there are problems such as leakage of confidential documents and data, problems such as separation and collection of paper according to the type of paper, transportation problems, and problems of a collection location and management of collected used paper.

In the recycling of used paper, the fibers of the pulp are shortened in order to re-pulp the used paper, resulting in deterioration of the quality of the recycled paper. Further, an apparatus for deinking ink and the like in the image portion is also required. become. The paper machine itself is huge and complicated,
Due to the high price, there is a problem that the recycling of used paper cannot be carried out by individuals at all, and only certain companies have to rely on it. Recycling of waste paper consumes a large amount of energy (increases CO ₂ emissions) unless these separation, collection, transportation, accumulation, operation of huge equipment, etc. are performed efficiently, resulting in the global environment. One of the problems may be to further promote the global warming phenomenon accompanying the increase in the amount of CO ₂ .

In addition to paper, OHP (overhead projector) films and the like used for presentations / presentations such as lectures and conferences are provided with a thin image receiving layer on the surface of a transparent film in order to firmly fix an image forming material. However, at present, it is difficult to reproduce the entire thin image-receiving layer on the spot, and in many cases, it is discarded after only one use, which wastes resources.

As a method for solving such a problem, there has been proposed a method of erasing and reproducing an image recorded on a once used image recording medium, for example, an image on paper. Methods and apparatuses for removing an image on a sheet by physical means include those described in the following publications. JP 1
JP-A-101576 and JP-A-1-101577 disclose a paper or a film to which an image forming toner is attached,
It is disclosed that the sheet is immersed in an organic solvent in which the toner resin is soluble and ultrasonic vibration is applied to release the toner dissolved in the solvent from the paper surface and to regenerate the sheet. However,
In this method, there is a problem that the melted toner re-permeates into the paper and the paper is stained. Further, in the case of an OHP film, the image receiving layer is peeled off together with the image receiving layer, and furthermore, the noise due to vibration and the use and retention of the organic solvent are used. Due to indoor pollution,
There are problems such as flammability and toxicity, and therefore, it is difficult to use in ordinary homes and offices.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-349486 discloses an image forming material of the same color (for example, white toner) as the paper is coated on the image portion or the entire surface of the paper on which the image is recorded. In the case of this method, unlike peeling and removal, the surface of the paper becomes glossy, and the thickness of the paper increases with each repetition of regeneration, so that it is clearly in the state of special paper after regeneration. is there.

JP-A-6-208318, JP-A-6-208318
-250569, JP-A-6-250570, JP-A-6-266264, JP-A-6-273
JP-A-966-966, JP-A-6-289643, JP-A-7-13383, and the like disclose a recording medium such as paper on which an image is recorded in a deinking agent (surfactant or the like) solution or spray. After impregnating the recording medium with, or mixing a surfactant in a solution in which the water-soluble polymer is dissolved, apply and permeate on the recording medium or permeate from the back surface, and then with the image forming material on the recording medium. A method is disclosed in which an image exfoliated body is heated and adhered to be exfoliated.

However, in these methods, there is a problem of holding and using an organic solvent, and when an aqueous solution is used, in a recording medium containing paper, a problem of waving or wrinkling occurs during drying, or evaporation due to repeated use. There is a problem that the paper becomes transparent due to a surfactant, a polymer, and the like that are accumulated without being used. Also, unlike a character image, in the case of a solid image in which an image is formed over the entire surface of a recording medium, and in an OHP film, a surfactant hardly penetrates into the image forming material and passes through the image forming material to form the recording medium. Since it does not reach the surface, the effect of enhancing the releasability between the recording medium and the image forming material cannot be obtained. As a result, at the time of peeling, in the case of paper, the entire surface fibers of the recording paper are peeled, and the paper surface is damaged. Also, the method of infiltrating a surfactant from the back side is difficult to apply to image peeling processing of paper or the like copied on both sides. In addition, it is necessary to secure the volume of the solution holding portion, and therefore, even if the device cannot be downsized and the used solution is an aqueous solution from the viewpoint of safety, maintenance and purchase maintenance costs associated with replenishment of the aqueous solution are required. In addition, there is a problem that a large amount of heat is consumed to evaporate and dry the water from the paper as the recording medium, resulting in a large energy consumption and a high running cost.

In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-297294, an image support is made of plastic, metal, paper having no liquid permeability, or ceramic, and a heat-fusible image is formed on the image support. This is a cleaning method in which an ink exfoliated body in which a heat-fusible exfoliated body is interposed is brought into contact with an image formed with ink, heated, and after cooling, the image is peeled off from the image support. The image support in this method is different from paper such as a film, or special paper. Not only does it have a different feel and texture than ordinary paper, but it is also very expensive compared to paper. . The liquid-permeable paper cannot be used as the image support because when the hot-melt ink is melted, it penetrates into the fibers of the paper and the part cannot be peeled off. Also, after cooling to room temperature, because the cleaning method to peel the image from the image support,
Due to the waste of time before cooling and the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the hot-melt release body and the ink release body, peeling occurs between the two during cooling, resulting in the generation of space. There are disadvantages such as the fact that the hot-melt ink cannot be peeled off from the image support for the portion. Further, even if the above-mentioned problem is improved by increasing the adhesive force between the hot-melt release body and the ink release body, the image support is deformed because the adhesive strength with the image support is also strong, and the peeling force is also required. Larger than
There is a problem that the device in this portion becomes large-scale. OHP films that are commonly used image supports include:
An image receiving layer is provided to strengthen the fixing property of the image forming material, and therefore, it is difficult to even peel off the OHP film from the ink peeled body by a method of peeling by cooling.

When a plastic film is used as an image recording medium, the image forming material may be directly fixed.
When a commonly used image forming material such as a heat-meltable ink is fixed, the fixing property is so poor that the image forming material is peeled off only by rubbing the image surface. Therefore, conventionally, an image receiving layer for firmly fixing the base material and the image forming material is provided on the surface. Of course, this image receiving layer
It is designed to use a material having a high affinity in order to enhance the adhesion to the plastic film substrate. Another role of the image receiving layer is to make the surface flat and improve the light transmittance, particularly in a color image, with the image portion being kneaded into the image receiving layer. If the image receiving layer is not present, unevenness occurs on the image surface to scatter light and impair the color development. That is, despite the OHP film on which a color image is formed, only a projected image close to black and white can be obtained. From such a viewpoint, the film surface is provided with a flat and transparent image receiving layer having a thickness of several microns and having no unevenness. Conventionally, it is difficult to reproduce an OHP film because an image forming material or the like is fixed on the image receiving layer once, and even if the image forming material is removed only in that portion, the image receiving layer in the removed portion has irregularities. As a result, the light transmittance (transmittance, refractive index) changes. Such playback O
When the HP film is reused, the original image is clearly visible. In order to peel the image forming material together with the image receiving layer, means using an organic solvent or the like must be used as described in JP-A-1-101577. Further, if the image receiving layer is used next while it is peeled off, there arises a problem that the fixing property cannot be maintained as described above.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances in the prior art, and has been made to solve the above problems. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method in which reproduction of an image recording medium can be easily performed by an individual on the spot without relying on a specialized trader. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method capable of removing the image forming material without damaging the recording surface while maintaining good fixation of the image recording material to the image recording body.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method capable of easily reproducing not only a monochrome image but also a color image on the entire surface by using an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method and a thermal transfer method. Is to provide.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for reproducing an image recording medium which can be carried out by an individual himself without relying on a specialized company to reproduce the image recording medium. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for reproducing an image recording material which enables removal of the image forming material without damaging the recording surface while maintaining good fixation of the image forming material to the image recording material, and a method for reproducing the same. It is to provide a device. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a reproduction method capable of easily reproducing not only a solid image of a solid color on the entire surface formed by an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method and a thermal transfer method, but also a color image of a solid image on the entire surface. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for that purpose. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a regeneration method which is safe without using an organic solvent, can maintain a use environment in a home or office, and can suppress a large amount of energy consumption by drying without using an aqueous solution. And an apparatus therefor. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a reproducing apparatus that can be effectively used in an office space and that can be applied to an apparatus that combines an image forming apparatus and an image removing apparatus.

[0013]

The present inventors have conducted intensive studies on an image forming method, an image recording medium reproducing method, and a reproducing apparatus for achieving the above object.
The present invention has been completed. That is, in the image forming method of the present invention, a layer of a heat-fusible material having a higher affinity for the image forming material than the affinity for the image recording material is provided on the image recording material, and the image forming material is further laminated thereon. To form an image.

In the method for reproducing an image recording medium of the present invention, a layer of a heat-fusible material having a higher affinity for an image forming material than an affinity for an image recording medium is provided on the image recording medium,
Further, the image recording material on which the image formed of the image forming material is formed is pressed against an opposite release material while heating the image formation material, and the image forming material is transferred from the image recording material to the release material. And

In the case where the surface of the image recording medium has concave and convex holes and the like, it is desirable that at least the releasability is imparted to the heat-fusible material. Further, the layer of the heat-fusible material provided on the image recording medium contains, as a main component, the same heat-fusible component as the component contained in the image-forming material in order to increase the affinity for the image-forming material. It is desirable to be. Further, the heat-fusible material contains fine particles, that the heat-fusible material is a powder, that the powder-like heat-fusible material can hold a certain charge, It is desirable that the conductive material be a toner and that the powdery heat-fusible material be colorless, transparent or white when melted. Note that it is desirable to use an electrophotographic method as a method of providing a layer made of the powdery heat-fusible material on the image recording medium.

The reproducing apparatus of the present invention has means for heating an image formed of an image forming material, and means for pressing the image recording body against the release material to transfer the image forming material from the image recording material to the release material. It is characterized by. The image recording medium reproducing apparatus of the present invention can be applied to an apparatus that combines an image forming apparatus and an image removing apparatus, and can effectively utilize office space.

[0017]

Next, the image forming method and the image reproducing method of the present invention will be described in more detail. As the base material of the image recording medium used in the present invention, paper,
Metals, plastics, and ceramics can be used, and these substrates are preferably in the form of a film. Further, when the substrate surface has concave and convex holes and the like, the mold is released from the image forming material on at least the substrate surface. Those imparting properties are preferred.

In the present invention, when the image recording medium is an image recording paper made of paper as a base material, the surface of the base material has fine concave and convex holes and the like, so that a releasability is imparted to the surface of the heat-fusible material. Wrapped paper is most preferred. About pulp used for image recording paper, as chemical pulp, for example, hardwood bleached kraft pulp, hardwood bleached kraft pulp, hardwood bleached sulfite pulp, softwood bleached kraft pulp, softwood unbleached kraft pulp, softwood bleached sulphite pulp, soda pulp Virgin bleached chemical pulp produced by subjecting wood and other fiber raw materials to a chemical treatment and bleaching step is preferable, and those having high whiteness are preferable. Further, as used paper pulp, for example, waste paper generated in bookbinding, printing plants, cutting shops, etc. pulp,
Printing plates such as lithographic, letterpress, intaglio, electrophotographic, heat-sensitive, thermal transfer, pressure-sensitive recording paper, ink-jet recording, etc. on high quality paper, high quality coated paper, medium quality paper, medium quality coated paper, Waste paper printed with carbon paper, waste paper written with water-based or oil-based ink or pencil, and waste paper such as newspaper waste paper are dissociated, and waste paper pulp etc. obtained by deinking each of these waste papers using the optimal method are listed below. In addition, lithographically printed waste paper pulp, which is relatively easy to deink, is preferred, and among them, waste paper pulp having higher whiteness and less impurities is preferred.

In the case of the image recording paper made of the above pulp, the surface of the pulp fiber or, in the case of coated paper, the surface of the coated material is coated or impregnated with a material having good releasability with respect to the image forming material. Those having a releasability imparted to the material surface are preferably used.

As a material for imparting releasability,
Specific examples include a fluorine-based resin material, a fluorine-based oil, a silicone-based resin material, a silicone-based oil, and the like. Further, a material which directly reacts with and binds to pulp fibers is more preferable. As a material which forms a substrate surface having a good releasability from an image forming material by directly reacting and bonding with pulp fibers, a material containing a silicon compound is desirable, and is mainly composed of pulp fibers. When a substrate is used, it is desirable that the substrate further contains fine particles.

The silicon compound is composed of a compound capable of bonding to the substrate and the fine particles by a chemical reaction. Such silicon compounds include alkoxysilanes, silazanes, silylating agents, silane coupling agents, fluorine-containing silicon compounds, isocyanate silane compounds,
And modified silicone oils having a reactive group in the molecule, and those containing at least one selected from these are preferably used. These are applied or impregnated to the image recording medium as a liquid composition, and dried to form a film having releasability on the surface of the substrate. When used together with fine particles for paper or the like, these silicon compounds are fine particles such as talc, clay (kaolin), calcium carbonate, titanium oxide, aluminum oxide, aluminum sulfate, zirconium oxide, barium titanate, silica, and silicone resin. , Acrylic resin, styrene resin, styrene-acrylic resin, melamine resin,
It has high reactivity with fine particles such as benzoguanamine resin and melamine-benzoguanamine resin, and cures together with pulp fibers, and also serves to fix the fine particles in paper.

Specific examples of the above silicon compound include Si (OCH ₃ ) ₄ and CH ₃ Si as silane compounds.
(OCH ₃ ) ₃ , (CH ₃ ) ₂ Si (OCH ₃ ) ₂ , C
_{6 H 5 Si (OCH 3)} 3, Si (OC 2 H 5) 4, C
H ₃ Si (OC ₂ H ₅ ) ₃ , (CH ₃ ) ₂ Si (OC _{2
H 5) 2, C 6 H} 5 Si (OC 2 H 5) 3, (CH 3)
Alkoxysilanes such as _{2 CHCH 2 Si (OCH 3)} 3, (CH 3) 3 SiNHSi (CH 3) silazanes such as _{3, ((CH 3) 3} SiNH) 2 CO, tert-C
Special silylating agents such as ₄ H ₉ (CH ₃ ) ₃ SiCl, and vinyltrichlorosilane as a silane coupling agent;
Vinyl silanes such as vinyl tris (β-methoxyethoxy) silane, vinyl triethoxy silane, vinyl trimethoxy silane, acrylic silanes such as γ-methacryloxy propyl trimethoxy silane, β- (3,4-epoxycyclohexyl) ethyl trimethoxy Epoxy silanes such as silane, γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-glycidoxypropylmethyldiethoxysilane, N-β- (aminoethyl) -γ-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, N-β- ( Aminoethyl) -γ-
Examples include aminosilanes such as aminopropylmethyldimethoxysilane, γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, and N-phenyl-γ-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane. Other examples include silane compounds such as HSC ₃ H ₆ Si (OCH) ₃ and hydrolysates or partial condensates of these organosilicon compounds.

As the isocyanate silane compound, (CH ₃ ) ₃ SiNCO, (CH ₃ ) ₂ Si (NC
O) ₂ , CH ₃ Si (NCO) ₃ , vinylsilyl triisocyanate, C ₆ H ₅ Si (NCO) ₃ , Si (NC
_{O) 4, C 2 H 5} OSi (NCO) 3, C 8 H 17 Si
(NCO) ₃ , C ₁₈ H ₃₇ Si (NCO) ₃ , (NCO)
₃ SiC ₂ H ₄ Si (NCO) _{3 and the} like can be exemplified.

The modified silicone oil having a reactive group in the molecule includes amino-modified silicone oil, epoxy-modified silicone oil, carboxyl-modified silicone oil, carbinol-modified silicone oil, methacryl-modified silicone oil, mercapto-modified silicone oil, and phenol-modified silicone oil. Oil and the like.
Methyl hydrogen silicone oil can also be used.

As the fluorine-containing silicon compound, a fluorine-containing silicon compound containing a perfluoroalkyl group is preferable in order to further improve the releasability. Specifically, for example, C ₆ F ₁₃ C ₂ H ₄ Si (OCH ₃ ) ₃ ,
C ₇ F ₁₅ CONH (CH ₂ ) ₃ Si (OC ₂ H ₅ ) ₃ ,
C ₈ F ₁₇ C ₂ H ₄ Si (OCH ₃ ) ₃ , C ₈ F ₁₇ C ₂ H
₄ SiCH ₃ (OCH ₃ ) ₂ , C ₈ F ₁₇ C ₂ H ₄ Si
[ON = C (CH ₃ ) (C ₂ H ₅ )] ₃ , C ₉ F ₁₉ C ₂
H ₄ Si (OCH ₃ ) ₃ , C ₉ F ₁₉ C ₂ H ₄ Si (NC
O) ₃ , (NCO) ₃ SiC ₂ H ₄ C ₆ F ₁₂ C ₂ H ₄ S
i (NCO) ₃ , C ₉ F ₁₉ C ₂ H ₄ Si (C ₂ H ₅ )
(OCH ₃ ) ₂ , (CH ₃ O) ₃ SiC ₂ H ₄ C ₈ F ₁₆
C ₂ H ₄ Si (OCH ₃ ) ₃ , (CH ₃ O) ₂ (C
H ₃ ) SiC ₉ F ₁₈ C ₂ H ₄ Si (CH ₃ ) (CH
₃ O) _{2 and the} like, and hydrolysates or partial condensates of these compounds.

In addition to the above silicon compound, silica gel or the like may be mixed. Further, these silicon compounds are not limited to the use of one kind of compound alone, and it is preferable to use a plurality of compounds or partial hydrolysates thereof.

The liquid composition for forming a film having releasability may be added to the liquid composition in addition to the above in an amount not impairing the function of the film, for example, an aluminum compound, a titanium compound, a zirconium compound, a fluorine compound and the like. It can be contained in consideration of fixing control of the forming material, control of writing properties, control of reactivity with the base material, and the like. As specific examples, aluminum isopropylate, aluminum sec-butylate, aluminum tert-butylate, tetra-iso-propyl titanate, tetra-n
-Butyl titanate, tetra-iso-butyl titanate, tetra-sec-butyl titanate, tetra-te
rt-butyl titanate, tetra-n-pentyl titanate, tetra-iso-pentyl titanate, tetra-
n-hexyl titanate, tetra-n-heptyl titanate, tetra-n-octyl titanate, tetra-is
o-octyl titanate, tetra-n-nonyl titanate, tetramethyl zirconate, tetraethyl zirconate, tetra-iso-propyl zirconate, tetra-n-propyl zirconate, tetra-n-butyl zirconate, tetra-iso-butyl Zirconate, tetra-tert-butyl zirconate, mono-sec-butoxyaluminum diisopropylate, ethyl acetoacetate aluminum diisopropylate, di-n-
Butoxyaluminum monoethylacetoacetate, aluminum di-n-butoxide methylacetoacetate, aluminum diisobutoxide monomethylacetoacetate, aluminum di-sec-butoxide monoethylacetoacetate, aluminum di-iso-
Propoxide monoethyl acetoacetate, aluminum trisacetylacetonate, aluminum di-i
so-propoxide monoacetylacetonate, aluminum monoacetylacetonate bis (ethylacetoacetate), aluminum tris (ethylacetoacetate), cyclic aluminum oxide acylate compound, di-iso-propoxytitanium-bis (acetylacetonate) , Di-n-butoxytitanium-bis (acetylacetonate), tetraoctylene glycol titanate, tetrakisacetylacetone zirconate and the like.

Examples of the fluorine compound include fluoroolefin resins, specifically, polymers such as tetrafluoroethylene, chlorotrifluoroethylene, hexafluoropropylene, and perfluoropropyl vinyl ether. You may mix and use. Further, it is desirable to use a copolymer obtained by introducing a curing agent into vinyl ethers, specifically, ethyl vinyl ether, cyclohexyl vinyl ether, or the like. _{Also, X-CF 2 (OC 2} F 4) p (OCH 2) q OCF
Can use a perfluoropolyether represented by ₂ -X, specifically, X is OCN-C ₆ H ₃ (C
H ₃ ) an isocyanate-modified product represented by NHCO—,
Carboxyl group-modified compounds represented by COOH, -CH ₂ O
H, —CF ₂ —CH ₂ ((OCH ₂ CH ₂ ) _n ), alcohol-modified products represented by OH, etc., and ester-modified products represented by —COOR (R is an alkyl group, aryl group, etc.). .

Another typical image recording medium used in the present invention is a plastic film.
Among these, light-transmitting films that can be used for OHP include acetate films, cellulose triacetate films, nylon films, polyester films,
Polycarbonate film, polystyrene film, polyphenylene sulfide film, polypropylene film, polyimide film, cellophane, etc. can be preferably used, particularly, mechanical, electrical, physical, chemical properties,
From a comprehensive viewpoint such as processability, a polyester film, particularly a biaxially stretched polyethylene terephthalate film, is most preferably used.

When the above-mentioned plastic film is used, it is preferable that the surface has releasability similarly to the case where paper is used as the substrate, and the releasability as described above is good. The releasability is imparted by treating with a material, but the material is not limited to these materials.

When a film having the above-mentioned releasability is formed, the fixing property and releasability of the image recording paper and the translucent plastic film are determined by the surface condition of the base material and the selection of the components of the silicon compound together with the selection of the silicon compound. It is affected by the thickness of the film, the content of the fine particles with respect to the silicon compound, the average particle size of the fine particles, and the like. Therefore, the thickness of the film with respect to the substrate is preferably 0.05 to 5.0 μm without including the fine particles. In the case of a translucent plastic film, a film to which fine particles are added may be formed, but it is important not to impair the light transmittance. In the case of image recording paper, if the thickness of the coating is less than 0.05 μm, it becomes difficult to fix the fine particles to the base material, and the fine particles precipitate from the base material, and the thickness of the coating is less than 5 μm. If it is thick, even if large particles are added, it becomes smooth and glossy, so that the feeling of plain paper becomes weak.

The content of the fine particles with respect to the silicon compound varies depending on the components of the silicon compound and the fine particles.
It is desirable to mix them in an amount of 100 parts by weight. If the amount of the fine particles is less than 1 part by weight, it is insufficient to fill a partial hole of the paper, and if the amount of the fine particles is more than 100 parts by weight, the fine particles may be immobilized on the base material. Becomes difficult. The average particle size of the fine particles is preferably in the range of 0.1 to 15 μm, and particularly preferably 0.3 to 5.0 μm. If the average particle size of the fine particles is larger than 15 μm, the feel will obviously change, and the image will be affected. If the average particle size of the fine particles is smaller than 0.1 μm, the fine particles will aggregate and be coated with the coating liquid. Since the dispersibility of a certain liquid composition deteriorates or the specific surface area increases, the reaction site on the surface increases, and the chemical reaction of the silicon compound becomes a reaction only between the fine particles and the chemical reaction with the base material. It does not occur, and it is easy to make the fixation difficult.

The method of applying or impregnating the film having the releasability includes a blade coating method, a Meyer bar coating method, a spray coating method, a dip coating method, a bead coating method, an air knife coating method, a curtain. A commonly used method such as a coating method and a roll coating method is employed. Drying at the time of forming these films having releasability may be air drying. However, if drying by heating, releasability of the image forming material is further increased. The reason for this is not clear, but it is assumed that the components that have reacted with the substrate are arranged or oriented. For drying by heating, a commonly used method such as a method of putting in an oven, a method of passing through an oven, or a method of contacting with a heating roller is employed.

Next, in the case where the image is removed from the image recording medium on which the image has been formed using the image recording paper and the OHP film having the releasability to the image forming material as described above, and reproduced. The processing of an image obtained by electrophotography will be described below as an example.

In general, an image is formed on an image recording medium by an electrophotographic method by uniformly applying an electrostatic charge to the surface of an electrophotographic photosensitive member, charging the surface, exposing the surface to image information, and applying a static electricity corresponding to the exposure. An electrostatic latent image is formed. Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor surface is developed by supplying toner from a developing device,
The electrostatic latent image is visualized with toner, and is transferred to an image recording medium such as paper or an OHP film. Finally, the toner is fixed to the image recording medium by heat, pressure, or the like, and the image is formed on the image recording medium. Is obtained. Therefore, in order to reproduce the image recording medium, fixing is one point. It can be easily understood that when the image is fixed by heat or the like, the toner melts when heated again, and it is easy to peel off from the image recording medium. However, when ordinary paper is used as the image recording medium, only the heating is performed. In such a case, a sufficient amount of toner remains on the paper surface so that a person can sufficiently recognize and identify characters and images. This is because the toner contains a material having a good affinity for the paper fibers in order to improve the fixing. On the other hand, if the surface of the paper has appropriate irregularities, sufficient fixing power can be given only by fixing to the fibers or wrapping and fixing the fibers. Similarly, since the OHP film has an image receiving layer, a sufficient fixing force can be given only by fixing, and it is impossible to remove only the image by this method alone.

Even if a sheet on which the toner has been subjected to a releasing property is used, the peeling of the toner using only heating is still insufficient. The paper on which the fibers are overlapped has a relatively large hole-shaped space in part, and it is impossible to pull out the toner that has soaked into such a relatively deep part. In order to pull out the toner, one means is to insert a further filler into the space and pull out the toner. Such a filler is preferably a hot-melt material having a good affinity for the toner and having similar thermal properties. For such a reason, as the heat-fusible material, a material which is a main component of the toner and is transparent at the time of melting is particularly suitable. Also, white ones are suitable.

When such a layer of the heat-fusible material is provided,
Since the toner is the same as the main component material of the toner, the fixability is good. Further, since the toner is present on the surface side of the filler, the image forming material is efficiently heated by heating the image portion made of the image forming material again. It can be removed from the image recording medium. In this case, even if the heat-fusible material remains in the hole-like space, it is colorless and transparent or white, so that it is almost inconspicuous and can be sufficiently recycled.

In the present invention, for the above reasons, a layer made of a heat-fusible material having a high affinity for the image forming material is formed on the surface of the image recording material uniformly or on the image recording material. Only the portion is formed in advance, and an image made of the image forming material is formed thereon. The image recording body holding the image thus formed can be reproduced in that state.

As the heat-fusible material having a higher affinity for the image forming material than the affinity for the image recording medium, the same thermoplastic component (resin component) used for the image forming material (toner) is used. It is preferable to use one having a composition containing a thermoplastic component, but it is desirable to use a material having a composition including a thermoplastic component. It is not something to be done. In addition, it is preferable that the surface of the image recording medium has releasability since there is an advantage that the range of material selection can be further expanded. However, as the heat-fusible material, a material that is a main component of the image forming material and that is colorless and transparent when melted is particularly suitable.

The layer made of the above-mentioned heat-fusible material may be applied uniformly on the entire surface of the image recording medium or in advance only on the image portion. When an image is formed thereon, the In the case of a film for use, the layer made of this heat-fusible material plays the role of an image receiving layer. It becomes a filling for the space.

In the case of an image recording medium having irregularities such as paper,
It is preferable to provide a layer of the heat-fusible material overhanging not only the image portion but also the non-image portion side, but this is because the fixed image edge portion cannot follow the release material at the time of image peeling, so that This is to avoid remaining. Up to 200 μm on the non-image side from the image edge,
Preferably, the layer of the heat-fusible material may be formed so as to extend to a width of 50 to 100 μm. If it exceeds 200 μm, depending on the hot-melt material used, gloss may be generated in the outline of the character, and an image, particularly a character image, may be unnatural. Incidentally, even if the edge portion of the heat-fusible material remains on the image recording medium, because the heat-fusible material is transparent or white, it is almost inconspicuous,
It is possible to recycle enough.

In the present invention, if the heat-fusible material contains fine particles, the effect of peeling off the image-forming material is further enhanced, although the reason is unknown. Examples of such fine particles include titanium oxide, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, barium titanate, silica, silicone resin, acrylic resin, styrene resin, styrene-acryl resin, melamine resin, benzoguanamine resin, melamine-benzoguanamine resin, and the like. However, silicon resin fine particles are particularly preferable. When paper is used as the image recording medium, a heat-fusible material mixed with white fine powder can also be suitably used. When the image recording medium is a plastic film, if it is limited to use as an OHP film, it is desirable to form the transparent heat-fusible material uniformly over the entire surface of the film in consideration of light transmittance.

The layer made of the heat-fusible material can be provided by various methods. For example, it may be formed by applying a coating liquid containing a heat-fusible material,
When the heat-fusible material is in a powder form, for example, in the case of a transparent toner, it can be formed by electrophotographic development.

The image recording medium reproduced in the present invention is:
On the layer made of the heat-fusible material formed as described above, an image made of an image forming material such as a toner is formed. For reproduction, the image is heated by appropriate means,
After applying pressure or the like by bringing the image recording body into contact with the release material, the separation can be performed by separating the image recording body and the release material. In this case, since the layer made of the heat-fusible material is melted by heating the image made of the image-forming material, the image made of the image-forming material is removed together with the heat-fusible material.
The heating may be performed before the image recording medium is pressed against the release material by the heater, or may be performed when the image recording medium is pressed against the release material by passing between the heating roll and the pressure roll. . As the release material, for example, an aluminum roll or the like whose surface is anodized or anodized is preferably used.

As described above, the reproducing method of the present invention for removing an image forming material from an image recording medium on which an image has been formed is as follows.
Although not limited to applying electrophotography,
As described above, it is most effective in principle to use an apparatus for performing this electrophotography. In this case, if the apparatus is modified so that the final step of the electrophotographic method can perform either fixing of the image forming material or peeling of the image forming material, the reproducing apparatus of the present invention can be used as an image recording apparatus and an image recording apparatus. It can be incorporated in an electrophotographic copying apparatus that also serves as an image removing apparatus for a recording medium.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a reproducing apparatus for performing the image recording medium reproducing method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an operation mode of the apparatus. . In FIG. 1, a pair of transport rollers 1 and 2 are provided, and between the transport roller 2 and the pressure roller 3,
A transport belt 4 is provided. Above the pressure roller 3, an alumite-treated peeling roller 5 is disposed at a predetermined interval so as to face the pressure roller 3. A heater 6 is disposed between the transport roller 1 and the peeling roller 5 and above the transport belt 4, and a heater 6 is provided on the heater 6 via a heat insulating material 7.
Is arranged. A pair of small-diameter transport rollers 9 and 10 are disposed near the lower end of the peeling roller 5, and a strip finger 11 is provided between the transport roller 10 and the peeling roller 5 at the tip thereof. The roller 5 is disposed in contact with the peripheral surface of the roller 5.
The cleaning blade 12 is provided on the upper end side of the cleaning blade. The image recording medium 13 to which the releasability is applied, which is processed in this apparatus, has a layer made of a heat-fusible material 15 provided on the surface, and an image made of a toner 14 as an image forming material is formed thereon. Have been. The image recording body 13 on which the image is formed is transported by the transport belt 4 via the pair of transport rollers 1 and 2. At this time,
The heater 6 is preliminarily heated (for example, to about 105 ° C.), and the image recording body 13 on which the image is formed is heated from the upper side thereof, and the heat-fusible material 15 and the toner 14 are melted.
In this state, it reaches between the pressure roller 3 and the peeling roller 5 and is pressed by these rollers.

Then, the toner 14 and the heat-fusible material 15 in the molten state adhere to the surface of the peeling roller 5 and are separated from the image recording body 13 by the strip finger 11. With the rotation of the peeling roller 5, the toner 14 and the heat-fusible material 15 in the molten state are gradually cooled and peeled off from the peeling roller 5 by the cleaning blade 12, while the image recording material 13 is regenerated to form a pair. Are taken out via the conveying rollers 9 and 10 of the above. The peeled toner 14 and the heat-fusible material 15 are collected in the separated material collection box 8. In this case, since the heat insulating material 7 is interposed between the separation material collection box 8 and the heater 6, the toner 14 and the heat-fusible material 15 are separated from the separation material collection box 8.
It can be easily taken out without sticking inside and discarded as needed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which a reproducing apparatus is built in a copying machine, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams showing operating states in the fixing unit. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 3, a fixing unit 30 described below is mounted in place of a fixing unit installed in a normal copying machine body. The fixing unit 30 has a heat roller 31 and a pressure roller 32. The distance between the peripheral surfaces of the heat roller 31 and the pressure roller 32 is variably provided. A pressure roller 34 is provided in a state of contacting the peripheral surface of the heat roller 33 also serving as an exfoliating material provided with an anodized aluminum film after being oxidized. Is provided with a metal blade 35 in a state of slidingly contacting its tip.

FIG. 6 is a view showing another example in which a reproducing apparatus is incorporated in a copying machine. In this figure, a reproducing developing device 37 is provided in addition to a normal developing device 36 in the copying machine main body. A colorless toner (powder of a heat-fusible material) having a composition excluding the colorant in the developer stored in the developing device 36 is stored in the regenerating developing device 37.

Although not particularly shown, the mode switching means switches between the heat roller 31 and the pressure roller 32, and between the heat roller 33 and the pressure roller 34, which also serve as the release material.
4, the gap between the rollers is adjustable as in the state shown in FIG. 4 or the state shown in FIG. A tray 39 is provided. 3 and 6, the other main components are substantially the same as those of the conventional copying machine. Reference numeral 41 denotes a photoconductor, reference numeral 42 denotes an optical system control unit, reference numeral 43 denotes a charger, reference numeral 40 denotes a transfer unit, and reference numeral 44 denotes a transfer unit. Is a cleaner, 45 is a transport belt, and 46 is a developing unit.

Next, the operation of forming an image on an image recording medium and the operation of reproducing the image recording medium on which an image has been formed in the copying machine shown in FIG. 6 will be described. First, in the copy mode, the photoconductor 4
After uniformly applying an electrostatic charge to the surface of 1 by the charger 43,
The image information is exposed through the optical control system 42, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the exposure is formed. Next, the developing device 36 develops the electrostatic latent image to form a visualized colored toner image made of an image forming material, on which a colorless toner (powder of a heat-fusible material) is placed. 37 causes the colorless toner to adhere by development. Alternatively, the image information is exposed through the optical control system 42, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the exposure is formed, the developing potential is adjusted, for example, the entire surface is developed, and the toner image visualized and developed by the developing device 36. A colorless toner is further deposited on the surface of the substrate by development. The toner image thus formed on the photoreceptor 41 is then transferred by the transfer unit 40 in a state where the colorless toner layer and the color toner image made of the powder of the heat-fusible material are laminated on the image recording medium. The image is transferred and transported into the fixing unit 30 by the transport belt 45. Fixing unit 3
At 0, the heat roller 31 and the pressure roller 32 are set in pressure contact with each other as shown in FIG. 4, and the image recording body having the toner image adhered thereto is fixed by heat and pressure. The heat roller 33 and the pressure roller 34 are also separated from each other, and the fixed image recording medium is discharged from the fixing unit 30 to the outside.
In this case, the toner image is fixed on the image recording medium by one operation. First, a colorless toner made of a heat-meltable powder is developed and fixed by a fixing device, and discharged to the outside.
Alternatively, even if the color toner image is fixed on the image recording medium on which the colorless toner image is fixed according to the copying process again by passing through the apparatus as it is or being stored in the reproduction tray 39, Of course it doesn't matter.

Next, the reproduction operation of the image recording body on which the image is formed as described above will be described. The image recording medium on which the image has been formed is stored in the reproduction tray 39, and each roller in the fixing unit 30 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
And the playback mode is set. In this state, the image recording medium is conveyed to the fixing unit 30 without any processing. In the fixing unit 30, FIG.
The heat roller 31 and the pressure roller 32 are separated from each other as shown in FIG.
2 and between the heat roller 33 and the pressure roller 34. The exfoliating material heat roller 33 is heated by a heating device (not shown). The colored toners composed of the image forming material in the image portion fuse with each other and adhere to the heat roller 33 also serving as the release material, and are separated from the image recording body by the strip fingers 28. Thus, the image recording medium is reproduced. The colorless toner and the colored toner adhering to the release material / combination heat roller 33 are removed from the release material / combination heat roller 33 by the metal blade 35 and collected in the collection box 29. As described above, this reproducing apparatus can switch the normal copying process and the reproducing process by the switching mode means only by modifying the fixing unit of the normal copying machine.

In the above-described embodiment, an example of a reproducing apparatus for monochromatic color copying has been described. However, the reproducing apparatus of the present invention is provided with a reproducing device together with the above-mentioned fixing device in a multicolor copying machine. Can be incorporated into the structure.

[0054]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following Examples, but it should not be construed that the invention is limited thereto. In the examples and comparative examples, “parts” means parts by weight. Example 1 Organix SI containing isocyanate silane compound
500 parts of C-434 (manufactured by Matsumoto Koshosha) in 50 parts of ethyl acetate
The mixture was mixed and stirred with 0 parts to obtain a coating solution. This was impregnated in X paper X4 paper for Xerox (manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.), air-dried for 5 minutes, and then heat-treated in an oven at 120 ° C. for 1 minute to produce a paper having a releasable surface.

Next, since the binder resin of the toner as the image forming material is a polyester resin, the same polyester resin (Vylon 300, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) is used as the heat-fusible material, and it is heated and heated. Stretched by pressure to a film thickness of about 50
A sheet film of μm was produced. This is placed on the previously prepared image recording paper having releasability, heat-treated in an oven at 120 ° C. for 1 minute, and a heat-fusible material is fixed on the image recording paper to produce an image recording paper. did.

On this image recording paper, a color copier (A
After fixing a color image including a character and a solid image using a color 935 (manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.), the following toner fixability was evaluated.

Evaluation of Toner Fixing Property:
A commercially available 18 mm-wide cellophane adhesive tape (manufactured by Nichiban) is stuck to a solid image portion having a density of about 1.8 as measured with a Rite 938 densitometer (manufactured by X-Rite) at a linear pressure of 300 g / cm and 10 mm / sec. . The evaluation was performed using the ratio of the image density after peeling to the image density before peeling (hereinafter abbreviated as OD ratio) when peeling at the speed of (3) as an index (OD ratio =
Image density after peeling / image density before peeling). This ratio is required to be 0.8 or more as an image recording sheet for electrophotography.
It was confirmed that the fixing property was sufficient.

The image recording paper on which the image was formed was inserted into the reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. When the image recording paper is transported inside by the transport rollers and the transport belt, 105
Heated from the top of the image by a heater heated to ℃,
The toner and the heat-fusible material melted. The image recording paper and the heat-fusible material containing toner were separated by a strip finger while being pressed against the peeling roller whose surface was anodized as it was (FIG. 2). The toner was completely removed from the image recording paper. The residual toner after the toner was peeled was evaluated using the OD ratio as an index in the same manner as the evaluation of the toner fixing property. The image density at which the residual toner does not matter is O
Although the D ratio is desirably 0.08 or less, the average is 0.03 in this image recording sheet, and a sufficient result is obtained. When this image recording paper was used for repetitive reproduction, the OD ratio at the time of fixing was 0.9 even after 10 repetitions.
3. The OD ratio of the residual toner after peeling off the image was 0.08, and the reproduction was sufficiently repeated.

Example 2 Silicone resin fine particles (Tospearl 130: average particle size 3 μm, manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) were kneaded into the hot-melt material in Example 1 so that the weight ratio was 10% during hot press stretching. The sheet was stretched by heating and pressing to form a sheet film having a thickness of about 50 μm. This was used in the same manner as in Example 1 to prepare an image recording sheet, and the same reproduction processing and the same evaluation were performed. As a result, the numerical value of the OD ratio in the evaluation of the fixing property was 0.99, the image density of the residual toner after the image peeling was 0.02 on average, and the reproduction was repeated 10 times. Also, the OD ratio at the time of fixing was 0.94, and the OD ratio of the residual toner after the image was peeled was 0.06. It turned out that there is a further effect compared to the first embodiment.

Example 3 Styrene resin fine particles (Muticle 100 PK: average particle size 0.5 μm, manufactured by Mitsui Toatsu Co., Ltd.) were similarly kneaded into the hot-melt material in Example 1 during hot-press stretching, and heated and heated. The sheet was stretched by pressure to form a sheet film having a thickness of about 50 μm. This was used in the same manner as in Example 1 to prepare an image recording sheet, and the same reproduction processing and evaluation were performed. As a result, the numerical value of the OD ratio in the evaluation of the fixing property was 0.99, the image density of the residual toner after peeling off the image was 0.025 on average, and the reproduction was repeated 10 times. Also, the OD ratio at the time of fixing was 0.95, and the OD ratio of the residual toner after peeling off the image was 0.08, and the reproduction was sufficiently repeated. It turned out that there is a further effect compared to the first embodiment.

Example 4 Benzoguanamine resin fine particles (Eposter MS: average particle diameter 20 μm, manufactured by Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.) were kneaded into the heat-fusible material in Example 1 so that the weight ratio was 20% during hot press stretching. The sheet was stretched under heat and pressure to form a sheet film having a thickness of about 50 μm. This was used in the same manner as in Example 1 to prepare an image recording sheet, and the same reproduction processing and evaluation were performed. As a result, the numerical value of the OD ratio in the evaluation of the fixing property was 0.99, the image density of the residual toner after the image peeling was 0.02 on average, and the reproduction was repeated 10 times. Also, the OD ratio at the time of fixing was 0.95, and the OD ratio of the residual toner after the image was peeled was 0.06, and the reproduction was sufficiently repeated. It turned out that there is a further effect compared to the first embodiment.

Comparative Example 1 Reproduction evaluation of an image recording sheet was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a polyimide resin film (50 μm) as a heat-resistant material was used instead of the heat-fusible material in Example 1. However, the toner could not be fixed on the surface of the image recording paper.

Comparative Example 2 The same procedure as in Example 1 was carried out, except that the heat-fusible material in Example 1 was not used. As a result, the numerical value of the OD ratio in the evaluation of the fixing property was 0.97, but the residual toner image density after peeling off the toner was 0.08 on average in the OD ratio. Although the OD ratio at the time of fixing was 0.97, which was good, the OD ratio of the residual toner after peeling off the image was 0.09, and the reproduction only satisfied the specifications for the first time.

Example 5 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) having a thickness of 100 μm
In order to use a film (Lumilar, manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.) as an image recording medium, a color copying machine (A color 935,
A non-colored toner was prepared without adding a pigment in the process of manufacturing the toner used in Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.), and a non-colored toner developing device was prepared. This is a color copier (A col
or 935, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.) and mounted in a copying machine. In the black and white mode of the toner copying machine, a solid image is developed and fixed on the PET film using the previously installed uncolored toner developing device at a density at which the uncolored toner is uniformly fixed for about one layer, and a transparent PET film is formed. Obtained. The thickness of the non-colored toner layer was about 4.5 μm.

After fixing a color image including a character and a solid image on the PET film by using a normal color copying machine (A color 935, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.), the film is projected by OHP to make it clear. No color was formed and no peeling occurred even when the fixed image was rubbed with paper or nails, and no problem occurred.

Next, the fixing device of this color copying machine was taken out, and instead of a heat roller having a surface layer of silicone rubber, a heat roller whose surface was anodized with aluminum and sealed with a heat-fusible material was used. The metal blade was replaced with a grounded one in order to scrape off the peeled toner material adhering to the heat roller, and was mounted on a color copier. This heat roller played a role as a release material and a heat source for the toner.

When the OHP film, on which the previously produced image is fixed, is passed between the heat roller and the pressure roller in this copying machine, the image on the PET film and the non-colored toner are completely eliminated, and the reproduction is possible. Had become. When these operations were repeated 10 times using the same PET film, almost no problem occurred except that a trace of a rubber roller or the like was conveyed on the back surface during transportation in the apparatus.

Example 6 500 parts of ORGATICS SIC-434 (manufactured by Matsumoto Kosho Co., Ltd.) used in Example 1 and vinyltrimethoxysilane (K
(BM1003, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 10 parts and ethyl acetate 3090 parts were mixed and stirred to obtain a coating liquid. This was dip-coated on the same PET film used in Example 5,
Release properties were imparted to the surface. Further, in the same manner as in Example 5, a solid image was developed and fixed using a non-colored toner developing device at a density at which about one layer of the non-colored toner was uniformly fixed on the PET film to obtain a transparent PET film. This PET
A color image including characters and solid images was fixed using a film in the same manner as in Example 5 using a color copying machine (Acolor 935, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.). Further, when the regenerating process and the evaluation were performed in the same manner, no problems occurred in the toner fixing property, the light transmittance, and the repetitive reproducing. Regarding the repetitive reproduction, since the surface was given release properties, problems such as scratches at the time of transportation which occurred in the case of Example 5 were almost eliminated, and even if the same reproduction was repeated 50 times, it could be sufficiently satisfied. It was confirmed that there was.

Comparative Example 3 The procedure of Example 5 was repeated, except that the heat-fusible material was not used, that is, an untreated PET film that did not fix a transparent toner on the PET film was used. After fixing and regenerating, the OHP film was evaluated. As a result, reproduction was possible, but light scattering occurred due to the unevenness of the toner fixed on the image surface, the light transmittance was poor, and no color was formed. It became something. In addition, the fixability was poor, and it was easily peeled off only by rubbing with paper or nails.

Example 7 Organix SI containing isocyanate silane compound
400 parts of C-434 (manufactured by Matsumoto Koshosha) in 60 parts of ethyl acetate
The mixture was mixed and stirred with 0 parts to obtain a coating solution. This was impregnated into paper (JD paper A4 size for Xerox, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.), air-dried for 5 minutes, and then heat-treated in an oven at 120 ° C. for 1 minute to give a releasability to the paper surface. On top of this, a thermoplastic silicone resin powder (XC
99-A5263, manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) in 100 parts of ethyl acetate.
After air drying for one minute, the resultant was heated in an oven at 100 ° C. for one minute to obtain an image recording sheet. After fixing a color image including a character and a solid image on the sheet using a color copying machine (A color 935, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.), the fixing property was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. As a result, OD
The ratio was 0.96. As a result of performing image separation and reproduction in the same manner as in Example 5, the image density of the residual toner after image separation was 0.03 on average, and the above operation was repeated 10 times to perform reproduction. Also, the OD ratio at the time of fixing is 0.
95, the OD ratio of the residual toner after the image was peeled off was 0.07, and the reproduction was sufficiently repeated.

Example 8 A Notebook type Word Proc having a built-in thermal transfer printer on the image recording paper prepared in Example 7 was used.
essor SLALA (FW-U1N10: Pana
Sonic Co., Ltd.), and an image was formed and fixed with the hot-melt ink. As a result of evaluation of the fixing property in the same manner as in Example 1, the OD ratio was 0.85. The image was peeled and regenerated in the same manner as in Example 5, and the same evaluation was carried out. As a result, the image density of the residual toner after the image was peeled was an average OD ratio of 0.01, and the above operation was repeated 10 times. Even when repetitive reproduction was performed, the OD ratio at the time of fixing was 0.83, and the OD ratio of the residual toner after the image was peeled off was 0.01.

Comparative Example 4 An image was fixed with hot-melt ink in the same manner as in Example 8 using the paper to which no hot-melt material was added in Example 7, and printing was performed with fine lines and high-density portions. There was a part that was not reproduced, and a sufficient image could not be obtained.

Example 9 An image was fixed on the PET film produced in Example 6 in the same manner as in Example 8 using a hot-melt ink. The same evaluation as in Example 5 was performed, but there was no problem in the fixing property, light transmittance, and repeated reproduction of the toner. Regarding the repetitive reproduction, since the surface was given release properties, the problems such as scratches during transportation which occurred in Example 5 were almost eliminated, and the same reproduction was repeated 50 times and found to be satisfactory. Was confirmed.

Comparative Example 5 When a hot-melt ink image was fixed by using an untreated PET film in the same manner as in Example 9, a portion where printing was not reproduced in a thin line or a portion having a low density was formed, or the fixing property was poor. It was bad, and when rubbed, the letters bleed or peeled off, so that sufficient things could not be obtained.

Example 10 A color copying machine (A color 635, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.) was modified as follows to produce a color copying and image peeling / reproducing apparatus. In order to use the non-colored toner used in Example 5 instead of the black toner, the entire developing device was replaced. Here, the color image is formed with three color toners of yellow, magenta and cyan. Since this copier is usually developed first from black toner and transferred onto a recording medium, this non-colored toner was used as a heat-fusible material instead of black toner. Further, the fixing unit attached to the copying machine body is taken out, and usually only a pair of a heat roller and a pressure roller are provided, and as shown in FIG. added. The heat roller combined with the release material had a surface that had been subjected to an anodic oxide film treatment of aluminum and a surface treatment with a heat-fusible material. Each of these two roller pairs is variable and does not operate at the same time, and is modified so that a normal roller pair operates during fixing (FIG. 4) and a newly added roller pair operates during peeling (FIG. 5). did. The modified fixing unit was mounted on a copying machine. In the case of the reproduction mode, the image recording medium is simply conveyed to the peeling roller in the fixing unit when passing through the apparatus.

In the above copying machine, the image recording paper prepared in Example 1 with the surface releasable was attached, and the non-colored toner, yellow toner, magenta toner, and cyan toner were placed on the image recording paper in the copy mode. A color image including a character and a solid image was sequentially placed thereon, and each color was fixed at the same time.

The fixing property was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. As a result, the OD ratio was 0.96 on average. Further, the image recording paper on which this image was formed was mounted on the above-described apparatus, and the image peeling and reproduction was performed in the reproduction mode. The evaluation of the paper after peeling was performed in the same manner as in Example 5. As a result, the residual toner image density after peeling off the image was 0.045 on average on the OD ratio. Also, the OD ratio at the time of fixing was 0.92, and the OD ratio of the residual toner after the image was peeled was 0.07, and the reproduction was sufficiently repeated.

Example 11 The color copier modified and manufactured in Example 10 was further modified so that the non-colored toner was uniformly applied on the entire surface of the transparent image recording medium. A PET film provided with a release property on the surface prepared in Example 6 was mounted thereon, and a non-colored toner, a yellow toner, a magenta toner,
A color image including a character and a solid image was placed in the order of cyan toner, and each color was fixed at the same time. There was no problem in the fixing property and light transmittance of the toner. In the same manner, when the image was peeled off and reproduced in the reproduction mode and evaluated, it was possible to reproduce the same PET film as the initial one. Regarding repetitive reproduction, the same reproduction was repeated 30 times, and it was confirmed that the reproduction was sufficiently satisfactory.

Example 12 A copying machine (Able1301α, manufactured by Fuji Xerox) was modified as follows. As shown in FIG. 4, a pair of a heat roller and a pressure roller also serving as a peeling material was further added to the fixing unit taken out of the copying machine main body, where only a pair of a heat roller and a pressure roller were normally provided. The heat roller combined with the release material had a surface that had been subjected to an anodic oxide film treatment of aluminum and a surface treatment with a heat-fusible material. Each of these two roller pairs is variable and does not operate at the same time, and is modified so that a normal roller pair operates during fixing (FIG. 4) and a newly added roller pair operates during peeling (FIG. 5). did. The modified fixing unit was mounted on a copying machine. On the other hand, this copying machine had two developing units, and was mounted so that one-color toner was selected in addition to black toner. Here, a white toner produced by adding a white powder pigment of titanium oxide in place of the red pigment in the production process of the red toner is used as a heat-fusible material, and one of the developing units is a developing unit of the hot-melt powder (white toner). Used as When the mode is switched to the two-color copying mode using the developing device, the fixing unit described above is used in FIG.
The image is fixed and ejected in the state described above, and the state is changed from the state shown in FIG. 4 to the state shown in FIG. 5 when the reproduction mode is set. A new paper tray for reproduction is set up, and image forming paper to be reproduced as blank paper is supplied from now on.

When the image recording paper prepared in Example 1 with the releasability imparted to the surface prepared in Example 1 is discharged from the normal tray, the image area is exposed on the photosensitive member in accordance with a normal copying machine process, and the image is exposed. An electrostatic latent image was formed, the latent image was developed with a black toner, and a white toner was further developed on the black toner by using the potential difference remaining as it was. The developed toner is transferred onto the conveyed image recording paper to form a toner layer in which white toner and black toner are laminated in this order, and are conveyed to the fixing unit in the state shown in FIG. did. The overall layout configuration of the modified copier was as shown in FIG. The fixing property was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1, and as a result, the OD ratio was 0.90 on average.

Next, the reproduction of the image recording paper was evaluated using this modified copying machine. The image recording paper on which the above-described image was formed was set on the toner removal and reproduction tray shown in FIG. 6, the reproduction mode was set, and the copier was started.
The image recording paper was completely reproduced and discharged from the copying machine. As a result of evaluation of the paper after peeling in the same manner as in Example 1,
The image density of the residual toner after image peeling was 0.02 on average in the OD ratio, and the above operation was repeated 10 times and reproduction was performed. The OD ratio of the remaining toner was 0.03, and the reproduction was sufficiently repeated.

Example 13 In Example 12, a colorless toner produced without adding a pigment was used in place of the white toner, and the colorless toner was further modified so as to be uniformly applied on the entire surface of the transparent image recording medium. A PET film provided with a releasing property on the surface prepared in Example 6 was attached thereto, and a character image was formed on a photosensitive member with black toner in a fixing mode in the same manner as in Example 12, and a solid image was entirely formed thereon. The image was developed with a colored toner, transferred to a PET film in the order of a non-colored toner and a black toner, and simultaneously fixed. There was no problem in the toner fixability and light transmittance of this film. The image was peeled and reproduced in the reproduction mode in the same manner, and the evaluation was carried out. Regarding repetitive reproduction, when the same reproduction was repeated 30 times, it was confirmed that the reproduction was sufficiently satisfactory.

Example 14 Organix SI containing isocyanate silane compound
300 parts of C-434 (manufactured by Matsumoto Koshosha) in 50 parts of ethyl acetate
The mixture was mixed and stirred with 0 parts to obtain a coating solution. This is 100μ thick
m was coated on a PET film with a bar coater, air-dried for 5 minutes, and then heat-treated in an oven at 100 ° C. for 1 minute to prepare a transparent film substrate having a surface releasable.

Next, the color copying machine (Ac
color 935, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.), since the binder resin of the toner, which is an image forming material, is a polyester resin, the same polyester resin (Vylon 300, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) is used as the heat-fusible material. The sheet film was stretched under heat and pressure to produce a sheet film having a thickness of about 50 μm. This was put on the PET film having releasability previously prepared, and heat-treated in an oven at 120 ° C. for 1 minute,
An image recording film was prepared by fixing a heat-fusible material on a PET film.

A color image including a character and a solid image was fixed on the image recording film by using a color copying machine (A color 935, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.). When the obtained OHP film was projected by light, there was no false contour (blur at the boundary between the image portion and the non-image portion, etc.)
The color developed well, and the fixed image did not come off even when rubbed with a nail or paper, and there was no problem at all.

The OHP film on which the image has been formed is shown in FIG.
In the playback device shown in FIG. If the OHP film is transported inside by the transport rollers and the transport belt,
The image was heated from above the image by a heater heated to 05 ° C., and the toner and the heat-fusible material were melted. The PET film and the heat-fusible material containing toner were separated by a strip finger while the surface was kept in pressure contact with a release material roller whose surface was anodized (FIG. 2). The toner was completely removed from the PET film. When these operations were repeated 10 times using the same transparent film base material, except for the trace of the rubber roller on the back surface during the transportation in the apparatus, for example, the fixing property of the toner, the light transmittance, and the repetitive reproduction were completely different. There was no problem and the transparent film substrate could be easily regenerated.

Example 15 On the transparent film base material prepared in Example 14, thermoplastic silicone resin fine particles (XR39
A coating solution obtained by dissolving 100 parts of -B1676: manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd. in 1000 parts of ethyl acetate is applied with a bar coater, air-dried for 5 minutes, and then heat-treated in an oven at 100 ° C. for 1 minute to obtain a transparent solution. On a film substrate, a film thickness of about 10μ
m, a layer made of a heat-fusible material was formed to obtain an image recording film. An image was fixed on this image recording film in the same manner as in Example 14, and the same evaluation was performed. As a result, it was confirmed that there was no problem at all. Further, when used repeatedly, there was no problem as in the case of Example 14, and the transparent film substrate could be easily reproduced.

Example 16 On the transparent film substrate prepared in Example 14, thermoplastic silicone resin fine particles (XR39
-B1676: 100 parts of Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) and a coating liquid obtained by dissolving 4 parts of an acrylic resin having an average particle size of 5 μm in 1400 parts of ethyl acetate, are coated with a bar coater, air-dried for 5 minutes, and then heated to 100 ° C. For 1 minute in an oven
A heat-fusible material layer having a thickness of about 6 μm was formed on a transparent film substrate to obtain an image recording film. An image was fixed on this image recording film in the same manner as in Example 14, and the same evaluation was performed. As a result, it was confirmed that there was no problem at all. Further, when used repeatedly, there was no problem as in the case of Example 14, and the transparent film substrate could be easily reproduced.

Example 17 A thermoplastic silicone resin fine particle (XR39) was formed on the transparent film substrate prepared in Example 14 as a heat-fusible material.
-B1676: manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) and 100 parts of silicone resin fine particles having an average particle diameter of 3 μm were mixed with ethyl acetate 1
A coating solution obtained by dissolving in 500 parts was coated with a bar coater, air-dried for 5 minutes, and then heat-treated in an oven at 100 ° C. for 1 minute to form a heat-fusible film having a thickness of about 4 μm on a transparent film substrate. A material layer was formed to obtain an image recording film. An image was fixed on this image recording film in the same manner as in Example 14, and the same evaluation was performed. As a result, it was confirmed that there was no problem at all. Further, when used repeatedly, there was no problem as in the case of Example 14, and the transparent film substrate could be easily reproduced.

Comparative Example 6 A color image including a character and a solid image was fixed on a 100 μm thick PET film in the same manner as in Example 14 without providing a layer of a heat-fusible material. As a result of the same evaluation of the PET film, the toner fixed on the image surface has a large unevenness on its surface, especially at the boundary between the image area and the non-image area because there is no image receiving layer made of a heat-fusible material. As a result, light scattering occurred, the outline was not clear, and the light transmittance was poor, and each color did not develop, and the color was slightly projected on a monochrome OHP film. In addition, the fixability was poor, and it was easily peeled off only by rubbing with paper or nails. When the image was removed, the toner could be removed, but a thin image mark remained on the PET film, and good reproduction could not be performed.

Example 18 Organix SI containing isocyanate silane compound
400 parts of C-434 (manufactured by Matsumoto Koshosha) in 60 parts of ethyl acetate
The mixture was mixed and stirred with 0 parts to obtain a coating solution. This was impregnated into paper (JD paper A4 size for Xerox, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.), air-dried for 5 minutes, and then heat-treated in an oven at 120 ° C. for 1 minute to give a releasability to the paper surface. On top of this, a thermoplastic silicone resin powder (XR
39-B1676, manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) 100 parts of ethyl acetate was dissolved in 1000 parts of dip coating.
After air drying for one minute, the resultant was heated in an oven at 100 ° C. for one minute to obtain an image recording sheet. On this paper, a Notebook type Word Pro with a built-in thermal transfer printer
cessor SLALA (FW-U1N10: Pan
(manufactured by Asonic Co., Ltd.), and an image was formed and fixed with a hot-melt ink.

Evaluation of Toner Fixing Property:
A commercially available 18 mm-wide cellophane adhesive tape (manufactured by Nichiban) is stuck to a solid image portion having a density of about 1.8 as measured with a Rite 938 densitometer (manufactured by X-Rite) at a linear pressure of 300 g / cm and 10 mm / sec. . The evaluation was performed using the ratio of the image density after peeling to the image density before peeling (hereinafter abbreviated as OD ratio) when peeling at the speed of (3) as an index (OD ratio =
Image density after peeling / image density before peeling). This ratio is required to be 0.8 or more as an image recording sheet for electrophotography.
7, indicating that the fixability was sufficient.

Next, image peeling and reproduction were performed in the same manner as in Example 14. The residual toner after the toner was peeled was evaluated using the OD ratio as an index in the same manner as the evaluation of the toner fixing property. As the image density at which the residual toner is not bothersome, the OD ratio is 0.08.
The following is desirable, but the average is 0.03 in this image recording sheet, and a sufficient result was obtained. Repeated reproduction was performed using this recording paper. Even when the recording was repeated 10 times, the OD ratio at the time of fixing was 0.93, and the OD ratio of the residual toner after image peeling was 0.08. I was able to.

Example 19 A color copying machine (A color 935, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.) was modified as follows to produce a color copying and image peeling / reproducing apparatus. In the production process of the toner used in this color copying machine, a non-colored toner having the same composition as that except for not containing a pigment is produced, and the non-colored toner is placed in a non-colored toner developing device for use. It was replaced with a black toner developing unit of a copying machine and mounted in a color copying machine. Here, the color image is yellow,
Magenta and cyan toners were formed.
This copier is usually first developed from black toner,
This non-colored toner was used as a heat-fusible material instead of the black toner because it was transferred onto a recording medium. Further, the fixing unit attached to the copying machine body is taken out, and usually only a pair of a heat roller and a pressure roller are provided, and as shown in FIG. added. The heat roller combined with the release material had a surface that had been subjected to an anodic oxide film treatment of aluminum and a surface treatment with a heat-fusible material. Each of these two roller pairs is variable and does not operate at the same time, and is modified so that a normal roller pair operates during fixing (FIG. 4) and a newly added roller pair operates during peeling (FIG. 5). did. The modified fixing unit was mounted on a copying machine. In the case of the reproduction mode, the image recording medium is simply conveyed to the peeling roller in the fixing unit when passing through the apparatus.

In the above copying machine, the image recording paper prepared in Example 18 with the surface releasable was attached, and the non-colored toner, yellow toner, magenta toner, and cyan toner were placed on the image recording paper in the copy mode. A color image including a character and a solid image was sequentially placed thereon, and each color was fixed at the same time.

The fixing property was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 18. As a result, the OD ratio was 0.95 on average. Further, the image recording paper on which this image was formed was mounted on the above-described apparatus, and the image peeling and reproduction was performed in the reproduction mode. As a result of evaluation of the paper after peeling in the same manner as in Example 18, the residual toner image density after peeling off the image was 0.04 on average on the OD ratio, and the above operation was repeated 10 times to reproduce. OD at the time of fixing
The ratio was 0.92, and the OD ratio of the residual toner after peeling off the image was 0.06. Thus, it was possible to sufficiently regenerate the image.

Example 20 Tetraisocyanate silane (Orgatic SI-4)
00, manufactured by Matsumoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), 40 parts of α, ω-dihydroxypolydimethylsiloxane, 1 part of dibutyl acid phosphate as a curing reaction modifier and 200 parts of ethyl acetate
0 parts were mixed and stirred to obtain a coating solution. This is 100
It was applied on a PET film having a thickness of μm with a bar coater, air-dried for 5 minutes, and then heat-treated in an oven at 100 ° C. for 1 minute to give the PET film surface releasability. This was performed in the same manner as in Example 19, using a non-colored toner developing device.
A solid image was developed and fixed at a density at which several layers of non-colored toner were uniformly fixed on the film to obtain a transparent image forming film. Using this image forming film, a color image including characters and solid images was fixed using a color copying machine (A color 935, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.) in the same manner as in Example 19. Further, when the regenerating process and the evaluation were performed in the same manner, no problems occurred in the toner fixing property, the light transmittance, and the repetitive reproducing. When the reproduction was repeated 30 times in the same manner, it was confirmed that the reproduction was sufficiently satisfactory.

Example 21 A copying machine (Able1301α, manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.) was modified as follows. The fixing unit in the copying machine main body was taken out, and a pair of a heat roller and a pressure roller also serving as a peeling material was further added as shown in FIG. The heat roller combined with the release material had a surface that had been subjected to an anodic oxide film treatment of aluminum and a surface treatment with a heat-fusible material.
Each of these two roller pairs is variable and does not operate at the same time, and is modified so that a normal roller pair operates during fixing (FIG. 4) and a newly added roller pair operates during peeling (FIG. 5). did. The modified fixing unit was mounted on a copying machine. On the other hand, this copying machine had two developing units, and was mounted so that one-color toner was selected in addition to black toner. Here, a white toner produced by adding a white powder pigment of titanium oxide in place of the red pigment in the production process of the red toner is used as the heat-fusible material, and one of the developing units is used to develop the heat-meltable powder (white toner). Used as a vessel. When the mode is switched to the two-color copying mode using the developing device, the image is fixed and discharged in the fixing unit described above in the state of FIG. 4, and when the reproduction mode is set, the state of FIG. In addition to the tray used for normal copying, a new paper tray for reproduction is installed in the paper feeder section, and image forming paper to be reproduced as blank paper will be fed in the future. I was doing it.

When the image recording paper with the releasability imparted to the surface prepared in Example 18 is discharged from the normal tray, the image area is exposed on the photoreceptor in accordance with a normal copying machine process, and the image is exposed. An electrostatic latent image was formed, the electrostatic latent image was developed with a black toner, and a white toner was further developed on the black toner by utilizing the potential difference remaining as it was. The developed toner is transferred onto the conveyed image recording paper to form a toner layer in which white toner and black toner are laminated in this order, and are conveyed to the fixing unit in the state shown in FIG. did. Figure 6 shows the overall layout of the modified copier.
Was shown. The fixing property was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 18, and as a result, the OD ratio was 0.90 on average.

Next, the reproduction of the image recording paper was evaluated using this modified copier. The image recording paper on which the above-described image was formed was set on the toner removal and reproduction tray shown in FIG. 6, the reproduction mode was set, and the copier was started.
The image recording paper was completely reproduced and discharged from the copying machine. As a result of evaluating the paper after peeling in the same manner as in Example 18, the image density of the residual toner after peeling the image was 0.02 on average in the OD ratio, and the above operation was repeated 10 times to reproduce. As a result, the OD ratio at the time of fixing was 0.93,
The OD ratio of the residual toner after image peeling is 0.03,
It was possible to perform the reproduction sufficiently repeatedly.

Example 22 In Example 21, a colorless toner produced without adding a pigment was used in place of the white toner, and the colorless toner was further modified so as to be uniformly applied on the entire surface of the transparent image recording medium. A PET film having release properties provided on the surface prepared in Example 14 was attached thereto, and a character image was formed on a photoconductor with black toner in a fixing mode in the same manner as in Example 21, and a solid image was entirely formed thereon. The image was developed with a colored toner, transferred to a PET film in the order of a non-colored toner and a black toner, and simultaneously fixed. There was no problem in the toner fixability and light transmittance of this film. The image was peeled and reproduced in the reproduction mode in the same manner, and the evaluation was carried out. Regarding repetitive reproduction, when the same reproduction was repeated 30 times, it was confirmed that the reproduction was sufficiently satisfactory.

[0102]

As described above, the method for forming an image on a reproducible image recording medium, the method for reproducing an image recording medium, and the apparatus for reproducing the same according to the present invention have the above-mentioned constitutions, and are apparent from the embodiments. The following excellent effects are exhibited. That is,
It is possible to use the apparatus as a device that can be used for both copying and recording sheet reproduction by slightly modifying a normal copying machine, so that it can be reproduced on the spot in an office or at home by an individual. Therefore, there is no need to introduce a new device for reproduction, so that no cost is required and space can be saved. Further, it is possible to cope with not only the black copy but also the color copy, and the repetition stability is sufficient. In addition, since paper and plastic films can be regenerated repeatedly, from the viewpoint of the global environment, the effects of reducing resource use and reducing CO ₂ emissions into the atmosphere (preventing global warming) can be further expected. It is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a reproducing apparatus used for a reproducing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which an image recording sheet is reproduced in the reproducing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an example of a copying apparatus in which the reproducing apparatus of the present invention is incorporated.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state of the fixing unit in FIGS. 3 and 6 in a copy mode.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state of the fixing unit in FIGS. 3 and 6 in a reproduction mode.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of another example of a copying apparatus incorporating the reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, conveying roller, 3 pressure roller, 4 conveying belt, 5 peeling roller, 6 heater, 7 heat insulating material, 8
... Removed object collection box, 9,10 ... Conveyance roller, 11 ...
Strip finger, 12 ... cleaning blade,
Reference Signs List 13: image recording medium, 14: toner, 15: heat-fusible material, 30: fixing unit, 31: heat roller, 32 ...
Pressing roller, 33: Heat roller also serving as release material, 34: Pressing roller, 36: Black toner developing device, 37: Reproducing developing device, 39: Toner removing / reproducing tray, 40: Transfer device, 4
1: photoreceptor, 46: developing unit.

Claims (23)

[Claims] An image is formed by providing a layer of a heat-fusible material having a higher affinity for an image forming material than an affinity for an image recording material on an image recording material, and further laminating the image forming material thereon. An image forming method. 2. The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein the image recording body is made of a transparent material, and a layer made of the heat-fusible material is provided on the entire surface of the image recording body. 3. The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein the image recording body is one having a surface to which releasability has been imparted in advance. 4. The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein the image forming material and the heat fusible material each include the same heat fusible component. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the layer of the heat-fusible material is provided by an electrophotographic method.
2. The image forming method according to 1., 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method of providing the layer of the heat-fusible material and the method of forming an image of the image-forming material on the layer of the heat-fusible material are the same. Item 3. The image forming method according to Item 2. 7. The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein a material containing fine particles is used as the heat-fusible material. 8. The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein a powdery heat-fusible material is used as the heat-fusible material. 9. The image forming method according to claim 8, wherein a material capable of holding a constant charge is used as the powdery heat-fusible material. 10. The image forming method according to claim 8, wherein a toner is used as the powdery heat-fusible material. 11. The image forming method according to claim 8, wherein the powdery heat-fusible material is colorless, transparent or white when melted. 12. An image in which a layer made of a heat-fusible material having a higher affinity for an image forming material than an affinity for an image recording body is provided on an image recording body, and an image formed of the image forming material is further formed thereon. A method for reproducing an image recording body, comprising: pressing a recording body against an opposite release material while heating the image formation material, and transferring the image formation material from the image recording material to the release material. 13. A method for reproducing an image recording material, comprising transferring a layer made of an image forming material and an image made of a heat-fusible material from an image recording material to a release material. 14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the surface of the image recording body is provided with a release property in advance. 15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the image forming material and the heat fusible material each contain the same heat fusible component. 16. The method according to claim 12, wherein the layer of the heat-fusible material is provided by an electrophotographic method. 17. The method according to claim 12, wherein the method of providing the layer of the heat-fusible material and the method of forming an image of the image-forming material on the layer of the heat-fusible material are the same. 14. A method for reproducing an image recording medium according to claim 13. 18. The method according to claim 12, wherein the heat-fusible material contains fine particles. 19. The method according to claim 12, wherein the heat-fusible material is in a powder form. 20. The heat-fusible material in powder form capable of holding a constant charge.
3. The method for reproducing an image recording medium according to item 1. 21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the powdery heat-fusible material is a toner. 22. The method according to claim 19, wherein the heat-fusible material in a powder form is colorless, transparent or white when melted. 23. A printing apparatus comprising: means for heating an image formed of an image forming material; and means for pressing an image recording material against a release material to transfer the image forming material from the image recording material to the release material. A layer of a heat-fusible material having a higher affinity for the image forming material than the affinity for the image-recorded material is provided on the image-recorded material, and an image-recorded material on which an image formed of the heat-fusible material is further formed is reproduced. Device for reproducing an image recording medium.