JPS6023034B2 - non-impact serial printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electrostatic recording type non-impact serial printer.

Conventionally, there are various non-impact serial printers such as thermal type, inkjet type, discharge recording type, etc., but thermal type and discharge recording type printers require expensive special paper such as thermal paper, which increases the running cost. It is known that there are disadvantages that make it unsuitable for long-term storage records due to high temperature and changes due to temperature and aging.

On the other hand, inkjet printers have problems such as clogging of ink jet nozzles and missing dots due to air bubbles.
It is also known that complex configurations and controls are required to solve these problems. Attempts have also been made to develop a serial printer using an electrophotographic process, but since the electrophotographic process requires a large light source and optical system, no practical printer has yet appeared. In view of the above-mentioned actual situation of non-impact serial printers, the present invention aims to provide a non-impact serial printer that has low running costs, can keep records for long-term storage, and is practical. The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a side view showing the main part of the printing shown in FIG. 1. In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a printing paper that is intermittently fed in the direction of the arrow by a feeding mechanism (not shown), 2 is a platen, and on the front side thereof is a magnet having a vertical plane facing the printing section. A board 3 is embedded along the printing line.

4 is a carriage equipped with a printing mechanism to be described later; 5 is a screw shaft having a spiral thread on its surface; the screw shaft drives the carriage carriage 4 in the horizontal direction by rotation thereof; 6 is the carriage; A guide shaft 7 guides the horizontal movement of 4 and is vertically movably supported by a side frame (not shown), and 7 has an insulating layer on the surface of a conductive base material. The hollow drum 7a of the mold is supported by a plurality of movable spokes 7b, and the disc-shaped base of the spoke group is fixed to a rotating shaft 7c. It penetrates through and has a gear 8 at its end that engages with the screw shaft 6.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5, 9 is an aperture board having a plurality of through holes 9a in the vertical direction (in the direction directly to the printing line), and around the through holes 9a on one side of the aperture board. are provided with gate electrodes 9b which are independent of each other, and a common electrode gc is provided at the bottom of the through hole ga on the other surface.

10 is a corona discharger in which a corona wire 10a to which a high voltage is applied is surrounded by a shield case 10b, and is provided at a position facing the aperture board.

Reference numeral 11 is a dry type developer that converts the static fin latent image into a visible powder image using magnetic toner 12; 13 is a heat fixing light source such as a halogen lamp; and 14 is a light source for directing the light from the heat fixing light source 13 onto the printing line. The converging cylindrical lens 15 is a cleaner that removes residual toner on the rotating drum.

The rotating drum 7, the aperture board 9, the corona discharger 10, the developing device 11, the heat fixing light source 13, the cylindrical lens 14, and the cleaner 15 are all mounted on the carriage 4.
mounted on top. Next, the printing operation of the above configuration will be explained.

In the printing state, the outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum 7 on the carriage 4 is in contact with the printing paper 1 on the platen 2. When the printing operation is started, the screw shaft 5 is driven to rotate, and the carriage 4 is sent rightward at a constant speed. At the same time, the rotation of the screw shaft 5 is transmitted to the rotating drum 7 via the gear 8, and this rotating drum 7 rotates in synchronization with the movement of the carriage 4. In the corona discharger 10, molecules such as oxygen and nitrogen in the air around the corona wire 10a are ionized by corona discharge.

The intestinal ions generated here move toward the rotating drum 7 due to the electric field between them and the rotating drum 7. Printing is controlled by an averture board 9.

As shown in FIG. 6, the aperture board 9 is arranged so that the common electrode 9c faces the rotating drum 7 side.
0 and the rotating drum 7. A constant voltage is applied to the common electrode 9c, and the gate electrode 9b on the opposite side is connected to an independent switching circuit, and a positive or negative voltage is applied to the common electrode 9c depending on the pattern signal to be printed. Apply. Due to the electric field between the two electrodes 9b and 9c, as shown in FIG. 6, one through hole 9a allows intestinal ions 16 to pass through, while another through hole 9a blocks the passage of cations 16.
The ion flow passing through the aperture board 9 is transferred to the rotating drum 7.
It attaches to the surface and positively charges its surface. Therefore, an electrostatic image of a dot pattern is formed on the rotating drum 7. For example, when printed characters are composed of a dot matrix of 9 vertical by 7 horizontal, at least 9 through holes ga are provided in the aperture board, and the gate electrode gb is connected to a positive and negative voltage source with respect to the common electrode 9c. All you have to do is give them seven opportunities to choose. The static latent image of the dot pattern thus formed is visualized by the adhesion of negatively charged magnetic toner 12 in the developing device 11.

This visible powder image is brought to a contact position with the printing paper 1 by the rotation of the rotary drum 7, and the magnetic toner 12 is absorbed by the magnetic force of the magnet plate 3 and transferred onto the printing paper 1. The transferred visible image is irradiated with light from a heat fixing light source 13 through a cylindrical lens 14, and the transferred image is fixed on the printing paper 1 by the light heat. After the transfer is completed, residual toner is removed from the rotating drum 7 by a cleaner 15. At the same time, the cleaner 15 is made of conductive rubber and is grounded to eliminate static electricity from the surface of the rotating drum 7. Note that a static eliminator may be provided separately from the cleaner 15. Ions are again attached to the rotary drum 7 after the static electricity has been removed by the aperture board 9, forming a static latent image, and the above operation is repeated.

The rotating drum 7 is rotated by the sweeping operation of the carriage 4.
moves to the right with respect to the printing paper 1 and simultaneously rotates in synchronization with this, and each time the carriage 4 advances by the distance between one dot row, a new row of dot pattern visible powder images is transferred one by one.

When printing on a new line, the guide shaft 6 is moved downward by a drive means (not shown), the carriage 4 is rotated as shown by the dotted line in Figure 2, and the rotating drum 7 is moved away from the printing paper 1. Thereafter, the printing paper 1 is fed by one line, and the screw shaft 5 is rotated in the opposite direction to return the carriage 4 to the home position. After this, the guide shaft 6 is returned to its original position and printing operation for a new line begins. Furthermore, printing paper 1
Even if the paper thickness becomes somewhat thicker, since the rotating drum 7 is hollow and supported by flexible spokes as described above,
It can bloom according to the paper thickness, and changes in paper thickness do not pose a problem.

Further, in the above embodiment, the circumferential surface of the rotating drum 7 is composed of a conductive base material and an insulator thereon, but a photosensitive layer may be provided over the entire circumferential surface. When an Se-based photoreceptor is used for the photosensitive layer, a positive high voltage is applied to the corona wire 10a as in the above embodiment, and when an organic photoreceptor such as PVK (polyvinyl carbazole) is used, a negative high voltage is applied. Apply. When these photoreceptors are used, a light source may be provided to expose the entire circumferential surface of the rotating drum 7 to light after the transfer, and the drum 7 may be cleaned by this light source. As explained above, according to the present invention, the non-impact printing means can be made smaller and simpler by using an aperture board in which a plurality of through holes are provided in a direction perpendicular to the printing line, and this printing means is mounted on a carriage. This makes it possible to provide a serial printer that is highly practical and versatile.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Fig. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.
3 to 5 are views showing details of some of the components in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the principle of latent image formation in the present invention. . 1... Print paper, 2... Platen, 3
...Magnetic plate, 4...Carriage,
7...Rotating drum, 9...Aperture board, 9a...Through hole, 10...Corona fin device, 11...Developer, 13...Light source, 15...Cleaner. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. a corona discharger, an aperture board having a plurality of through holes in a direction perpendicular to the printing line, and provided with electrodes around the through holes for controlling the passage of ions generated from the corona discharger; A rotating drum whose outer peripheral surface is in contact with the printing paper and on which ions that have passed through the aperture board adhere to form an electrostatic latent image, and a magnetic toner is supplied to visualize the electrostatic latent image on the rotating drum. It has a carrier equipped with a developing device, a thermal fixing optical means that heats and fixes the transferred image on the printing paper by shining light on it, and a platen equipped with a magnetic plate along the printing line. The rotary drum is rotated in synchronization with the movement of the carrier, and an electrostatic latent image of a dot pattern formed by controlling the electrodes is developed and sequentially transferred onto printing paper and fixed. Non-impact serial printer.