JPS6321893B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ion flow electrostatic recording device that records an electrostatic latent image on a recording medium while controlling distribution and cutting of an ion flow from a corona generator using a control electrode plate, and particularly relates to This prevents disturbances in the electric field generated on one surface of the control electrode plate, thereby preventing disturbances in the traveling direction of the ion flow and unevenness in the ion concentration of the electrostatic latent image.

A conventional ion current electrostatic recording device, which is a prior art of the present invention, will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

In the ion flow electrostatic recording device 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the corona generator 2 has an opening 4 formed by cutting out a part of the cylinder in the axial direction.
A so-called corotron is used, which is made up of a metal cylinder 4 shaped like the letter a and a corona wire 3 disposed in the axial direction at the center of the metal cylinder 4. This corona generator 2 has a high voltage (e.g.
8KV) is applied to cause corona discharge, which ionizes oxygen, etc. in the air. For example, if the metal cylinder 4 is grounded and a voltage of about +8 KV is applied to the corona wire 3 using the voltage source 5, negative ions will exist only in the vicinity of the corona wire 3, while positive ions will exist in the corona wire. 3 and the metal cylinder 4. Next, in the opening 4a of this metal cylinder 4,
A metal drum 8 serving as a back electrode (also referred to as a counter electrode) is arranged to face the control electrode plate 6 and the recording paper 7, and a slider is connected to the metal drum 8 from a voltage source 10. A negative voltage of opposite polarity to the corona wire 3 is applied via an electrical connection member such as 9;
For example, apply −3K to −4KV. At this time,
An electric field E _P is formed between the corona generator 2 and the metal drum 8 serving as the back electrode, and the metal cylinder 4
The positive ions that have spread inside are directed toward the metal drum 8, which is the back electrode, by the electric field _EP . Next, the control electrode plate 6 is formed by depositing metal electrode layers 12 and 13 on both sides of an insulating plate 11 made of polyimide resin, etc., and applying ions to the central part of the part facing the opening 4a of the corona generator 2. It is formed by drilling a small hole 14 that becomes a flow path. A control voltage of approximately ±100V from a control voltage source 15 is applied between the pair of metal electrode layers 12 and 13. Therefore, a fringe electric field E _F is generated in the small hole 14 due to the peripheral electrodes, and this fringe electric field E _F and the above electric field
The electric field of the vector sum of E _P acts on ions attempting to pass through the small hole 14 . Therefore, the flow of ions can be controlled by changing the polarity of the control voltage between positive and negative. This ion flow reaches the recording paper 7 and charges a small area facing the small hole 14, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image on the recording paper 7. Although this electrostatic latent image is invisible, a visible image can be obtained by attaching and fixing toner or ink mist charged with the opposite polarity (for example, negative).

Next, on the control electrode plate 6, a plurality of the small holes 14 are arranged, for example, in a row, and the arrangement direction is the width direction of the recording paper 7 (this is called the main scanning direction). There is. Moreover, the metal electrode layer 12,
At least one of the metal electrode layers 13 facing the recording paper 7, for example, has land portions 16, 16, . . . surrounding each of the small holes 14, 14, . . . . and conductive wiring paths 17, 17 for electrical connection of these land portions 16, 16, . By independently applying a control voltage to these land portions 16, 16, each small hole 14,
14... The amount of ions passing through each of them is independently controlled. For example, the metal electrode layer 12
By selectively applying 0 V or 200 V to the land portion 16, the ion flow can be controlled to be in a damped state or a flowing state. Therefore,
An electrostatic latent image of a pattern such as a desired figure or character can be recorded on the recording paper 7.

By the way, when recording and forming an electrostatic latent image by such ion flow control, the small holes 14, 14...
It is important that the ion streams that have passed through reach the recording paper 7 or the like on the back electrode while drawing trajectories parallel to each other. However, in the control electrode plate 6 like the conventional ion flow electrostatic recording device 1 described above, the electric field generated between the land portions 16, 16, . . . of the small holes 14, 14, . As a result, the parallelism of the ion flow may be disturbed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, two small holes 14a adjacent to each other along the main scanning direction,
When different control voltages are applied to land portions 16a and 16b of 14b, for example, 0V is applied to land portion 16a, and 200V is applied to land portion 16b.
When applying each of
The ion flow that has passed through a is deflected to the left in the figure. For this reason, the latent image on the recording paper 7 is recorded at a position _P1 shifted in the main scanning direction from the position _P0 where it should originally be recorded, which is undesirable.
In particular, when a large number of small holes are arranged in a dense array to increase resolution, the distance between the small holes becomes short, and the electric field strength between the small holes increases in inverse proportion to this distance. Therefore, the positional deviation becomes even larger, and the resolution deteriorates on the contrary.

It is also conceivable to use a control electrode plate in which the land portion 16 is formed on the surface facing the corona generator 2, but in this case, the ion flow trying to flow into the small holes 14 will be directed in the main scanning direction. The amount of ion flow changes due to the influence of the electric field, resulting in uneven concentration.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an ion current electrostatic recording device that eliminates such conventional drawbacks and can prevent the above-described positional shift and density unevenness with a simple configuration.

That is, the features of the ion current electrostatic recording device according to the present invention include a corona generator, a control electrode plate having a plurality of small holes for controlling the flow of ions generated by the corona generator, and a control electrode plate of the control electrode plate. In an ion flow electrostatic recording device having a back electrode that electrostatically attracts an ion flow passing through a small hole, at least three metal electrode layers are arranged in parallel to each other on the control electrode plate, and these metal electrodes are arranged in parallel to each other. A constant voltage is applied to each of the small holes using the outer two layers as common electrodes, and at least one metal electrode layer disposed between these common electrodes is used as a control electrode to apply a constant voltage to each of the small holes. By independently applying a voltage to each of the pores, this control electrode and one of the common electrodes independently form a control electric field in each of the small holes, and the other of the common electrodes causes disturbances in the surface electric field. The goal is to prevent it.

Another feature of the present invention is that in the ion flow electrostatic recording device having the above features, an insulating plate for electrical insulation is provided between the at least three metal electrode layers of the control electrode plate. It is.

Therefore, by using the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to easily eliminate disturbances in the direction of the ion flow and unevenness in the ion flow rate, which were caused by disturbances in the electric field in the lateral direction (for example, the main scanning direction) of the conventional control electrode plate. It is possible to prevent the electrostatic latent image from shifting its position or from uneven density. Also, because it is easy to configure,
Great performance improvements can be achieved at low cost.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.
This will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention. The ion flow electrostatic recording device 21 shown in FIG. 5 includes a corona generator 22, a control electrode plate 30 for controlling the flow of ions generated from the corona generator 22 through a plurality of small holes 34, It is provided with at least a metal drum 28, for example, which serves as a back electrode that electrostatically attracts ions that have passed through the small holes 34 of the control electrode plate 30. The corona generator 22 is, for example, a substantially cylindrical metal cylinder 2.
4 and a corona wire 23 disposed near the central axis position of the metal cylinder 24, and a part of the outer wall of the metal cylinder 24 is cut out along the axial direction to form an opening 24a. . As described above, this corona generator 22 applies a high voltage of about 6 to 8 KV between the corona wire 23 and the metal cylinder 24 to cause corona discharge and generate ions inside the metal cylinder 24. . The positive and negative polarities of the ions generated at this time are determined by the corona wire 23.
is equal to the polarity of the voltage applied to it. For example, if the metal cylinder 24 is grounded (0V applied) and +8KV is applied to the corona wire 23 from the high voltage source 25, positive ions are emitted inside the metal cylinder 24.

Next, the corona wire 28 is attached to the metal drum 28, which becomes the back electrode, so as to attract the ions.
A high voltage with a polarity such that positive and negative are opposite to that of 3 is applied. For example, when the above-mentioned positive ions are generated, the positive ions are supplied to the metal drum 28 from the high voltage source 26 through an electrical connection member such as the slider 29.
Apply a negative high voltage of 3KV to -4KV. Also,
As a recording medium, for example, a recording paper 27 may be placed on a metal drum 28, and an electrostatic latent image formed by the ions may be recorded on this recording paper 27. In addition, as will be described later, for example, an electrostatic latent image using ions may be recorded on the surface of a metal drum, charged ink may be deposited, and this deposited ink may be transferred to other recording paper, etc. good.

Next, the control electrode plate 30, which is the main part of the present invention, is
at least three mutually parallel metal electrode layers 31;
32 and 33, and these metal electrode layers 3
Insulating plates 35 and 36 made of polyimide resin or the like are arranged between 1, 32, and 33. Such a control electrode plate 30 has, for example, metal electrode layers 31 and 32 formed on both surfaces of an insulating plate 35, and only one surface of the other insulating plate 36, for example, only the lower surface in the figure. A metal electrode layer 33 is deposited on the two insulating plates 35 and 36 on which these electrode layers are deposited.
It can be constructed by pasting them together. The metal electrode layers 32 and 33 arranged on both outer surfaces of the control electrode plate 30 are common electrodes for commonly applying a constant voltage to all of the small holes 34, for example, on the control electrode plate 30. A metal layer may be formed on both surfaces of 30 so as to cover the entire surface of each. Further, the metal electrode layer 31 disposed between the metal electrode layers 32 and 33 on both surfaces is a control electrode for applying an independent voltage to each of the small holes 34, and for example, the metal electrode layer 31 is a control electrode for applying an independent voltage to each small hole 34. As shown in FIG. 3, land portions, conductive wiring paths, etc., which are separated from each other, are formed for each small hole 34.

Next, for example, FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing only the three metal electrode layers 31, 32, and 33 taken out. +
100V, and the small holes 34a, 34 are applied to the metal electrode layer 31 at the intermediate position, which becomes the control electrode.
A voltage of 0V or +200V is selectively applied to each b. At this time, each small hole 34a, 34b is provided between the common electrode and the control electrode.
A control electric field can be formed independently for each. That is, for example, for the small hole 34a, when the voltage applied to the land portion of the control electrode 31a is 0V,
Since the electric field within this small hole 34a is formed from the common electrode 32 toward the control electrode 31a, the positive ions from the corona generator 22 pass through this small hole 34a. For example, regarding the small hole 34b,
The voltage applied to the land part of the control electrode 31b is +200V
When , the control electrode 31b to the common electrode 34b
An electric field directed toward the positive ions is formed, and the positive ions cannot pass through the small holes 34b and are cut off.

Further, -100V, for example, is applied to the metal electrode layer 33 serving as a common electrode on the lower surface in the figure on the side opposite to the back electrode. This voltage of −100V is
Since the electric field is applied in common to both the small holes 34a and 34b, the electric field near the surface of the metal electrode layer 33 is not disturbed in the lateral direction (main scanning direction) as in the conventional case.

Next, in FIG. 7, conduction and interruption of the ion flow is performed between a metal electrode layer 31 at an intermediate position, which serves as a control electrode, and a metal electrode layer 33 at the lower part of the figure, which serves as a common electrode opposite to the back electrode. The metal electrode layer 32 in the upper part of the figure, which serves as a common electrode, prevents disturbance of the electric field near the surface of the control electrode. That is, for example, a control voltage of 0V or +200V is selectively applied to the control electrode 31 independently for each of the small holes 34a and 34b, and an ion flow is conducted or generated between the control electrode 31 and the common electrode 32 to which +100V is applied. Creates a control electric field that cuts off. Additionally, +300V is applied to the common electrode 32 at the upper side of the figure to remove disturbances in the electric field at the upper side of the control electrode 31, and each small hole 34a, 34
This prevents unevenness in the flow rate of ions passing through b.

Therefore, despite the extremely simple configuration, it is possible to prevent the positional shift and density unevenness of the electrostatic latent image due to ion flow, which inevitably occur in the past.
Significant performance improvements can be expected while suppressing cost increases.

Next, a specific example of a transfer-type electrostatic recording device using the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 8.

In the electrostatic recording device 40 shown in FIG. 8, a metal rotating drum 41 serves as the back electrode (or counter electrode), and the latent image recording section 20 disposed opposite to the rotating drum 41 is The corona generator 22 and control electrode plate 3 of the embodiment described above are shown in FIG.
0 is used. A coating of a dielectric material such as a synthetic resin is formed on the surface of the rotating drum 41 to accumulate ions arriving from the corona generator 22 via the control electrode plate 30 and form an electrostatic latent image. has been done. The dielectric material coating may be formed uniformly over the entire surface of the rotating drum 41, or the dielectric material coating may be subdivided on the drum surface into multiple pieces separated from each other. pixels may be formed.

Further, an ink supply device 42 is provided so as to face the rotating drum 41 . This ink supply device 42 is provided with an ink reservoir 44 provided with an ultrasonic vibrator 43, and the ink 45 supplied to this ink reservoir 44 is transferred to the ultrasonic vibrator 43.
The ink is separated into extremely fine particles by the action of the ink, creating an atomized ink mist. This ink reservoir 44
The ink mist supplied from the supply device 4
The ink mist is circulated as shown by the arrow in FIG. 8 by a circulation fan 47 provided in an ink mist flow path 46 formed in the ink mist channel 2 . Then, this ink mist is charged by an ion flow generated from a corona generator 48 provided in the middle of the ink mist flow path 46, and is transferred to a mist chamber 49 provided at a position facing the rotating drum 41. be filled. Here, the positive and negative polarities of the ions generated from the corona generator 48 are opposite to those from the corona generator 22 of the latent image recording section 20. When the ions are positive ions, the ink mist is charged with negative ions.

Next, an opening 50 is formed in a portion of the mist chamber 49 of the ink supply device 42 facing the rotating drum 41, and static electricity is generated by positive ions recorded and formed on the dielectric material coating on the surface of the rotating drum 41. When the electrostatic latent image reaches the position of the opening 50, the ink mist charged by the negative ions is attracted to and adheres to the positively charged portion of the electrostatic latent image.

In this way, the ink adhered to correspond to the electrostatic latent image is transferred onto the recording paper 51.
That is, the recording paper 51 sent out from the paper supply roller 52 etc. is transferred to the rotating drum 4 by the pressure roller 53.
1 surface to transfer the ink on the surface of the rotating drum 41 onto the recording paper 51.

Next, FIG. 9 shows a main part of another embodiment of the present invention, in which only a control electrode plate 60 having four metal electrode layers 61, 62, 63, and 64 is extracted and shown. In this FIG. 9, the metal electrode layer 63 on the upper surface in the figure is the common electrode on the corona generator side,
For example, it is formed on one entire surface of an insulating plate 66 made of polyimide resin or the like with a thickness of about 700 μm. A metal electrode layer 61 serving as a first control electrode is adhered to the other surface (lower surface in the figure) of this insulating plate 66. Further, at a certain interval (for example, 400 μm) with respect to this first control electrode,
A metal electrode layer 62 serving as a second control electrode is disposed, and this metal electrode layer 62 has a thickness of, for example,
It is formed on the upper surface of an insulating plate 67 with a thickness of about 700 μm in the figure. Further, a metal electrode layer 64 is formed on the lower surface of the insulating plate 67 as a common electrode facing the back electrode. Further, a plurality of small holes 65, 65, .

Here, the first control electrode 61 and the second control electrode 62 are electrically connected as shown in FIG. 10, for example. That is, the metal electrode layer 61 serving as the first control electrode is formed into control electrodes 61A, 61B,
......, and a control voltage is applied independently to each of these control electrodes 61A and 61B, and the metal electrode layer 62, which becomes the second control electrode, has a small Control voltages 62a, 62b, 62c, 62 are applied to each hole 65.
d, and a control voltage is applied independently to each electrode. The control voltage in this case is
For example, if the voltage applied to the common electrode 63 is +400V,
When the voltage applied to the other common electrode 64 is -100V, the first control electrodes 61A, 62B,...
+200V or 0V is selectively applied to the second
+300V or +100V is selectively applied to the control electrodes 62a, 62b, 62c, and 62d.

Therefore, for example, the first control electrode 61A,
If +200V is applied to one of the control terminals 71A, 71B...... of 62B..., for example 71A, the block corresponding to this control terminal among the blocks of small holes grouped in groups of four will be activated. (A block in Figure 10) is selected, and at this time,
Any one of the four control terminals 72a to 72d of the second control electrodes 62a to 62d, for example 72
When +100V is applied to any one of terminals a to 72d, for example 72a, only the small hole 65 corresponding to this terminal 72a of the A block allows ions to pass through.

Note that other components of this embodiment, such as a corona generator and a back electrode, can be configured in the same manner as in FIGS. 5 and 8 described above, so they are not shown and their explanation will be omitted.

Also in this embodiment, since a pair of common electrodes are arranged to sandwich the first and second control electrodes, the electric field on both surfaces of the control electrode plate 60 is not disturbed.
Positional shift and density unevenness of electrostatic latent images can be effectively prevented.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments; for example, a control electrode plate having five or more metal electrode layers may be used, or the voltage applied to each electrode of the control electrode plate may be changed to a voltage other than the above-mentioned embodiments. Various other changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show a conventional example, in which FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the surface pattern of the lower surface of the control electrode plate 6, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the control electrode plate 6 in the main scanning direction. 5 to 8 show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the whole,
6 and 7 are schematic diagrams in which only the metal electrode layers 31, 32, and 33 of the control electrode plate 30 are taken out and sectioned in the main scanning direction, and FIG. 8 is a specific example of a transfer type electrostatic recording device. FIG. 9 and 10 show other embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional view showing only the control electrode plate 60, and FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing only the control electrode plate 60. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a connection structure. 21... Ion flow electrostatic recording device, 22... Corona generator, 28... Metal drum serving as a back electrode,
30, 60... Control electrode plate, 31, 61, 62...
...Metal electrode layer serving as a control electrode, 32, 33, 6
3,64...Metal electrode layer serving as a common electrode, 34,
65... Small hole, 35, 36, 66, 67... Insulating plate, 27, 51... Recording paper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A corona generator, a control electrode plate having a plurality of small holes for controlling the flow of ions generated by the corona generator, and a control electrode plate for controlling the flow of ions through the small holes of the control electrode plate. In an ion flow electrostatic recording device having an electrically attracting back electrode, at least three metal electrode layers are arranged parallel to each other on the control electrode plate, and the outer two layers of these metal electrode layers are used as a common electrode. A constant voltage is applied to each of the small holes as described above, and a voltage is applied independently to each of the small holes using at least one metal electrode layer arranged between these common electrodes as a control electrode. The ion flow is characterized in that the control electrode and one of the common electrodes independently form a control electric field in each of the small holes, and the other of the common electrodes prevents disturbance of the surface electric field. Electrostatic recording device. 2. The ion flow electrostatic recording device according to claim 1, wherein an insulating plate for electrical insulation is provided between the at least three metal electrode layers of the control electrode plate.