JPH1195397A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming a color image and forming a clear character image. SOLUTION: A medium 40 having microcapsules which develops a color when photo-cured and decompressed under pressure,
After the latent image is formed by exposing in the exposure unit 20, the latent image is developed by applying pressure in the pressure developing unit 30. When a color image is formed by providing the pressure image forming unit 10 that destroys the microcapsules in the exposed portion, the exposure unit 20
After forming a latent image by exposing with a pressure developing unit 3
When a latent image is developed by pressing at 0 and a character image is formed, the pressure image forming unit 10 selectively pressurizes the medium 40 to destroy the microcapsules at the pressurized portion. Become.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium having a photosensitive pressure-sensitive member whose mechanical strength changes in response to light of a predetermined wavelength and which develops a predetermined color tone when broken under pressure. Further, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms a latent image by exposing with an exposing means capable of irradiating light of a predetermined wavelength, and then develops the latent image by pressing with a pressing means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-22775
In JP-A No. 1 (1996), a colored image such as a character or a figure is formed by pressing a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium, and thereafter, the light-sensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium on which the colored image is formed is irradiated with light by an exposure unit. A printer for fixing a color image is disclosed.

[0003]

However, according to the above-described printer, only a predetermined single-color image can be formed due to its structure, and an arbitrary color image or a full-color image having continuous gradation can be formed. There is a problem that an image cannot be formed. A latent image is formed by exposing a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium carrying three types of photocurable microcapsules of cyan, magenta, and yellow to light corresponding to the three microcapsules, and then applying pressure. In the image forming apparatus configured to develop a latent image by the above, the color image can be formed, but light wrap, irregular reflection, stray light, etc. occur,
There is a problem that it is difficult to form clear character images and graphic images.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and it is possible to form an image of any color or a full-color image having continuous gradation, and at the same time, to form a clear character image. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming image and graphic images.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, an image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is capable of changing its mechanical strength in response to light of a predetermined wavelength and decompressing under pressure. A latent image is formed by exposing a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium having a photosensitive pressure-sensitive member that exhibits a predetermined color tone when exposed to light having a predetermined wavelength, and then pressurized by a pressure unit. In particular, a selective pressurizing means for selectively developing the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium and destroying the photosensitive pressure-sensitive member in the pressurized portion is provided for those developing a latent image. It is a thing.

According to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, when an arbitrary color image or a full-color image having continuous gradation is formed, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is
After forming a latent image by irradiating light of a predetermined wavelength with an exposure unit and exposing the latent image by pressing with a pressurizing unit, select this when forming a clear character image or graphic image. When the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium is selectively pressed by the selective pressure means, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive member in the pressed portion is destroyed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus, the pressing operation by the selective pressing unit is performed at least one of before and after the latent image forming operation by the exposure unit. It is composed.

According to the image forming apparatus of the second aspect, the pressurizing operation by the selective pressurizing unit is performed at a stage before or after the latent image forming operation by the exposing unit or at both front and rear stages. Will be done.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect of the invention, the selective pressurizing unit forms the image on the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium according to an image shape formed based on preset image data. Is pressurized.

According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive member of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium pressed according to the image shape is selectively destroyed by the selective pressing means. However, the unpressurized photosensitive pressure-sensitive member remains unbroken.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the structure of a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40.

First, the structure of a photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as “media”) 40 used in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, a medium 40 has a substantially four-layer structure, and includes a white base material 48 made of a material such as a plastic film such as a polyester film or a polypropylene film or paper, and a plastic film such as a polyester film, a polypropylene film, a cellulose acetate film or a nylon film. Between the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 4 and the transparent substrate 41 made of
7. A photosensitive pressure-sensitive coloring layer 42 is formed.

The photosensitive pressure-sensitive coloring layer 42 contains microcapsules 43, 44, 45 as photosensitive pressure-sensitive members and a developer 46. Microcapsules 43, 4
Nos. 4, 45 include dye precursors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C), respectively.
Each color capsule is designed to be sensitive to light in a different wavelength range, and the mechanical strength of the capsule is changed according to the light intensity. In the case of the medium 40, the yellow capsule 43 reacts to blue light, the magenta capsule 44 reacts to green light, and the cyan capsule 45 reacts to red light, and the capsules are cured according to the intensity of the light.
Since the photosensitive cured capsule is not destroyed even when pressurized, the encapsulated dye precursor does not flow out and develop color. However, the capsules that have not been light-cured are destroyed when pressurized, and the contained dye precursor flows out and reacts with the developer 46 to develop a predetermined color tone.

In this color forming reaction, a color is formed by a commonly used color former, that is, a fluorane-based, phthalide-based, spiropyran-based, thiazine-based dye precursor and a phenol resin or salicylic acid-based acid developer. A dye or an azo dye, that is, a dye that develops a color with a diazo compound and a basic coupling agent, or the like can be used, or an ordinary dye or pigment can be used as it is in consideration of the configuration of the medium. In the present embodiment, a single-sheet DI-Film developed by Cycolor Corporation of the United States was used as the medium 40. However, the microcapsules or layers were broken by pressure to develop color, or the reaction proceeded to develop color. Any structure may be used as long as it can be exposed to light of an appropriate wavelength and change the capsule strength or the film strength of the layer to adjust the amount of color development.

Next, the structure of the image forming apparatus 1 for forming an image using the photosensitive recording medium 40 will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, an image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment mainly includes a pressure image forming unit 10 as a selective pressing unit, an exposing unit 20 as an exposing unit, and a pressure developing unit 30 as a pressing unit. Is what is done.

The pressure image forming section 10 will be described.
Pressurizing head 11 that selectively destroys the photosensitive pressure-sensitive members 43, 44, and 45 in the pressurized portion.
And a platen 1 for receiving the pressed pressure head 11
And 2. The pressure head 11 is configured to press the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 according to an image shape formed based on image data such as characters and figures set in advance. Specifically, the pressure head 11
The head of an impact wire dot printer is used, and when image data such as characters and graphics to be output is sent from a control unit (not shown), the image shape of the pressure head 11 is formed based on the image data. And
The photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 is pressed accordingly. The pressure image forming operation by the pressure image forming unit 10 will be described later in detail.

The exposure unit 20 will be described. The exposure unit 20 irradiates light of a predetermined wavelength to form a latent image on the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 40. And a pre-heater 22 that keeps the temperature of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 constant during exposure to prevent a change in sensitivity.

The exposure device 21 forms a latent image by exposing the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 based on image data sent from a control unit (not shown).
The exposure device 21 has a light source of 300 W / 100 V
And an optical lens such as a condenser and an image forming device are installed. An XGA monochrome liquid crystal is used for the exposure shutter, and blue, green, and red filters that match the sensitivity of each of the yellow, magenta, and cyan capsules of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 are used. These filters are provided on a single disk at specific intervals, and by controlling the rotation of the disk, arbitrary exposure of these three colors is possible. Also,
In order to prevent abnormal heating in the exposure device 21 by the light source,
The exposure device 21 is provided with a fan and an IR filter for preventing heating of the lens and the liquid crystal.

In this embodiment, a projection type exposure apparatus using a liquid crystal as used in a projector or the like is used. However, a known method such as a contact exposure method for a liquid crystal, analog exposure, LED exposure, and laser exposure is used. Exposure method can be used. In addition, the sensitivity of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 changes due to a change in the temperature environment at the time of exposure, and the exposure amount of the exposure device 21 changes due to a change in LCD transmittance, a change in the amount of light from the light source, a change in wavelength, or the like. Therefore, the temperature at the time of exposure may be sensed and fed back to the light source voltage or the LCD shutter opening time.

Further, the pressure developing section 30 will be described. The pressure developing section 30 is constituted by a pressure developing device 31 which is a pair of rollers. The pressure developing device 31
The latent image formed by the exposure section 20 is developed by pressing the inter-photosensitive recording medium 40 inserted between the rollers. The details of the pressure developing action will be described later.

Here, the image forming operation of the image forming apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.

First, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 is loaded from a cassette (not shown) inserted in the image forming apparatus 1.
It is taken out one by one by a pick device (not shown),
It is transported to the pressure image forming unit 10. Pressure image forming unit 1
The pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 conveyed to 0 undergoes a pressure image forming operation in the pressure image forming unit 10.

That is, when the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 is pressurized by the pressurizing head 11, the microcapsules 43, 44, 45 existing in the pressurized portion are broken, and the microcapsules 43 , 44, 45 are discharged. Then, the discharged dye precursor reacts with the color developer 46 existing outside the capsule to form a color, thereby forming an image such as a character or a figure. At this time, the microcapsules 43, 44, and 45 existing in the portions that are not pressurized remain unbroken and do not develop color.

The above-described image forming operation of characters, figures, and the like can provide a clearer image as compared with the case where a similar image is formed by pressure development after exposure, as described later. It is. That is, the image forming operation by the pressure image forming unit 10 is performed only by pressing the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 40, and does not need to be exposed. The light to be exposed inevitably wraps around, irregularly reflects light, stray light, etc., and exposes unnecessary parts. Therefore, when forming an image such as a character, the light may be unclear. However, when forming a full-color image such as a color photograph, continuous tone becomes more important, so that such a problem does not cause much problem.

By the way, images such as characters and figures formed by the pressure head 11 are black in this embodiment. This is because if the pressure is applied without exposing the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40, the microcapsules are not photosensitive-cured, so that all the yellow, magenta, and cyan capsules are destroyed. As it progresses, it turns black.

The photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 4 used here
By changing the configuration of 0, it is possible to change the developed color. For example, if the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 has only cyan capsules, it develops cyan.
If it has cyan and magenta capsules, it will develop blue. Therefore, the color to be developed can be freely changed by these combinations.

After receiving the first image forming operation in the pressure image forming section 10 in this way, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 4
0 is conveyed to the exposure unit 20 and subjected to a latent image forming operation of a color image by the exposure device 21.

That is, in the exposure unit 20, the blue light and the light are applied to the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 21 for a predetermined time and a predetermined light amount based on the image data sent from the control unit (not shown).
Exposure of each color of green and red is performed, and a color latent image corresponding to image data is formed. If this latent image is pressure-developed as it is, an image of any color or a full-color image having continuous gradation is formed. For example, in a portion exposed to blue light, only the amount of yellow capsules corresponding to the amount of light is cured, and the magenta and cyan capsules are not cured. Therefore, when this part is pressure-developed, magenta and cyan are mixed to become blue. Further, in the portions exposed to red light and green light, the cyan capsule and the magenta capsule are cured according to the respective light amounts, and the yellow capsule is not cured. When this is pressure developed,
Only the yellow capsule will be crushed and develop a yellow color.

After the latent image forming operation is performed in the exposure section 20 in this way, the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 is fed back to the pressure image forming section 10 if necessary. In the first pressure image forming operation, an image such as a black character or figure was formed. However, in this case, since the exposed photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 is pressed into an image such as a character or figure, a full-color image is formed. Will be formed. Of course, by exposing a portion such as a character or a figure or the like and the background with desired light in advance, the color of the character or the figure and the background can be arbitrarily set.

After the second pressure image forming operation is completed,
The photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 is sent to the pressure developing unit 30.
Here, the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 on which the exposure latent image is formed
Is pressed by a pressure developing device 31 composed of a pair of rollers, thereby destroying the microcapsules 43, 44, and 45 that have not been exposed and cured to develop a latent image. afterwards,
The developed photosensitive and pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 is heated by a post-heater 32 composed of a heat roller, and is discharged after promoting a color-forming reaction.

The pressure applied by the pressure developing device 31 in the pressure developing unit 30 is different from the pressure applied by the pressure head 11 in the pressure image forming unit 10, and is developed by the pressure developing unit 30 after exposure. Since the time until the pressure image is formed by the pressure image forming unit 10 after exposure is different from the time until the pressure image is formed by the pressure image forming unit 10 after exposure, the densities are different even for the same color, and images such as characters and figures are formed more clearly. It is designed to be.

The dark time will be described briefly. As described above, the microcapsules 43, 44, and 45 of three colors are carried on the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40.
The microcapsules 43, 44, and 45 contain components that cure in response to the color (wavelength) and light amount of light to be exposed. This photosensitive curing reaction does not end immediately when light is applied, but requires a certain amount of time until the reaction ends. Therefore, the longer the time from the formation of a latent image by exposure to the destruction of the capsule by pressurization (this is called dark time), the more the curing reaction of the capsule proceeds, and the capsule is decompressed by pressure. Therefore, even if the color development reaction is advanced, the color density becomes low.

The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can take various forms as long as it belongs to the gist of the present invention. Not even.

For example, the pressure operation by the pressure image forming unit 10 as the selective pressing unit may be performed at a stage after the latent image forming operation by the exposure unit 20 as the exposure unit. Further, it may be configured to be performed at both the front and rear stages. In this case, since the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40 does not need to be sent backward, an improvement in printing speed can be expected.

In this embodiment, the pressure head 1
As 1, a head of an impact wire dot printer that is usually used is used, but a daisy wheel system or the like that strikes a type provided in advance may be used.

The platen 12 may be a flat platen made of rubber or a roll platen.

As the pressure developing device 31, a pair of 2
In addition to this roller, three or four rollers including a backup roller may be used, and the roller diameter can be variously selected according to the size of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium 40. Further, not only a method using a roller but also a method of scanning a point contact ball, a method of scanning a small roller, or the like may be used.

Although a heat roller was used as the pre-heater 22 or the post-heater 32, a surface heater,
A heat dryer or the like may be used.

[0039]

As is apparent from the above description,
According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the latent image is formed by exposing the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium with the exposing means capable of irradiating light of a predetermined wavelength, and thereafter, the latent image is formed by the pressing means. A selective pressing means for developing a latent image by pressing, particularly, selectively pressing the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium to destroy the photosensitive pressure-sensitive member at the pressed portion. Is provided, it is possible to form an image of any color or a full-color image having continuous gradation, and to form a clear character image or graphic image.

Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the pressing action by the selective pressing means is performed at least one of before and after the latent image forming action by the exposure means. Therefore, a clearer and arbitrary color character image or graphic image can be formed, and the printing speed can be improved.

According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect, the selective pressurizing means forms the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium according to an image shape formed based on preset image data. Since the pressure is applied, clearer character images and graphic images can be formed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the operation of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the structure of a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 10 Pressure image forming unit 20 Exposure unit 30 Pressure developing unit 40 Photosensitive pressure sensitive recording medium 43 Yellow capsule 44 Magenta capsule 45 Cyan capsule

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A light-sensitive recording medium having a light-sensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium having a light-sensitive pressure-sensitive member that changes its mechanical strength in response to light of a predetermined wavelength and develops a predetermined color tone when broken under pressure. After forming a latent image by exposing with an exposure means capable of irradiating, an image forming apparatus that develops the latent image by pressing with a pressing means, by selectively pressing the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium, ,
An image forming apparatus comprising a selective pressurizing means for destroying the photosensitive pressure-sensitive member at the pressurized portion. 2. The pressurizing action of the selective pressurizing means is as follows:
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to perform the latent image forming operation at least one of before and after the exposure unit. 3. The pressure-sensitive recording medium according to claim 2, wherein the selective pressing means presses the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium in accordance with an image shape formed based on preset image data. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.