EP0237669A1 - Image recording method and apparatus - Google Patents
Image recording method and apparatus Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0237669A1 EP0237669A1 EP86307476A EP86307476A EP0237669A1 EP 0237669 A1 EP0237669 A1 EP 0237669A1 EP 86307476 A EP86307476 A EP 86307476A EP 86307476 A EP86307476 A EP 86307476A EP 0237669 A1 EP0237669 A1 EP 0237669A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- dye
- vapor
- nozzle
- image recording
- gas stream
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
- B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2202/00—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet or thermal heads
- B41J2202/01—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads
- B41J2202/02—Air-assisted ejection
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2202/00—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet or thermal heads
- B41J2202/01—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads
- B41J2202/05—Heads having a valve
Landscapes
- Thermal Transfer Or Thermal Recording In General (AREA)
- Ink Jet (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates to an image recording method and apparatus which jets dye vapor produced by vaporization of sublimable dye to a surface of a recording medium for forming thereon characters and patterns.
- There have so far been proposed various methods which use sublimable dyes for picture image recording, a few of which will be exemplified below.
- First, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-2020, which is as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Referring to one example as shown in Fig. 5, there are provided a nozzle 2 including therein sublimable dye 1, a
recording member 3, a charging electrode 4 disposed therebetween, anelectrostatic lens system 5, and electrostatic deflecting electrodes 6, wherein dye vapor 8 is generated by heating the dye by aheater 7 provided within the nozzle 2 and the dye vapor 8 is charged with electricity by the charging electrode 4. While the charged dye vapor 8 flies toward aback plate 9 disposed in the back of therecording member 3, the flying dye vapor 8 is converged by theelectrostatic lens system 5 and deflected by the electrostatic deflecting electrodes 6 and attached to the surface of therecording member 3. - And, the other example as shown in Fig. 6 is provided with an electrostatic shutter 10 instead of the electrostatic deflecting electrodes 6 in the structure of Fig. 5, and the jet amount of the dye vapor 8 to the
recording member 3 is controlled by the electrostatic shutter 10. - As systems using a plurality of such fundamental arrangements of recording method as described above to achieve color recording, there are such as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Nos. 54-71636 and 54-71637.
- According to these systems, the dye vapor 8 is continuously Jetted from the nozzle 2. And therefore, there has been such a problem that the
recording member 3 is stained by the dye vapor 8 jetted during a non- printing period whereby the picture image is degraded. - A second method in the prior art is that which is described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 59-22759 as shown in Fig. 7. According to this method, in front of a nozzle 11 are radially arranged three-color sublinable-
dye sticks 12 on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the nozzle, and there are also provided a laser beam source 13 and anair system 14. Alens system 15 is driven such that the laser beam from the laser beam source 13 is condensed and irradiated on a desiredsublimable dye stick 12 out of the three colors of thesublimable dye sticks 12 to produce vapor of that dye. The dye vapor is jetted from the tip of the nozzle 11 by action of compressed air sent from theair system 14 and attached to the surface of arecording member 16. - In this last method, the flow of the compressed air blown out from the nozzle 11 impinges on the
recording member 16 and diverted thereby from its course and spread around the nozzle 11 along therecording member 16. Since the dye vapor transported by the compressed air is thus spread to a rather wide range compared with the diameter of the nozzle 11, it has been a difficulty of this method that therecording member 16 is thereby stained and quality of the picture image deteriorated. - Thus compositely the prior art provides an image recording apparatus comprising a dye chamber adapted to contain a sublimable dye, a heating device to heat said dye, a nozzle adapted to jet a dye vapor therefrom toward a recording member, and a jet control device responsive to a picture signal to control said jet.
- A first object of the invention is to provide image record of good quality.
- A second object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which will achieve the above mentioned object in a simple structure.
- Accordingly the present invention is characterized by a gas stream generating device adapted to generate a gas stream transverse to the jet of gas vapor flowing from the nozzle.
- The present invention thus generates a gas stream passing across the dye vapor stream jetted from the nozzle, whereby the surface of the recording member is prevented from being stained, and image recording of good printing quality is attained.
- The invention will now be described, by way of illustration only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:-
- Fig. 1 is a side view in vertical cross-section showing a first embodiment of the invention;
- Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same;
- Fig. 3 is a side view in vertical cross-section showing a second embodiment of the invention;
- Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the same; and
- Figs. 5 to 7 are side views in vertical cross-section showing examples of the prior art.
- A first preferred embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. To begin with, a
recording head 18 is provided opposite to arecording member 17. Within therecording head 18 is formed adye chamber 19,in which is contained asublimable dye 20 inside thedye chamber 19. On the side face of therecording head 18, there is provided adye supply portion 21 wherefrom thesublimable dye 20 is adapted to be supplied to thedye chamber 19. Under thedye chamber 19 is provided aheater 22 serving as a heating device and thesublimable dye 20 heated by theheater 22 is formed intodye vapor 23 to fill up thedye chamber 19. - On one side of the
dye chamber 19, there are provided a plurality ofnozzles 24 opening toward therecording member 17 and arranged at predetermined spacings in a straight line. Eachnozzle 24 is provided at the tip thereof with a sprayamount control device 25. A shutter by means of electrostriction resonator, magnetostriction resonator, or the like is employed as the sprayamount control device 25. These sprayamount control devices 25 are connected with apicture signal source 26, and the amounts of thedye vapor 23 jetted from thenozzle 24 are adapted to be controlled by a picture signal from thepicture signal source 26. - Further, an
air pump 27 as a gas stream generating device is provided. Thisair pump 27 is connected with thedye chamber 19 by anair passage 28 and produces anair stream 29 to build up the internal pressure within thedye chamber 19. Anair passage 30 is also drawn from theair pump 27 and the end of theair passage 30, formed into anair outlet 31, is opened close to thenozzle 24. The air stream blown out from theair outlet 31 forms anair stream 32 passing across the space between thenozzle 24 and therecording member 17. The velocity of theair stream 32 is to be regulated so as not to disturb the dye vapor stream 33 Jetted from thenozzle 24 and therefore set to one fifth the velocity of the dye vapor stream 33. - In the described structure, the air whose pressure is boosted by the
air pump 27 builds up the internal pressure within thedye chamber 19 and, on the other hand, passes through theair passage 30 and is blown out from theair outlet 31 to be formed into theair stream 32. Under these conditions, the sprayamount control device 25 is actuated by a signal from thepicture signal source 26 and aspecific nozzle 24 is thereby opened to produce the dye vapor stream 33. The dye vapor stream 33, without being disturbed by the air stream from theair outlet 31, allows thedye vapor 23 to contact with, and attach to, the surface of therecording member 17, whereby a dot as a picture element is formed thereon. At this time, however, not all portion of thedye vapor 23 Jetted from thenozzle 24 ia attached to therecording member 17, but some portion thereof remains floating, or suspended, close to the surface of therecording member 17. The floatingdye vapor 23, or fine particles formed from the sublimable dye which has already cooled down are taken away from the surface of therecording member 17 by theair stream 32 coming from theair outlet 31. Thus, therecording member 17 is prevented from being stained by thesurplus dye vapor 23 in picture image forming and fine particles formed from the cooled sublimable dye, and therefore the quality of the picture image is maintained in good condition. - In the above described embodiment, the
surplus dye vapor 23 in picture image forming or the fine particles formed from the cooled sublimable dye are taken away by means of an air stream, but in implementation any suitable gas may be employed. - Now, a second preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4, wherein like or corresponding parts to those in the above described first embodiment are denoted by like reference numerals and description thereof are omitted. The present embodiment is arranged such that an air suction opening 34 is disposed opposite to the
air outlet 31 with thenozzle 24 located therebetween. Theair suction opening 34 is connected to an air passage 36 with a filter 35 provided therein and further connected to aauction pump 37, whereby agas auction device 38 is formed. - In the described structure, the
air stream 32 passing across the dye vapor stream 33 Jetted from thenozzle 24 is sucked in by thesuction pump 37 through the air suction opening 34. And the dye vapor which has not attached to therecording member 17 or the fine particles of the sublimable dye formed by being cooled are recovered by the filter 35. Therefore, the apparatus is prevented from being contaminated by the dye vapor or the fine particles of the sublimable dye forned by being cooled.
Claims (7)
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US84185686A | 1986-03-20 | 1986-03-20 | |
US841856 | 1986-03-20 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0237669A1 true EP0237669A1 (en) | 1987-09-23 |
EP0237669B1 EP0237669B1 (en) | 1990-05-02 |
Family
ID=25285864
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP19860307476 Expired EP0237669B1 (en) | 1986-03-20 | 1986-09-30 | Image recording method and apparatus |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0237669B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JPS62220388A (en) |
DE (1) | DE3670801D1 (en) |
Cited By (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0284282A2 (en) * | 1987-03-24 | 1988-09-28 | Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. | Thermal ink jet printer |
EP0393396A2 (en) * | 1989-04-18 | 1990-10-24 | Komori Corporation | Head for image printing apparatus |
EP0394634A2 (en) * | 1989-04-26 | 1990-10-31 | Peter L. Duffield | Reproduction and enlarging imaging system and method |
US5519420A (en) * | 1992-12-21 | 1996-05-21 | Ncr Corporation | Air system to protect ink jet head |
EP1273449A3 (en) * | 2001-07-06 | 2003-08-13 | Illinois Tool Works Inc. | Low debris fluid jetting system |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP2014100876A (en) * | 2012-11-21 | 2014-06-05 | Toshiba Corp | Ink jet printer device |
Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4019188A (en) * | 1975-05-12 | 1977-04-19 | International Business Machines Corporation | Micromist jet printer |
GB1482596A (en) * | 1974-07-27 | 1977-08-10 | Oki Electric Ind Co Ltd | High speed printing apparatus |
-
1986
- 1986-07-23 JP JP61173536A patent/JPS62220388A/en active Pending
- 1986-09-30 EP EP19860307476 patent/EP0237669B1/en not_active Expired
- 1986-09-30 DE DE8686307476T patent/DE3670801D1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB1482596A (en) * | 1974-07-27 | 1977-08-10 | Oki Electric Ind Co Ltd | High speed printing apparatus |
US4019188A (en) * | 1975-05-12 | 1977-04-19 | International Business Machines Corporation | Micromist jet printer |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN, vol. 1, no. 103, 12 September 1977, & JP - A - 52 036 033 (MATSUSHITA DENKI SANGYO K.K.) 19-03-1977 * |
Cited By (9)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0284282A2 (en) * | 1987-03-24 | 1988-09-28 | Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. | Thermal ink jet printer |
EP0284282A3 (en) * | 1987-03-24 | 1990-11-22 | Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. | Thermal ink jet printer |
EP0393396A2 (en) * | 1989-04-18 | 1990-10-24 | Komori Corporation | Head for image printing apparatus |
EP0393396A3 (en) * | 1989-04-18 | 1991-01-09 | Komori Corporation | Head for image printing apparatus |
EP0394634A2 (en) * | 1989-04-26 | 1990-10-31 | Peter L. Duffield | Reproduction and enlarging imaging system and method |
EP0394634A3 (en) * | 1989-04-26 | 1991-12-18 | Peter L. Duffield | Reproduction and enlarging imaging system and method |
US5519420A (en) * | 1992-12-21 | 1996-05-21 | Ncr Corporation | Air system to protect ink jet head |
EP1273449A3 (en) * | 2001-07-06 | 2003-08-13 | Illinois Tool Works Inc. | Low debris fluid jetting system |
AU2002300009B2 (en) * | 2001-07-06 | 2004-10-07 | Illinois Tool Works Inc. | Low debris fluid jetting system |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
JPS62220388A (en) | 1987-09-28 |
DE3670801D1 (en) | 1990-06-07 |
EP0237669B1 (en) | 1990-05-02 |
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