A recording medium in which electrodes are formed on both sides of a medium body, electrons or ions are applied to inject electric charges, a potential difference is selectively caused in a given cross position of the electrodes, an image is written or erased, alignment with the print head is not needed, a high-quality image is created, a color image can be easily created, the electrodes in the image display region can be protected, the durability is excellent, an image can be displayed without using no power supply after the image is created, energy saving is excellent, the image is prevented from distorting because of the influence of environment variation or static electricity in the winter season, and the safety of the image quality is excellent. The recording medium comprises a medium body where an image is written or erased by the action of electric charge, a lower electrode formed in a predetermined patter on the lower surface of the medium body, an upper electrode formed in a predetermined pattern on the upper surface of the medium body, a charge injecting part provided to the lower or upper electrode, and an electrode terminal formed on the upper or lower electrode.
G02F 1/167 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on translational movement of particles in a fluid under the influence of an applied field characterised by the electro-optical or magneto-optical effect by electrophoresis
2.
HEAD SUBSTRATE AND DISCHARGE CONTROL APPARATUS USING SUCH HEAD SUBSTRATE, HEATING DISCHARGING TYPE PRINT HEAD EQUIPPED WITH SUCH DISCHARGE CONTROL APPARATUS, AND THERMAL HEAD
There is provided a heating discharging type print head excellent in: processability and assembly workability by giving flexibility to a substrate itself, after the discharge device having a heating portion and a discharge portion is formed on a flat substrate, that the substrate on which a discharge device is formed can be fabricated into a desired shape, after the discharge device having a heating portion and a discharge portion is formed on a flat substrate by giving flexibility to a substrate itself; design flexibility and mass productivity by eliminating technological constraints on the formations of the substrate and the discharge device; discharge stop response to heating stop by improving thermal conductivity of the substrate; reliability of discharge control; and mass productivity and installation flexibility with a small size. The print head comprises a head substrate including a flexible substrate having a metal foil on both sides of which oxide films are formed and having heat resistance and electrical insulation properties, a heating portion formed on the flexible substrate and having a heating element, a flexible thin film covering the heating portion and having heat resistance and electrical insulation properties, and a discharge portion having a discharge electrode to be heated by the heating element formed on the flexible thin film.
B41J 2/415 - Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective supply of electric current or selective application of magnetism to a printing or impression-transfer material for electrostatic printing by passing charged particles through a hole or a slit
3.
IMAGE FORMING METHOD AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS USED THEREFOR
An image forming method in which a recording medium having electrodes on both sides of a medium body in such a way as to sandwich the medium body where an image can be written or erased by the action of electric charge is used, electric charge is injected by applying electrons or ions, a potential difference is selectively caused in a given cross position of the electrodes formed on both sides of the medium body, thereby an image is written or erased, alignment of the position where electrons or ions are applied is not needed, a high-quality image with no positional misalignment is formed, and the image can be easily colored, thus making the reliability of the image quality excellent. The method is used for forming an image on a recording medium having a lower electrode and an upper electrode each in a predetermined pattern on the lower and upper sides of the medium body respectively. Electrons are injected into at least one of the lower and upper electrodes by applying electrons or ions at a charge injection step.
G02F 1/167 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on translational movement of particles in a fluid under the influence of an applied field characterised by the electro-optical or magneto-optical effect by electrophoresis
4.
RECORDING MEDIUM, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD USING SAME
Provided is a recording medium which is impervious to the action of an electric charge at normal time except for image forming time, capable of surely preventing change of an image by an environmental change or the effect of static electricity or the like over time, having excellent stability in the quality of an image, available for a wide range of applications, and excellent in versatility. The recording medium comprises a medium body that can be written or erased by the action of the electric charge and a surface resistive layer formed on the recording surface side of the medium body. Furthermore, the surface restive layer has resistivity which can be varied so as to be low at the normal time and high at the image forming time.
G02F 1/167 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on translational movement of particles in a fluid under the influence of an applied field characterised by the electro-optical or magneto-optical effect by electrophoresis
B41J 2/415 - Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective supply of electric current or selective application of magnetism to a printing or impression-transfer material for electrostatic printing by passing charged particles through a hole or a slit
G02F 1/13 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
G03G 15/05 - Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern for imagewise charging, e.g. photoconductive control screen, optically activated charging means
5.
HEATING DISCHARGE TYPE PRINTING HEAD AND ITS DRIVE METHOD
Provided is a heating discharge type printing head capable of controlling an ion generation amount by detecting a temperature in the vicinity of a discharge electrode and controlling heating by heating means according to the temperature. The heating discharge type printing head includes a discharge unit having a discharge electrode having an electron emission portion and a heating unit for selectively heating the discharge electrode. The discharge unit or the heating unit has a temperature detection element.
B41J 2/415 - Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective supply of electric current or selective application of magnetism to a printing or impression-transfer material for electrostatic printing by passing charged particles through a hole or a slit
A recording medium in which grounding or voltage application can be carried out selectively on the side of a first substrate to which charges are imparted and a second substrate opposing the first substrate, an image can be formed exactly at a desired position of the first substrate by imparting charges of electron or ion, high product yield and excellent handleability and reliability are attained while exhibiting excellent productivity through simple production process, high light transmittance and visibility are ensured and a high quality image can be formed by shrinking the pixel. The recording medium comprises a first substrate (2) to which charges are imparted, a second substrate (3) arranged oppositely to the first substrate (2), a display layer (4) formed between the first substrate (2) and the second substrate (3), charged particles (5) filled in the display layer (4), a first drive electrode (6) formed at a part of a region in one pixel on the side of the display layer (4) of the first substrate (2), a second drive electrode (8) formed on the second substrate (3) while being divided in units of display prime color, and a color filter (7) of display prime color arranged in correspondence with the second drive electrode (8).
G02F 1/167 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on translational movement of particles in a fluid under the influence of an applied field characterised by the electro-optical or magneto-optical effect by electrophoresis
A heating discharge print head drive method for efficiently causing electric discharge by controlling the timing at which a voltage is applied to a discharge electrode and the timing at which the discharge electrode is heated. The energy is excellently saved, the amount of ions produced is accurately controlled to simply perform gradation recording, and a high-quality image can be created. The method comprises a potential difference setting step of setting a potential difference corresponding to the discharge control voltage between a heating discharge print head having a discharge electrode and heating means for selectively heating the discharge electrode and an opposing electrode opposed to the discharge electrode in such a way that a recording medium writable/erasable by the action of electric charge is interposed between the print head and the opposing electrode so as to produce an electric field and a discharge electrode heating step of allowing the heating means to selectively heating the discharge electrode according to image information. At the head voltage applying step of the potential difference setting step, the timing at which a drive voltage is applied to the discharge electrode is synchronized with the timing of the discharge electrode heating step.
B41J 2/415 - Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective supply of electric current or selective application of magnetism to a printing or impression-transfer material for electrostatic printing by passing charged particles through a hole or a slit
An image forming method is provided to achieve features in which an image formed on a recording medium is fixed and displayed for a long time, the occurrence of a color shift is surely prevented under simple control, a high quality image is formed without a fine adjustments between a heating and electric discharge type printing head or an image forming device and a recording medium, and a productivity is good. The image forming method forms an image on the recording medium provided with a surface layer made from an electrophoresis system image display material in which colored particles are dispersed in carrier fluid softened by heating energy applied to the heating and electric discharge type printing head. The image forming method is comprised of a softening step for heating the recording medium to soften the carrier fluid, an electric potential difference setting step for setting an electronic potential difference corresponding to an electro discharge control voltage between the recording surface of the recording medium and counter electrodes provided on a surface opposite to the recording surface, and an electric discharge electrode heating step for selectively heating the electric discharge electrodes in accordance with image information.
G02F 1/167 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on translational movement of particles in a fluid under the influence of an applied field characterised by the electro-optical or magneto-optical effect by electrophoresis
B41M 5/00 - Duplicating or marking methodsSheet materials for use therein
G09F 9/37 - Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements being movable elements
An image forming apparatus in which an image can be formed on a color basis on a recording medium using an electrophoretic photosensitive material as an image display material by means of a thermal discharge print head, an image thus formed can be fixed and displayed over a long term, excellent reliability of image quality is ensured, the structure can be simplified because the consumables required for forming a color image is only a recording medium, maintenance is facilitated and resource saving properties are excellent. The image forming apparatus comprises a thermal discharge print head equipped with a discharge electrode having an electron discharging portion and a means for heating the discharge electrode selectively, a potential difference setting section for forming an electric field by setting a potential difference corresponding to a discharge control voltage between the discharge electrode and a counter electrode formed on the surface on the side opposite to the recording surface of a recording medium which is arranged with the recording surface oppositely to the thermal discharge print head, and a section for irradiating the recording medium with light to thicken or harden a dispersion medium.
G02F 1/167 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on translational movement of particles in a fluid under the influence of an applied field characterised by the electro-optical or magneto-optical effect by electrophoresis
B41J 2/415 - Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective supply of electric current or selective application of magnetism to a printing or impression-transfer material for electrostatic printing by passing charged particles through a hole or a slit
A recording medium is provided with discharge electrodes. The discharge electrodes can securely irradiate electrons or ions released from the discharge electrodes to a recording surface of the medium, its electric charges can form a high quality image, and color image recording can be easily carried out. Protection of the discharge electrodes ensures safety of discharges while the medium is put between the discharge electrodes and a counter electrode, so that the medium is hardly subjected to environmental changes, electrostatic effects, or the like, and, so that image quality deterioration in a lapse of time can be securely prevented. Thus, the recording medium has a superior stability of image quality and its general purpose is so good that the medium can be used in wide varieties of applications. The recording medium is comprised of the medium on which data can be written or erased by effects of electric charges, and the discharge electrodes provided on one surface of the medium.
G02F 1/13 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
B41J 2/415 - Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective supply of electric current or selective application of magnetism to a printing or impression-transfer material for electrostatic printing by passing charged particles through a hole or a slit
G02F 1/167 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on translational movement of particles in a fluid under the influence of an applied field characterised by the electro-optical or magneto-optical effect by electrophoresis
G02F 1/17 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on variable-absorption elements not provided for in groups
G09F 9/37 - Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements being movable elements
11.
IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD AND RECORDING MEDIUM
A high definition image forming apparatus exhibiting excellent practicality and reliability in which an electrostatic latent image can be formed by generating discharge selectively between the discharge electrode of a thermal discharge print head and the counter electrode of a recording medium, and irradiating a desired position on the recording surface surely with electrons or ions discharged from the discharge electrode thereby imparting charges thereto. The image forming apparatus comprises a thermal discharge print head equipped with a discharge portion having a discharge electrode and a means for heating the discharge electrode selectively, and a potential difference setting section for forming an electric field by setting a potential difference corresponding to a discharge control voltage between the recording surface of a recording medium arranged with the recording surface facing the discharge electrode and the thermal discharge print head and a counter electrode formed on the opposite side surface.
B41J 2/415 - Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective supply of electric current or selective application of magnetism to a printing or impression-transfer material for electrostatic printing by passing charged particles through a hole or a slit
G02F 1/13 - Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulatingNon-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
patents