JPH08194404A - Image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] To provide an image forming apparatus that moves toner by irradiating light with a force larger than light pressure being applied to the toner. [Structure] Light from a light source 20 passes through a spatial modulator 50 and irradiates the toner held on a transparent belt 202. The toner absorbs light and generates heat, and receives light power, so that the toner reaches the paper 150 from the transparent belt 202 and forms an image. The fogging can be removed by the cleaner 220 by fixing the toner with the light from the light source 20. [Effect] Since the optical power can exert a force larger than the light pressure on the toner, the toner held by the holding body can easily move by overcoming the adhesive force.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming method used in an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile and a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 4-10955 discloses an image forming medium in which a light source and an object to be imaged are positioned in a space in an optical path, and is controlled by light to move onto the object to be imaged and fixed. There is disclosed an image forming method and an image forming apparatus, which are characterized by forming an image.

[0003]

By controlling the movement of the image forming medium by light, a small device can be realized by a simple process. However, the light irradiation time is short in the method of controlling the motion by giving kinetic energy to the image forming medium by the focused laser beam as in the conventional example.
Furthermore, the light pressure used as a driving force acting on the image forming medium in the conventional example has a small force,
The kinetic energy obtained by the image forming medium is very small. Practically, it is necessary to control the movement of particles in the air or liquid, and the movement of the image forming medium is immediately stopped due to the resistance due to the viscous force of the air or liquid. When the laser is scanned at a practical image forming speed in the configuration of the conventional example, the moving amount of the image forming medium is only about 1 μm. Therefore, in order to sufficiently move the image forming medium, it is necessary to illuminate one image forming medium for a sufficiently long time, and it is impossible to finish the image formation within a practical time. Furthermore, when the movement of the image forming medium is controlled by light for a long time, the Brownian movement of the image forming medium and the fluctuation of the external environment disturb the movement of the image forming medium, and a clear image cannot be obtained.

Further, since the amount of movement of the image forming medium due to light is small, it is necessary to make the circulation path thin in the conventional method of suspending and supplying the image forming medium. However, it is difficult to suspend and supply the thin image forming medium,
It was difficult to stably supply the image forming medium due to clogging and pulsation of the toner. Moreover, in the conventional example, since the image forming medium floats in the circulation path having the opening for flying by the light, there is a problem that toner is accumulated on the paper from the opening and fogging occurs.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to control the movement of the image forming medium by a force exerted by light larger than the light pressure, thereby forming a small image at high speed. It is to provide an image forming method capable of forming the image.

Another object of the present invention is to easily and stably supply the image forming medium to the light irradiating section in a small-sized image forming method in which the movement of the image forming medium is controlled by a force applied by light.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention uses a force generated by the heat generated by the light absorbed by the image forming medium by holding the image forming medium on the substrate in advance. In the image forming method of forming an image by moving the image forming medium from the substrate, light energy from the light source of 0.33 J / cm ² or more is applied to the image forming medium held on the substrate. It is to irradiate.

Further, the image forming medium has an absorption coefficient of 1 × 1.
0 ⁴ / cm or more is desirable. The moving distance of the image forming medium due to light irradiation is preferably 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm. Also,
The irradiation time of the light to be irradiated is preferably 0.6 ms or less.

[0009]

When the image forming medium is irradiated with light, the force acts not only by the light pressure but also by the heat generated by the absorption of the light. When the light absorption is good, the light incident side is particularly heated by the light absorption. At this time, the outside air is heated due to the temperature rise of the image forming medium. Due to the temperature distribution generated on the image forming medium, the temperature of the air on the higher temperature side becomes higher and the energy of air molecules that collide with the toner becomes larger. Therefore, the toner is subjected to so-called optical power that moves from the high temperature side to the low temperature side. In order to effectively utilize this light power, it is necessary for the image forming medium to have good light absorption. The light power exerts a force in the same direction as the moving force of the image forming medium due to the light pressure,
It can effectively act on the movement of the image forming medium. As a result, the image forming medium can move a distance longer than the expected moving distance only by the light pressure.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a small-sized image forming apparatus capable of forming an image at high speed in which the movement of the image forming medium is controlled by the force exerted by the light larger than the light pressure.

Further, according to the present invention, in the small-sized image forming apparatus in which the movement of the image forming medium is controlled by the force applied by the light, the image forming medium can be easily and stably supplied to the light irradiation section.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. The toner is supplied by the toner supply unit 210 to the transparent belt 2.
No. 02 was attached to the entire surface. The transparent belt 202 is formed by forming a light-transmissive transparent electrode such as ITO on a light-transmissive film and a protective film made of a transparent dielectric material such as SiN / SiO ₂ / Al ₂ O ₃ on the transparent electrode. Using. The transparent belt 202 to which the toner is attached is the toner selection means 212.
Then, the toner weakly attached to the transparent belt 202 is removed, and then the toner is moved to below the optical system. By applying a voltage between the electrode 250 provided at a position facing the transparent belt 202 and the transparent electrode on the transparent belt 202, the transparent belt 20
The electrostatic force is applied to the toner that is attached and charged on No. 2 to weaken the toner adhesion force. The light of the flash lamp 20 is efficiently guided to the lens 30 by using the spherical reflecting mirror 22. The flash light made substantially parallel by the lens 30 enters a spatial modulator 50 formed in a two-dimensional array. The spatial modulator 50 is controlled so as to transmit only the light of a portion forming an image according to the image signal. The toner irradiated with the light from the spatial modulator 50 receives the force of the light such as the optical power and the light pressure, and separates from the transparent belt 202. The released toner is melted by the flash light,
It is fixed on the paper 150. By applying a voltage to the electrode 250, the toner other than the light-irradiated portion also flies to the paper, but the toner is not fixed because the flash light is not received and is collected by the cleaner 220. The paper 150 moves on the guide 280 by the transport rollers 240 and 242. The toner remaining on the transparent belt is collected by the cleaner 222. It is desirable that the toner collected by the cleaner 222 is returned to the toner supply unit 210 and reused. The cleaner is a bias cleaner that applies a bias voltage to a conductive brush to scrape it off by electrostatic force and mechanical force. A magnetic brush method that electrostatically collects toner by using a method, a method that uses a suction device to suck toner, or the like can be used. The spatial modulator 50 may be between the flash lamp 20 and the lens 30. At this time, a small spatial modulator can be used. Also, lens 3
When the flash light is reduced to 0 and applied to the toner layer at 0, a resolution higher than that of the spatial modulator 50 is obtained. The resolution of the spatial modulator 50 is preferably 300 dpi or more. After the flash irradiation, the paper 150 moves by the width of the spatial modulator 50,
The image of the next part is formed. When the concentration is low,
Before moving the paper 150, it is sufficient to move only the transparent belt 202 and irradiate the flash light twice or more. Ultrasonic vibration may be applied to the transparent belt 202 in order to weaken the adhesion of the toner to the transparent belt 202. Transparent belt 20
When the adhesion of the melted toner to 2 becomes a problem, a long transparent belt may be prepared in advance, the belt may be used only once, and the used belt may be wound. When the light energy of the light source is sufficiently large and a sufficient amount of toner can be moved without operating an electric field during light irradiation, it is not necessary to provide the transparent electrode on the transparent belt 202, and the electrode 25
Zero is not necessary either. If the electrode 250 is not used, the amount of toner that moves to the paper in areas other than the image area decreases. When a sufficient quality image is obtained without using the cleaner 220, the cleaner 220 is not necessary. As the optical system, in addition to the combination of the flash lamp and the spatial modulator of this embodiment, a method of scanning a laser beam by a deflector such as a polygon mirror and condensing it on a transparent belt by an f-θ lens, an LED array is used. A method or the like can be used. In addition to the transparent belt, a transparent drum having optical transparency may be used. By supplying the toner by adhering it to a support such as a transparent belt as in this embodiment, the toner can be easily supplied. Further, since no photoconductor is used, it is possible to extend the life of the transparent body by using the transparent body whose surface is hardened. Further, unlike the present embodiment, in the present invention, since the photoconductor / fixer is not used,
The structure is simpler than that of an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic process, and downsizing can be realized. Since a fuser is not used, it is not necessary to heat a heat roll with a large heat capacity, power consumption is low, and there is no time to heat the heater at startup, so a quick start can be performed at the same time when the power is turned on. Becomes Since no photoconductor is used, there are few parts to replace due to wear. Since the photoconductor containing a harmful substance such as Se is not used, the environmental impact at the time of disposal is small. Further, since toner is used, the frequency of replacement of the image forming medium is low and the running cost is low as compared with the image forming method using the thermal ink ribbon. The principle of toner movement by light irradiation will be described. Two forces mainly act on the toner: light pouring power and light pressure. First, the optical power will be described.
When light-absorbing particles in a fluid such as air and water are irradiated with light, the particles that absorb the light and generate heat heat the external fluid. By heating the external fluid, a force acts on the particles from the fluid. This power is called light power. Since the toner has a strong light absorbing property, the light incident side is particularly heated by the light absorption. The outside air is heated by the temperature rise of the toner,
The energy of air molecules that collide with the toner increases.
Therefore, the toner is subjected to the optical power in the traveling direction of the light. The magnitude F of the light power in the air is, for example, OPTICS LETTERS
Vol. 10, No.6, p.261-p.263 (1985)
Can be well expressed by the following equation.

[0014]

[Equation 1]

Is represented as However, J is

[0016]

[Equation 2] J = − (3/8) QaAz (Equation 2) where Qa is the absorption efficiency obtained by dividing the absorption cross section by the cross section of the particle, and Az is the light intensity in the particle. Is a parameter that represents the asymmetry of the distribution of

[0017]

(Equation 3)

It is expressed as follows. E (x, z) is the average of the electric field E _i (x, y, z) inside the particle with respect to the y coordinate. The electric field distribution E _i (x, y, z) inside the particle and the absorption efficiency Qa can be obtained from the solution of Mie scattering. The scattering and absorption of light by the fine particles can be obtained by the so-called Mie scattering formula. Mie scattering is determined by the external world, the complex refractive index of the particles, the shape of the particles, and the wavelength of the light to be irradiated. When spherical particles of radius R are irradiated with light of wavelength λ,

[0019]

When the size parameters represented by x = 2πR / λ (Equation 4) are the same, the scattering states are the same. The electric field strength inside the toner can be obtained from the Mie scattering formula. Let the complex refractive index of the particles be N ₁ (=
n ₁ −κ ₁ i), and the complex refractive index of the medium is N ₂ (= n ₂ −κ ₂ i)
And when

[0020]

[Formula 5] N = N ₁ / N ₂ (Formula 5) (N ₁ = n ₁ −κ ₁ i, N ₂ = n ₂ −κ ₂ i). When the incident electric field Ei is expressed in spherical coordinates when light is a plane wave traveling in the Z axis and the electric field is parallel to the x axis,

[0021]

[Equation 6] E _i = exp (ikrcos _θ ) (sin θcos φir + _cos θcos φi _θ −sin φi _φ ) (Equation 6) At this time, the complex refractive index N and the size parameter x
The electric field inside the spherical particle of

[0022]

(Equation 7)

[0023]

(Equation 8)

[0024]

[Equation 9]

[0025]

[Equation 10]

[0026]

[Equation 11]

It is expressed as follows. i is an imaginary unit, j _m (x) is a Bessel function of the first kind, h _m ¹ (x) is a Hankel function of the first kind,
P _m ¹ (cos θ) represents the Legendre function. The coefficients c _m and d _m at this time are

[0028]

(Equation 12)

[0029]

(Equation 13)

It is expressed as

The electric field scattered by the particles is

[0032]

[Equation 14]

[0033]

(Equation 15)

[0034]

[Equation 16]

[0035]

[Equation 17]

[0036]

(Equation 18)

And the coefficients a _m and b _m are

[0038]

[Formula 19]

[0039]

(Equation 20)

[0040]

[Equation 21]

It can be expressed as The symbol ′ represents differentiation. The absorption efficiency Qa is

[0042]

[Equation 22]

It is expressed as follows. The electric field distribution inside the toner is obtained by using the complex refractive index n = 1.55 and κ = 0.07 of a typical toner, and J for the size parameter x is obtained by Equation 2 and the result is shown in FIG. From FIG. 2, the parameter J is almost constant when the size parameter is 35 or more. Therefore, it is desirable to use a toner having a particle size whose size parameter is 35 or more. At this time, from the formula (1), the optical power of light is almost proportional to the particle size.

Next, the light pressure will be described. Since light has momentum, when the traveling direction or intensity of light changes due to reflection, refraction, absorption, etc., light pressure is exerted on the medium that causes the change. When spherical particles are irradiated with light, the light pressure Fp received by the particles is

[0045]

(Equation 23)

Is represented by Qph is the optical pressure cross section. The light pressure cross section Qph can also be obtained from Mie scattering and can be expressed by the following equation.

[0047]

[Equation 24]

FIG. 3 shows a typical toner complex refractive index n =
The result of obtaining Qph / πR ² for the size parameter x obtained using 1.55 and κ = 0.07 is shown. There is a peak in Qph / πR ² near the size parameter 5, which is large, and it is desirable to set the size parameter near the peak in order to increase the light pressure.

FIG. 4 shows an average particle size (diameter) of 10 by light irradiation.
The flying amount of the toner of μm is shown. The input energy on the horizontal axis is the energy input to the flash lamp, and 60% of it is converted to light energy. The irradiation area is 180 cm ² . The larger the irradiation energy, the larger the flight amount. To fly the toner, an input energy of 100 J is required, and an energy density of 0.33 J / cm ² or more in light energy is required to be applied. The magnitude of the force acting on the toner calculated from the flying distance of the toner is 2.2 × 10 ⁹
Optical power of more than N, calculated by equation (1) 4.3 × 1
It is almost the same as ⁰⁹ N. In this case, it is considered that the toner is moving by the power of light. If light having an energy density of 0.33 J / cm ² is effectively applied to the toner, the toner moves by 0.1 mm.

The conditions of the toner for increasing the light power will be described. The black toner is formed by dispersing carbon black in resin. The light absorptivity of the toner can be increased by increasing the content of carbon black.
FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the extinction coefficient of the toner and the parameter J. The upper horizontal axis shows the absorption coefficient corresponding to the extinction coefficient at a wavelength of 500 nm. It can be seen that as the carbon black content is increased and the extinction coefficient is increased, the light pouring power acting on the toner is increased. The magnitude of the force acting on the toner needs to be larger than the adhesive force of the toner. FIG. 6 shows the distribution of the adhesive force acting on the toner. The ratio of the adhered toner to the adherence is shown on the vertical axis. Adhesion peak is 3 × 10
^{It is 9} N, and in order to move a sufficient amount of toner, it is necessary to exert a light power larger than this adhesive force. For this purpose, the parameter J is preferably 0.24 or more. Therefore, it is desirable that the extinction coefficient of the toner is 0.04 or more and the absorption coefficient is 1 × 10 ⁴ / cm or more. More preferably,
Current toner extinction coefficient is 0.07 or more, absorption coefficient is 1.75
× 10 ⁴ / cm or more. The extinction coefficient of the toner can be changed by changing the mixing ratio of the binder resin and the dye / pigment such as carbon black. The relationship between the carbon black content and the extinction coefficient can be obtained by the effective medium approximation. If the volume ratios of a binder resin having a dielectric constant ε _A and a dye / pigment such as carbon black having a dielectric constant ε _B are v _A and v _B , the average dielectric constant ε _m of the mixed medium is

[0051]

(Equation 25)

It can be obtained from the relational expression There is a relation ε ₁ = n ² −κ ² ε ₂ = 2nκ between the dielectric constant ε = ε ₁ −iε ₂ and the complex refractive index N = n−iκ. Furthermore, the absorption coefficient α is equal to the extinction coefficient κ.

[0053]

(Equation 26)

There is a relationship. The dielectric constant of carbon black at a wavelength of 500 nm is ε ₁ = 2.74, ε ₂ = 2.47.
Is. Assuming that the binder resin is polystyrene and the carbon black content is 10%, n = 1.54 and κ = 0.
It becomes 065. FIG. 7 shows the content of carbon black and the absorption coefficient. From FIG. 7, the absorption coefficient 1 × 10 ⁴ / cm is the carbon black content 6%, the absorption coefficient 1.75 × 10 ⁴ / cm
Corresponds to a carbon black content of 10%. From the viewpoint of toner preparation, the carbon black content is preferably 25% or less.

FIG. 8 shows the measurement results of the emission time of the irradiated light and the flying amount of the toner. The emission time was the time when the emission intensity of the flash lamp was half the maximum value. The flight amount does not change significantly when the light emission time is 0.6 ms or less, but
If it is longer than 6 ms, the flight amount will be greatly reduced. Therefore, the light emission time is preferably 0.6 ms or less from the flight amount. When the same energy is applied, the shorter the irradiation time is, the larger the irradiation power is, the light power exceeds the adhesive force, and the flight amount increases. Therefore, it is desirable that the light irradiation time is short.

In order to make the magnitude of the force acting on the toner uniform, it is desirable that the width of the toner shape distribution is small.
To form a toner with good uniformity, it is desirable that the toner has a shape close to a true sphere. When the toner is produced by the polymerization method, it is possible to obtain a toner excellent in uniformity of shape. Toner shapes are often distorted and there are various definitions of particle size, but the present invention uses the diameter of a sphere of the same weight of toner.

Next, the characteristics when an electric field for reducing the adhesive force is applied will be shown. FIG. 9 shows the applied voltage. The distance between the electrodes is 500 μm. The flying amount increases as the applied voltage increases. In order to obtain a sufficient image density, it is necessary to fly 40% or more of the initial adhesion amount. In this case, it is desirable to apply 1 kV or more and 20 kV / cm or more in an electric field.

FIG. 10 shows the light energy density applied to the toner and the adhesion strength of the toner. The adhesive strength indicates the ratio of the toner remaining on the paper when the toner fixed on the paper is peeled off using an adhesive tape. The toner used has an average particle size of 10 μm. In handling the recording medium, the adhesive strength is preferably 50% or more, and the light energy density is preferably 0.65 J / cm ² or more. At this time, the maximum temperature reached on the toner surface is 250 ° C. or higher. Even at the light energy density of 0.5 J / cm ² , the toner is fixed on the paper and is not peeled off by rubbing. Therefore, 0.5
If the light energy density is J / cm ² or more (the maximum temperature reached on the toner surface is 170 ° C. or more), it can be distinguished from the unfixed toner by the cleaner. The energy for melting one toner is proportional to the volume of the toner, so when converted to the energy per unit weight of the toner (density 1.1 g / cm ² ), it is preferably 2.1 × 10 ² J / kg or more. Can be irradiated with light energy of 2.8 × 10 ² J / kg or more. Irradiation with light having a light energy density of 1.5 J / cm ² or more is not preferable because the surface temperature of the toner exceeds 500 ° C and exceeds the ignition point of the binder resin. Therefore, the irradiation light is preferably 1.5 J / cm ² or less. At this time, if the force from the light is effectively applied to the toner, the toner will be 0.5 m.
m Move.

In this embodiment, a toner having an average particle size of 10 μm is used as the image forming medium. Further, in order to facilitate melting by light, it is desirable that the toner has a low softening temperature and a small heat capacity. It is desirable that the particle size be small in order to reduce the heat capacity.

FIG. 11 shows the process in the embodiment of the present invention.
Shown in First, the toner layer 100 is formed on the transparent electrode 62 formed on the transparent belt base material 60. Next, a voltage is applied between the transparent electrode 62 and the unnecessary toner removing electrode 252 to remove the weakly attached unnecessary toner 102 that causes fogging when an electric field is applied during image formation. At this time, an electric field that is the same as or slightly larger than the electric field applied during image formation is applied. Then, the transparent electrode 62 and the electrode 250
The image toner 106 is moved onto the paper 150 by irradiating the flash light 80 through the spatial modulator 50 while applying a voltage between them to form an image. At this time, if there is weakly adhered toner, fog toner 104 is generated. If the toner is not sufficiently fixed by the flash light for forming the image, the transparent belt is moved so that the part without the toner comes, and the flash light 80 is transmitted through the spatial modulator 50 displaying the same information as when the image is formed. Fixing is performed by irradiating. The fog toner 104 attached to a portion other than the image portion is not fixed by the flash light and is not fixed, and thus can be cleaned. If fogging can be sufficiently removed by cleaning, the step of removing unnecessary toner is not necessary. If the toner that causes fogging can be sufficiently removed by removing the unnecessary toner, the cleaning step is not necessary. Furthermore, when it is not necessary to apply an electric field during image formation, the steps of removing unnecessary toner and cleaning are unnecessary.

It is desirable that the spatial modulator has a small light loss. In this example, polymer dispersed liquid crystal was used.
When no electric field is applied, the polymer and the medium in which the polymer is dispersed have different refractive indices in the light transmission direction, so that the light incident on the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal is scattered and the light is not transmitted. When an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal, the refractive index of the polymer and the medium in which the polymer is dispersed become equal, and light is transmitted. Since the spatial modulator using the polymer dispersed liquid crystal absorbs almost no light, the spatial modulator is not damaged even when it is irradiated with strong light. The spatial modulator may have the same size as the recording medium, or may have the width of the recording medium, and the recording medium may be conveyed by a method shorter than the length of the recording medium.
At this time, the recording medium may be divided to form an image. As the spatial modulator, a type in which a Si substrate is etched to form a minute mirror and the angle of the mirror is changed by electrostatic force can be used.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiment in which paper is used as the recording medium, a plastic film or the like can be used instead of paper.

FIG. 12 shows an image formed by the image forming apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of a printer using the image forming apparatus of the present invention. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 was used. The image signal is input through the interface 420. The control circuit 421 includes an optical system, paper feed,
Controls the supply of cleaners and toner. The control microcomputer 422 receives the image signal from the interface 420, forms image data, and sends it to the light modulation control circuit 423. Further, the control microcomputer 422 instructs the paper feed control circuit 424 about the paper feed timing, receives the paper position signal, and instructs the light source control circuit 426 about the light emission timing of the light source. Furthermore, the control microcomputer 422
Receives a paper position signal and commands the timing of activation of the cleaner control circuit 425. Further, the control microcomputer 422 transmits the control signal of the light control circuit 426 according to the image signal sent. The paper 150 is inserted by the paper feed cassette 290, and the transport rollers 230, 232, and
It is conveyed by 234 and discharged.

Since the printer using the image forming apparatus of the present invention can be miniaturized, it can be a desktop printer.

As a matter of course, the image forming apparatus of the present invention can also be used in an image forming unit such as a copying machine or a facsimile.

[0067]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a small-sized image forming apparatus capable of forming an image at high speed in which the movement of the image forming medium is controlled by the force exerted by the light larger than the light pressure. It was

Further, according to the present invention, in the small-sized image forming apparatus in which the movement of the image forming medium is controlled by the force exerted by the light, it becomes possible to easily and stably supply the image forming medium to the light irradiation section.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a relationship between a size parameter and a parameter J.

FIG. 3 is a relationship between a size parameter and a light pressure cross section.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between input energy and toner flying amount.

FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the extinction coefficient and the parameter J.

FIG. 6 shows the relationship between adhesive force and adhesive strength.

FIG. 7 shows the relationship between carbon black content and toner absorption coefficient.

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the light emission time of the light source and the flying amount of toner.

FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the applied voltage and the flying amount of toner.

FIG. 10 shows the relationship between light energy density and adhesion strength.

FIG. 11 is an example of the image process of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an image created by the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an example of a printer using the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 ... Flash lamp, 22 ... Reflector, 30 ... Lens, 50 ... Spatial modulator, 60 ... Transparent belt base material, 62 ...
Transparent electrode, 80 ... Flash light, 90 ... Optical system, 100
... toner layer, 102 ... unnecessary toner, 104 ... fog toner, 106 ... image portion toner, 108 ... fixing toner, 15
0 ... Paper, 202 ... Transparent belt, 210 ... Toner supply means, 212 ... Toner selection means, 240, 242, 244
... conveying rollers, 246 ... paper feeding rollers, 250 ... electrodes,
280 ... Guide, 290 ... Paper feed cassette, 421 ... Control circuit, 422 ... Control microcomputer, 423 ... Light modulation control circuit, 424 ... Paper feed control circuit, 425 ... Cleaner control circuit, 426 ... Light source control circuit.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image is obtained by holding an image forming medium on a substrate in advance and moving the image forming medium from the substrate by using a force generated by heat generated by the light absorbed by the image forming medium. In the image forming method for forming an image, the image forming medium held on the substrate is irradiated with light energy of 0.33 J / cm ² or more from the light source. 2. The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein the image forming medium is held on the surface of a solid substrate having optical transparency. 3. The image forming method according to claim 1, further comprising applying at least one of electrostatic force, magnetic force, and gravity to the image forming medium which has started to move by light. Method. 4. The image forming medium according to claim 1, wherein the image forming medium has an absorption coefficient of 1 × 10 ⁴ / cm 2 or more, and the image forming medium held on the substrate is irradiated with light from the light source, An image forming method comprising moving the image forming medium from the substrate. 5. The image forming method according to claim 4, wherein the image forming medium held on the substrate is irradiated with light from the light source to move the image forming medium from the substrate to the recording medium. An image forming method is characterized in that the moving distance of the image forming medium by light irradiation is 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm. 6. The image forming method according to claim 4, wherein the irradiation time of the light irradiated to move the image forming medium from the substrate is 0.6 ms or less. .