Photocopying – Including fiber optics
Patent
1986-08-05
1989-02-07
Prescott, A. C.
Photocopying
Including fiber optics
355 3R, 355 3CH, 355 14CH, 118645, 430 42, G03G 1501
Patent
active
048035149
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a multi-color image forming method and an apparatus using a photosensitive member which is suitable for forming a multi-color image by the electrophotography.
BACKGROUND ART
With a view to producing a multi-color image by the electrophotography, there have been proposed in the prior art a number of methods and apparatus to be used for the former, which can generally be divided roughly into the following ones. One of these methods is conducted by using a single photosensitive member and by repeating formation of a latent image by an image exposure and a development with a color toner in accordance with the to a transfer member upon each development to effect the color superposition on the transfer member. And, the second method produces a multi-color image by using an apparatus equipped with photosensitive members in a number according to the number of separated colors, by exposing the photosensitive members simultaneously to optical images in individual colors, by developing the latent images formed on the individual photosensitive members with color toners, and by transferring the images sequentially to a transfer member to superpose the colors.
The first method is accompanied by a serious defect that the plural latent image forming and developing steps have to be repeated to take a long time for the image recording operation so that it is remarkably difficult to speed up. On the other hand, the second method is advantageous in the speed because the plural photosensitive members are used in parallel, but is short of practicability because it requires the plural photosensitive members, optical systems and developing means so that its apparatus is complicated and large-sized to raise the production cost. Moreover, both of those two methods are seriously defective in that they find it difficult to register the images being formed and transferred repeatedly several times so that they cannot completely prevent the color misregistration of the image, and in that they find it difficult to adjust the color reproduction and balance.
In order to drastically solve those problems, it is sufficient to record a multi-color image on a single photosensitive member by a single image exposure, but it is the present technical state that such a method is not developed yet.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention has been conceived in view of the background so far described and contemplates to provide a multi-color copying apparatus which can form a multi-color image on a single photosensitive member at a high speed by a single image exposure, can easily adjust the reproduction density and the color balance of an original image and can make its construction compact. According to the present invention, there is provided a method of forming a multicolor image by repeating such whole-surface exposure and development on a multicolor image forming photosensitive member, which has: an insulating layer on one side of a photoconductive layer; a conductive layer on the other side, at least one of said insulating layer and said conductive layer being light transmissive and being composed of a plurality of kinds of filters, as will produce a potential pattern in a portion of a specific kind one of the filters of said photosensitive member, after said photosensitive member has been charged and subjected to an image exposure, characterized in that at least one of said image exposing, whole-surface exposing and developing steps is made variable to control the color reproduction of said multicolor image.
In the aforementioned steps, moreover, the multicolor image forming method of the present invention is characterized in that the density of a subsequent development is adjusted by changing the quantity of light and/or wavelength distribution of said whole-surface exposure.
In the aforementioned steps, furthermore, the multicolor image forming method of the present invention is characterized in that the color reproduction of said multicolor image is adjusted by changing the condit
REFERENCES:
patent: 3815988 (1974-06-01), McVeigh et al.
patent: 4179209 (1979-12-01), Goren
patent: 4204728 (1980-05-01), Goshima et al.
patent: 4407917 (1983-10-01), Sakai
patent: 4472047 (1984-09-01), Stoudt
Haneda Satoshi
Hiratsuka Seiichiro
Shoji Hisashi
Bierman Jordan B.
Konishiroku Photo Industry Co,., Ltd.
Prescott A. C.
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