Claims
- 1. A method for regenerating an image holding member in which at least one portion of the image holding member is constructed by paper;
- an image is constructed by an image forming substance fixed on a paper layer of the image holding member and
- at least one kind of water or aqueous solution is selected from a group of water, an aqueous solution including a surfactant, an aqueous solution including a water-soluble polymer, and an aqueous solution including a water-soluble polymer and a surfactant;
- the regenerating method comprising the steps of: impregnating the paper layer of the image holding member having the image forming substance with said at least one kind of water or aqueous solution so as to reduce an adhesive force between the image forming substance and the image holding member; and
- separating the image forming substance from the paper layer of the image holding member through an image separating member by heating adhesion or pressure adhesion.
- 2. A method for regenerating an image holding member as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one portion of the image holding member forming an image thereon is constructed by paper and an image constructed by an image forming substance can be formed on a paper layer of the image holding member;
- at least one kind of aqueous solution is selected from a group of an aqueous solution including a surfactant, an aqueous solution including a water-soluble polymer, and an aqueous solution including a water-soluble polymer and a surfactant;
- said at least one kind of aqueous solution is held in the image holding member;
- the image holding member is dried after this holding; and
- the image is formed on the dried image holding member.
- 3. An apparatus for regenerating an image holding member having a fibrous surface and an image forming substance is stably fixed onto the fibrous surface comprising:
- impregnating means for impregnating the image holding member with a fixing state reducing substance such that a fixing force between the image forming substance and said fixing state reducing substance is reduced; and
- toner removing means for positioning a separating member in close contact with said impregnated image holding member so that the image forming substance is transferred from the fibrous surface onto said separating member.
- 4. An apparatus for regenerating an image holding member as claimed in claim 3, wherein the thermally melted toner is softened by heating means to easily transfer the thermally melted toner onto the separating member when the thermally melted toner is removed from the fibrous surface.
- 5. An apparatus for regenerating an image holding member as claimed in claim 3, wherein the regenerating apparatus further comprises restoring means for setting smoothness and humidity of the image holding member as a sheet to be approximately equal to those before regenerative processing after the thermally melted toner is removed from the fibrous surface.
- 6. An apparatus for regenerating an image holding member as claimed in claim 4, wherein the regenerating apparatus further comprises restoring means for setting smoothness and humidity of the image holding member as a sheet to be approximately equal to those before regenerative processing after the thermally melted toner is removed from the fibrous surface.
- 7. A method of recycling an image-bearing support material for supporting image thereon, in which at least a part of the image-bearing support material comprises a chartaceous material with cellulose fibers as a main component the image is constructed by an image forming substance stably fixed on the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material, and at least one kind of water or aqueous solution is selected from a group of water, and an aqueous solution including a surfactant, an aqueous solution including a water-soluble polymer, and an aqueous solution including a water-soluble polymer and a surfactant, the recycling method comprising the steps of:
- impregnating the image-bearing support material with said at least one kind of water or aqueous solution for changing a stabilized adhesive state between the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material and the image forming substance to an unstable state; and
- separating the image from the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material through an image separating member by transferring the image onto the image separating member by heating adhesion or pressure adhesion.
- 8. A method according to claim 7, wherein at least one kind of aqueous solution is selected from a group of an aqueous solution including a surfactant, an aqueous solution including a water-soluble polymer, and an aqueous solution including a water-soluble polymer and a surfactant, and
- the image-bearing support material is impregnated with said at least one kind of aqueous solution;
- the image-bearing support material is dried after the impregnation; and
- the image is formed on the dried image-bearing support material.
- 9. An apparatus for recycling an image-bearing support material for supporting an image thereon, in which at least a part of the image-bearing support material comprises a chartaceous material with cellulose fibers as a main component, and the image is constructed by an image forming substance stably fixed on the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material, the recycling apparatus comprising:
- impregnating means for impregnating the image-bearing support material with a fixing state reducing substance for changing a stabilized adhesive state between the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material and the image forming substance to an unstable state; and
- a separating member for separating the image forming substance with reduced adhesive force from the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material by bringing the separating member in contact with the image under the condition that said image forming substance is softened by heating means, and by transferring the image onto the separating member.
- 10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the recycling apparatus further comprises restoring means for setting smoothness and humidity of the image-bearing support material as a sheet to be approximately equal to those before recycling process, after the image forming substance is removed from the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material.
- 11. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said fixing state reducing substance is at least one kind of water or aqueous solution selected from a group of water, and aqueous solution including a surfactant, an aqueous solution including a water-soluble polymer, and an aqueous solution including a water-soluble polymer and a surfactant.
- 12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the recycling apparatus further comprises restoring means for setting smoothness and humidity of the image-bearing support material as a sheet to be approximately equal to those before recycling process, after the image forming substance is removed from the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material.
- 13. An apparatus for recycling an image-bearing support material for supporting image thereon, in which at least a part of the image-bearing support material comprises a chartaceous material with cellulose fibers as a main component, and the image is constructed by thermally melted toner stably fixed on the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material, the recycling apparatus comprising:
- impregnating means for impregnating the image-bearing support material with a fixing state reducing substance for reducing fixing force stabilized between the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material and the thermally melted toner; and
- toner removing means for bringing a toner separating member in close contact with the thermally melted toner with unstable reduced adhesive force on the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material, and for removing the thermally melted toner from the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material by transferring the thermally melted toner onto the toner separating member.
- 14. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the recycling apparatus further comprises restoring means for setting smoothness and humidity of the image-bearing support material as a sheet to be approximately equal to those before the recycling process, after the thermally melted toner is removed from the chartaceous material.
- 15. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the thermally melted toner is softened by heating means to easily transfer the thermally melted toner onto the toner separating member when the thermally melted toner is removed from the chartaceous material of the image-bearing support material.
- 16. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the recycling apparatus further comprises restoring means for setting smoothness and humidity of the image-bearing support material as a sheet to be approximately equal to those before recycling process, after the thermally melted toner is removed from the chartaceous material.
- 17. An apparatus for reusing an image-bearing support material for supporting an image thereon, in which at least a surface of the image-bearing support material forms a chartaceous material with cellulose fibers as a main component, and the image is constructed by thermally melted toner stably fixed on the surface of the image-bearing support material, said reusing apparatus comprising:
- a liquid supply unit having a liquid container, resist rollers, and drawing rollers, said liquid container being filled with processing liquid, said resist rollers transferring image-bearing support material in said processing liquid of said liquid container, said drawing rollers drawing said image-bearing support material from said liquid container, said processing liquid having a character for reducing fixing force stabilized between the surface of the image-bearing support material and the thermally melted toner, said processing liquid being at least one kind of water or aqueous solution selected from a group of water; and
- a toner separating unit having a heater, and a toner separating member, said heater softening toner on said image-bearing support member passed through said liquid supply unit, said toner separating member transferring said softened toner from said image-bearing support material.
- 18. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said toner separating member is a separating belt.
- 19. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the reusing apparatus further comprises a drying unit for drying said image-bearing support member, the drying unit having a heating drum and belt, said heating drum being a solid body, said belt contacting a portion thereof on a surface of said heating drum.
- 20. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said toner separating unit further comprises a cleaner, said cleaner removing toner from said surface of said toner separating member.
Priority Claims (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
4-255915 |
Aug 1992 |
JPX |
|
4-255916 |
Aug 1992 |
JPX |
|
5-106062 |
Apr 1993 |
JPX |
|
5-123344 |
Apr 1993 |
JPX |
|
5-201169 |
Jul 1993 |
JPX |
|
5-239075 |
Aug 1993 |
JPX |
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/213,152 filed Mar. 14, 1994, now abandoned which in turn is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 08/115,194 filed Aug. 31, 1993 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,617.
US Referenced Citations (33)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
50-56942 |
May 1975 |
JPX |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
213152 |
Mar 1994 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
115194 |
Aug 1993 |
|