화학공학소재연구정보센터
Particulate Science and Technology, Vol.24, No.2, 137-151, 2006
Toner cloud generation and its supply over the width of a printing area
Toner cloud generation along with controlling its movement is one of the important parameters in the development of digital printing by the toner cloud beam technique. In the experimental set-up for toner cloud generation, the conductive toner particles were sprayed at the center of a wide chamber-shaped dented electrode as the lower electrode was placed parallel with the upper electrode, leaving a small gap between them using two insulating sheets. An electrical, field was applied between the two electrodes. The toner moved up and down between the two electrodes by electrostatic force, forming the toner cloud, which propagated to both ends of the dented electrode. This research studies the toner cloud generation conditions using the wide chamber-shaped dented electrode, the slope of the nesa glass, and the slope of the system as the influencing factors that governed toner cloud generation and its movement. An increase in the applied voltage led to a faster toner cloud speed. When a greater amount of toner was applied into the dented electrode, a faster toner cloud movement was obtained. On the other hand, the toner cloud speed decreased when increasing the depth of the dented electrode. An increase of the slope of nesa glass increased the toner cloud speed. However, the toner cloud speed was not significant to the system when the slope was between 0 and 5 degrees. It was also found that the width of toner cloud decreased when the applied voltage increased. Furthermore, the two overlapped cone-shaped dented electrodes could be used for generating the toner transport to the printing system. This research also explains the possible phenomena for toner cloud generation and performance.