Liquid developing method and liquid developing apparatus

A liquid developing apparatus comprising:

• an image bearing member, the image bearing member having a surface on which an electrostatic latent image can be formed and being adapted to move in one direction;
• a pre-wet mechanism to form a film of pre-wet liquid on the surface of the image bearing member;
• a developing agent bearing member, the developing agent bearing member having a surface that carries an electrically charged liquid developing agent and being adapted to move in accord with the image bearing member, said development agent bearing member further being adapted to bring said liquid developing agent which is on the surface thereof into contact with the image bearing member to thereby supply said liquid developing agent to the surface of the electrostatic latent image to thereby develop the image;
• a developing agent supply mechanism that forms a 5 to 40 .mu.m film of liquid developing agent on the surface of the development agent bearing member;
• wherein said liquid developing agent has a viscosity of 100 to 10,000 mPa.s.,
• wherein said pre-wet liquid is a chemically inert dielectric liquid that has good release properties;
• wherein the pre-wet mechanism comprises a container that stores the pre-wet liquid and a pre-wet liquid supply element formed from a liquid-permeable and liquid-retentive material, the pre-wet liquid supply element being impregnated by the pre-wet liquid, and a film of the pre-wet liquid being formed on the surface of the image bearing member by means of the pre-wet liquid supply element being brought into contact with the image bearing member.

A liquid developing apparatus comprising:

• an image bearing member, the image bearing member having a surface on which an electrostatic latent image can be formed and being adapted to move in one direction;
• a pre-wet mechanism to form a film of pre-wet liquid on the surface of the image bearing member;
• a developing agent bearing member, the developing agent bearing member having a surface that carries an electrically charged liquid developing agent and being adapted to move in accord with the image bearing member, said development agent bearing member further being adapted to bring said liquid developing agent which is on the surface thereof into contact with the image bearing member to thereby supply said liquid developing agent to the surface of the electrostatic latent image to thereby develop the image;
• a developing agent supply mechanism that forms a 5 to 40 .mu.m film of liquid developing agent on the surface of the development agent bearing member;
• wherein said liquid developing agent has a viscosity of 100 to 10,000 mPa.s., wherein said pre-wet liquid is a chemically inert dielectric liquid that has good release properties,
• wherein a gap is disposed between the surface of the image bearing member and the surface of the developing agent bearing member, and wherein said gap is greater than the thickness of the film of liquid developing agent but smaller than the sum of the thicknesses of the pre-wet liquid film and the liquid developing agent film;
• wherein the image bearing member is flexible, is provided with a continuous belt with an external surface on which electrostatic latent images can be formed and with at least one drive roller that rotates said belt in one direction, has a roller that rotates the developing agent bearing member, on the surface of which liquid developing agent is applied, in accordance with the direction of rotation of the image bearing member, and wherein the gap between the surfaces of the developing agent bearing member and the image bearing member is maintained by means of adjusting the tension of the belt in the image bearing member.

A liquid developing apparatus comprising:

• an image bearing member, the image bearing member having a surface on which an electrostatic latent image can be formed and being adapted to move in one direction;
• a pre-wet mechanism to form a film of pre-wet liquid on the surface of the image bearing member;
• a developing agent bearing member, the developing agent bearing member having a surface that carries an electrically charged liquid developing agent and being adapted to move in accord with the image bearing member, said development agent bearing member further being adapted to bring said liquid developing agent which is on the surface thereof into contact with the image bearing member to thereby supply said liquid developing agent to the surface of the electrostatic latent image to thereby develop the image;
• a developing agent supply mechanism that forms a 5 to 40 .mu.m film of liquid developing agent on the surface of the development agent bearing member;
• wherein said liquid developing agent has a viscosity of 100 to 10,000 mPa.s., wherein said pre-wet liquid is a chemically inert dielectric liquid that has good release properties;
• wherein the image bearing member comprises a drum that is formed with a photosensitive material on the surface, a roller that rotates the developing agent bearing member, on the surface of which liquid developing agent is applied, in accordance with the direction of rotation of the image bearing member, and a clearance gap maintenance element that maintains a gap between the surface of the image bearing member and the surface of the developing agent bearing member, wherein said gap is greater than the thickness of the film of liquid developing agent but smaller than the sum of the thicknesses of the pre-wet liquid film and the liquid developing agent film.

A liquid developing apparatus comprising a developing agent bearing member, an image bearing member, the image bearing member having a surface on which an electrostatic latent image can be formed and being adapted to move in one direction, the developing agent bearing member having a surface that carries an electrically charged liquid developing agent and being adapted to move in accord with the image bearing member, and a developing agent supply mechanism that forms a 5 to 40 .mu.m film of liquid developing agent on the surface of the development agent bearing member, and said development agent bearing member further being adapted to bring said liquid developing agent which is on the surface thereof into contact with the image bearing member to thereby supply said liquid developing agent to the surface of the electrostatic latent image to thereby develop the image, wherein said liquid developing agent is formed by dispersing toner in a dielectric liquid having a viscosity of 100 to 10,000 mPa.s.;

• wherein the liquid developing apparatus further comprises a recording medium disposed on a transfer member, a transfer mechanism that transfers the toner image to the recording medium disposed on the transfer member, and a mechanism that adjusts the contact pressure of the image bearing member and the transfer member, wherein the toner image is formed by the liquid developing agent being supplied to the surface of the latent image on the image bearing member, and wherein at least one of the transfer member and the image bearing member is flexible.