Method and apparatus for regenerating image holding member

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.