Abstract: In a regenerating method and apparatus of a recorded material in which at least a portion of the recorded material in the vicinity of a surface thereof on an image forming side is wet and expands with a liquid, the wet and expanding liquid (also called an image removing accelerating liquid in the following description) is provided to the recorded material so that the portion of the recorded material in the vicinity of the surface thereof is wet and expands with this liquid. A separating member comes in contact with an image forming substance having a film shape and a thermoplastic or thermally melted property and formed in the vicinity of the surface of the recorded material in a state in which joining force between the image forming substance and the recorded material is reduced. An image in the vicinity of the surface of the recorded material is transferred onto the separating member so that the image forming substance on the recorded material is removed therefrom.

Abstract: In a method for repeatedly using an image holding member such as a sheet of paper, toner for an electronic photograph is constructed such that a maximum value of viscoelasticity of the toner shown by tan .delta. is equal to or smaller than 3 in the range of a heating temperature when the toner is heated and fixed to the image holding member. Such toner has sufficient elastic or cohesive force. Accordingly, when the toner is heated and fixed to the paper sheet, no excessive adhesive force is caused to such an extent that paper fibers of the paper sheet eat into the toner attached to the paper sheet. Accordingly, after an aqueous solution including a surfactant is supplied to the paper sheet by a liquid supplying unit, the toner is softened by heat from heating rollers so that the toner is attached to a surface of an offset belt.

Abstract: In a method of and an apparatus for regenerating an image support from a used image-bearing support which bears thereon hydrophobic images formed of thermofusible or heat-softening ink, a plurality of image releasing members are used for removing the hydrophobic images from the used image-bearing support. Specifically, at least one of the image releasing members has a first portion which is able to adhere to the hydrophobic images and a second portion which is unable to adhere to the hydrophobic images, and the image releasing members are arranged in series in order of size of the first portion from small to large along a feeding direction of the used image support. Accordingly, the image releasing members are allowed to adhere to the hydrophobic images in order of size of the first portion from small to large so that the hydrophobic images are removed from the used image support effectively.

Abstract: A method of recycling an image-deposited recording material having a surface portion which swells in contact with water and bears thereon deposited images containing an image-constituting material, include the steps of: (a) applying a water-containing image removal promoting liquid to the image-deposited surface portion of the recording material, (b) bringing an image release member into contact with the image-deposited surface portion of the recording material to transfer the images to the image release member to remove the images from the image-deposited recording material, and (c) applying heat to the image-deposited recording material at least after the step (a), with substantially retaining the water component of the image removal promoting liquid in the image-deposited surface portion.

Abstract: A device for removing a film-like image forming substance from a recording medium for thereby regenerating the medium. A supply section supplies to the medium a water-containing removal accelerating liquid which causes a swelling layer of the medium to swell more than the substance provided on the medium. A separating section presses, after the liquid has been supplied to the medium, a separating member against the medium with or without heating to thereby transfer the substance from the medium to the separating member and thereby regenerates the medium. A cleaning section removes impurities deposited on the separating member.

Abstract: A method for recycling a support material of an image-bearing support is composed of the steps of (a) impregnating an image-bearing support, at least part of which is composed of a paper layer, and on which paper layer images made from a thermofusible ink containing a thermofusible resin component are formed, with at least one of water or an aqueous solution which is selected from the group consisting of an aqueous solution containing a surfactant, an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble polymer, and an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble polymer and a surfactant; (b) causing an image release member to adhere to the image bearing side of the support with the application of heat thereto, the image release member including a resin layer which is composed of the same thermofusible resin component as that contained in the thermofusible ink, or a resin layer having the same or substantially the same SP value as that of the thermofusible resin component in said thermofusible ink; and (c) peeling the

Abstract: A method of recycling a support material for supporting images thereon, at least part of the support material including a paper layer which contains cellulose fibers as the main component and bears thereon hydrophobic images having a coloring agent and a heat softening or thermofusible material, includes the steps of causing the support material to hold a water-containing image peeling liquid thereon; bringing an image peeling member into contact with the hydrophobic images while the image peeling liquid is held on the support material; and peeling the hydrophobic images off the paper layer, with the image peeling liquid being held in an amount of 1.0 g or more per A4-size paper layer, or with the rate of the penetration of the image peeling liquid into the paper layer of the support material being set at 12 ml/m.sup.2 or more for a contact time of 0.

Abstract: A predetermined processing liquid is supplied by a liquid supplying unit to a sheet of transfer paper having a surface on which toner is stably attached. An adhesive state of the toner on the transfer paper sheet is changed to an unstable adhesive state. The processing liquid is constructed by water, aqueous solutions of a surfactant, a water-soluble polymer, etc. The transfer paper sheet including the processing liquid is fed to a toner separating unit. While the toner is heated and pressurized in the toner separating unit, the toner is attached to a separating roller having a surface on which the softened toner is easily attached. The toner separating unit then separates only the transfer paper sheet from the surface of the separating roller by a separating claw. The processing liquid is removed from the transfer paper sheet by heating the transfer paper sheet, etc. using a drying unit such that the transfer paper sheet can be reused for a copying machine, etc.

Abstract: An image-bearing member for supporting thereon images formed by a thermofusible or heat-softening ink containing a dye coloring component, at least part of the image-bearing member having a paper layer which contains cellulose fibers and a discoloring agent capable of discoloring the dye coloring component of the thermofusible or heat-softening ink. In addition, a method for recycling the above-mentioned image-bearing member is also disclosed.

Abstract: In a method and an apparatus for removing an image forming substance such as toner from an image holding member such as a sheet of transfer paper, an unstabilizing agent is provided to the image holding member. An attaching state between the image forming substance and the image holding member stably attaching the image forming substance on a surface thereof is changed to an unstable state by the unstabilizing agent. The image forming substance is separated and removed from the image holding member by making a separating member come in close contact with the image forming substance on the image holding member having the provided unstabilizing agent. A processing situation mark showing a processing situation of removal of the image forming substance is formed in the image holding member. The processing situation mark can be removed from the image holding member by the image forming substance removing processing.

Abstract: This invention provides a method for using paper repeatedly by flaking and removing an image from the paper, even if the image has been touched up on the paper with handwriting, and a preferable printing tool used in the method. The method includes the steps of touching up the image on the paper with the printing tool containing a main component of a colored thermoplastic resin particle and being formed into a stick shape by solidifying the resin particle alone or with binder resin sticking to the resin particle. The image can be formed on the paper with a liquid-applying type of printing tool having a liquid container containing a resin dispersion liquid being formed by dispersing the resin particle in a solvent.

Abstract: A method for regenerating an image holding-supporting member has the steps of impregnating the image holding-supporting member with a liquid including at least water molecules; the image holding-supporting member having a chartaceous material constructed by cellulose as a principal component and having a hydrophobic image formed on this chartaceous material; and separating the hydrophobic image from the chartaceous material by an image separator in an impregnating state of the liquid so that an image can be recopied and reprinted on the chartaceous material. In accordance with this reproducing method, a copy is made or a sheet of printing paper is regenerated by cleanings of a PPC copying image and a PPC printing image normally utilized in markets at present in addition to cleaning of images copied and printed on sheets of special paper such as erasable paper so that the image holding-supporting member can be reused as a paper sheet for copying or printing.

Abstract: An optical information recording medium comprising a substrate and a recording layer superimposed on said substrate, said recording layer comprising a reflective layer in which metal particles with a particle diameter of 1500.ANG. or less have been distributed closely and a light absorptive layer in which metal compounds and a very small amount of metal particles with a particle diameter of 200-2000.ANG. have been dispersed unformly or substantially uniformly in the volume ratio of 1-30% in a resin.

Abstract: An optical information recording medium capable of recording optical information thereon by application of high density energy beams thereto, the recorded information being thereafter reproducible therefrom, comprising a base and a recording layer formed on the base, the recording layer comprising a fluorine phthalocyanine of the following formula and capable of absorbing light with a wavelength of 700 nm or more: ##STR1## where M represents a member selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, a metal, a metal oxide and a metal halide, X represents fluorine; and n is an integer from 1 to 16.

Abstract: A method for preparing an electrophotographic element wherein in the formation of a co-crystalline complex photosensitive layer a conducting substrate or another photosensitive layer is over-coated with a solution consisting essentially of a pyrylium dye and an electric insulating polymer and dried at least two times respectively.