JP2002214992A - Cleaning device, image forming method and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device, an image forming method and an image forming device which improves an unsatisfactory cleaning of toner which is easily caused by a cleaning device having a constitution where a cleaning blade is arranged in the vicinity just above a cylindrical organic photoreceptor and keeps an excellent cleaning performance even when using a polymerized toner. SOLUTION: This cleaning device is provided with a cleaning blade which removes the toner on the cylindrical organic photoreceptor which is disposed in such a manner that a center shaft of the cylinder is nearly horizontal, and the tip of the cleaning blade is in contact with the cylindrical organic photoreceptor in such a manner that a cylinder center angle β is <=±30 deg.. This cleaning device furthermore features that the impact resilience H (JIS K 6301 (measurement temperature and moisture 25 deg.C/50%RH)) is satisfied by Equation 1; 45<=H (impact resilience)<70, where the unit of figure is %. (Equation 1).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner cleaning apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming apparatus used in an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an organic photoconductor containing an organic photoconductive substance has been most widely used as an image carrier used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. Organic photoreceptors are advantageous over other photoreceptors in that materials that can be used for various exposure light sources from visible light to infrared light can be easily developed, materials that do not pollute the environment can be selected, and manufacturing costs are low. However, the organic photoreceptor has a large contact energy with the toner that visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the organic photoreceptor,
After the toner image is transferred to a transfer material in a transfer step, various problems tend to occur in cleaning the residual toner remaining on the organic photoreceptor.

On the other hand, as an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method, an image forming apparatus having a structure in which a cleaning device is disposed immediately above a cylindrical electrophotographic photosensitive member is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-2980.
90755 and the like. An image forming apparatus configured with such an arrangement of the cleaning device has an advantage that a compact configuration is possible, but the cleaning device is disposed above the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member moves in a substantially horizontal direction. The cleaning blade is pressed from above against the toner, so that the toner scraped off by the cleaning blade is difficult to separate from the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and cleaning failure often occurs.

[0004] In the electrophotographic image forming method, digital image formation has become mainstream due to the development of digital technology in recent years. Digital image forming methods are based on visualizing small dot images of one pixel such as 400 dpi (400 dots per 2.54 cm), and high image quality technology that faithfully reproduces these small dot images is required. Have been.

One of the most important technologies for realizing the high image quality technology is a technology relating to a toner manufacturing technology. Until now, in the formation of an electrophotographic image, a toner obtained by mixing a binder resin and a pigment, kneading and then pulverizing and then pulverizing the toner powder in a classification step has been mainly used, but it is obtained through such a manufacturing step. The toner has a limit in making the particle size distribution of the toner particles uniform, and the particle size distribution and the shape of the toner particles are insufficiently uniform. It is difficult to achieve sufficiently high image quality in an electrophotographic image using such a toner.

On the other hand, as means for achieving a uniform particle size distribution and shape of toner particles, an electrophotographic developer using a polymerized toner or an image forming method has been proposed.
Since the polymerized toner is produced by uniformly dispersing the raw material monomers in an aqueous system and then polymerizing the same, a toner having a uniform particle size distribution and shape can be obtained.

Here, when the polymerized toner is used in an image forming apparatus using an organic photoreceptor, a new technical problem has arisen. That is, as described above, the polymerized toner is formed in a substantially spherical shape because the toner is formed after the monomers are dispersed in an aqueous system and polymerized. As is well known, the spherical residual toner has a high adhesive force to the surface of the organic photoreceptor and easily causes cleaning failure.

In particular, when the polymerized toner is applied to an image forming apparatus having a configuration in which the above-described cleaning device is disposed immediately above a cylindrical organic photoreceptor, a minute amount of toner that does not appear in an image is generated for a long time. In addition, these slipped-off toners contaminate a charging member (a charging wire or a charging roller), and as a result, image unevenness occurs in a halftone image or the like.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a cleaning blade directly above a cylindrical organic photoreceptor (hereinafter, also referred to as a cylindrical photoreceptor, an organic photoreceptor or simply a photoreceptor). Improving the cleaning failure of the toner which is likely to occur in the cleaning device arranged in the vicinity, and maintaining the good cleaning performance for a long time even when the polymerization toner is used, without image defects, An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device, an image forming method, and an image forming apparatus capable of forming an electrophotographic image.

[0010]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of repeated studies to solve the above problems, the present inventors have identified a cleaning apparatus having a structure in which a cleaning blade is arranged immediately above a cylindrical organic photoreceptor. By using the cleaning blade having the material properties described above, it has become possible to secure good cleaning properties and obtain good electrophotographic images for a long period of time. That is, it has been found that the object of the present invention is achieved by adopting one of the following constitutions.

1. A cleaning blade for removing the toner on the cylindrical organic photoreceptor, which is disposed so that the central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, and the tip of the cleaning blade has a cylindrical central angle (β) ± 30 degrees (the cylindrical central axis is vertical) Within a cleaning device that comes into contact with the cylindrical organic photoreceptor within an upper part of 0 °, the rebound resilience H of the cleaning blade (JIS K6301 (measured temperature / humidity: 25 ° C./50)
% RH)) satisfies Expression 1.

Formula 1 45 ≦ H (rebound resilience) <70 (unit;%) A cleaning blade for removing the toner on the cylindrical organic photoreceptor, which is disposed so that the central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, and the tip of the cleaning blade has a cylindrical central angle (β) ± 30 degrees (the cylindrical central axis is vertical) Within a cleaning device that comes into contact with the cylindrical organic photoreceptor within an upper part of 0 degrees, a 300% module M of the cleaning blade (JISK6251 (measured temperature / humidity 25 ° C./50
% RH)) satisfies Expression 2.

Equation 2 10 ≦ M (300% module) ≦ 14 (unit: M
Pa) 3. A cleaning blade for removing the toner on the cylindrical organic photoreceptor, which is disposed so that the central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, and the tip of the cleaning blade has a cylindrical central angle (β) ± 30 degrees (the cylindrical central axis is vertical) Within the cleaning device contacting the cylindrical organic photoreceptor, the permanent elongation E of the cleaning blade is set within 0 degree.
(JISK6301 (measured temperature / humidity 25 ° C / 50% R
H)), wherein the cleaning device satisfies Expression 3.

Formula 30 0 ≦ E (permanent elongation) <5 (unit:%) A cleaning blade for removing the toner on the cylindrical organic photoreceptor, which is disposed so that the central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, and the tip of the cleaning blade has a cylindrical central angle (β) ± 30 degrees (the cylindrical central axis is vertical) Within a cleaning device that comes into contact with the cylindrical organic photoreceptor within an upper part of 0 degree, the hardness K (JI
SK6301 (measured temperature / humidity 25 ° C./50% RH) satisfies Expression 4.

Formula 4 64 ≦ K (hardness) ≦ 73 (unit: degree) A cleaning blade for removing the toner on the cylindrical organic photoreceptor, which is disposed so that the central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, and the tip of the cleaning blade has a cylindrical central angle (β) ± 30 degrees (the cylindrical central axis is vertical) Within the cleaning device, which contacts the cylindrical organic photoreceptor within 0 degree in the upper part, the cleaning blade may have the formula
A cleaning device configured to satisfy the following relational expression:

6. The electrostatic latent image formed on the cylindrical organic photoreceptor placed so that the central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal forms a toner image by a developing unit, and after transferring the toner image to a transfer material, the cylindrical image is formed. 6. An image forming method comprising a cleaning device for removing a toner remaining on an organic photoreceptor, wherein the cleaning device is the cleaning device according to any one of the above items 1 to 5.

[7] As the toner used in the developing unit,
The coefficient of variation of the shape factor of the toner particles is 16% or less;
7. The image forming method according to 6, wherein a toner having a number variation coefficient of 27% or less in the number particle size distribution of the toner particles is used.

[8] As the toner used in the developing unit,
8. The image forming method according to the above item 6 or 7, wherein a toner containing 65% by number or more of toner particles having a shape factor of the toner particles in a range of 1.2 to 1.6 is used.

9. As the toner used in the developing unit,
9. The image forming method according to any one of the above items 6 to 8, wherein a toner containing 50% by number or more of toner particles having no corners is used.

[10] An image forming apparatus using the image forming method according to any one of the above items 6 to 9.

The present invention will be described in more detail. By using the above-described configuration of the present invention, the present inventors can effectively remove the toner remaining on the organic photoreceptor without excessively increasing the frictional force generated between the organic photoreceptor and the cleaning blade. The toner remaining on the top can be removed,
It has been found that good and stable images can be obtained over a long period of time. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a digital image forming apparatus (hereinafter, also simply referred to as an image forming apparatus) applied to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) A, a document image reading unit B for reading an image of a document conveyed by the automatic document feeder, and a read document image. Image control board C to be processed
A writing unit D including a writing unit 12 for writing on a cylindrical photoreceptor (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a photoreceptor) 10 as an image carrier in accordance with data after image processing; An image forming unit E including an image forming unit such as a charging electrode 14, a developing device 16 as a developing unit including a magnetic brush type developing device, a transfer electrode 18, a separation electrode 20, and a cleaning device 21 as a cleaning unit; Paper feed tray 2 for storing transfer material) P
It has a storage section F for 2, 24.

The automatic document feeder A includes a document table 26
And a document transport processing unit 28 including a roller group including a roller R1 and switching means for appropriately switching a document movement path (no reference symbol).

The original image reading section B is located under the platen glass G, and can move back and forth while maintaining the optical path length, a fixed image forming lens (hereinafter simply referred to as a lens) 33, and a line-shaped image forming section. Image sensor (hereinafter referred to as CCD
The writing unit D includes a laser light source 40, a polygon mirror (polarizer) 42, and the like.

When viewed from the direction of movement of the recording paper P as a transfer material, R10 is a registration roller in front of the transfer electrode 18, and H is a fixing device downstream of the separation electrode 20.

In the embodiment, the fixing device H as a fixing means is constituted by a roller having a built-in heating source and a pressure roller which rotates while being pressed against the roller.

Z is a cleaning means for the fixing device H, and its main element is a cleaning web which can be wound up.

One of the originals (not shown) placed on the original placing table 26 is transported by the original transport processor 28.
While passing under the roller R1, exposure by the exposure means L is performed.

The reflected light from the original passes through the mirror units 30 and 31 and the lens 33 at the fixed position and passes through the CCD 3.
5 and is read.

The image information read by the document image reading section B is processed by the image processing means, encoded, and stored in a memory provided on the image control board C.

The image data is called in accordance with the image formation, and the laser light source 40 in the writing section D is driven in accordance with the image data, so that the cylindrical photosensitive member 10 is exposed.

Prior to the exposure, the cylindrical photoreceptor 10 rotating in the direction of the arrow (counterclockwise) is given a predetermined surface potential by the corona discharge action of the charging electrode 14. The potential decreases according to the exposure amount, and as a result, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image data is formed on the cylindrical photoconductor 10.

The electrostatic latent image is reversely developed by the developing device 16 to be a visible image (toner image). On the other hand, before the leading end of the toner image on the cylindrical photoconductor 10 reaches the transfer area,
For example, one sheet of recording paper P in the paper feed tray 22 is fed and conveyed, reaches the registration roller R10, and is regulated at the leading end.

The recording paper P is conveyed toward a transfer area by a registration roller R10 that starts rotating in synchronization with the toner image, that is, an image area on the cylindrical photoreceptor 10.

In the transfer area, the toner image on the cylindrical photoreceptor 10 is transferred onto the recording paper P by the urging of the transfer electrode 18, and then the recording paper P is urged by the separation electrode 20. Separated from 10.

Thereafter, the toner image is melted and fixed on the recording paper P by pressurizing and heating the fixing device H.
The paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray T via a paper discharge passage 78 and a paper discharge roller 79.

The reference symbol Sp on the paper feed tray 24 is
The free end is a movable plate that is constantly urged upward by an urging means such as a coil spring (not shown). As a result, the uppermost sheet comes into contact with a delivery roller described later.

The paper feed tray 22 has the same configuration as that described above. In the embodiment, the paper feed trays 22 and 24 are arranged in two stages in the vertical direction, but may be provided with more paper feed trays.

The bottom (the same as the bottom wall) of the sheet tray 24 arranged at the lower stage (in the embodiment, the lower stage because the sheet tray is a two-stage stack, but the lower stage). A space 25 having a predetermined gap is formed between the apparatus and the bottom wall of the apparatus main body.

The space 25 is used in a mode (mode) in which images are formed on both sides of the recording paper P, and is cooperated with a second transport path 80 (described later) for reversing the recording paper. To achieve the reverse of the front and back.

Reference numerals 50 and 53 shown at the top of each of the paper feed trays 22 and 24 (corresponding to the front end of the stored recording paper P when viewed from the paper feed direction) denote paper feed means (hereinafter referred to as feed-out means) comprising rollers. Rollers), 51 and 54
Is a feed roller, and 52 and 55 are double feed prevention rollers.

The feed rollers (50, 53) and the feed rollers (51, 54) are unitized, and a driving shaft connected to a driving source provided on the apparatus main body side or a locking means provided on a paper feeding section. It has a configuration that can be easily attached to and detached from.

The double feed prevention rollers (52, 55) are also unitized, and have a structure that can be easily attached to and detached from a fixing member provided on a fixing portion of the apparatus main body.

Reference numeral 60 denotes a manual paper feed tray of the manual paper feed unit, which can be opened and closed with the lower end serving as a fulcrum with respect to the main body side wall of the image forming apparatus 1.

Reference numeral 61 denotes a feed roller formed of a roller for sending the recording paper placed on the manual feed tray 60 with the image formation, 63 denotes a feed roller provided downstream of the feed roller 61, and 65 denotes a feed roller. Roller 6
3, a double feed prevention roller for preventing a plurality of sheets of recording paper P from being fed, and has substantially the same configuration as that of the above-described paper feed trays 22 and 24.

Reference numeral 66 denotes a conveyance path for the recording paper P sent out from the manual feed tray 60, which communicates with a later-described junction via a pair of conveyance rollers immediately to the left of the feed roller 63.

Reference numeral 70 denotes a first conveyance path for forming an image on the recording paper P by transfer, and extends upward from below when viewed from the moving direction of the recording paper sent from an appropriate paper feed tray. .

Reference numeral 72 denotes a paper feed path for recording paper stored in the upper paper feed tray 22, 74 denotes a paper feed path for recording paper stored in the lower paper feed tray 24, and 76 denotes both trays 2.
It is a merging portion (a part of the first conveyance path 70) where the recording papers P sent from 2 and 24 merge.

Reference numeral 78 denotes a paper discharge path for discharging the recording paper on which a predetermined image has been formed onto the paper discharge tray T.

Reference numeral 80 denotes a second transport path for reversing the recording paper used for forming an image on both sides of the recording paper.
The upper part of the figure communicates with the first transport path.

The second transport path 80 extends downward from above when viewed from the direction of movement of the recording paper.

The lower end of the second conveying path 80 is a conveying path extending substantially vertically, and the lower end extends below the sheet feeding section of the lower sheet feeding tray 24.
0 (connected).

As understood from the above, the first transport path 7
0 and the second transport path 80 form a long loop in the longitudinal direction on one side wall side of the apparatus main body.

At the connection between the first transport path 70 and the second transport path 80, a transport means R20 (also serving as a switchback roller) comprising a pair of reversible rollers is provided.

Since the recording paper P is not continuously conveyed from the second conveyance path 80 to the first conveyance path 70, the connection part can be said to be a branch part for dividing the two conveyance paths.

A path leading to the space 25 is provided below the switchback roller R20. When the recording paper P is turned upside down, the recording paper P moving through the second conveyance path 80 is moved to the space 25. Used to go to.

In the image forming process, the second transport path 8
When the recording paper P moving through the recording paper P is sent out toward the space 25, the rear end of the recording paper P is configured to be gripped by the switchback roller R20. 25 stores a part of the recording paper.

Reference numeral 90 denotes an (upper) branch guide which directs the recording paper P, on which an image has been formed on the first surface, to the paper discharge passage 78,
Alternatively, it is controlled so as to be directed to the second transport path 80.

In other words, the image forming apparatus is controlled according to a user-set image forming mode (a mode in which an image is formed on only one side of a recording sheet or a mode in which an image is formed on both sides of a recording sheet),
It can be said that the recording paper transport path is switched.

When an image is formed in the image forming section E configured as described above, first, the surface of the cylindrical photosensitive member 10 is charged by the discharging action of the charging electrode 14 as the cylindrical photosensitive member 10 rotates. Next, an image is written in the writing section D to form an electrostatic latent image. The electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 16 to form a toner image. On the other hand, the paper feed trays 22 and 24
Alternatively, the toner image is transferred to the recording paper P fed from the manual paper feed tray 60 by the transfer electrode 18, the recording paper P is separated by the separation electrode 20, the fixing process is performed by the fixing device H, and the discharge tray T
The paper is ejected on top.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a cleaning device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the cylindrical photoreceptor 10 is installed in the image forming apparatus such that the central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal. The term “substantially horizontal” refers to a horizontality at which the angle at which the central axis of the cylinder intersects the horizontal plane is within ± 10 degrees. A cleaning device 21 is provided above the cylindrical photoconductor 10. As shown in the figure, the cleaning device 21 includes the cylindrical photoconductor 10.
Is disposed above a horizontal line HL passing through the rotation center 10A of the cylindrical photoconductor, and the tip of the cleaning blade 211 is defined as 0 ° vertically above the central axis of the cylindrical photoconductor 10, and the central angle (β) of the cylindrical photoconductor cylinder Contacts the surface of the photoconductor within ± 30 degrees to clean the toner on the photoconductor.

On the side of the frame 218 of the cleaning device 21, a sheet-shaped conductive member 219 and a separation claw 217 are provided on the upstream side of the cleaning blade. Both the sheet-shaped conductive member 219 and the separation claw 217 are cylindrical. Photoreceptor 10
Touching the surface.

Further, a support 212 is rotatably supported by a shaft 213 in the frame 218, and the base of the cleaning blade 211 is fixed to one end of the support 212. The other end 222 of the support 212 is provided so as to be exposed outside from the frame 218.

In the operation state of the cleaning device 21, the tip of the cleaning blade 211 is pressed against the cylindrical photoreceptor 10 by the elastic force of the spring S provided at the other end of the support 212. On the rear end side of the cleaning blade 211, and
An elastic plate 214 is provided at one end of the support 212 so as to be located downstream of the shaft 213 with respect to the rotation direction of the cylindrical photoconductor 10, and one end thereof is fixed. Works to prevent. Elastic plate 21
4 is preferably made of an elastic plate such as polyurethane rubber or polyethylene terephthalate.

After the toner image is transferred onto the recording paper P in the frame 218, when the residual toner on the cylindrical photoreceptor 10 is cleaned by the cleaning blade 211,
The toner discharge members 215 and 216 for sequentially discharging the residual toner to the outside from inside 18 are provided.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the cleaning blade of the present invention and the cylindrical organic photoreceptor in more detail.

In FIG. 3, the cleaning blade 211
The tip of the photoconductor is pressed against the surface of the photoconductor when the vertical angle above the central axis of the cylindrical photoconductor 10 is 0 degrees and the center angle (β) of the photoconductor cylinder is within ± 30 degrees (contact point A).

In the cleaning device, the cleaning blade 211 is supported by a support (generally a metal plate) 212.
Attached to.

In the present invention, by providing the cleaning blade with the physical properties described in 1 to 5 above, amplification of vibration generated by the blade is suppressed, and toner having a strong adhesive force above the photoreceptor is reliably removed. can do.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the tip of the cleaning blade that is pressed against the surface of the photoconductor is pressed against the photoconductor in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of the photoconductor (counter direction). As shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable that the tip of the cleaning blade forms a pressure contact surface when it comes into pressure contact with the photosensitive member.

In the present invention, preferable values of the contact load P and the contact angle θ of the cleaning blade to the photoreceptor are P = 5 to 40 N / m and θ = 5 to 35 °.

The contact load P is applied to the blade 211 by the photoconductor 10.
Is a vector value in the normal direction of the pressing force P ′ when the contact is made.

The contact angle θ is the angle between the tangent line X at the contact point A of the photosensitive member and the blade before deformation (indicated by a dotted line in the drawing).

The free length a of the cleaning blade represents the length of the tip of the blade before deformation from the position of the end B of the support 212 as shown in FIG. A preferred value of the free length is a = 6 to 15 mm. The thickness t of the cleaning blade is preferably 0.5 to 10 mm. Here, the thickness t of the cleaning blade of the present invention is defined as FIG.
The direction perpendicular to the adhesive surface of the support 212 is shown as shown in FIG.

The sheet-shaped conductive member 219 shown in FIG. 3 is installed on the side of the frame 218 of the cleaning device 21 and upstream of the cleaning blade (with respect to the rotation direction of the photosensitive member). The tip of 219 is in contact with the photoreceptor surface. As a result, the charge of the toner and the photoconductor is removed, and as a result, the cleaning property is improved, and the cleaning blade is not overloaded.
Blade failure such as blade turnover and blade squeal is prevented.

Reference numeral 220 denotes a backing member (a folded polyethylene terephthalate sheet or the like) of a sheet-shaped conductive member. Reference numeral 221 denotes a toner guide (a sheet such as a polyethylene terephthalate sheet). The cleaned toner scatters outside the cleaning device. Is prevented from doing so. Further, in order to effectively remove the charge of the toner or the photoconductor, it is preferable that the sheet-shaped conductive member 219 is grounded (grounded).

The present invention has a cleaning blade for removing the toner on the cylindrical organic photoreceptor which is installed so that the central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal. In a cleaning device in which the tip of the cleaning blade contacts the cylindrical organic photoreceptor within an angle (β) of ± 30 degrees, the rebound resilience H (JIS K6301 (measured temperature and humidity 2)
5 ° C./50% RH)) satisfies the expression (1).

Equation 1 45 ≦ H (rebound resilience) <70 (unit:%) By making the rebound resilience of the cleaning blade fall within the range of 45 ≦ H <70, the deformation at the tip of the cleaning blade ( It has been found that it is possible to realize a stable cleaning performance without hindering the deformation of the cleaning blade without deteriorating the deformation caused by pressing against the photoreceptor, and without causing the turning over of the blade and the slipping of the toner. On the other hand, when H is less than 45, toner slip-through tends to occur, and when H is 70 or more, blade turn-up tends to occur.

What is the rebound resilience of a cleaning blade?
It indicates a measure of the magnitude of the potential energy remaining on the bar after the bar has been hit with a test sample as described in the S Glossary, and the specific measurement method is described in JIS K6301. Measure using a tester. In the present invention, the reaction is performed under environmental conditions of 25 ° C. and 50% RH.

Further, the cleaning device of the present invention uses a 300% module M (JIS K625) of a cleaning blade.
1 (measured temperature / humidity: 25 ° C./50% RH) satisfies Expression 2.

Formula 2 10 ≦ M (300% module) ≦ 14 (unit: M
Pa) 300% module of cleaning blade with 10 ≦ M
When the cleaning blade is configured to satisfy the range of ≦ 14, the cleaning blade is stably held on the support body 212, and furthermore, the vibration of the cleaning blade is stabilized, the abrasion of the blade edge is small, and the blade is not turned up or the toner does not slip through. It has been found that stable cleaning properties can be realized. On the other hand, if M is less than 10, toner slip-through tends to occur, and if M is greater than 14, blade turn-up tends to occur.

The 300% module of the cleaning blade indicates a tensile stress when a test sample is given 300% elongation, and is measured according to the measuring method described in JISK6251. Measurement environment conditions: 25 ° C, 50%
RH.

Further, the cleaning device of the present invention is characterized in that the permanent elongation E (JIS K6301 (measured temperature / humidity: 25 ° C./50% RH)) of the cleaning blade satisfies Expression 3.

Formula 30 0 ≦ E (permanent elongation) <5 (unit:%) When the permanent elongation of the cleaning blade is 0 ≦ E (permanent elongation)
By configuring so as to be within the range of <5, the deformation at the tip of the cleaning blade (deformation due to pressure contact with the photoconductor) is not hindered, and the vibration of the cleaning blade is stabilized, and the blade turning and toner It has been found that stable cleaning performance without slip-through can be realized. On the other hand, if E is 5 or more, the deformation of the blade is large, and toner slip-through tends to occur.

As described in the JIS glossary, permanent elongation refers to residual strain after a test piece is given a certain elongation and left for a certain time.

The permanent elongation E is measured according to JIS K6301 permanent elongation test method. Using a dumbbell-shaped No. 1 test piece, holding the test piece under 200% elongation condition for 10 minutes,
Hold and release and measure after 10 minutes. Measurement environment conditions are 25
° C, 50% RH.

Further, the cleaning device of the present invention is characterized in that the hardness K (JIS K6301 (measured temperature / humidity: 25 ° C./50% RH)) of the cleaning blade satisfies Expression 4.

Formula 4 64 ≦ K (hardness) ≦ 73 (unit: degree) By configuring the hardness of the cleaning blade in the range of 64 ≦ K ≦ 73, the cleaning blade is stably held on the support 212. In addition, it has been found that the vibration of the cleaning blade can be stabilized, and a stable cleaning property free from turning over of the blade and passing of the toner can be realized. On the other hand, if K is less than 64, toner slip-through and blade turn-up tend to occur, and K is 7
If it is larger than 3, toner slip-through and blade turn-up are likely to occur.

The hardness K is measured using a JIS K6301 spring type hardness tester A type. Test method is also JISK
6301. Measurement environment conditions: 25 ° C, 50% RH
It is.

The cleaning blade used in the present invention is preferably an elastic rubber blade. By using a rubber blade whose physical properties such as rebound resilience and rubber hardness are appropriately controlled as described above, torque fluctuation can be controlled to a small value. The reversal of the blade can be effectively suppressed.

Urethane rubber, silicone rubber, fluorine rubber, chloroprene rubber, butadiene rubber, and the like are known as the material of the elastic rubber blade used for the cleaning blade. Among them, urethane rubber is compared with other rubbers. It is particularly preferable in that it has excellent wear characteristics. For example, urethane rubber obtained by reacting and curing a polycaprolactone ester and a polyisocyanate described in JP-A-59-30574 is preferable.

If the surface of the photoreceptor used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention is made of a material containing fluorine atoms or silicon atoms having a low surface energy, the adhesion between the photoreceptor and the toner is reduced, and cleaning is performed. Even if an excessive load is not applied to the blade, the cleaning of the toner is satisfactorily performed, and the cleaning failure hardly occurs.

On the other hand, by using a toner having a small adhesive force to the photosensitive layer as the toner, the toner effectively remains on the organic photosensitive member without excessively increasing the frictional force generated between the organic photosensitive member and the cleaning blade. Toner that is removed can be removed.

In the present invention, it is preferable to use a toner having the following characteristics as the toner having a small adhesive force to the photosensitive layer.

(1) Toner containing 65% by number or more of toner particles having a shape factor in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 If the shape factor is smaller than 1.2, the shape of the toner becomes close to a true sphere, Of the photoreceptor increases, and cleaning failure easily occurs. On the other hand, when it is larger than 1.6, the toner is crushed and easily pulverized, which also causes a cleaning failure. That is, when the shape factor is 1.
65% by number or more of toner particles in the range of 2 to 1.6,
More preferably, the toner containing 70% by number or more has a good cleaning property and contains a large amount of a toner that is hardly pulverized. By applying the toner to the cleaning device of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a good cleaning for a long time. And good image formation.

(2) Toner containing 50% by number or more of toner particles having no corners The toner particles having no corners have substantially protrusions where electric charges are concentrated or are easily broken by stress. When the ratio of toner particles having no corners is 50% by number or more, more preferably 70% by number or more, generation of fine particles due to stress with a developer conveying member or the like is less likely to occur. In addition, it is possible to prevent poor cleaning due to the generation of fine toner, and even if the present invention is applied to the cleaning device of the present invention, good cleaning performance and good image formation can be achieved for a long period of time. For that purpose, the ratio of the toner particles having no corners needs to be 50% by number or more, and more preferably 70% by number or more. (3) When the particle size of the toner particles is D (μm), In a histogram showing the number-based particle size distribution in which the natural logarithm InD is plotted on the horizontal axis and the horizontal axis is divided into a plurality of classes at intervals of 0.23, the relative frequency (m ₁ ) of the toner particles included in the most frequent class, The sum (M) of the relative frequency (m ₂ ) of the toner particles contained in the class having the second highest frequency after the mode is 70.
% Or more (M) of the relative frequency (m ₁ ) and the relative frequency (m ₂ ) is 70
% Or more of the toner, the particle size distribution of the toner particles constituting the toner becomes sharp, and a stable toner image can be formed. And good cleaning properties and good image formation.

(4) Toner having a number variation coefficient of 27% or less in the number particle size distribution of toner particles The number variation coefficient of toner is 27% or less, preferably 25% or less. When the number variation coefficient is 27% or less, the particle size distribution of toner particles constituting the toner becomes sharp, and a stable toner image can be formed. As a result, even when applied to the cleaning device of the present invention, It enables good cleaning properties and good image formation over a long period of time.

(5) Toner in which the variation coefficient of the shape factor of the toner particles is 16% or less The variation coefficient of the shape factor of the toner particles is 16% or less, and more preferably 14% or less. The shape distribution of the particles becomes sharp, and a stable toner image can be formed. As a result, even when applied to the cleaning device of the present invention, good cleaning properties and good image formation can be obtained for a long period of time. .

Further, it is preferable to use a toner in which the number of toner particles having a shape coefficient in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 is 65% by number or more, and the variation coefficient of the shape coefficient is 16% or less. Such a toner has a small adhesive force to the photoreceptor and has good cleaning properties.

It is preferable to use a toner having a variation coefficient of the shape factor of the toner of 16% or less and a number variation coefficient in the number particle size distribution of the toner of 27% or less. Such toner has cleaning properties,
Excellent fine line reproducibility and high quality image quality can be formed over a long period of time.

Also, by controlling the number of toner particles having no corners to 50% by number or more and controlling the number variation coefficient in the number and particle size distribution to 27% or less, excellent cleaning performance and fine line reproducibility and high quality image quality can be obtained for a long time. Can be formed.

The particle size of the toner is 3 to 8 μm in number average particle size.
m is preferred. When toner particles are formed by a polymerization method, the particle diameter can be controlled by the concentration of the coagulant, the amount of the organic solvent added, the fusing time, and the composition of the polymer itself.

When the number average particle size is 3 to 8 μm, the presence of toner having excessive adhesion to the developer conveying member or toner having low adhesion can be reduced in the fixing step, and the developing property is improved. In addition to being able to stabilize for a long period of time, the transfer efficiency is increased and the image quality of halftone is improved, and the image quality of fine lines and dots is improved.

Hereinafter, the photosensitive member and the toner will be described in detail. Next, the organic photoreceptor will be described.

In the present invention, the organic electrophotographic photoreceptor (organic photoreceptor) is constituted such that an organic compound has at least one of a charge generation function and a charge transport function which are indispensable for the constitution of the electrophotographic photoreceptor. Known organic electrophotographic photosensitive members, such as a photosensitive member composed of a known organic charge generating substance or an organic charge transporting substance, and a photosensitive member composed of a polymer complex having a charge generating function and a charge transporting function. Contains all body.

Hereinafter, the constitution of the organic photoreceptor used in the present invention will be described. Conductive support The cylindrical organic photoreceptor means an organic photoreceptor using a cylindrical conductive support necessary for being able to form an image endlessly by rotating. The cylindrical shape preferably has a straightness of 0.1 mm or less and a runout of 0.1 mm or less. Exceeding the ranges of straightness and runout makes it difficult to form a good image.

As the conductive material, a metal drum of aluminum, nickel, or the like, a plastic drum on which aluminum, tin oxide, indium oxide, or the like is deposited, or a paper or plastic drum coated with a conductive substance can be used. The conductive support preferably has a specific resistance of 10 ³ Ωcm or less at room temperature.

The conductive support used in the present invention may have a surface on which a sealed alumite film is formed. The alumite treatment is usually performed in an acidic bath such as chromic acid, sulfuric acid, oxalic acid, phosphoric acid, boric acid, and sulfamic acid, but anodizing treatment in sulfuric acid gives the most preferable result. In the case of the anodic oxidation treatment in sulfuric acid, the sulfuric acid concentration is preferably 100 to 200 g / L, the aluminum ion concentration is 1 to 10 g / L, the liquid temperature is about 20 ° C., and the applied voltage is preferably about 20 V. It is not limited. The average thickness of the anodic oxide coating is usually 2
0 μm or less, particularly preferably 10 μm or less.

Intermediate Layer In the present invention, an intermediate layer having a barrier function can be provided between the conductive support and the photosensitive layer.

In the present invention, in order to improve the adhesion between the conductive support and the photosensitive layer, or to prevent charge injection from the support, an intermediate layer (below the lower layer) is provided between the support and the photosensitive layer. (Including a subbing layer). Examples of the material for the intermediate layer include polyamide resins, vinyl chloride resins, vinyl acetate resins, and copolymer resins containing two or more of the repeating units of these resins. Among these undercoating resins, a polyamide resin is preferable as a resin capable of reducing an increase in residual potential due to repeated use. The thickness of the intermediate layer using these resins is 0.01 to 0.5 μm.
Is preferred.

The intermediate layer most preferably used in the present invention is an intermediate layer using a curable metal resin obtained by thermosetting an organic metal compound such as a silane coupling agent and a titanium coupling agent. The thickness of the intermediate layer using a curable metal resin is preferably 0.1 to 2 μm.

Photosensitive Layer The photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor may have a single layer structure in which a charge generation function and a charge transport function are provided in one layer on the intermediate layer. Is preferably separated into a charge generation layer (CGL) and a charge transport layer (CTL). By adopting a configuration in which functions are separated, an increase in residual potential due to repeated use can be controlled to be small, and other electrophotographic characteristics can be easily controlled according to the purpose. It is preferable that the photoreceptor for negative charging has a configuration in which a charge generation layer (CGL) is provided on the intermediate layer and a charge transport layer (CTL) is provided thereon. In the case of a positively charged photoreceptor, the order of the layer configuration is opposite to that of the negatively charged photoreceptor. The most preferred photosensitive layer structure of the present invention is a negatively charged photosensitive member having the function-separated structure.

The structure of the photosensitive layer of the function-separated negatively charged photosensitive member will be described below. Charge generation layer Charge generation layer: The charge generation layer contains a charge generation material (CGM). As other substances, a binder resin and other additives may be contained as necessary.

As the charge generating substance (CGM), a known charge generating substance (CGM) can be used. For example, phthalocyanine pigments, azo pigments, perylene pigments, azurenium pigments, and the like can be used. Among them, CGM that can minimize the increase in residual potential due to repeated use
Has a steric and potential structure capable of forming a stable aggregation structure among a plurality of molecules, and specifically includes CGM of a phthalocyanine pigment and a perylene pigment having a specific crystal structure. For example, Bragg angle 2θ for Cu-Kα ray
CGM such as titanyl phthalocyanine having a maximum peak at 27.2 ° and benzimidazole perylene having a maximum peak at 2θ of 12.4 have almost no deterioration due to repeated use, and the residual potential increase can be reduced.

When a binder is used as a dispersion medium for CGM in the charge generation layer, a known resin can be used as the binder, but the most preferable resin is a formal resin, a butyral resin, a silicone resin, a silicone-modified butyral resin, a phenoxy resin. Resins. The ratio between the binder resin and the charge generating substance is preferably from 20 to 600 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of the binder resin. By using these resins, the increase in residual potential due to repeated use can be minimized. The thickness of the charge generation layer is preferably from 0.01 μm to 2 μm.

Charge transport layer Charge transport layer: The charge transport layer contains a charge transport material (CTM) and a binder resin for dispersing the CTM to form a film.
As other substances, additives such as antioxidants may be contained as necessary.

As the charge transport material (CTM), a known charge transport material (CTM) can be used. For example, triphenylamine derivatives, hydrazone compounds, styryl compounds, benzidine compounds, butadiene compounds and the like can be used. These charge transport materials are usually dissolved in a suitable binder resin to form a layer. Among these, the CTM that can minimize the increase in residual potential due to repeated use has a high mobility and a characteristic in which the ionization potential difference with the CGM to be combined is 0.5 (eV) or less, and is preferably 0. .25 (eV) or less.

The ionization potential of CGM and CTM is measured with a surface analyzer AC-1 (manufactured by Riken Keiki Co., Ltd.).

Examples of the resin used for the charge transport layer (CTL) include polystyrene, acrylic resin, methacrylic resin, vinyl chloride resin, vinyl acetate resin, polyvinyl butyral resin, epoxy resin, polyurethane resin, phenol resin, polyester resin, and alkyd. Resins, polycarbonate resins, silicone resins, melamine resins, and copolymer resins containing two or more of the repeating units of these resins. In addition to these insulating resins, poly-
A high-molecular organic semiconductor such as N-vinylcarbazole may be used.

The most preferred binder for these CTLs is a polycarbonate resin. Polycarbonate resins are most preferred for improving the dispersibility and electrophotographic properties of CTM. The ratio of the binder resin to the charge transporting material is preferably from 10 to 200 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of the binder resin. The thickness of the charge transport layer is preferably from 10 to 35 μm.

Protective Layer In order to reduce the surface energy of the photoreceptor and reduce the adhesion of the toner, it is preferable to provide a protective layer containing a fluorine atom or a silicon atom. For example, it is preferable to include a fluorine-based polymer and a fluorine-based resin powder in the protective layer.

Further, a siloxane-based resin layer can improve both properties such as electrostatic property and abrasion resistance property, and is preferably used as a protective layer. In each case, the dry thickness of the protective layer was 0.2 μm.
A range of from 10 to 10 μm is preferred.

Next, the toner used in the present invention will be described. The toner of the present invention is preferably a polymerized toner having a relatively uniform particle size distribution and shape of individual toner particles. Here, the polymerization toner is the generation of the resin for the toner binder and the toner shape is the polymerization of the raw material monomer of the binder resin,
And a toner formed by a subsequent chemical treatment. More specifically, it means a toner obtained through a polymerization reaction such as suspension polymerization and emulsion polymerization and, if necessary, a subsequent step of fusing particles together.

The polymerized toner used in the image forming method of the present invention is preferably a toner having a specific shape. Hereinafter, the polymerized toner preferably used in the present invention will be described.

As the preferred polymerized toner applied to the present invention, the toner particles having a shape factor in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 are 65% by number or more, and the variation coefficient of the shape factor is 1%.
6% or less. It has been found that such a polymerized toner can stabilize the torque fluctuation of the cleaning blade and exhibits excellent cleaning performance.

Further, the difference in the stability of the torque fluctuation of the cleaning blade due to the toner also differs depending on the particle size of the toner particles. The smaller the particle size, the higher the adhesion to the image carrier, so that the torque is excessively large. And the probability of toner passing through the cleaning blade is high.
However, when the toner particle diameter is large, such a slip-through is reduced, but there is a problem that image quality such as resolution is deteriorated.

As a result of examination from the above viewpoints, the use of a toner having a coefficient of variation of the shape factor of the toner of 16% or less and a number variation coefficient of 27% or less in the number particle size distribution of the toner is as follows. It has been found that it is excellent in cleaning properties and fine line reproducibility and can form high-quality image for a long period of time.

Also, by controlling the number of toner particles having no corners to 50% by number or more and controlling the number variation coefficient in the number and particle size distribution to 27% or less, excellent cleaning properties and fine line reproducibility and high quality image quality can be obtained for a long time. Can be formed.

The shape factor of the toner is represented by the following equation, and indicates the degree of roundness of the toner particles.

Shape factor = ((maximum diameter / 2) ² × π) / projected area Here, the maximum diameter is defined as the parallel line when the projected image of the toner particles on the plane is sandwiched between two parallel lines. Means the width of the particle at which the distance between the particles becomes maximum. The projection area refers to the area of the projected image of the toner particles on the plane.

In the present invention, this shape factor can be determined by taking a photograph in which the toner particles are enlarged by a factor of 2000 using a scanning electron microscope, and referring to the “SCCANNING” based on this photograph.
The measurement was performed by analyzing a photographic image using "IMAGE ANALYZER" (manufactured by JEOL Ltd.). At this time, the shape factor was measured by using the above formula using 100 toner particles.

The preferred polymerized toner of the present invention is such that the number of toner particles having a shape factor in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 is at least 65% by number, more preferably 7%.
0% by number or more.

When the toner particles having the shape factor in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 are 65% by number or more, the triboelectrification of the developer conveying member and the like becomes more uniform, and the excessively charged toner Is not accumulated, and the toner is more easily exchanged than the surface of the developer conveying member. Therefore, problems such as a development ghost are less likely to occur. Further, the toner particles are less likely to be crushed, so that the contamination of the charging member is reduced, and the charging property of the toner is stabilized.

The method for controlling the shape factor is not particularly limited. For example, a method of spraying toner particles in a hot air flow, a method of repeatedly applying mechanical energy by an impact force in a gas phase, or a method of adding a toner particle in a solvent that does not dissolve a toner to give a swirling flow, etc. As a result, a toner having a shape factor of 1.2 to 1.6 can be obtained. Further, the overall shape is controlled at the stage of adjusting the so-called polymerization toner, and the shape factor is adjusted to 1.0.
There is a method in which a toner adjusted to 1.6 to 1.6 or 1.2 to 1.6 is similarly added to a normal toner to adjust.

The variation coefficient of the shape factor of the polymerized toner preferably used in the present invention is calculated from the following equation.

Coefficient of variation = [S / K] × 100 (%) [where S represents the standard deviation of the shape coefficients of 100 toner particles, and K represents the average value of the shape coefficients. The variation coefficient of the shape factor is 16% or less, preferably 14% or less. When the variation coefficient of the shape factor is 16% or less, the gap of the transferred toner layer is reduced, the fixing property is improved, and the offset is less likely to occur. Further, the charge amount distribution becomes sharp, and the image quality is improved.

In order to control the shape factor and the variation coefficient of the shape factor of the toner uniformly without extremely varying lots, the resin particles (polymer particles) are formed in a process of polymerization, fusion and shape control. An appropriate process end time may be determined while monitoring the characteristics of certain toner particles (colored particles).

Monitoring means that a measuring device is incorporated in-line and the process conditions are controlled based on the measurement result. That is, for example, in the case of a polymerization toner formed by incorporating measurement of shape and the like inline and assembling or fusing resin particles in an aqueous medium, the shape and particle size are sequentially measured in a process such as fusing. Is measured, and the reaction is stopped when the desired shape is obtained.

The monitoring method is not particularly limited, but may be a flow type particle image analyzer FPIA-
2000 (manufactured by Toa Medical Electronics Co., Ltd.) can be used. This apparatus is suitable because the shape can be monitored by performing image processing in real time while passing the sample liquid. That is, a pump or the like is used from the reaction field to constantly monitor and measure the shape and the like, and stop the reaction when the desired shape and the like are obtained.

The number particle size distribution and the number variation coefficient of the toner are measured with a Coulter Counter TA-II or a Coulter Multisizer (manufactured by Coulter). In the present invention, a Coulter Multisizer was used, connected to an interface (manufactured by Nikkaki) for outputting a particle size distribution and a personal computer.
The particle size distribution and the average particle size were calculated by measuring the volume and the number of toner particles having a size of 2 μm or more by using a 100 μm aperture as the aperture used in the Coulter Multisizer. The number particle size distribution represents the relative frequency of the toner particles with respect to the particle size, and the number average particle size represents the median size in the number particle size distribution.

The number variation coefficient in the number particle size distribution of the toner is calculated from the following equation. Number variation coefficient = [S / Dn] × 100 (%) [where S represents a standard deviation in the number particle size distribution, and D
n indicates a number average particle size (μm). The coefficient of variation of the number of toners is 27% or less, preferably 25% or less. When the number variation coefficient is 27% or less, the gap of the transferred toner layer is reduced, the fixing property is improved, and the offset is less likely to occur. Further, the charge amount distribution is sharpened, the transfer efficiency is increased, and the image quality is improved.

The method of controlling the number variation coefficient is not particularly limited. For example, a method of classifying toner particles by wind force can be used, but classification in a liquid is effective for further reducing the number variation coefficient. As a method of classifying in a liquid, there is a method of separating and collecting toner particles according to a sedimentation speed difference caused by a difference in toner particle diameter by controlling a rotation speed by using a centrifugal separator.

In particular, when a toner is produced by a suspension polymerization method, a classification operation is indispensable in order to reduce the number variation coefficient in the number particle size distribution to 27% or less. In the suspension polymerization method,
Before polymerization, it is necessary to disperse the polymerizable monomer in an aqueous medium into oil droplets of a desired size as a toner. That is, mechanical shearing by a homomixer, a homogenizer, or the like is repeated on a large oil droplet of the polymerizable monomer to reduce the oil droplet to a size of about a toner particle. In the method by a gentle shear, the number and particle size distribution of the obtained oil droplets becomes broad, and therefore,
The particle size distribution of the toner obtained by polymerizing this becomes wide. For this reason, a classification operation is required.

The toner particles having no corners are toner particles having substantially no projections on which electric charges are concentrated or projections which are liable to be worn due to stress, that is, as shown in FIG. 9A. When the major axis of the toner particle T is L, a circle C having a radius (L / 10) is rolled inward while being in contact with the peripheral line of the toner particle T at one point. Is substantially outside the toner T, is referred to as “toner particles without corners”. “Cases that do not substantially protrude” refer to cases where there are no more than one protrusion having a protruding circle. In addition, "the major axis of the toner particles"
The term “width” refers to the width of a particle at which the distance between the parallel lines becomes maximum when the projected image of the toner particles on the plane is sandwiched between two parallel lines. FIGS. 9B and 9C show projected images of toner particles having corners, respectively.

The measurement of the toner having no corner was performed as follows. First, a photograph in which toner particles are enlarged by a scanning electron microscope is taken, and further enlarged to obtain a photographic image of 15,000 times. Next, the presence or absence of the corners is measured for this photographic image. This measurement was performed for 100 toner particles.

The percentage of toner particles having no corners is at least 50% by number, preferably at least 70% by number. When the ratio of the toner particles having no corners is 50% by number or more,
The generation of fine particles is less likely to occur due to stress with the developer conveying member, and so-called excessive adhesion of toner to the surface of the developer conveying member can be prevented. And the charge amount can be sharpened. In addition, abrasion, toner particles that are easily broken and toner particles having a portion where charges are concentrated are reduced, the charge amount distribution is sharpened, and the chargeability is stable,
Good image quality can be formed over a long period of time.

The method for obtaining a toner having no corners is not particularly limited. For example, as described above, as a method of controlling the shape coefficient, a method of spraying toner particles into a hot air flow, a method of repeatedly applying mechanical energy by an impact force in a gas phase, or a method of dissolving a toner It can be obtained by adding to a solvent that does not contain and giving a swirling flow.

In a polymerization toner formed by associating or fusing resin particles, the surface of the fused particles has many irregularities at the stage of stopping the fusion, and the surface is not smooth. By setting conditions such as the temperature, the number of rotations of the stirring blade, and the stirring time, toner having no corners can be obtained. These conditions vary depending on the physical properties of the resin particles. For example, by setting the rotation speed higher than the glass transition temperature of the resin particles, the surface becomes smooth and a toner having no corners can be formed.

The particle size of the toner is 3 to 8 μm in number average particle size.
m is preferred. When toner particles are formed by a polymerization method, the particle diameter can be controlled by the concentration of the coagulant, the amount of the organic solvent added, the fusing time, and the composition of the polymer itself.

When the number average particle diameter is 3 to 8 μm, the presence of toner having excessive adhesion to the developer conveying member or toner having low adhesion can be reduced in the fixing step, and the developing property is improved. In addition to being able to stabilize for a long period of time, the transfer efficiency is increased, the halftone image quality is improved, and the image quality of fine lines, dots, and the like is improved.

In the polymerized toner preferably used in the present invention, when the particle size of the toner particles is D (μm), the natural logarithm InD is plotted on the horizontal axis, and the horizontal axis is divided into a plurality of classes at intervals of 0.23. in histogram showing the particle size distribution of number criteria, the relative frequency of the toner particles contained in the modal class (m _1), the relative frequency of the toner particles contained in the following frequent the rank of the modal class (m ₂ ) And (M) is 7
The toner is preferably 0% or more.

When the sum (M) of the relative frequency (m ₁ ) and the relative frequency (m ₂ ) is 70% or more, the dispersion of the particle size distribution of the toner particles is narrowed. By using this, the occurrence of selective development can be reliably suppressed.

In the present invention, the histogram showing the number-based particle size distribution is obtained by plotting a natural logarithm lnD (D: particle size of individual toner particles) in a plurality of classes (0 to 0) at intervals of 0.23.
0.23: 0.23 to 0.46: 0.46 to 0.69:
0.69 to 0.92: 0.92 to 1.15: 1.15
1.38: 1.38 to 1.61: 1.61 to 1.84:
1.84 to 2.07: 2.07 to 2.30: 2.30 to
2.53: 2.53 to 2.76...) Is a histogram showing the number-based particle size distribution, which is a particle size data of a sample measured by a Coulter Multisizer according to the following conditions. Is transferred to a computer via an I / O unit, and the computer creates the program using a particle size distribution analysis program.

[Measurement conditions] (1) Aperture: 100 μm (2) Sample preparation method: electrolytic solution [ISOTON R-1
1 (manufactured by Coulter Scientific Japan)
An appropriate amount of a surfactant (neutral detergent) is added to 50 to 100 ml, and the mixture is stirred, and 10 to 20 mg of a measurement sample is added thereto. This system is prepared by subjecting it to a dispersion treatment with an ultrasonic disperser for 1 minute.

Among the methods for controlling the shape factor of the toner, a polymerization toner is preferred because it is simple as a production method and has excellent surface uniformity as compared with a pulverized toner.

The toner is prepared by a suspension polymerization method or emulsion polymerization of a monomer in a liquid to which an emulsion of necessary additives is added to produce fine polymerized particles. Can be produced by a method of adding and the like. A method of preparing by mixing and associating with a dispersion liquid such as a release agent or a colorant necessary for the composition of the toner at the time of association, or dispersing a toner component such as a release agent or a colorant in a monomer. And then emulsion polymerization. Here, the association means that a plurality of resin particles and colorant particles are fused.

The term “aqueous medium” as used in the present invention means a medium containing at least 50% by mass of water.

That is, a coloring agent and, if necessary, various constituent materials such as a release agent, a charge control agent, and a polymerization initiator are added to the polymerizable monomer, and a homogenizer, a sand mill, a sand grinder, an ultrasonic dispersion Various constituent materials are dissolved or dispersed in the polymerizable monomer by a machine or the like. The polymerizable monomer in which these various constituent materials are dissolved or dispersed is dispersed in an aqueous medium containing a dispersion stabilizer into oil droplets of a desired size as a toner using a homomixer, a homogenizer, or the like. Thereafter, the stirring mechanism is moved to a reaction device, which is a stirring blade described later, and heated to cause the polymerization reaction to proceed. After completion of the reaction, the dispersion stabilizer is removed, filtered, washed, and dried to prepare a toner.

Further, as a method for producing a toner, a method in which resin particles are prepared by association or fusion in an aqueous medium can be used. Although this method is not particularly limited, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-265252
JP-A-6-329947 and JP-A-9-1947.
The method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5904 can be exemplified. That is, a method of associating a plurality of resin particles and dispersed particles of a constituent material such as a colorant, or a plurality of fine particles composed of a resin and a colorant, particularly, after dispersing these in water using an emulsifier, the critical aggregation concentration At the same time as adding the above flocculant and salting out, the formed polymer itself is heated and fused at a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition temperature to gradually form a fused particle, thereby gradually growing the particle size. At this point, a large amount of water was added to stop the particle size growth, and further heating and stirring were performed to smooth the particle surface to control the shape. Can be formed. Here, an organic solvent infinitely soluble in water may be added together with the coagulant.

As the polymerizable monomer constituting the resin, styrene, o-methylstyrene, m-methylstyrene, p-methylstyrene, α-methylstyrene, p-chlorostyrene, 3,4- Dichlorostyrene,
p-phenylstyrene, p-ethylstyrene, 2,4-
Dimethylstyrene, p-tert-butylstyrene, p
-N-hexylstyrene, pn-octylstyrene,
pn-nonylstyrene, pn-decylstyrene, p
Styrene or a styrene derivative such as -n-dodecylstyrene, methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate,
N-butyl methacrylate, isopropyl methacrylate,
Methacrylate derivatives such as isobutyl methacrylate, t-butyl methacrylate, n-octyl methacrylate, 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, stearyl methacrylate, lauryl methacrylate, phenyl methacrylate, diethylaminoethyl methacrylate, and dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate. , Methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, isopropyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, t-butyl acrylate, isobutyl acrylate,
Acrylic ester derivatives such as n-octyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, stearyl acrylate, lauryl acrylate, phenyl acrylate, etc .; olefins such as ethylene, propylene, isobutylene, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, vinyl bromide , Vinyl fluoride, halogenated vinyls such as vinylidene fluoride, vinyl esters such as vinyl propionate, vinyl acetate, vinyl benzoate, vinyl ethers such as vinyl methyl ether and vinyl ethyl ether, vinyl methyl ketone, vinyl ethyl ketone , Vinyl ketones such as vinylhexyl ketone, N-vinyl compounds such as N-vinylcarbazole, N-vinylindole and N-vinylpyrrolidone, vinyl compounds such as vinylnaphthalene and vinylpyridine, acrylonitrile, Acrylonitrile, there are acrylic acid or methacrylic acid derivatives such as acrylamide. These vinyl monomers can be used alone or in combination.

Further, it is more preferable to use a polymerizable monomer constituting the resin in combination with one having an ionic dissociation group. For example, those having a substituent such as a carboxyl group, a sulfonic acid group, and a phosphate group as a constituent group of the monomer, specifically, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid,
Maleic acid, itaconic acid, cinnamic acid, fumaric acid, monoalkyl maleate, monoalkyl itaconate, styrenesulfonic acid, allylsulfosuccinic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid, acid phosphooxyethyl Methacrylate,
3-chloro-2-acid phosphooxypropyl methacrylate and the like.

Furthermore, divinylbenzene, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, ethylene glycol diacrylate, diethylene glycol dimethacrylate, diethylene glycol diacrylate, triethylene glycol dimethacrylate, triethylene glycol diacrylate, neopentyl glycol dimethacrylate,
Polyfunctional vinyls such as neopentyl glycol diacrylate can be used to form a crosslinked resin.

These polymerizable monomers can be polymerized using a radical polymerization initiator. In this case, an oil-soluble polymerization initiator can be used in the suspension polymerization method. As the oil-soluble polymerization initiator, 2,2'-azobis- (2,4
-Dimethylvaleronitrile), 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile, 1,1'-azobis (cyclohexane-1-carbonitrile), 2,2'-azobis-4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvalero Azo or diazo polymerization initiators such as nitrile and azobisisobutyronitrile, benzoyl peroxide, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, diisopropyl peroxycarbonate, cumene hydroperoxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide, di-t-butyl peroxide , Dicumyl peroxide, 2,4-dichlorobenzoyl peroxide, lauroyl peroxide, 2,2-bis-
Examples include peroxide-based polymerization initiators such as (4,4-t-butylperoxycyclohexyl) propane and tris- (t-butylperoxy) triazine, and polymer initiators having a peroxide in a side chain. .

When the emulsion polymerization method is used, a water-soluble radical polymerization initiator can be used. Examples of the water-soluble polymerization initiator include persulfates such as potassium persulfate and ammonium persulfate, azobisaminodipropane acetate, azobiscyanovaleric acid and salts thereof, and hydrogen peroxide.

The dispersion stabilizers include tricalcium phosphate, magnesium phosphate, zinc phosphate, aluminum phosphate, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, calcium metasilicate, and calcium sulfate. , Barium sulfate,
Bentonite, silica, alumina and the like can be mentioned. Further, a surfactant generally used as a surfactant such as polyvinyl alcohol, gelatin, methyl cellulose, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, ethylene oxide adduct, and higher alcohol sodium sulfate can be used as a dispersion stabilizer.

As the resin excellent in the present invention, a resin having a glass transition point of 20 to 90 ° C. is preferable and a softening point of 8
The thing of 0-220 ° C is preferred. The glass transition point is measured by a differential calorimetric analysis method, and the softening point can be measured by a Koka flow tester. Furthermore, these resins have a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 10 as measured by gel permeation chromatography.
00 to 100000, weight average molecular weight (Mw) 200
Those having 0 to 1,000,000 are preferred. Further, as a molecular weight distribution, Mw / Mn is 1.5 to 100, particularly 1.8.
-70 are preferred.

The coagulant to be used is not particularly limited, but those selected from metal salts are preferably used. Specifically, as a monovalent metal, for example, a salt of an alkali metal such as sodium, potassium, and lithium, and as a divalent metal, for example, a salt of an alkaline earth metal such as calcium and magnesium, or a divalent metal such as manganese or copper Salt,
Examples include salts of trivalent metals such as iron and aluminum, and specific salts include sodium chloride, potassium chloride, lithium chloride, calcium chloride, zinc chloride, copper sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and manganese sulfate. Can be.
These may be used in combination.

It is preferable to add these coagulants at a concentration higher than the critical coagulation concentration. The critical aggregation concentration is an index relating to the stability of the aqueous dispersion, and indicates the concentration at which aggregation occurs when a coagulant is added. This critical aggregation concentration is
It varies greatly depending on the emulsified component and the dispersant itself. For example, Seizo Okamura et al.
7, 601 (1960), edited by The Society of Polymer Science and the like, and a detailed critical aggregation concentration can be determined. As another method, a desired salt is added to the target particle dispersion at a different concentration, the 、 (zeta) potential of the dispersion is measured, and the salt concentration at which this value changes is defined as the critical aggregation concentration. You can also ask.

The amount of the coagulant added may be at least the critical coagulation concentration, but is preferably at least 1.2 times the critical coagulation concentration.
More preferably, it is better to add 1.5 times or more.

The solvent which is infinitely soluble means a solvent which is infinitely soluble in water. In the present invention, a solvent which does not dissolve the formed resin is selected.
Specifically, methanol, ethanol, propanol,
Examples thereof include alcohols such as isopropanol, t-butanol, methoxyethanol and butoxyethanol, nitriles such as acetonitrile, and ethers such as dioxane. Particularly, ethanol, propanol and isopropanol are preferred.

The amount of the solvent to be infinitely dissolved is 1 to 100% by volume based on the polymer-containing dispersion to which the flocculant is added.
Is preferred.

In order to make the shape uniform, it is preferable to prepare a colored particle, and after the filtration, a slurry in which water is present in an amount of 10% by mass or more based on the particle is fluidized and dried. Those having a polar group in the polymer are preferred. It is considered that the reason for this is that the existing water exerts an effect of slightly swelling the polymer in which the polar group is present, so that it is particularly easy to make the shape uniform.

The toner of the present invention contains at least a resin and a colorant, but may also contain a releasing agent or a charge control agent as a fixing property improving agent, if necessary. Further, an external additive composed of inorganic fine particles, organic fine particles, and the like may be added to the toner particles containing the resin and the colorant as main components.

As the colorant used in the toner of the present invention, carbon black, magnetic substance, dye, pigment and the like can be arbitrarily used. As the carbon black, channel black, furnace black, acetylene black, and the like can be used.
Thermal black, lamp black and the like are used. Ferromagnetic metals such as iron, nickel, and cobalt as magnetic materials,
Alloys containing these metals, compounds of ferromagnetic metals such as ferrite and magnetite, alloys that do not contain ferromagnetic metals but show ferromagnetism by heat treatment, such as manganese-copper-
An alloy of a type called a Heusler alloy such as aluminum, manganese-copper-tin, chromium dioxide, or the like can be used.

As the dye, C.I. I. Solvent Red 1, 49, 52, 58, 63, 111, 1
22, C.I. I. Solvent Yellow 19, 44, 7
7, 79, 81, 82, 93, 98, 10
3, 104, 112, 162, C.I. I. Solvent Blue 25, 36, 60, 70, 93, 9
5 and the like, and a mixture thereof can also be used. Examples of the pigment include C.I. I. Pigment Red 5,
48: 1, 53: 1, 57: 1, 122, 1
39, 144, 149, 166, 177, 1
78, 222, C.I. I. Pigment Orange 31, 43 and C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 14, 17, 17
3, 94, 138, C.I. I. Pigment Green 7, C.I. I. Pigment Blue 15: 3, can be used by the same 60 or the like, can be also used a mixture thereof. The number average primary particle size varies depending on the type, but generally ranges from 10 to
About 200 nm is preferable.

As a method of adding a colorant, a method of adding polymer particles prepared by an emulsion polymerization method at the stage of aggregating by adding an aggregating agent to color the polymer, a method of polymerizing a monomer, or the like. And a method of adding a colorant, polymerizing, and forming colored particles can be used. When the colorant is added at the stage of preparing the polymer, it is preferable to use the colorant after treating the surface with a coupling agent or the like so as not to inhibit the radical polymerizability.

Further, low molecular weight polypropylene (number average molecular weight = 1500 to 9000), low molecular weight polyethylene or the like may be added as a fixing property improving agent.

Similarly, various charge control agents are also known.
What can be dispersed in water can also be used. Specifically, nigrosine dyes, metal salts of naphthenic acid or higher fatty acids, alkoxylated amines,
Quaternary ammonium salt compounds, azo-based metal complexes, salicylic acid metal salts or metal complexes thereof.

The particles of the charge control agent and the fixability improving agent have a number average primary particle diameter of 10 to 50 in a dispersed state.
Preferably, the thickness is about 0 nm.

In a suspension polymerization method toner in which a toner component such as a colorant is dispersed or dissolved in a so-called polymerizable monomer is suspended in an aqueous medium and then polymerized to obtain a toner, a polymerization reaction is performed. By controlling the flow of the medium in the reaction vessel, the shape of the toner particles can be controlled. That is, when a large number of toner particles having a shape factor of 1.2 or more are formed, the flow of the medium in the reaction vessel is made turbulent, and the polymerization proceeds to be present in the aqueous medium in a suspended state. When the oil droplets are gradually polymerized, the oil droplets become soft particles, and when the oil droplets collide, the coalescence of the particles is promoted, and particles with an irregular shape are obtained. . When spherical toner particles having a shape factor smaller than 1.2 are to be formed, spherical particles can be obtained by using a medium flow in the reaction vessel as a laminar flow to avoid collision of the particles. By this method, the distribution of the toner shape can be controlled within the range of the present invention. Hereinafter, the reaction apparatus preferably used in the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a reaction apparatus (stirring apparatus) having a single-stage stirring blade having a single-stage structure. Reference numeral 2 denotes a stirring tank, 3 denotes a rotating shaft, 4 denotes a stirring blade, 9 denotes a stirring blade. Is a turbulence forming member.

In the suspension polymerization method, by using a specific stirring blade, a turbulent flow can be formed, and the shape can be easily controlled. Although the reason is not clear, when the configuration of the stirring blade 4 as shown in FIG. 4 is one-stage, the flow of the medium formed in the stirring tank 2 is
Only the flow that moves along the wall from the lower part to the upper part.
Therefore, conventionally, a turbulent flow is generally formed by arranging a turbulent flow forming member 9 such as a wall surface of the stirring tank 2 to increase the efficiency of stirring. However, in such a device configuration, although a turbulent flow is partially formed, the turbulent flow acts in a direction in which the flow of the fluid stagnates, and as a result, the slip with respect to the particles is reduced. Can't control.

A reactor having a stirring blade which can be preferably used in the suspension polymerization method will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are a perspective view and a sectional view, respectively, showing an example of such a reactor. FIG.
In the reactor shown in FIG. 6, a rotary shaft 3 is vertically provided at the center of a vertical cylindrical stirring tank 2 having a heat exchange jacket 1 mounted on an outer peripheral portion thereof. Are provided with a lower stirring blade 40 disposed close to the bottom surface and a stirring blade 50 disposed further above. The upper stirring blade 50 is disposed at an intersection angle α that precedes the rotation direction with respect to the lower stirring blade 40. When producing the toner of the present invention, the intersection angle α is preferably less than 90 degrees (°). The lower limit of the intersection angle α is not particularly limited, but is preferably about 5 ° or more, and more preferably 10 ° or more.
When a three-stage stirring blade is provided, it is preferable that the intersection angle between adjacent stirring blades is less than 90 degrees.

With such a configuration, the medium is first stirred by the stirring blades 50 provided in the upper stage, and a downward flow is formed. Next, the flow formed by the upper stirring blade 50 is further accelerated downward by the stirring blades 40 disposed in the lower stage, and a downward flow is separately formed by the stirring blades 50 themselves. It is presumed that it accelerates and proceeds. As a result, it is presumed that a basin having a large shear stress formed as a turbulent flow is formed, so that the shape of the obtained toner particles can be controlled.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, arrows indicate the direction of rotation, 7 is an upper material inlet, 8 is a lower material inlet, 9
Is a turbulent flow forming member for effective stirring.

Here, the shape of the stirring blade is not particularly limited, but it has a rectangular plate shape, a portion with a notch in the blade, and one or more middle holes, so-called slits, in the center. Things and the like can be used. These specific examples are shown in FIG. The stirring blade 5 shown in FIG.
a has no middle hole, the stirring blade 5b shown in FIG. 6B has a large middle hole 6b in the center, and the stirring blade 5c shown in FIG. ), The stirring blade 5d shown in FIG.
(Slits). Further, in the case where a three-stage stirring blade is provided, even if the middle hole formed in the upper stirring blade and the middle hole formed in the lower stirring blade are different, they are the same. There may be.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a reaction apparatus used for forming a laminar flow in the suspension polymerization method. This reactor is characterized in that a turbulence forming member (an obstacle such as a baffle plate) is not provided.

The stirring blade 4 constituting the reactor shown in FIG.
The stirring blade 6 and the stirring blade 56 have the same shape and the intersection angle α as the stirring blade 40 and the stirring blade 50 constituting the reaction apparatus shown in FIG. 5, respectively. In FIG. 7, 1 is a jacket for heat exchange, 2 is a stirring tank, 3 is a rotating shaft, 7 is an upper material inlet, and 8 is a lower material inlet.

The reactor used for forming the laminar flow is not limited to the one shown in FIG.

The shape of the stirring blade constituting the reactor is not particularly limited as long as it does not form a turbulent flow, but is preferably formed by a continuous surface such as a square plate. It may have a curved surface.

On the other hand, in the case of a polymerization toner in which resin particles are associated or fused in an aqueous medium, the flow and temperature distribution of the medium in the reaction vessel at the fusion stage are controlled to further improve the shape after fusion. By controlling the heating temperature, the number of rotations for stirring, and the time in the control step, the shape distribution and shape of the entire toner can be arbitrarily changed.

That is, in the polymerization method toner in which the resin particles are associated or fused, the flow in the reaction device is set to a laminar flow,
By controlling the temperature, number of revolutions, and time in the fusion step and the shape control step using a stirring blade and a stirring tank that can make the internal temperature distribution uniform, the desired shape factor and uniform A toner having a shape distribution can be formed. The reason for this is that when fusion is performed in a place where a laminar flow is formed, strong stress is not applied to the particles that are undergoing aggregation and fusion (association or aggregated particles) and the flow is accelerated in a laminar flow. It is presumed that as a result of the uniform temperature distribution in the stirring tank, the shape distribution of the fused particles becomes uniform. Furthermore, heating in the subsequent shape control step,
The fused particles gradually become spherical by stirring, and the shape of the toner particles can be arbitrarily controlled.

As a stirring blade and a stirring tank used in producing a polymerization toner for associating or fusing resin particles, the same stirring blades and stirring tanks as those used for forming a laminar flow in the above-mentioned suspension polymerization method can be used. For example, the one shown in FIG. 7 can be used. It is characterized in that an obstacle such as a baffle plate that forms a turbulent flow is not provided in the stirring tank. Regarding the configuration of the stirring blade, similarly to the stirring blade used in the above-mentioned suspension polymerization method, the upper stirring blade is disposed with the intersection angle α preceding the lower stirring blade in the rotation direction. In addition, a multi-stage configuration is preferable.

The shape of the stirring blade may be the same as that in the case of forming a laminar flow in the above-mentioned suspension polymerization method, and is not particularly limited as long as it does not form a turbulent flow. ) Are preferably formed by continuous surfaces, such as those having a square plate shape shown in (1), and may have a curved surface.

Further, in the toner of the present invention, more effects can be exhibited by adding and using fine particles such as inorganic fine particles and organic fine particles as an external additive. It is presumed that the reason is that the embedding and desorption of the external additive can be effectively suppressed, and the effect is remarkable.

As the inorganic fine particles, it is preferable to use inorganic oxide particles such as silica, titania, and alumina. Further, these inorganic fine particles may be subjected to a hydrophobic treatment with a silane coupling agent, a titanium coupling agent, or the like. preferable. The degree of the hydrophobic treatment is not particularly limited, but a methanol wettability of 40 to 95 is preferable. Methanol wettability is to evaluate the wettability to methanol. In this method, inorganic fine particles to be measured are added to 50 ml of distilled water placed in a beaker having a capacity of 200 ml.
Weigh 2 g and add. Methanol is slowly dropped from a burette whose tip is immersed in the liquid until the whole of the inorganic fine particles becomes wet while being slowly stirred. Assuming that the amount of methanol required to completely wet the inorganic fine particles is b (ml), the degree of hydrophobicity is calculated by the following equation.

Degree of hydrophobicity = (b / (b + 50)) × 100 The amount of the external additive to be added is 0.1 to 5.
0 mass%, preferably 0.5 to 4.0 mass%. Various external additives may be used in combination.

A fatty acid metal salt may be added as an external additive to the toner used in the present invention. Fatty acids and metal salts thereof include undecylic acid, lauric acid, tridecylic acid, dodecylic acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, pentadecylic acid, stearic acid, heptadecylic acid, arachiic acid, montanic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, etc. And metal salts thereof include salts with metals such as zinc, iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium, sodium, and lithium. In the present invention, zinc stearate is particularly preferred.

To prepare a two-component developer, it is prepared by mixing a toner and a carrier. The toner concentration in the developer is 2 to 10% by mass.

The developing method according to the present invention is not particularly limited. Even in the contact development method in which development is performed in a state where the photoconductor surface and the developer layer are in contact with each other in the development area, the photoconductor and the developer layer are kept in a non-contact state in the development area, and an alternating electric field, etc. A non-contact developing method may be used in which the toner is caused to fly in the gap between the photosensitive member surface and the developer layer by the action of the toner to develop the toner.

[0204]

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples, but embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. In the description, “parts” means “parts by mass”.

In the following, a cylindrical organic photoreceptor was prepared. Preparation of Photoconductor P1 The following coating solution was applied on a cylindrical conductive support having a length of 380 mm and a diameter of 60 mm to prepare a photoconductor P1. <Undercoat layer> Titanium chelate compound (TC-750, manufactured by Matsumoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) 30 g Silane coupling agent (KBM-503, manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 17 g 2-propanol 150 ml On the cylindrical conductive support, Film thickness 0.
It was applied to a thickness of 5 μm. <Charge Generation Layer> Y-type titanyl phthalocyanine (a titanyl phthalocyanine having a maximum peak at 27.2 degrees at a Bragg angle 2θ (± 0.2) in Cu-Kα characteristic X-ray diffraction spectrum measurement) 60 g silicone-modified butyral resin (X (-40-1211M: manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) 700 g 2-butanone 2000 ml was mixed and dispersed using a sand mill for 10 hours to prepare a charge generation layer coating solution. This coating solution was applied on the undercoat layer by a dip coating method to form a 0.2 μm-thick charge generation layer. <Charge Transport Layer> Charge transport substance (N- (4-methylphenyl) -N- {4- (β-phenylstyryl) phenyl} -p-toluidine) 225 g Polycarbonate (viscosity average molecular weight 30,000) 300 g Antioxidant (Compound B below) 6 g and 2000 ml of dichloromethane were mixed and dissolved to prepare a charge transport layer coating solution. This coating solution was applied on the charge generation layer by a dip coating method to form a charge transport layer having a dry film thickness of 20 μm. <Protective layer> Methyltrimethoxysilane 150 g Dimethyldimethoxysilane 30 g Reactive charge transporting compound (Compound A below) 15 g Antioxidant (Compound B below) 0.75 g 2-propanol 75 g 3% Acetic acid 5 g is mixed, and the resin layer is mixed. Coating solution was prepared. A 2 μm-thick resin layer is formed on the charge transport layer by a circular-amount-regulating coating device on the charge transport layer, and is heated and cured at 120 ° C. for 1 hour to form a siloxane resin layer. It was produced.

Preparation of Photoconductor P2 Photoconductor P2 was prepared in the same manner as photoconductor P1, except that the protective layer was omitted.

[0207]

Embedded image

Production of Toners T1 and T2 (Example of Emulsion Polymerization Method) 0.90 kg of sodium n-dodecyl sulfate and pure water
Add 0 l and stir to dissolve. To this solution, add Regal 330
1.20 kg of R (carbon black manufactured by Cabot Corporation) was gradually added, and the mixture was stirred well for 1 hour, and then continuously dispersed for 20 hours using a sand grinder (medium type disperser). This is referred to as “colorant dispersion liquid 1”. Further, a solution composed of 0.055 kg of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate and 4.0 l of ion-exchanged water is referred to as “anionic surfactant solution A”.

Nonylphenol polyethylene oxide 10 mol adduct 0.014 kg and ion exchanged water 4.0 l
Is referred to as “nonionic surfactant solution B”.
223.8 g of potassium persulfate was added to 12.0 l of ion-exchanged water.
Is referred to as "initiator solution C".

A 100-liter GL (glass lining) reactor equipped with a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, and a nitrogen introducing device was charged with W.
3.41 kg of AX emulsion (polypropylene emulsion having a number average molecular weight of 3000: number average primary particle diameter = 120 nm / solid concentration = 29.9%), the whole amount of “anionic surfactant solution A” and “nonionic surfactant solution B” Add the whole amount and start stirring. Next, ion-exchanged water 4
Add 4.0 l.

The heating was started, and when the liquid temperature reached 75 ° C., the entire amount of “Initiator solution C” was added dropwise. Then, while controlling the liquid temperature to 75 ° C. ± 1 ° C., the styrene 1
2.1 kg, 2.88 kg of n-butyl acrylate, 1.04 kg of methacrylic acid, and t-dodecyl mercaptan 54
8 g are added dropwise. After the completion of the dropwise addition, the temperature of the solution was raised to 80 ° C. ± 1 ° C., and the mixture was heated and stirred for 6 hours. Next, the liquid temperature was cooled to 40 ° C. or less, stirring was stopped, and the mixture was filtered with a pole filter to obtain “latex-A”.

The glass transition temperature of the resin particles in latex-A is 57 ° C., the softening point is 121 ° C., and the molecular weight distribution is as follows: weight average molecular weight = 12.7 million, weight average particle diameter is 12
It was 0 nm.

A solution obtained by dissolving 0.055 kg of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate in 4.0 l of ion-exchanged pure water is referred to as “anionic surfactant solution D”. Also,
A solution obtained by dissolving 0.014 kg of nonylphenol polyethylene oxide 10 mol adduct in 4.0 l of ion-exchanged water is referred to as “nonionic surfactant solution E”.

Potassium persulfate (Kanto Chemical) 200.
A solution obtained by dissolving 7 g in 12.0 l of ion-exchanged water is referred to as "initiator solution F".

A WAX emulsion (polypropylene emulsion having a number average molecular weight of 3000: number average primary particle diameter: 120 nm / solid content 29.9) was placed in a 100-liter GL reactor equipped with a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, a nitrogen introducing device, and a comb baffle. %), 3.41 kg, the whole amount of “anionic surfactant solution D” and the whole amount of “nonionic surfactant solution E” are added, and stirring is started. Next, 44.0 liters of ion-exchanged water
Input. Heating is started, and when the liquid temperature reaches 70 ° C., “Initiator solution F” is added. Then, a solution prepared by previously mixing 11.0 kg of styrene, 4.00 kg of n-butyl acrylate, 1.04 kg of methacrylic acid, and 9.02 g of t-dodecylmercaptan is added dropwise. After completion of the dropwise addition, the mixture was heated and stirred for 6 hours while controlling the liquid temperature at 72 ° C. ± 2 ° C. Further, the liquid temperature was raised to 80 ° C. ± 2 ° C., and the mixture was heated and stirred for 12 hours. The liquid temperature is cooled to 40 ° C. or less, and the stirring is stopped. The solution was filtered through a Pall filter, and the filtrate was designated as "latex-B".

The resin particles in the latex-B had a glass transition temperature of 58 ° C., a softening point of 132 ° C., a molecular weight distribution of weight average molecular weight = 245,000, and a weight average particle size of 11
It was 0 nm.

Sodium chloride as salting-out agent 5.36k
g in 20.0 l of ion-exchanged water is referred to as "sodium chloride solution G".

A solution obtained by dissolving 1.00 g of a fluorine-based nonionic surfactant in 1.00 l of ion-exchanged water is referred to as "nonionic surfactant solution H".

100 l of S equipped with a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, a nitrogen introducing device, and a particle size and shape monitoring device.
In a US reactor (reactor having the structure shown in FIG. 5, the crossing angle α was 20 °), the latex-A prepared above was added to the US reactor.
0 kg, 5.2 kg of latex-B, 0.4 kg of colorant dispersion 1 and 20.0 kg of ion-exchanged water are added and stirred. Then, the mixture was heated to 40 ° C., and 6.00 kg of sodium chloride solution G, isopropanol (manufactured by Kanto Chemical Co., Ltd.),
The nonionic surfactant solution H is added in this order. Then, after leaving it to stand for 10 minutes, the temperature was raised and the liquid temperature 85
The temperature was raised to 60 ° C. in 60 minutes, and heated and stirred at 85 ± 2 ° C. for 0.5 to 3 hours to grow the particle size while salting out / fusing. Next, 2.1 l of pure water is added to stop the particle size growth.

The fused particles prepared above were placed in a 5 l reaction vessel equipped with a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, and a device for monitoring particle size and shape (reactor having the structure shown in FIG. 5, intersection angle α was 20 °). 5.0 kg of the dispersion liquid was added, and the liquid temperature was 85 ° C. ±
The shape was controlled by heating and stirring at 2 ° C. for 0.5 to 15 hours. Thereafter, the mixture is cooled to 40 ° C. or less and the stirring is stopped. Next, classification is performed in the liquid by a centrifugal sedimentation method using a centrifugal separator, and the liquid is filtered through a sieve having openings of 45 μm, and the filtrate is used as an associated liquid. Next, non-spherical particles in the form of a wet cake were collected by filtration from the associated liquid using a Nutsche. afterwards,
It was washed with ion-exchanged water.

The non-spherical particles were dried at a suction temperature of 60 ° C. using a flash jet drier, and then dried at a temperature of 60 ° C. using a fluidized bed drier. To 100 parts by mass of the obtained colored particles, 1 part by mass of silica fine particles and 0.1 part by mass of zinc stearate were externally added and mixed with a Henschel mixer to obtain a toner by an emulsion polymerization association method as shown in the following table. In the monitoring of the salting-out / fusion step and the shape control step, the number of rotations of the stirring and the heating time are controlled to control the variation coefficient of the shape and the shape coefficient. Was adjusted to obtain toner T1 and toner T2 shown in Table 1.

Production of Toner T3 (Example of Suspension Polymerization Method) Styrene = 165 g, n-butyl acrylate = 35
g, carbon black = 10 g, metal di-t-butylsalicylate = 2 g, styrene-methacrylic acid copolymer = 8 g, paraffin wax (mp = 70 ° C.) = 20
g was heated to 60 ° C., and was uniformly dissolved and dispersed at 12,000 rpm with a TK homomixer (manufactured by Tokushu Kika Kogyo Co., Ltd.).
To this, 2,2'-azobis (2,4-
(Valeronitrile) = 10 g was added and dissolved to prepare a polymerizable monomer composition. Then, 710 g of ion-exchanged water
Was added with 450 g of a 0.1 M aqueous sodium phosphate solution, and TK was added.
While stirring with a homomixer at 13000 rpm, 1.
68 g of 0M calcium chloride was gradually added to prepare a suspension in which tricalcium phosphate was dispersed. The polymerizable monomer composition was added to this suspension, and the mixture was added to a TK homomixer.
The mixture was stirred at 0000 rpm for 20 minutes to granulate the polymerizable monomer composition. Then, using a reactor (crossing angle α is 45 °) having a stirring blade configuration as shown in FIG.
The reaction was performed at 〜95 ° C. for 5 to 15 hours. Tricalcium phosphate is dissolved and removed with hydrochloric acid, and then, using a centrifuge,
Classification was performed in the liquid by centrifugal sedimentation, followed by filtration, washing and drying. In 100 parts by mass of the obtained colored particles,
1 part by mass of silica fine particles and 0.1 part by mass of zinc stearate were externally added and mixed with a Henschel mixer to obtain a toner by a suspension polymerization method.

By monitoring during the polymerization, controlling the liquid temperature, the number of rotations of the stirring, and the heating time, the variation coefficient of the shape and the shape coefficient are controlled. By adjusting the coefficient, a toner T3 shown in Table 1 below was obtained.

[0224]

[Table 1]

Preparation of Developer Preparation of Developer 1 To 100 parts of the toner T1, 0.4 parts of hydrophobic silica particles (R805: manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.) having an average particle diameter of 12 nm as external additives, and titania particles ( T805: manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.) and mixed with a Henschel mixer at room temperature at a peripheral speed of the stirring blade of 40 (m / sec) for 10 minutes to obtain a negatively chargeable toner. The fixation ratio of this toner was 45%.

A ferrite carrier coated with a silicone resin and having a volume average particle diameter of 60 μm was mixed with the above toner to prepare a developer 1 having a toner concentration of 5%.

Preparation of Developers 2 and 3 Developer 2 was prepared in the same manner as in preparation of developer 1 except that toner T2 was used instead of toner T1.
A developer 3 was prepared in the same manner except that the toner T3 was used instead of the toner T1.

Example 1 Basically, the cleaning device shown in FIG. 3 was used to change the rebound resilience of a rubber elastic cleaning blade as shown in Table 2, and the tip position, contact angle, A combination of contact loads was set.

The cleaning blade has a thickness t: 2 mm,
Free length a: 9 mm was used.

The photosensitive member is P1 and the developer is 1 (toner T1).
Was used. Evaluation Basically, a digital copier (having corona charging, laser exposure, reversal development, electrostatic transfer, nail separation, and cleaning blade) equipped with the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and the cleaning device shown in FIG. 3 was evaluated. did. However, before starting the above evaluation, in order to make the photoconductor and the cleaning blade conform, the setting powder (polyvinylidene fluoride powder) was sprayed on the photoconductor and the cleaning blade, and the photoconductor was rotated for 1 minute.

The copying conditions were as follows: 200,000 copies were continuously made in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment (30 ° C., 80% RH), which is considered to be the severest, and the cleaning performance and blade turning were evaluated according to the following evaluation criteria.

In the evaluation, a character image having a pixel rate of 7%, a portrait image of a person, a solid white image, and an original image in which a solid black image were equally divided into quarters were copied on A4 neutral paper.
A halftone, solid white image and solid black image were evaluated every 10,000 sheets. As for the cleaning performance, 10 copies of an original image having a ratio of solid black image 4: solid white image 1 of A3 paper are continuously made for every 10,000 copies, and a judgment is made as to whether or not a cleaning failure has occurred in the solid white portion. did. The number of blade turnovers during 200,000 copies was counted.

Cleaning performance: Judgment based on the occurrence of cleaning failure in solid white area ◎: No toner slippage occurred up to 200,000 sheets ト ナ ー: No toner slippage occurred up to 100,000 sheets x: Less than 100,000 sheets of toner Occurrence of slippage Blade turning ◎: No turning up to 200,000 sheets △: Minor partial turning up ×: Blade turning up Blade squealing ◎: No blade squeezing up to 200,000 sheets ○: No blade squeezing up to 100,000 sheets ×: 100,000 The blade squealing occurs when the number of sheets is less than the number of sheets. Other evaluation conditions The other evaluation conditions of the digital copying machine were set as follows.

Charging Conditions Charger: Scorotron charger, initial charging potential was -750
V Exposure conditions Exposure amount is set so that the exposed portion potential is -50V.

Developing conditions DC bias; -550 V Transfer pole; corona charging system The evaluation results are shown in Table 2.

[0236]

[Table 2]

As is clear from Table 2, when the rebound resilience of the cleaning blade satisfies the condition of the formula 1, that is, when 45 ≦ H (rebound resilience) <70, both the cleaning performance and the blade turn-up show good evaluation results. 45
When> H or H ≧ 70, at least one of the evaluations of the cleaning property and the blade turning-up does not show good results.

Example 2 Basically, the cleaning device shown in FIG.
The module was changed by 00%, and the combination of the tip position of the cleaning blade, the contact angle, and the contact load was set.

The cleaning blade has a thickness t of 2 mm,
Free length a: 9 mm was used.

The photosensitive member is P1 and the developer is 1 (toner T1)
Was used. The evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1. However, the evaluation of the blade edge wear amount was added. Table 3 shows the evaluation results.

Evaluation of Blade Edge Wear (Evaluated after Copying 200,000 Sheets) FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of measuring the cleaning blade edge wear. As shown in FIG. 10, the cleaning blade edge wear amount is measured from an image of an enlarged edge portion using an optical or laser microscope.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 10 denotes a photosensitive member, 211 denotes a cleaning blade, 212 denotes a support of the blade, and the edge wear amount of the cleaning blade is indicated by an edge width 211B.

[0243]

[Table 3]

As is clear from Table 3, the 300% module of the cleaning blade satisfies the condition of equation 2, that is, 10 ≦
In the case of M (300% module) ≦ 14, both the cleaning property and the blade turn-up show good evaluation results, whereas when 10> M or M> 14, at least one of the cleanability and the blade turn-up is obtained. One evaluation does not show good results.

Example 3 Basically, the cleaning device shown in FIG. 3 was used to change the permanent elongation of the rubber elastic cleaning blade as shown in Table 4, and the tip position, the contact angle, A combination of contact loads was set.

The cleaning blade has a thickness t: 2 mm,
Free length a: 9 mm was used.

The photosensitive member is P1 and the developer is 1 (toner T1)
Was used. The evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1. However, the following creep test evaluation was added. Table 4 shows the evaluation results.

Creep Test (Indicated by Blade Deformation in the Table) The cleaning blade was subjected to a low temperature and low humidity (10 ° C./20% RH) environment for one week, and then to a high temperature and high humidity (30 ° C./80% RH) environment for one week. 60m at the contact angle and contact load shown in Table 4.
After contacting the cylindrical photoreceptor of mΦ, the deformation of the blade is measured. If the amount of deformation in the above test is large, toner slip-through tends to occur. In particular, when the deformation amount is larger than 1.0, toner slip-through tends to occur.

[0249]

[Table 4]

As is clear from Table 4, when the permanent elongation of the cleaning blade is the condition of the formula 3, that is, when 0 ≦ E (permanent elongation) <5, both the cleaning performance and the blade turn-up show good evaluation results. E ≧ 5
In the case of (1), at least one evaluation of the cleaning property and the turning up of the blade does not show good results.

Example 4 Basically, the cleaning device shown in FIG. 3 was used to change the rubber hardness of the rubber elastic cleaning blade as shown in Table 5, and the tip position, contact angle, A combination of contact loads was set.

The cleaning blade has a thickness t of 2 mm,
Free length a: 9 mm was used.

The photosensitive member is P1 and the developer is 1 (toner T1)
Was used. Evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 3, using the contact angle,
The contact load was performed under the conditions described in Table 5. Table 5 shows the evaluation results.
Shown in

[0254]

[Table 5]

As is clear from Table 5, when the JISA hardness of the cleaning blade is the condition of the formula 4, that is, when 64 ≦ K (hardness) ≦ 73, both the cleaning performance and the blade turn-up show good evaluation results. Whereas 64
When> K or K> 73, at least one of the evaluations of the cleaning property and the blade turning-up does not show good results.

Example 5 Basically, the cleaning device shown in FIG. 3 was used, and as shown in Table 6, the tip position, abutment angle, contact load, A combination of physical property values was set.

The cleaning blade has a thickness t of 2 mm,
Free length a: 9 mm was used.

[0258]

[Table 6]

The evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1, and the blade edge wear amount and the creep test were also evaluated. Table 7 shows the evaluation results.

[0260]

[Table 7]

As can be seen from Table 7, the combinations 1 to 6 of the present invention in which the rebound resilience H of the cleaning blade, the 300% module M, the permanent elongation E and the hardness K satisfy the conditions of the formulas 1 to 4 are used for cleaning the toner. The combinations 7 and 8 which do not satisfy the conditions of the formulas 1 to 4 show good performance in all of the evaluation items of the properties, blade turn-up, edge wear amount and creep test. In addition, the amount of deformation in the creep test is large, and as a result, the evaluation of the cleaning property of the toner and the turn-up of the blade is not sufficient.

[0262]

As is clear from the above embodiment, the cleaning blade for removing the toner on the cylindrical organic photoreceptor is installed so that the central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, and the vertical axis of the cylindrical central axis is vertical. In a cleaning device in which the tip of the cleaning blade contacts the cylindrical organic photoreceptor when the upper part is 0 degree and the cylinder center angle (β) is within ± 30 degrees, the rebound resilience H of the cleaning blade, 300% module M, permanent elongation E. By using a cleaning device having a hardness K satisfying the conditions of the formulas 1 to 4, it is possible to prevent a toner cleaning failure and a blade turn-up which are likely to occur in the upper cleaning, and to produce a clear image without image unevenness. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a digital image forming apparatus applied to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a cleaning device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the cleaning blade of the present invention and a cylindrical organic photoreceptor in more detail.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a reaction apparatus having a single-stage stirring blade.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a reaction apparatus having a stirring blade which can be preferably used.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the reaction apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a reaction apparatus used for forming a laminar flow.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a specific example of the shape of a stirring blade.

FIG. 9A is an explanatory diagram showing a projected image of a toner particle having no corner, and FIGS. 9B and 9C are explanatory diagrams showing a projected image of a toner particle having a corner.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of measuring a cleaning blade edge wear amount.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 photoconductor 12 writing unit 14 charging electrode 16 developing device 18 transfer electrode 20 separation electrode 21 cleaning device 161 staying toner 211 cleaning blade 212 support 214 elastic plate 218 frame 219 sheet conductive member E image forming unit

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning blade for removing toner on a cylindrical organic photoreceptor provided so that a central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, and a tip of the cleaning blade has a cylindrical central angle (β) ± 30 degrees. A cleaning device which contacts the cylindrical organic photoreceptor within a range of 0 degree vertically above the center axis of the cylinder, the repulsion H of the cleaning blade (JIS K630)
1 (measured temperature / humidity: 25 ° C./50% RH). Formula 1 45 ≦ H (rebound resilience) <70 (unit;%) 2. A cleaning blade for removing toner on a cylindrical organic photoreceptor provided so that a central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, and a tip of the cleaning blade has a cylindrical central angle (β) ± 30 degrees. Within a cleaning device contacting the cylindrical organic photoreceptor within (0 ° above the cylinder center axis), a 300% module M (JI
SK6251 (measured temperature / humidity: 25 ° C./50% RH) satisfies Expression 2. Equation 2 10 ≦ M (300% module) ≦ 14 (unit; M
Pa) 3. A cleaning blade for removing toner on a cylindrical organic photoreceptor installed so that a cylindrical central axis thereof is substantially horizontal, and a tip of the cleaning blade has a cylindrical central angle (β) ± 30 degrees. A cleaning device that abuts the cylindrical organic photoreceptor within (with 0 degrees vertically above the center axis of the cylinder) a permanent elongation E (JIS K630) of the cleaning blade.
1 (measurement temperature / humidity 25 ° C./50% RH)), wherein Expression 3 is satisfied. Formula 30 ≦ E (permanent elongation) <5 (unit:%) 4. A cleaning blade for removing toner on a cylindrical organic photoreceptor provided so that a central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, and a tip of the cleaning blade has a cylindrical central angle (β) ± 30 degrees. A cleaning device that contacts the cylindrical organic photoreceptor within (with 0 degrees perpendicular to the central axis of the cylinder) a hardness K (JISK6301) of the cleaning blade.
(Measurement temperature / humidity 25 ° C./50% RH)). Formula 4 64 ≦ K (hardness) ≦ 73 (unit: degree) 5. A cleaning blade for removing toner on a cylindrical organic photoreceptor installed so that a central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, and a tip of the cleaning blade has a cylindrical central angle (β) ± 30 degrees. A cleaning device that abuts the cylindrical organic photoreceptor within (with 0 degrees vertically above the central axis of the cylinder) that the cleaning blade satisfies the above-mentioned equations (1) to (4). A cleaning device characterized by: 6. An electrostatic latent image formed on a cylindrical organic photoreceptor set so that a central axis of the cylinder is substantially horizontal, a toner image is formed by a developing unit, and the toner image is transferred to a transfer material. Then, in the image forming method having a cleaning device for removing the toner remaining on the cylindrical organic photoreceptor,
An image forming method, wherein the cleaning device is the cleaning device according to claim 1. 7. The toner used in the developing means, wherein the coefficient of variation of the shape factor of the toner particles is 16% or less and the number variation coefficient in the number particle size distribution of the toner particles is 27% or less. The image forming method according to claim 6, wherein: 8. The toner used in the developing means, wherein the toner contains 65% by number or more of toner particles having a shape factor of the toner particles in a range of 1.2 to 1.6. Or the image forming method according to 7. 9. The image forming method according to claim 6, wherein a toner containing 50% by number or more of toner particles having no corners is used as the toner used for the developing unit. 10. An image forming apparatus using the image forming method according to claim 6. Description: