EP0128730A1 - Une bande revêtue et appareil l'incorporant pour appliquer un liquide de dégagement sur un rouleau de fusion - Google Patents

Une bande revêtue et appareil l'incorporant pour appliquer un liquide de dégagement sur un rouleau de fusion Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0128730A1
EP0128730A1 EP84303777A EP84303777A EP0128730A1 EP 0128730 A1 EP0128730 A1 EP 0128730A1 EP 84303777 A EP84303777 A EP 84303777A EP 84303777 A EP84303777 A EP 84303777A EP 0128730 A1 EP0128730 A1 EP 0128730A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
web
thickening agent
mixture
precoated
fluid
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP84303777A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Larry J. Minnesota Mining and Bresina
Robert J. Minnesota Mining and Kline
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
3M Co
Original Assignee
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co filed Critical Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co
Publication of EP0128730A1 publication Critical patent/EP0128730A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
    • G03G15/00—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern
    • G03G15/20—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern for fixing, e.g. by using heat
    • G03G15/2003—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern for fixing, e.g. by using heat using heat
    • G03G15/2014—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern for fixing, e.g. by using heat using heat using contact heat
    • G03G15/2017—Structural details of the fixing unit in general, e.g. cooling means, heat shielding means
    • G03G15/2025—Structural details of the fixing unit in general, e.g. cooling means, heat shielding means with special means for lubricating and/or cleaning the fixing unit, e.g. applying offset preventing fluid

Definitions

  • the invention presented herein relates to contact fixing stations for an imaging apparatus wherein the image is formed by toner particles carried on a receptor sheet which are permanently adhered to the receptor sheet at a fixing station of the apparatus and, more particularly, a precoated web and apparatus including the web for applying offset preventive fluid to the fixing roller and removing toner particles from the fixing roller.
  • toner particles for forming images on a receptor sheet in various image forming machines requires a fixing station within the machine for permanently adhering the toner particles to the receptor sheets.
  • Apparatus for fixing stations which use contact with the toner particles to permanently affix the toner material to the receptor sheet utilize a fixing roller, which contacts the toner, and a back-up roller, at least one of which is driven, to move the receptor sheet between the rollers.
  • One approach relies on the application of heat to the toner material via the fixing roller which is maintained at a temperature sufficient to elevate the temperature of the toner material to a point where the constituents of the toner material coalesce and become tacky.
  • This action causes the toner material to be absorbed to some extent into the fibers of the receptor sheet material which, in many instances, constitutes plain paper. Thereafter, as the toner material cools, solidification of the toner material occurs causing the toner material to be permanently bonded to the receptor sheet.
  • By controlling the heat transfer to the toner virtually no offset of the toner particles from the receptor sheet to the fixing roller is experienced under normal conditions.
  • the heat applied to the surface of the fixing roller will not raise the temperature of the surface of the fixing roll above the "hot offset” temperature of the toner particles, which, if present, would cause a splitting action of the toner to result in "hot offset".
  • Splitting occurs when cohesive forces holding the heated toner particles together are less than the adhesive forces tending to offset them to the contacting surface of the fixing roller.
  • Toner particles can also be offset to the fixing roller by an insufficient application of heat and pressure to the toner particles (i.e., "cold" offsetting), by imperfections in the properties of the surface of the fixing roll or by other factors which cause the toner particles to insufficiently adhere to the receptor sheet by the forces which normally hold them to the receptor sheet.
  • toner particles may be transferred to the surface of the fixing roller with subsequent transfer to the next receptor sheet or to the back-up roller during periods of time when a receptor sheet is not in the nip presented between the rollers.
  • Another fixing station of the contact type applies pressure to the toner particles to permanently affix the toner particles to the receptor sheet.
  • some toner is offset to the fixing roller making contact with the toner particles in a pressure fixing apparatus even though an offset preventive fluid, such as silicone oil, is applied to the outer surface of the fixing roller.
  • the invention presented herein provides a solution to the problem of providing a precoated web that is usable in apparatus for supplying offset preventive fluid to the fixing roller of an imaging apparatus.
  • the pre-impregnated web is pre-impregnated by coating the web with a mixture of low-viscosity, offset preventive fluid plus a nonabrasive, nonvolatile thickening agent.
  • Such an arrangement avoids the oil migration problem which has been present in prior efforts made to provide a suitable pre-impregnated web.
  • the apparatus using the pre-impregnated web includes a supply roll for the web, a driven take-up roll and a pressure roll positioned adjacent the fixing roller of the imaging apparatus between the supply and take-up rolls. The web passes over the pressure roll and in contact with the fixing roll of the imaging apparatus.
  • the invention requires the use of a porous web for receiving the mixture of low-viscosity, offset preventive fluid plus a nonvolatile thickening agent. Whether a given mixture is a suitable candidate can readily be determined by testing various mixtures. This can be done without coating a web and checking for migration. Samples of various mixtures can be placed in a small container having a small hole in the center of its bottom and checking for the passage of oil from the hole. If no passage of oil occurs after 14 days, the mixture is considered to be a suitable candidate. Further screening involves coating of a rolled web and checking for gravity migration of the offset preventive fluid at room temperature and also in a heated oven. An optimum ratio of thickener and offset preventive fluid is dependent on the nature of the thickener and the viscosity of the fluid and, in addition, is dependent on the web material, coating weight, web storage conditions, cost and other factors.
  • apparatus for applying offset preventive fluid to a fixing roller 10, such as can be found in office copy machines currently available.
  • the fixing roller 10 is positioned very close to a back-up fixing roller 12. Either or both the fixing roller 10 and the back-up fixing roller 12 are driven so they move in the same direction at the point where they are positioned close to one another so an unfixed, image bearing receptor sheet 14 presented to the rollers is moved through the rollers causing the unfixed image carried on the receptor sheet 14 to be fixed to the receptor sheet.
  • the apparatus of the invention includes a web supply roll 15 on which a length of precoated web 16 is wound and a driven wind-up roll 18 on which the web 16 is wound as it is used.
  • a driven pressure roll 20 is positioned intermediate the supply roll 15 and wind-up roll 18 and is biased toward the fixing roller 10, such as by a spring 22 which is schematically shown.
  • the spring dependent on its placement, can be a compression, torsion or tension spring.
  • the spring 22 is a compression spring.
  • the web 16 passes from the supply roll 15 and about a portion of the outer surface of the pressure roll 20 so that the web passes between the pressure roll 20 and the fixing roller 10 and thence to the wind-up roll 18.
  • the wind-up roll 18 and pressure roll 20 are driven by a motor drive 24.
  • the coupling needed between the motor drive 24 and rolls 18 and 20 is indicated by dotted lines 28 and 30, respectively.
  • the coupling between the motor drive 24 and wind-up roll 18 is completed via an over-driving slip clutch (not shown).
  • a low torque brake (not shown) is also used with the supply roll 15 to provide a small amount of back tension. In this manner a tension is maintained on the web 16 to keep it in firm contact with the pressure roll 20.
  • the force biasing the pressure roll 20 toward the fixing roller 10 should, in the case of heat fusing, be such as to provide a nip contact width of the web 16 at the fixing roller 10 of about 0.30 cm to 0.64 cm. The nip contact width is less critical when pressure fusing is used.
  • the direction of rotation for each of the various rolls and rollers is indicated by the various arrows in the drawing.
  • a nonabrasive, porous material is suitable for the web 16.
  • Paper toweling such as Fort Howard #289 (Fort Howard Paper Co.); nonwoven carded rayon, such as Scott 6280-8 (Scott Paper Co.) and nonwoven polyesters, such as Pellon 1545 (Pellon Corporation) are examples of suitable materials for the web 16.
  • an offset preventive fluid such as silicone oil
  • silicone oil Delivery of an offset preventive fluid, such as silicone oil, to the fixing roller 10 in the arrangement described to this point wherein the web 16 has been precoated with silicone oil has been utilized.
  • United States Patent 3,941,558 is an example of such an arrangement. It has been found that precoating of the web material with only silicone oil is not satisfactory in some applications. Over a period of time, the silicone oil migrates due to gravity to the lower portion of the supply roll so that the amount of silicone oil supplied to fixing roller 10 is not consistently the same. This causes silicone oil to be noticeably transferred to the receptor sheet on which a toner image has been fixed. Oil may also drip from the supply roll and build up on other parts-of the machine below. The migration problem also occurs with respect to the storage of the web rollers prior to use in an apparatus. Reducing the amount of precoated silicone oil prevents oil migration but significantly increases the total web length required.
  • the web 16 is precoated with a nonmigrating mixture which includes an offset preventive fluid and a thickening agent for the fluid. It is preferred that only that amount of the thickening agent be used that is needed to solve the migration problem, since this maximizes the amount of offset preventive fluid that is available to carry out the offset preventive function.
  • the minimum amount of thickening agent required can be readily estimated by preparing mixtures of various percentages by weight of the thickening agent and placing a sample of each mixture of a predetermined amount in a container having a small hole having a diameter of about 1.6 mm. If there is no loss of the mixture through the hole after a period of time, such as 14 days, the mixture is not likely to present a migration problem.
  • the optimum ratio of thickening agent and offset preventive fluid is dependent on the nature of the thickener and viscosity of the fluid and, in addition, is dependent on web material, coating weight, web storage conditions, cost and other possible factors.
  • silicone oil as the offset preventive fluid, several suitable thickening agents can be used that are commercially available such as a polymer of ethylene, available from Petrolite Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma, under its trademark Polywax; fumed silicon dioxide, available from Cabot Corporation, Tuscola, Illinois, under its trademark "Cab-O-Sil”; and an organic gelling agent, available from New Japan Chemical Company, Ltd., Osaka, Japan, under the product designation "Gel All-D”.
  • a polymer of ethylene available from Petrolite Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma, under its trademark Polywax
  • fumed silicon dioxide available from Cabot Corporation, Tuscola, Illinois, under its trademark "Cab-O-Sil”
  • an organic gelling agent available from New Japan Chemical Company, Ltd., Osaka, Japan, under the product designation "Gel All-D”.
  • Tests indicate silicone oil ranging from 100 to 1000 centistokes is usable with any one of the thickening agents mentioned.
  • the minimum amount of thickening agent required to provide a nonmigrating coating was found to be three (3) percent by weight.
  • the maximum amount of a thickening agent that can be used is determined by such factors as dispersion stability, coatability of the mixture onto web material, and the fact that too much thickening agent will prevent transfer of silicone oil to the fixing roll.
  • Ten (10) percent by weight is considered to be the maximum concentration for the last two thickening agents mentioned above, while the polymer of ethylene thickening agent can be used with concentrations up to fifty (50) percent by weight. It has also been determined that the preferred molecular weight for the polymer of ethylene is about 300 to 1000.
  • the fixing roller 10 is heated by a heat source mounted coaxially within the roller and the back-up roller 12 can have a thin silicone rubber coating.
  • the fixing roller 10 can be formed of steel with a coating of bubbly chromium.
  • the back-up roller 12 can be of polished steel.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Fixing For Electrophotography (AREA)
EP84303777A 1983-06-06 1984-06-05 Une bande revêtue et appareil l'incorporant pour appliquer un liquide de dégagement sur un rouleau de fusion Withdrawn EP0128730A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US50156283A 1983-06-06 1983-06-06
US501562 1983-06-06

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0128730A1 true EP0128730A1 (fr) 1984-12-19

Family

ID=23994076

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP84303777A Withdrawn EP0128730A1 (fr) 1983-06-06 1984-06-05 Une bande revêtue et appareil l'incorporant pour appliquer un liquide de dégagement sur un rouleau de fusion

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0128730A1 (fr)
JP (1) JPS603685A (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0871087A2 (fr) * 1997-04-11 1998-10-14 Xerox Corporation Bande de nettoyage pour dispositif de fixage par fusion
EP1246030A1 (fr) * 2001-03-30 2002-10-02 Nichias Corporation Dispositif d'application d'huile et bande de papier associée

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3941558A (en) * 1974-02-18 1976-03-02 Rank Xerox Ltd. Contact-heating fixing device for electrophotography
US3964431A (en) * 1973-06-01 1976-06-22 Ricoh Co., Ltd. Device for supplying an offset preventing liquid to a fixing roller
DE3225836A1 (de) * 1981-07-10 1983-02-03 Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd., Tokyo Mittels einer heizwalze durchgefuehrtes fixierverfahren und vorrichtung zur durchfuehrung des verfahrens

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3964431A (en) * 1973-06-01 1976-06-22 Ricoh Co., Ltd. Device for supplying an offset preventing liquid to a fixing roller
US3941558A (en) * 1974-02-18 1976-03-02 Rank Xerox Ltd. Contact-heating fixing device for electrophotography
DE3225836A1 (de) * 1981-07-10 1983-02-03 Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd., Tokyo Mittels einer heizwalze durchgefuehrtes fixierverfahren und vorrichtung zur durchfuehrung des verfahrens

Non-Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
IBM TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE BULLETIN, vol. 20, no. 8, January 1978; R.F. WOLTER "Hot roll wiper", page 3306 *
Patent Abstracts of Japan vol. 5, no. 96, 23 June 1981 & JP-A-56-39571 *
Patent Abstracts of Japan vol. 6, no. 106, 16 June 1982 & JP-A-57-36134 *
Patent Abstracts of Japan vol. 6, no. 116, 29 June 1982 & JP-A-57-44172 *
XEROX DISCLOSURE JOURNAL, vol. 3, no. 3, May/June 1978 C.O. EDDY et al. "Release agents for fusers in electrostatic copiers", pages 159-160 *

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0871087A2 (fr) * 1997-04-11 1998-10-14 Xerox Corporation Bande de nettoyage pour dispositif de fixage par fusion
EP0871087A3 (fr) * 1997-04-11 1999-07-28 Xerox Corporation Bande de nettoyage pour dispositif de fixage par fusion
EP1246030A1 (fr) * 2001-03-30 2002-10-02 Nichias Corporation Dispositif d'application d'huile et bande de papier associée

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS603685A (ja) 1985-01-10

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PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

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Effective date: 19850515

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Effective date: 19870103

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Inventor name: BRESINA, LARRY J.MINNESOTA MINING AND

Inventor name: KLINE, ROBERT J.MINNESOTA MINING AND