JP2000147897A - Toner carrier and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner carrier with excellent toner followup ability, being free from lowering of an image density regardless of adopting over a long period, and to provide an image forming device adopting this toner carrier. SOLUTION: This toner carrier is, allowed to form the visual image by carrying the toner on a surface, forming a thin layer thereof, coming into contact with or close to the image forming body, and feeding the toner on the image forming body surface. In such a case, the toner carrier is composed by controlling peak count in the measuring length 2.5 mm to 10 to 30, and the toner carrier is provided with the conductive layer 3, and moreover the surface thereof is composed by grinding or polishing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a toner carrier and an image forming apparatus using the same. For more information,
The present invention relates to a toner carrier excellent in toner followability and whose image density does not decrease even when used for a long time, and an image forming apparatus equipped with the toner carrier.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, a one-component toner is supplied to an image forming body such as a photoconductor holding an electrostatic latent image.
As an image forming method for visualizing the toner by attaching the toner to the latent image, a pressure development method is known (US Pat.
According to this method, no magnetic material is required, the apparatus can be simplified and downsized, and the toner can be easily colored. In this pressure development method, a toner carrier carrying toner (usually a non-magnetic one-component toner is used) is brought into contact with an image forming body (photoreceptor) holding an electrostatic latent image, and the toner is developed. An image is formed by adhering to the latent image of the image forming body. Therefore, it is necessary to form the toner carrier with a conductive material.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus using the pressure development system. In the pressure development system, as shown in FIG. A toner carrier (developing roller) 1 is disposed between a toner applying roller 5 and an image forming body (photoconductor) 6 holding an electrostatic latent image, and the toner carrier 1, the image forming body 6 and the toner As the application roller 5 rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure, the toner 7 is supplied to the surface of the toner carrier 1 by the toner application roller 5, and the toner is arranged into a uniform thin layer by the layering blade 8. . And
In this state, when the toner carrier 1 rotates while being in contact with the image forming body 6, the toner formed in a thin layer adheres from the toner carrier 1 to the latent image of the image forming body 6, and Is to be visualized. In the figure, reference numeral 9 denotes a transfer unit, which transfers a toner image to a recording medium such as paper. Reference numeral 10 denotes a cleaning unit,
The cleaning blade 11 removes toner remaining on the surface of the image forming body after transfer.

In an image forming apparatus using such a pressure developing method, the toner carrier 1 must rotate while maintaining a state in which the toner carrier 1 is in close contact with the image forming body 6. Silicone rubber, NBR (acrylonitrile-
A conductive elastic layer made of a conductive elastic material obtained by adding a conductive agent to an elastic rubber such as butadiene copolymer rubber), EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer rubber), or polyurethane rubber, or a foam, etc. Is formed.

[0005] A thin layer of non-magnetic toner is carried on the surface of a sleeve-like toner carrier provided in a non-contact state close to the image forming body (photoreceptor). A method in which an image is formed by developing the image by flying upward has also been proposed (JP-A-58-116559). Further, a method of forming an image by directly supplying toner from a toner carrier to a recording medium such as a paper sheet such as paper, OHP, photographic paper, or the like when the image forming body is not a drum shape but a belt shape. In such a method, the same toner carrier can be used. However,
In the above-mentioned conventional toner carrier, there is a problem that the image quality is deteriorated because the density is reduced after long-term use.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a toner carrier having excellent toner follow-up properties in such a situation and having a reduced image density even after long-term use, and an image using the toner carrier. It is an object to provide a forming apparatus.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention have conducted intensive studies to achieve the above object, and as a result, focused on the relationship between the surface state of the toner carrier and the image. Until now, the surface roughness of the toner carrier was determined to depend on the degree of the JIS 10-point average roughness Rz scale. However, even when the values of Rz are the same, a decrease in density occurs after long-term use, resulting in poor image quality. It was found to decrease.
This indicates that the surface roughness Rz is a parameter related to the degree of peak height and valley depth measured from an average line at a predetermined length, that is, a so-called amplitude, and therefore indicates a fine structure on the surface of the toner carrier. Is considered impossible. The fine structure on the surface of the toner carrier is such that when a non-magnetic one-component toner is used, the toner is charged by friction between the toner carrier and a toner conveying member or a blade, and the image forming member is charged. Is very important from the viewpoint of frictional charging and conveyance of the toner. In view of such circumstances, the present inventors have further studied and controlled the peak count at a specific measurement length on the surface of the toner carrier within a certain range, so that the toner follow-up property is good and a long-term It has been found that the image density does not decrease during use.

The present invention has been completed based on such findings. That is, according to the present invention, (1) a visible image is formed by carrying a toner on a surface to form a thin film thereof, and contacting or approaching the image forming body and supplying the toner to the surface of the image forming body. A toner carrier, wherein a peak count at a measured length of 2.5 mm on the surface of the toner carrier is 10 to 30; and (2) a thin film is formed by carrying the toner on the surface. Then, in an image forming apparatus equipped with a toner carrier for forming a visible image by supplying toner to the surface of the image carrier in contact with or in proximity to the image carrier, the toner carrier described in (1) above is used. The present invention provides an image forming apparatus characterized by using the toner carrier of (1).

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the toner carrier of the present invention, the peak count at a measured length of 2.5 mm on the surface thereof must be in the range of 10 to 30 in consideration of the toner transportability and the like. . This peak count is 10
If less, the image (black solid) density after durability decreases,
If it exceeds 30, a problem arises in the formation of a thin film on the roller surface.
In the present invention, the peak count means that a surface roughness curve in the rotation direction of the toner carrier is determined, and a constant reference level (distance from the center line 0.635 μm, both reference levels) is set in the positive and negative directions in parallel with the center line. A straight line with a distance of 1.27 μm) is provided, and after exceeding the negative line, it counts one when it crosses the positive line, and designates the total count number until the measured length reaches 2.5 mm. It is a parameter that indicates fine irregularities on the surface. In addition, as an example of a method of measuring the peak count, According to the standard, using "Surfcom 590 A" (manufactured by Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd.) as a measuring device (surface roughness meter), measuring length 2.5 mm, measuring speed 0.3 mm
The peak count can be determined from a surface roughness curve obtained under the conditions of / mm and a cutoff wavelength of 0.8 mm.

The surface roughness of the toner carrier of the present invention is not particularly limited, but is preferably 15 μmRz or less, particularly preferably 1 to 10 μmRz in terms of JIS 10-point average roughness. When the surface roughness exceeds 15 μmRz, the thickness of the toner layer of the one-component developer (toner) and the uniformity of charging may be impaired. However, when the surface roughness is 15 μmRz or less, the adhesion of the toner can be improved. In addition to this, image deterioration due to wear of the toner carrier during long-term use can be more reliably prevented. The toner carrier of the present invention is preferably in the form of a roller having a conductive layer provided on the outer periphery of a shaft. For example, the toner carrier may have a structure shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the toner carrier of the present invention.
Shows the structure provided with. Here, the shaft 2 only needs to have good conductivity,
Although there is no particular limitation, a metal shaft such as a metal core made of a solid metal body or a metal cylindrical body having a hollow inside is usually used.

The conductive layer formed on the outer periphery of the shaft is made of a material obtained by adding a conductive agent to a polymer material such as an elastomer, a foam, or a resin to impart conductivity.
Here, the polymer material is not particularly limited, and can be arbitrarily selected from those conventionally used in toner carriers. Examples of the polymer material include polyurethane, ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM), ethylene-propylene rubber (EPR),
Examples include elastomers such as natural rubber, butyl rubber, nitrile rubber, polyisoprene rubber, polybutadiene rubber, silicone rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, and acrylic rubber. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more. Among them, polyurethane and EPDM are particularly preferable. Further, as other polymer materials, phenol resin, polyester, polycarbonate and the like can be preferably used.

The polyurethane used for the conductive layer will be described. The polyurethane elastomer or foam may be manufactured by any method. For example, a conductive agent such as carbon black may be mixed with a urethane prepolymer to form a preform. A polyurethane elastomer or a foam can be obtained by a method of causing a crosslinking reaction of a polymer, a method of blending a polyol with a conductive agent and reacting the polyol with a polyisocyanate compound by a one-shot method, or the like. Examples of the polyhydroxy compound used in the production of the polyurethane foam and the elastomer include polyols used in the production of general flexible polyurethane foams and polyurethane elastomers, such as polyether polyols having terminal hydroxyl groups, polyester polyols, and both. In addition to polyether polyester polyols that are polymers, polyolefin polyols such as polybutadiene polyols and polyisoprene polyols, and general polyols such as so-called polymer polyols obtained by polymerizing ethylenically unsaturated monomers in polyols include Can be used. Examples of the polyisocyanate compound include polyisocyanate compounds which are also commonly used for producing a flexible polyurethane foam or polyurethane elastomer, that is, tolylene diisocyanate, crude tolylene diisocyanate,
4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, crude 4,
4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, having 2 to 2 carbon atoms
Examples thereof include an aliphatic polyisoisocyanate of 18, an alicyclic polyisocyanate having 4 to 15 carbon atoms, and a mixture or modified product of these polyisocyanates, for example, a prepolymer obtained by partially reacting with a polyol.

On the other hand, EPDM will be described. EPDM is a terpolymer composed of ethylene, propylene and a third component. Pentadiene; ethylidene norbornene; 1,4-hexadiene and the like are preferably used. The proportions of ethylene, propylene and the third component are not particularly limited, but the content of the ethylene component is 5 to 95% by weight, the content of the propylene component is 5 to 95% by weight, Is preferably 0 to 50 in iodine value. Note that two or more types of EPDM having different iodine values can be used in combination. The above-mentioned EPDM may be used by blending silicone rubber or silicone-modified EPDM, or both. In this case, the mixing amount of the silicone rubber and the silicone-modified EPDM is preferably 5 to 80 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of EPDM. The silicone-modified EPDM refers to a hybrid rubber in which the bonding force between both EPDM and silicone polymers is increased via a silanol compound or siloxane.

Further, a crosslinking agent and a vulcanizing agent can be added to crosslink the conductive layer into a rubbery substance. In this case, a vulcanization aid, a vulcanization accelerator, a vulcanization acceleration aid, a vulcanization retarder and the like can be used in both cases of organic peroxide crosslinking and sulfur crosslinking. In addition to the above, peptizing agents, foaming agents, plasticizers, softeners, tackifiers, antiblocking agents, separating agents, mold release agents, extenders, coloring agents, etc., which are generally used as rubber compounding agents. Can be appropriately added. When a conductive layer is formed using this polyurethane or EPDM, various charge control agents such as nigrosine, triaminophenylmethane, a cationic dye, a silicone resin, a silicone rubber,
Fine powder such as nylon can be added. In this case, the additive amount of these additives depends on the polyurethane or E
With respect to 100 parts by weight of PDM, the charge control agent is 1 to 5
It is preferable that the weight of the fine powder is 1 to 10 parts by weight.

As the conductive agent, an ionic conductive agent or a conductive powder is used. Examples of the ion conductive agent include tetraethylammonium, tetrabutylammonium,
Perchlorates, chlorates, hydrochlorides, bromine such as dodecyltrimethylammonium (eg, lauryltrimethylammonium), hexadecyltrimethylammonium, octadecyltrimethylammonium (eg, stearyltrimethylammonium), benzyltrimethylammonium, and modified dimethylethylammonium fatty acid Acid salt,
Ammonium salts such as iodate, borofluoride, sulfate, ethyl sulfate, carboxylate and sulfonate; and perchlorine of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals such as lithium, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium Acid, chlorate, hydrochloride, bromate, iodate,
Borofluoride, trifluoromethyl sulfate, sulfonate and the like can be mentioned. Examples of the conductive powder include conductive carbon such as Ketjen black and acetylene black; SAF, ISAF, HAF, FEF, and the like.
Rubber carbon such as GPF, SRF, FT, and MT; carbon for oxidation-treated ink and pyrolytic carbon; graphite such as natural graphite and artificial graphite; conductive such as antimony-doped tin oxide, titanium oxide, and zinc oxide Metal oxides; metals such as nickel, copper, silver, and germanium; conductive polymers such as polyaniline, polypyrrole, and polyacetylene. Among these conductive powders, carbon black is preferred because it is inexpensive and can control conductivity with a small amount.

These conductive agents may be used alone or in combination of two or more. The amount of addition is not particularly limited, but in the case of the ionic conductive agent, it is generally in the range of 0.01 to 5 parts by weight, preferably 0.05 to 2 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the polymer material. Is chosen. On the other hand, in the case of conductive powder, it is selected in the range of 0.5 to 50 parts by weight, preferably 1 to 30 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the polymer material. Thereby, the resistance value of the conductive layer is set to 10 ³
It is preferable to adjust to a range of 10 to 10 ¹⁰ Ω · cm, and it is particularly preferable to adjust to a range of 10 ⁴ to 10 ⁸ Ω · cm. Or leak resistance value charge is less than 10 ³ Ω · cm within an image forming body, there is a case where the toner carrying member itself or destroyed by voltage, whereas, the fogging exceeds ¹⁰ 10 Ω · cm More likely to occur. The hardness of the conductive layer is not particularly limited. However, when the toner carrier comes into contact with an image forming body such as a photosensitive drum, JIS
It is preferably set to 60 ° or less, particularly 25 to 55 ° on the -A scale. In this case, if the hardness exceeds 60 °, the contact area with the photosensitive drum or the like becomes small, and good development may not be performed. Conversely, if the hardness is too low, the compression set becomes large, and for some reason, the toner If the carrier is deformed or decentered, uneven image density occurs. For this reason, even when the hardness of the conductive layer is set to a low hardness, it is preferable to reduce the compression set as much as possible, specifically, it is preferable to set the compression set to 20% or less.

In the toner carrier of the present invention, a resin component other than the resin forming the conductive layer can be provided on the surface portion of the conductive layer, and the resin component is not particularly limited. Is preferably non-staining to an image forming body such as a photosensitive drum. Specifically, urea resin, melamine resin, alkyd resin, phenol-modified
Modified alkyd resins such as silicone-modified, oil-free alkyd resins, acrylic resins, silicone resins, fluorine resins, phenol resins, polyamide resins, epoxy resins, polyester resins, maleic resins, urethane resins and the like can be mentioned. Among these, from the viewpoints of film forming properties and adhesion, one or more selected from urea resins, melamine resins, silicone resins, phenol resins, alkyd resins, modified alkyd resins, oil-free alkyd resins, and acrylic resins Is preferably used.

If necessary, a conductive agent can be added to the resin component to impart conductivity. Examples of the conductive agent include those similar to those used for the conductive layer. . In this case, usually the surface portion of the conductive layer does not contain a conductive powder such as carbo black, better toner chargeability can be obtained, but when used in a printer or the like that requires high speed, In order to effectively prevent the occurrence of low-pressure fogging, it is preferable to conversely include a conductive powder in the surface portion of the conductive layer. Therefore, whether or not a conductive powder such as carbon black is used as a conductive agent to be added to the resin component can be appropriately selected depending on the use and purpose of the toner carrier. As a means for applying such a resin component to the surface of the conductive layer, a method of surface-treating the conductive layer of the toner carrier with a resin solution containing the above resin component is suitably employed. In this case, the surface treatment can be performed by a spray method, a roll coater method, a dipping method or the like after preparing the resin solution. For example, the surface treatment by the dipping method can adopt a method of immersing in a resin solution having the above concentration at room temperature for 5 seconds to 5 minutes, preferably 10 seconds to 1 minute, pulling it up, and drying it. When the spray method is adopted, the resin concentration in the processing solution can be set higher than that of the dipping method.
It is also possible to use one adjusted to a concentration of ３０30% by weight. The solvent for preparing the resin solution may be any solvent as long as it dissolves the above resin, but is usually a lower alcohol such as methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, or the like.
Ketones such as cyclohexanone, toluene, xylene and the like are preferably used.

Although the surface treatment with the above resin component can reduce the friction of the surface of the toner carrier to some extent, various additives can be added to the resin component to further reduce the friction. In this case, silicone resin, silicone resin powder, fluorine-based and silicone-based surfactants and silicone-based surfactants can be used as additives capable of reducing friction without causing contamination of the image forming body and without reducing the uniformity of the surface treatment. A system coupling agent and a silica powder are preferably used. As the silicone resin, those soluble in a solvent,
For example, methyl silicone, methyl phenyl silicone,
Alternatively, a modified product thereof, a silicone epoxy block copolymer, or the like may be used. Examples of the silicone resin powder include fine powders of methyl silicone or methyl phenyl silicone polymer, amino group-modified silicone polymer, etc., and spherical and amorphous particles having an average particle size of 0.1 to 100 μm are preferably used. Used. Examples of the fluorinated surfactant include ionic ones in which alkyl fluoride is bonded to carboxylic acid, carboxylate, sulfonate, etc., nonionic ones in which alkyl fluoride is bonded to alcohol or ether, and side chains. And polymer-based polymers such as polymers and copolymers containing alkyl fluoride in the main chain.

Examples of the silicone-based surfactant include high-molecular-weight surfactants such as conjugates of methylsilicone such as siloxaneoxyethylene and hydrophilic or lipophilic segments, and copolymers of methylsilicone and acrylic segments. Things. Examples of the silicone-based coupling agent include not only ordinary silane coupling agents but also silanes into which amino groups, isocyanate groups, vinyl groups, and the like are introduced at the terminals. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more. In addition, a fluororesin also effectively acts as a friction reducing agent. The amount of the friction reducing agent to be used is generally 1 to 100 parts by weight, preferably 10 to 75 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the resin component.
When an ionic conductive agent is used as the conductive agent, the amount of the ionic conductive agent to be added to the resin solution is preferably 0.001 to 1 part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the resin component. On the other hand, when a conductive powder such as carbon black is used as the conductive agent, the amount of the conductive powder is preferably 1 to 50 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the resin component.

The resin component provided on the conductive layer may be in the form of a film completely covering the surface of the conductive layer, or the resin component may be embedded in dots on irregularities on the surface of the conductive layer. The resin component may fill most of the concavities and convexities on the surface of the conductive layer, and only the tips of the protrusions may be partially exposed. In the toner carrier of the present invention, the conductive layer surface is ground or polished so as to have a desired peak count.
The processing method is not particularly limited, and for example, the following method can be used. That is, while rotating a roller-shaped toner carrier having a conductive layer formed on the outer periphery of the shaft at about 100 to 300 rpm,
A polishing member such as a grindstone rotating at about 0 to 2000 rpm is brought into contact with the conductive layer at a dressing speed of, for example, about 500 to 1000 mm / min. A toner carrier having a surface state is obtained.

The present invention also provides an image forming apparatus equipped with the above-mentioned toner carrier. There is no particular limitation on the type of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, between the toner applying roller 5 for supplying the toner and the image forming body 6 holding the electrostatic latent image. The toner carrier of the present invention is disposed in contact with or close to the image forming body 6 as the toner carrier 1, and the toner 7 is supplied from the toner applying roller 5 to the toner carrier 1, and the toner A uniform thin layer is formed by the blade 8, and toner is supplied from the thin layer to the image forming body 6, and the toner is adhered to the electrostatic latent image on the image forming body 6 to visualize the latent image. Since the details of FIG. 2 have been described in the related art, the description thereof will be omitted.

In this case, the toner carrier of the present invention is
As shown in (1), it is preferably used when the electrostatic latent image held on the surface of the image forming body 6 is visualized with a developer. The image forming body for forming an image is not limited to a photosensitive drum, but is an image forming body other than a drum shape such as a belt shape, and a paper sheet such as paper as a recording medium, OHP, and photographic paper. The present invention can also be suitably applied to an application in which a visible image is formed on these paper sheets by supplying a developer directly to the paper sheet. For example, as in a mechanism disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-129293, in a state where a back electrode roller is disposed on the back side of paper such as paper or OHP, a developer is applied to the front side of the paper sheet. By bringing the carried toner carrier close to and flying the developer on the toner carrier toward the rear electrode roller while controlling the aperture electrode, the toner carrier is disposed between the rear electrode roller and the toner carrier. The toner carrier of the present invention can also be suitably used as a toner carrier for supplying a developer to the paper sheet to form a visible image on the paper sheet. By using the carrier, it is possible to effectively prevent deterioration in image quality due to long-term use, and to reliably reproduce good images over a long period of time. Here, as the developer, a non-magnetic one-component developer is preferably used, but a magnetic-type one-component developer can also be used. For example, black-and-white image printing is performed using a magnetic one-component developer. Also in this case, the toner carrier and the image forming apparatus of the present invention can be suitably used. The developer may be an ordinary pulverized toner or a so-called polymerized toner which is chemically polymerized. However, the toner carrier of the present invention is usually used for a polymer toner in which the toner carrier is significantly worn. In that case, the wear prevention effect is remarkable.

[0024]

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 A grindstone (GC80HH, GC80HH) was used as a polishing member while rotating a toner carrying roller having a conductive layer formed of a urethane elastomer as a polymer material on the outer circumference of a shaft at 200 rpm. Polishing was performed under the dressing conditions shown in Table 1 using TEIKEN Corporation. The surface characteristics [peak count (Pc), JIS 10-point average surface roughness (Rz)] of the toner-carrying roller thus surface-treated were determined. Table 2 shows the results. The peak count (Pc) conforms to the SAE J911-JUN86 standard, and "Surfcom 590A" is used as a measuring device (surface roughness meter).
(Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd.), measuring length 2.5mm, measuring speed
Under a condition of 0.3 mm / sec and a cutoff wavelength of 0.8 mm, a roughness curve in the rotational direction is obtained, and a distance from the center line is 0.635 μm in both the positive and negative directions in parallel with the center line (between the straight line in both the positive and negative directions). The measurement was performed with a straight line having a distance of 1.27 μm).

The JIS 10-point average roughness (Rz) is
The measurement was performed under the same conditions as in the peak count measurement. Next, the obtained toner carrying roller is mounted on an image forming apparatus having a developing unit using a non-magnetic one-component toner as shown in FIG.
After visually observing the image after printing, the following criteria,
Evaluation as an image forming apparatus was performed. Table 2 shows the results. <Evaluation Criteria> ：: Good image △: Decrease in black solid density ×: White streak in black solid

[0026]

[Table 1]

[0027]

[Table 2]

Examples 3 and 4 and Comparative Examples 3 and 4 Toner-carrying rollers whose surfaces were processed in the same manner as in Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 (Examples 3 and 4 and Comparative Examples 3 and 4, respectively) 4) dissolving 10% by weight of each of an oil-free alkyd resin and a melamine resin in toluene,
Further, a resin layer is formed on the surface of the conductive layer by dipping in a coating liquid obtained by adding and dispersing 10 parts by weight of carbon black to 100 parts by weight of the resin component, and then dipping and heating and drying. A toner carrying roller was obtained. The surface characteristics of the toner carrying roller were determined in the same manner as described above, and the toner carrying roller was evaluated as an image forming apparatus. Table 3 shows the results.

[0029]

[Table 3]

[0030]

The toner carrier of the present invention is excellent in toner followability and does not lower the image density even after long-term use. Therefore, the toner carrier of the present invention is suitably used as a toner carrier of various image forming apparatuses.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an example of a toner carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus using a pressure development method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: toner carrier (developing roller) 2: shaft 3: conductive layer 5: roller for applying toner 6: image forming body (photoconductor) 7: toner 8: layered blade 9: transfer unit 10: cleaning unit 11: cleaning blade

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A toner carrying member which forms a visible image by carrying a toner on the surface to form a thin film thereof and contacting or approaching the image forming body and supplying the toner to the surface of the image forming body. The measured length of the toner carrier surface
A toner carrier having a peak count at 2.5 mm of 10 to 30. 2. The toner carrier according to claim 1, which has a conductive layer and whose surface is subjected to grinding or polishing. 3. The toner carrier according to claim 1, wherein the toner is a non-magnetic one-component toner. 4. A toner carrying member for forming a visible image by carrying a toner on the surface to form a thin film thereof and supplying the toner to the surface of the image forming body in contact with or close to the image forming body. 4. An image forming apparatus, wherein the toner carrier according to claim 1 is used as the toner carrier in a mounted image forming apparatus.