JP2000185323A - Method for separating elastomer from rigid body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To peel an elastomer off a composite body, which is produced by bonding the elastomer to a rigid body, safely without damaging the rigid body so as to separate the regid body from the elastomer in order to further realize the reuse of the separated rigid body and contrive to economize resources and reduce the quantity of wastes. SOLUTION: A blade holder 17a and a cleaning blade 17b are bonded to each other by interposing an adhesive 18, which is produced by laminating a waste-soluble plastic-based adhesive 18a and an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA)-based adhesive 18b, between the holder and the blade. In order to execute the separation of the holder from the blade, a cleaning blade device 17 is immersed in hot water held at 90 deg.C so as to hydrolyze the plastic-based adhesive 18a, thereby separating the cleaning blade 17b from the blade holder 17a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a composite member obtained by bonding an elastomer to a rigid body made of metal or resin.
The present invention relates to a method of separating an elastomer and a rigid body that can be separated into a rigid body and an elastomer after use.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A composite formed by forming an elastomer such as urethane rubber or foam and a rigid body such as metal or resin material is used for a rubber roller used for paper transport of a printer, a copier, a facsimile, or the like. Rollers used for development, transfer, fixing, etc. are further diversified into electronic devices, such as developing rollers and cleaning blades used for cleaning photoconductors. In spite of the demand for high manufacturing accuracy in accordance with the increase in the precision of electronic devices used, these composites have not been able to achieve a long life due to deterioration of the elastomer due to wear, heat, or aging.

On the other hand, in recent years, when a composite is used and then disposed of in an electronic device or the like, it is required to separate and discard each material, and to save resources and reduce waste. However, it is required to recycle resources.Elastomers are difficult to reuse due to deterioration, but since the rigid part can be reused, the elastomer part is removed from the composite at the time of disposal and the rigid body is recycled. In order to regenerate, a task is required.

[0004] For this reason, conventionally, an elastomer portion has been cut from the composite with a cutter or the like, and the remaining rigid portion has been polished with sandpaper for regeneration, or a solvent (toluene,
(E.g., alcohol) to dissolve the elastomer portion and separate from the rigid body.

[0005]

However, in the conventional method, when the elastomer portion is mechanically cut off with a cutter, the surface of the rigid body is damaged, so that it cannot be reused. However, there is also a problem that the operation of the playback device is complicated, so that automation of the playback device is hindered. On the other hand, the method of dissolving rubber using a solvent requires a large-scale facility to improve the working environment because a large amount of solvent is used, and the cost of processing the solvent after use is high. Had.

For this reason, as disclosed in, for example, JP-A-10-29214, rubber is bonded to a metal member via a primer when forming a composite, and the metal member is heated to 380 to 520 ° C. during recycling. A method has also been proposed in which the rubber is peeled off from the metal member after the primer is thermally decomposed. However, in this method, the metal member must be heated to a high temperature, and a high-temperature heating device and special equipment for cooling the rubber and the metal member after peeling are required, and the danger of fire and explosion is avoided. In addition, since large-scale safety equipment is required, and recycling is performed at a high temperature, there is a problem that the rigid body is limited to a metal member and cannot be applied to a rigid body made of a resin material or the like.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is desirable to use a large-scale facility or a special device at the time of disposing or reusing a composite obtained by bonding an elastomer and a rigid body used in electronic equipment and the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for separating an elastomer and a rigid body, which can safely and safely separate the elastomer and the rigid body without using the same, thereby realizing resource saving and reduction of the amount of waste by sorting or recycling.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided, as a first means for solving the above problems, a step of bonding an elastomer to a rigid body through an adhesive whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding moisture; Applying hot water to the adhesive after bonding, and then separating the elastomer and the rigid body from each other.

Further, the present invention provides a second invention for solving the above-mentioned problems.
Means for bonding the elastomer to the rigid body through an adhesive whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding moisture, and after the bonding, the elastomer and the rigid body are bonded to the rigid body by 60 to 100.
A step of immersing the elastomer and the rigid body in immersion in warm water of ℃ for several minutes.

[0010] The present invention also provides a third aspect for solving the above problems.
Means for bonding the elastomer to the rigid body through an adhesive whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding moisture, and after the bonding, the elastomer and the rigid body are bonded to the rigid body by 60 to 100.
Exposing the elastomer and the rigid body to each other after exposing the elastomer to the steam at ℃.

Further, the present invention provides a fourth invention for solving the above problems.
As a means, a step of bonding an elastomer to the rigid body via an adhesive consisting of a plurality of layers of adhesive components arranged on the rigid body side with an adhesive component whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding moisture, and Removing the elastomer and the rigid body after applying hot water to the adhesive.

Further, the present invention provides a fifth aspect for solving the above problems.
As a means, a step of bonding an elastomer to the rigid body via an adhesive consisting of a plurality of layers of adhesive components arranged on the rigid body side with an adhesive component whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding moisture, and Elastomer and said rigid body are 60 ~
And a step of immersing the elastomer and the rigid body in hot water at 100 ° C. for several minutes.

Further, the present invention provides a sixth aspect for solving the above-mentioned problems.
As a means, a step of bonding an elastomer to the rigid body via an adhesive consisting of a plurality of layers of adhesive components arranged on the rigid body side with an adhesive component whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding moisture, and Elastomer and said rigid body are 60 ~
Exposing the elastomer and the rigid body after exposing to a steam at 100 ° C.

According to the present invention, a large-scale facility is required by bonding the elastomer and the rigid body with an adhesive which is hydrolyzed to form a composite, and adding hot water to the adhesive at the time of peeling. The present invention aims to save the resources and reduce the amount of waste by separating and discarding the composite or by reusing the rigid body by easily separating the elastomer and the rigid body without damaging the rigid body.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is used for an electronic device such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile, etc., and a composite comprising a rigid body and an elastomer bonded thereto is dissolved in water in consideration of a stripping operation for reuse. At the time of replacement of the elastomer due to deterioration after use, the adhesive is hydrolyzed with warm water to peel off the elastomer from the rigid body, and the rigid body can be reused.

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. In the present embodiment, the cleaning blade of the copying machine is formed of a composite including a rigid body and an elastomer. FIG. 1 shows an upper unit 1 of an image forming unit around a photoconductor 10 of a copying machine (not shown).
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing 1, 12 is a charger, 13 is an exposure unit, 14 is a developing device, and 16 is a cleaning device.

At a position facing the photoreceptor 10 of the cleaning device 16, a composite is obtained by bonding a cleaning blade 17b made of urethane rubber having a thickness of 2 mm to a rigid blade holder 17a made of a galvanized steel plate. A cleaning blade device 17 is provided. The adhesive 18 interposed between the blade holder 17a and the cleaning blade 17b has a thickness of 100
A water-soluble plastic-based adhesive (polyvinyl ether or the like) 18a applied in a width of 10 mm in the longitudinal direction parallel to the rotation axis 10a of the photoconductor 10 and an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) -based adhesive 18b. It is made of laminated. Further, the cleaning blade 17b has an adhesion width of 10 mm with the blade holder 17a and a free length of 10 mm.
Is set to

As shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning blade 17b is pulled in the longitudinal direction, and the blade holder 17a and the cleaning blade 17 are
When the adhesive strength between b was measured, it was 3.5 kgf, and it was found that the adhesive strength was sufficient for cleaning.

If the cleaning blade 17b deteriorates due to aging while cleaning the photoreceptor 10 by the cleaning blade device 17 constructed as described above, the cleaning blade device 17 is replaced with a new one. In the cleaning blade device 17, in order to reuse the blade holder 17a, the cleaning blade 1 is removed from the blade holder 17a using hot water.
7b is peeled off.

That is, the cleaning blade device 17 is
After being immersed in warm water of 0 ° C. for 3 minutes to hydrolyze the water-soluble plastic adhesive 18a, and then immersing in a 25 ° C. environment for 3 minutes, the end of the cleaning blade 17b where hydrolysis is progressing is triggered. To remove the cleaning blade 17b from the blade holder 17a.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, when the cleaning blade 17b was pulled in the longitudinal direction and the adhesive strength between the blade holder 17a and the cleaning blade 17b was measured, it was 0.7 kgf. 17a is easy to peel off,
Moreover, after peeling, the adhesive 18 adheres to the cleaning blade 17b side as shown in FIG.
The stripping operation is performed in a state that does not remain on the side and is suitable for reuse. This is because the plastic adhesive 18a is quickly hydrolyzed from the blade holder 17a side because the thermal conductivity of the blade holder 17a is better than that of the cleaning blade 17b.

Therefore, after that, a new cleaning blade is adhered to the blade holder 17a and reused.

On the other hand, when the cleaning blade 17b is detached from the blade holder 17a without immersing it in the hot water with the cleaning blade device 17 being detached from the cleaning device 16, the cleaning blade 17b is removed with bare hands. Peeling is very difficult and difficult, and the adhesive 18 remains on the blade holder 17a without being able to follow the distortion of the cleaning blade 17b.
The piece was cut off in the middle while being partially adhered to the blade holder 17a, and could not be reused.

Further, an experiment was conducted in which the cleaning blade 17b was peeled by changing the temperature of the hot water in which the cleaning blade 17 was immersed. When the temperature of the hot water was 60 ° C. or higher, the cleaning blade 17b could be peeled off with bare hands. Because it promotes decomposition and reduces adhesive strength,
More preferably, a result of 80 ° C. or higher was obtained.

With this configuration, the cleaning blade 17b can be peeled off from the blade holder 17a very easily without leaving the adhesive 18 on the blade holder 17a side only by immersing the cleaning blade device 17 in warm water. The resource holder 17a and the cleaning blade 1 at the time of disposal can be saved while resources can be saved and waste can be reduced by realizing the reuse of the 17a.
7b can be quickly separated. In addition, it does not require large-scale equipment or special equipment only because it requires a hot water facility, and can be easily put into practical use at a low cost, and safety is not impaired. Further, the cleaning blade device 1
Since the heating temperature of 7 is 100 ° C. at the maximum, even if the holder is formed of a resin material, it is not damaged by heating,
Its reusability is not compromised.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In the period until the body is replaced with a new one, it is sufficient that the body has an appropriate adhesive strength under a normal environment of an electronic device at a temperature of 35 ° C. and a humidity of 85%.
Any of starch, shellac, cellulosic, water glass, gum arabic, bovar, urea resin as a precondensate, and water-soluble phenol resin may be used. In addition, with the aid of surfactants and protective colloids, various types of plastics are emulsified and dispersed in water to form a uniform emulsion, or an emulsion is made by polymerizing plastic monomers in water to form an emulsion. An emulsion system such as a system resin may be used.

In any case, these water-soluble adhesives may be appropriately selected and used for bonding a rigid body made of a metal or a resin material to rubber or the like. Further, several kinds of water-soluble adhesives may be mixed, or a water-insoluble adhesive may be mixed with the water-soluble adhesive. Further, the rigid body and the elastomer may be bonded with one kind of water-soluble adhesive. However, for bonding different materials, an adhesive composed of a plurality of layers is often used as in the above-described embodiment.

In general, in the case of metal and rubber, first, an adhesive having a high affinity for the metal is formed on the metal side by coating or dipping, and then the layer is bonded to the rubber via an adhesive having a high affinity for rubber. However, if an adhesive whose adhesive strength is reduced by water solubility or water absorption is used on the metal side as in the above-described embodiment, when immersed in warm water, the adhesive is hydrolyzed from the metal side having high thermal conductivity, No adhesive remains on the metal side when the rubber is peeled off, making it suitable for recycling.

Further, as the adhesive used on the metal side and having a lower adhesive strength due to water solubility or water absorption, if the affinity for the adhesive used for the rubber side is better than the affinity for the metal, rubber can be used. When peeled, both adhesives adhere to the rubber side and no adhesive remains on the metal side, which is particularly preferable for recycling metal. The adhesive used on the rubber side may be water-soluble, but when recycling metal, the adhesive used on the metal side is more quickly hydrolyzed so that the adhesive does not remain on the metal side. It is preferable to use an adhesive whose bonding strength is reduced so that the adhesive does not remain on the metal side.

The temperature of the hot water applied to the adhesive which is hydrolyzed to separate the rigid body and the elastomer is not limited as long as the elastomer can be peeled off after the addition of water. Further, the application of hot water to the adhesive may be carried out by immersing the composite in hot water instead of immersing the composite in steam at 60 to 100 ° C. and steaming the composite with steam.

The structure and function of the composite are completely arbitrary. For example, a paper transport roller in which a rubber roll is adhered to a resin shaft may be used. The material of the elastomer is not limited to urethane rubber, and other rubbers may be used. Or foam, etc., and the rigid body is not limited to metal such as galvanized steel sheet, but may be resin material such as polycarbonate. However, when recycling metal, it is oxidized and corroded such as rust-proof plated material, aluminum, brass, SUS material It is preferable to use a material that does not.

In the blade cleaning apparatus according to the above-described embodiment, the application area of the adhesive interposed between the cleaning blade and the blade holder for bonding the cleaning blade and the blade holder and the application shape thereof are also arbitrary. However, the cleaning blade and the blade holder have sufficient adhesive strength with the blade holder made of a metal or resin material in the width direction of the cleaning blade, which is the direction of the load during cleaning when the cleaning blade is in contact with the photoconductor. On the other hand, when the cleaning blade is peeled off from the blade holder at the time of recycling, it is preferable that the adhesive strength is reduced to such an extent that the cleaning blade can be peeled off with bare hands.

Next, another modified example of the application of the adhesive of the cleaning blade device will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the cleaning blade 30 comes into contact with the photoconductor so as to be parallel to the rotation axis 31a of the photoconductor 31, and receives a load in the short direction of the arrow s direction which is the moving direction of the photoconductor. And the cleaning blade 30
And the adhesive 33 interposed between the blade holder 32 and
Cleaning blade 3 parallel to the moving direction of photoconductor 31
Arrow t of the photoconductor 31 rather than long application in the short direction of 0
A longer application in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade 30 that is parallel to the direction of the rotation shaft 31a has a stronger adhesive force against the load. On the other hand, when the cleaning blade 30 is peeled, it is easier to peel the cleaning blade 30 in the direction of the arrow u, which is the direction of the rotation axis 31a of the photosensitive member 31.

Therefore, as in the comparative example shown in FIG.
Is applied longer in the lateral direction of the cleaning blade 38, which is the direction of weight of the cleaning blade 37,
As shown in the modification shown in FIG. 8, the adhesive 38 is applied long in the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the load direction of the cleaning blade 40 so as to have a strong adhesive force against the load at the time of cleaning while the short side direction. It is preferable to apply it shortly so that it can be easily peeled off.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily remove the elastomer by using warm water without damaging the rigid body, to easily separate each material when the composite is discarded, and to use the rigid body. The realization of the recycling of resources will save resources and reduce waste. In addition, there is no need for large-scale and special equipment for the peeling work, and the cost can be reduced.Because there is no need to heat at high temperature, safety is not impaired. Even if there is, it becomes applicable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an upper unit of an image forming unit of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a cleaning blade device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the cleaning blade device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing a method for measuring the adhesive strength of the cleaning blade according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an adhesion state of an adhesive when the cleaning blade is peeled off according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view showing a load applied to a cleaning blade according to another modification of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a cleaning blade of a comparative example used for describing another modification of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a cleaning blade according to another modification of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Photoconductor 11 ... Upper unit 16 ... Cleaning device 17 ... Cleaning blade 17a ... Blade holder 17b ... Cleaning blade 18 ... Adhesive 18a ... Water-soluble plastic adhesive 18b ... Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) adhesive

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A step of bonding an elastomer to a rigid body via an adhesive whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding water, and after the bonding, applying warm water to the adhesive, and separating the elastomer and the rigid body. A method for separating an elastomer and a rigid body, comprising the steps of: 2. A step of bonding an elastomer to a rigid body via an adhesive whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding water, and after the bonding, the elastomer and the rigid body are immersed in warm water at 60 to 100 ° C. for several minutes. A method of separating the elastomer and the rigid body, the method including a step of separating the elastomer and the rigid body. 3. A step of adhering the elastomer to the rigid body through an adhesive whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding moisture, and exposing the elastomer and the rigid body to steam at 60 to 100 ° C. after adhering. And a step of separating the rigid body from the elastomer. 4. A step of bonding an elastomer to the rigid body via an adhesive comprising a plurality of layers of adhesive components having an adhesive component whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding moisture to the rigid body side, and after bonding. A method of separating the elastomer and the rigid body from each other after applying hot water to the adhesive. 5. A step of bonding an elastomer to the rigid body through an adhesive comprising a plurality of layers of adhesive components having an adhesive component whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding moisture to the rigid body side, and after the bonding. A method of immersing the elastomer and the rigid body in hot water at 60 to 100 ° C. for several minutes, and then separating the elastomer and the rigid body from each other. 6. A step of bonding an elastomer to the rigid body via an adhesive comprising a plurality of layers of adhesive components having an adhesive component whose adhesive strength is reduced by adding moisture to the rigid body side, and after bonding. Exposing the elastomer and the rigid body to steam at 60 to 100 ° C. and then separating the elastomer and the rigid body. 7. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the elastomer is a rectangular cleaning blade that receives a load in the short direction, the rigid body is a holder that adhesively supports the longitudinal direction of the elastomer, and an adhesive interposed between the cleaning blade and the holder. 7. The method for separating an elastomer and a rigid body according to claim 1, wherein a coating shape of the elastomer is longer in the longitudinal direction than in a lateral direction parallel to the load.