JP2001013782A - Developing device and toner regulating member - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately electrify toner over a long term and to restrain the sticking of the toner to the surface of a toner regulating member so as to stably obtain an excellent image in the case of forming the image at high speed or in the case of using the toner having small particle size in a developing device where the toner regulating member press-contacts with the surface of a toner carrier so as to regulate the amount of the toner and also triboelectrify the toner. SOLUTION: In this developing device, the toner regulating member 12 press- contacts with the surface of the toner carrier carrying the toner 2 to the image carrier so as to regulate the amount of the toner on the surface of the toner carrier by the member 12 and also triboelectrify the toner on the surface of the toner carrier. Then, at least the surface of the member 12 coming in contact with the toner is composed of titanium nitride 122.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a developing device used for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and a toner regulating member used for such a developing device. In the one-component developing system used, a toner regulating member is pressed against the surface of a toner carrier that conveys toner to an image carrier, and the toner regulating member regulates the amount of toner on the surface of the toner carrier. In addition, the present invention relates to a developing device that frictionally charges the toner and a toner regulating member used in the developing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a developing device used for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, a two-component developing system using a toner and a carrier as a developer has been known. A one-component developing system using only toner is known.

Here, in the case of a developing device of a two-component developing system, generally, the toner is charged by mixing and stirring the carrier and the toner in the main body of the device, and the developer charged with the toner is magnetized inside. The developer is supplied to a developer conveying member provided with a roller, and the developer is conveyed by the developer conveying member to a development area facing the image carrier, so that the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier is developed. Had become.

However, in the case of the developing device of the two-component developing system as described above, a mechanism for mixing and stirring the toner and the carrier is required, and there has been a problem that the size of the device is increased and the cost is increased.

In the case of the above-described developing device of the two-component developing system, the toner is mixed and stirred with the carrier and charged. Therefore, during the mixing and stirring, one of the binder resin, the charge control agent, the fluidizing agent, and the like constituting the toner is used. Part adheres to the carrier,
As a result, the carrier is spent, and the charging performance of the carrier with respect to the toner is deteriorated, and there is a problem that the charge amount of the toner changes. In particular, in this developing device,
Since the carrier is used repeatedly for frictional charging of the toner, the carrier gradually becomes spent and deteriorates, thereby gradually lowering the charge amount of the toner, and as a result, fogging occurs in the formed image or the toner is developed. There is a problem that the image forming apparatus is scattered from the apparatus and becomes dirty.

For this reason, in recent years, attention has been paid to a one-component developing type developing device that uses only toner without using a carrier.

Here, as such a developing device of the one-component developing system, a developing device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 52-143831 is generally used. As shown in FIG. A toner regulating member 12 formed of a plate of stainless steel or the like is pressed against the surface of the toner carrier 11 conveyed to the body 1, and the toner regulating member 12 regulates the amount of toner on the surface of the toner carrier 11 and The toner on the surface of the toner carrier 11 is frictionally charged.

However, when the plate-like toner regulating member 12 is brought into contact with the surface of the toner carrier 11 as described above,
As shown in FIG. 1, when a flat plate-shaped toner regulating member 12 is used, the toner regulating member 12 can be stably brought into contact with the surface of the toner carrier 11 at an appropriate pressure in the axial direction. Was very difficult.

As a result, the toner supplied to the surface of the toner carrier 11 cannot be appropriately frictionally charged, and the amount of charge of the toner carried to the image carrier 1 is reduced. Fogging occurs. On the other hand, the amount of charge of the toner becomes too high, so that toner is not supplied to the image carrier 1 satisfactorily, and the density of an image to be formed is reduced. In this case, the amount of toner on the surface cannot be appropriately controlled, and the amount of toner conveyed to the image carrier 1 changes, resulting in a problem that density unevenness occurs in an image formed.

Further, when the toner regulating member 12 is pressed against the surface of the toner carrier 11 to regulate the amount of toner and to frictionally charge the toner, the toner adheres to the toner regulating member 12 as described above. May grow,
As a result, the thickness of the toner on the surface of the toner carrier 11 becomes non-uniform, and there are problems such as generation of streak-like noise and uneven density in a formed image.

Therefore, in recent years, FIGS.
As shown in (A) and (B), the toner regulating member 12 is attached to the toner carrier 11 at the end where the plate-shaped toner regulating member 12 comes into contact with the toner carrier 11.
The strength of the toner regulating member 12 is increased by bending the toner regulating member 12 in the axial direction, and the toner regulating member 12 is stably brought into contact with the surface of the toner carrier 11 with an appropriate pressure in the axial direction. Was.

However, when the toner regulating member 12 formed in a plate shape with stainless steel or the like is bent as described above,
Cracks occur in the toner regulating member 12 at the bent portion, and the toner regulating member 12 is
When the toner is pressed against the surface of the toner carrier to regulate the amount of toner and frictionally charge the toner, a large amount of toner adheres to the crack portion and grows, and the toner regulating member 12 causes the surface of the toner carrier 11 to grow. When the amount of toner in the toner carrier 1 is regulated,
There has been a problem that the thickness of the toner on the surface of No. 1 is non-uniform, streak-like noise is generated in the formed image, and density unevenness is generated.

For this reason, the present applicant has disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-222.
As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 793, the surface of the toner regulating member is electroless nickel-plated to smooth the bent portion where the crack has occurred, so that a uniform toner layer can be stably formed on the surface of the toner carrier. I suggested what I did.

Further, in recent years, in the above-described image forming apparatus, a toner having a small particle diameter has been used in order to form an image at a high speed or to obtain a high-definition image.

Under such conditions, when the toner regulating member having the surface electrolessly nickel-plated as described above is used to regulate the amount of toner on the surface of the toner carrier, The nickel-plated layer formed on the surface of the toner regulating member gradually wears, the charge amount of the toner gradually decreases, and fog and density unevenness occur on the formed image, and the toner is formed on the surface of the toner regulating member. The toner adheres to the formed nickel-plated layer, and a streak-like noise is generated in the formed image, which causes a problem that a good image cannot be obtained.

[0016]

According to the present invention, a toner regulating member is brought into pressure contact with the surface of a toner carrier for conveying toner to an image carrier, and the toner regulating member regulates the amount of toner on the surface of the toner carrier. It is another object of the present invention to solve the various problems described above in a developing device that frictionally charges the toner and a toner regulating member used in the developing device.

That is, in the present invention, even when an image is formed at a high speed by using the developing device as described above, or when a toner having a small particle diameter is used, the toner is appropriately controlled for a long time by the toner regulating member. It is charged to prevent fogging and density unevenness from occurring in the formed image, and to reduce the occurrence of streak-like noise and the like in the image formed by the toner being fixed to the surface of the toner regulating member. It is an object of the present invention to suppress the occurrence of an image and to stably obtain a good image.

[0018]

In the developing device according to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a toner regulating member is brought into pressure contact with the surface of a toner carrier for conveying toner to an image carrier, and the toner In the developing device in which the amount of toner on the surface of the toner carrier is regulated by the regulating member and the toner on the surface of the toner carrier is frictionally charged, at least the surface of the toner regulating member is made of titanium nitride. is there.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the toner regulating member according to the present invention is arranged so as to be pressed against the surface of the toner carrier for conveying toner to the image carrier, In the toner regulating member for regulating the amount of toner on the surface, at least the surface in contact with the toner is formed of titanium nitride.

Then, as in the developing device and the toner regulating member of the present invention, a toner regulating member having at least a surface in contact with the toner made of titanium nitride is used, and the toner regulating member is pressed against the surface of the toner carrier, When the amount of toner on the surface of the toner carrier is regulated by the toner regulating member, the toner is appropriately charged for a long period of time even when image formation is performed at high speed or when toner having a small particle diameter is used. This prevents fogging and density unevenness from occurring in the formed image, and also prevents the toner from sticking to the surface of the toner restricting member and causing streak-like noise or the like in the formed image. Will be prevented.

Further, when at least the surface of the toner regulating member to be pressed against the surface of the toner carrier, such as the developing device and the toner regulating member of the present invention, is formed of titanium nitride, the surface of the toner regulating member is made smooth by the titanium nitride. In particular, even when the end portion of the toner regulating member pressed against the surface of the toner carrier is bent along the axial direction of the toner carrier, the surface of the bent portion is smoothened by titanium nitride, Is prevented from growing on the surface of the toner regulating member.

Here, when at least the surface of the toner regulating member to be pressed against the surface of the toner carrier, such as the developing device and the toner regulating member of the present invention, is made of titanium nitride, Vickers hardness on the surface of the toner regulating member is determined. When Hv is less than 1600, abrasion of titanium nitride on the surface of the toner regulating member increases, and the pressure for regulating the toner changes, causing unevenness in the amount of toner to be conveyed, or A change occurs in the charge amount of the frictionally charged toner, and streaky noise or fogging is likely to occur in the formed image. For this reason, the Vickers hardness Hv of the surface of the toner regulating member is preferably set to 1600 or more, and more preferably the Vickers hardness Hv of the surface of the toner regulating member is set to 1800 or more. When at least the surface of the toner regulating member is made of titanium nitride as described above, it is difficult to manufacture a toner having a Vickers hardness Hv of 2200 or more on the surface.
Use those having v of 2000 or less.

In the developing device and the toner regulating member of the present invention, when at least the surface of the toner regulating member is made of titanium nitride, the surface of the toner regulating member is coated with titanium nitride by, for example, an evaporation method or a spray method. Layers can be provided. Here, when the titanium nitride coat layer is provided on the surface of the toner regulating member, the thickness of the titanium nitride coat layer is set to maintain the surface of the toner regulating member in a stable and smooth state. Is in the range of 0.1 to 10 μm, preferably 0.5 to 5 μm. Note that the above-described titanium nitride coat layer does not necessarily need to be provided on the entire surface of the toner regulating member, and may be provided at least on a portion of the surface of the toner carrier that is in contact with the toner.

On the other hand, a metal such as stainless steel can be generally used as a material of the toner regulating member provided with the titanium nitride coat layer as described above. However, the material of the toner regulating member is not particularly limited to a metal such as stainless steel, and has sufficient adhesiveness to the titanium nitride coat layer, and has elasticity capable of obtaining an appropriate pressing force against the toner carrier. Various resin materials and rubber materials can be used, for example, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, acrylonitrile / butadiene copolymer rubber, styrene / butadiene copolymer rubber, urethane rubber, silicon rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, etc. be able to.

As the toner used in the developing device of the present invention, a known toner which has been generally used can be used. Such a toner contains at least a binder resin and a colorant. I have.

Here, as the binder resin used in the above-mentioned toner, a known resin generally used conventionally can be used. From the viewpoint of improving the storage stability and fixing property of the toner, the glass transition is not preferred. Point Tg is 55-7
A resin having a temperature of 5 ° C, preferably 58 to 68 ° C, and a softening point of 80 to 170 ° C, preferably 90 to 150 ° C is used. Further, from the viewpoint of improving the dispersibility of the colorant and the anti-offset agent added in the toner and improving the environmental stability as the toner,
It is preferable to use a resin having an acid value in the range of 10 to 40 KOHmg / g. Further, from the viewpoint of toner productivity and the like, the melt index MI value is 3 to 20 (150 ° C./g).
min), for example, it is preferable to use a polyester resin or a urethane modified polyester resin, but it is not particularly limited to these resins.

The colorant used in the toner is also
Known colorants generally used conventionally can be used. For example, in the case of a black toner, carbon black, copper oxide, manganese dioxide, aniline black, activated carbon, etc. may be used alone or in combination of two or more. In the case of a full-color toner, various known yellow pigments, red pigments, and blue pigments can be used according to the color of the toner. The amount of these colorants added to the toner is such that the colorant is in the range of 1 to 20 parts by weight, preferably 3 to 15 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the binder resin in the toner. I do.

In the above-mentioned toner, in addition to the above-mentioned binder resin and colorant, if necessary, a charge control agent, an anti-offset agent, a fluidizing agent and the like generally used for the toner may be appropriately used. In an appropriate amount.

In general, it is preferable to use the toner having a volume average particle diameter of 5 to 9 μm. This means that when the volume average particle size is larger than 9 μm,
This is because, while the reproducibility of a high-definition image is deteriorated, when the volume average particle diameter is smaller than 5 μm, the productivity of the toner is deteriorated.

[0030]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a developing device and a toner regulating member according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is evident from the comparative example that the toner is prevented from sticking to the surface of the toner regulating member and a good image with less density unevenness can be stably obtained. To

(Embodiment 1) In the developing device according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a negatively charged toner 2 is stored as a toner 2 in a toner storage portion 13 of an apparatus main body 10. .

In this embodiment, in order to obtain the negatively charged toner 2, the binder resin has a glass transition point Tg of 65.degree. C., a softening point Tm of 140.degree.
A polyester resin having an acid value of 25 KOHmg / g and a melt index MI value of 3.6 (150 ° C./10 min) was used. And this polyester resin 1
4 parts by weight of carbon black (Raven 1255 manufactured by Colombian Carbon Co.), 3 parts by weight of a charge control agent (S-34 manufactured by Orient Chemical Co.)
Oxidized low molecular weight polypropylene (manufactured by Sanyo Kasei Co., Ltd .: Viscol TS-200) was added at a ratio of 2.5 parts by weight, and these were thoroughly mixed with a Henschel mixer, and then kneaded using a twin-screw extruder. The kneaded material was allowed to cool by standing, then coarsely pulverized using a feather mill, further finely pulverized using a jet mill, and subjected to air classification to have a volume average particle size of 8.0.
μm of toner particles were obtained. Then, hydrophobic silica (H-200: H-200) is applied to the toner particles.
0) was added thereto, and the mixture was stirred with a Henschel mixer, and negatively charged toner 2 whose surface was treated with hydrophobic silica was used.

Then, by rotating the toner feeding member 14 provided in the toner storage unit 13, the negatively charged toner 2 stored in the toner storage unit 13 is transferred to the toner carrier 11 side. The toner 2 sent to the toner supply unit 15 is supplied to the surface of the toner carrier 11 by the toner supply member 16, and the toner carrier supplied to the surface of the toner carrier 11 is supplied by the toner supply member 16. By rotating the body 11, the toner 2 is
The developing unit is guided to a developing unit opposite to the developing unit.

In the course of guiding the toner 2 supplied to the surface of the toner carrier 11 to the developing section facing the image carrier 1 as described above, a plate-shaped end contacting the toner carrier 11 is formed. The other end of the toner regulating member 12 bent away from the toner carrier 11 is fixed to the apparatus main body 10 with a screw (not shown), and the folded end of the toner regulating member 12 is fixed to the toner carrier. 11 is pressed against the surface of the toner carrier 11 by the toner regulating member 12.
Is regulated, and the negatively chargeable toner 2 is frictionally charged.

Here, in the developing device of the first embodiment, when the toner regulating member 12 is obtained, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (A) and (B), SU having a thickness of 0.1 mm
A plate member 121 made of stainless steel made of S301 steel plate was used, and an end portion of the plate member 121 that was in contact with the toner carrier 11 was bent in a direction away from the toner carrier 11 as described above. In this embodiment, the end of the toner regulating member 12 that comes into contact with the toner carrier 11 is bent in a direction away from the toner carrier 11, but the end of the toner regulating member 12 is necessarily bent in this manner. No need.

Then, a titanium nitride TiN coating layer 12 is formed on the surface of the plate material 121 by ion plating.
2 was provided.

Here, when providing the TiN coat layer 122 on the surface of the plate material 121, the bias voltage is set to -4.
0 V, the substrate temperature was set to 773 K, Ti atoms were evaporated in the plasma apparatus, and nitrogen gas was supplied from the nitrogen gas supply unit. The nitrogen partial pressure was set to 2 × 10 ^-1 Pa, and the deposition was performed for about 30 minutes. As shown in Table 1 below, a coating layer 122 of TiN having a thickness of about 1 μm and a Vickers hardness Hv of the surface of 2200 on the surface of the above-mentioned plate material 121.
Was provided.

The amount of the negatively charged toner 2 supplied to the surface of the toner carrier 11 is regulated by the toner regulating member 12, and the negatively charged toner 2 is frictionally charged. The toner 2 was guided to a developing section facing the image carrier 1, and the toner 2 was supplied to the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier 1 to perform development.

(Embodiments 2 to 4) In each of the developing devices of Embodiments 2 to 4, the type of the toner regulating member 12 used in the developing device of Embodiment 1 described above is changed. The procedure was the same as in Example 1.

In the second to fourth embodiments, when the toner regulating member 12 is obtained, the end portion of the stainless steel plate 121 made of SUS301 steel plate having a thickness of 0.1 mm, as in the first embodiment. Is used, while the conditions of ion plating are changed from those of Example 1, so that a coating layer 122 of titanium nitride TiN is provided on the surface of the plate material 121, respectively.

Here, when providing the coating layer 122 of titanium nitride TiN on the surface of the plate material 121 by ion plating, in the second to fourth embodiments, the bias voltage is set to -40 V and the substrate temperature is set to the same as in the first embodiment. To 773
While K was set, the nitrogen partial pressure and the deposition time in the plasma apparatus were changed. Then, in Example 2, the nitrogen partial pressure was set to 6 × 10 ⁻² Pa and the deposition time was set to 50 minutes.
μm, T at which Vickers hardness Hv of the surface became 2000
In the third embodiment, the iN coat layer 122 is set to a nitrogen partial pressure of 4 × 10 ⁻² Pa and a deposition time of 50 minutes, a film thickness of about 2 μm, and a Vickers hardness Hv of 16 on the surface.
In the fourth embodiment, the TiN coat layer 122 having a thickness of about 00 was set to 3.5 × 10 ⁻² Pa, the deposition time was set to 50 minutes, the film thickness was about 2 μm, and the Vickers hardness Hv of the surface. Of the TiN coating layer 122 which became 1500
Was provided.

(Comparative Example 1) In Comparative Example 1, only the type of the toner regulating member 12 used in the developing device in Example 1 was changed, and the rest was the same as in Example 1 described above. did.

Here, in Comparative Example 1, the end portion of the stainless steel plate 121 made of SUS301 steel plate having a thickness of 0.1 mm was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 in obtaining the toner regulating member 12. Was used.

Then, in Comparative Example 1, the plate 121 was immersed in an electroless nickel-iron phosphorous plating solution (Top Nicolon FY-1 manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) at 90 ° C. for 60 minutes. As shown in Table 1 below, nickel, iron and phosphorus were combined to form a film having a thickness of about 5 μm and a Vickers hardness Hv of 1500 on the surface, but a plating layer was provided.

(Comparative Example 2) In Comparative Example 2, only the type of the toner regulating member 12 used in the developing device of Example 1 was changed, and the rest was the same as in Example 1 described above. did.

Here, in Comparative Example 2, as in the case of Example 1 described above, SUS3 having a thickness of 0.1 mm was used.
A stainless steel plate member 121 made of a steel sheet No. 01 obtained by simply bending an end portion thereof is used as the toner regulating member 12 as it is.

Next, the above Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2
Each developing device using the toner regulating member 12 shown in FIG. 2 is mounted on a commercially available printer (LP9200, manufactured by Epson Corp.), and is operated at 20 ° C./min. High-speed images with a black to white ratio (B / W ratio) of 5%
On the 000th sheet and the 7000th sheet, the toner adhesion to each of the toner regulating members 12 used in each developing device was evaluated, and the density unevenness in the formed image was evaluated. The results are shown in Table 1 below. Indicated according to

Here, regarding the evaluation of toner fixation to each toner regulating member, the state of fixation of the toner in each toner regulating member is checked, and when the toner has not adhered to the toner regulating member, ○ indicates that the toner has adhered. ×
Indicated by

Regarding the evaluation of the density unevenness in the formed image, the density unevenness in the formed image is visually checked, and when no density unevenness is confirmed, it is indicated by “O”.場合 indicates no practical problem, and △ indicates non-uniform density and a practical problem.
Indicated by

[0050]

[Table 1]

As is apparent from the results, each of the developing devices of Examples 1 to 4 using the toner regulating member provided with the titanium nitride TiN coat layer on the surface has a composite of nickel, iron and phosphorus on the surface. The developing device of Comparative Example 1 using a toner regulating member provided with a plated layer, and the SU without any surface provided
As compared with the developing device of Comparative Example 2 in which the toner regulating member made of a stainless steel plate made of S301 steel plate is used as it is, the toner is prevented from sticking to the toner regulating member, and the occurrence of density unevenness is reduced. Had become.

When the developing devices of Examples 1 to 4 are compared, in each of the developing devices of Examples 1 to 3 using the toner regulating member having a Vickers hardness Hv of 1600 or more on the surface, 7000 sheets were used. Even at the time of printing, there is no density unevenness at all, and the surface has Vickers hardness H
As compared with the developing device of Example 4 using the toner regulating member in which v is less than 1600, the occurrence of density unevenness is further suppressed.

Here, in the above Examples 1-4,
In obtaining the toner regulating member 12, the coating layer 122 of titanium nitride TiN is provided on the surface of the plate material 121 by ion plating. However, the method of providing the coating layer 122 of titanium nitride TiN is not particularly limited to the above method. Instead, for example, a coating solution of a titanium nitride TiN-based binder is applied to the surface of the plate material 121 by a spray method or the like, and then heated to form a titanium nitride T
It is also possible to provide an iN coat layer 122. In this manner, the titanium nitride TiN coat layer 122
Also in the developing device using the toner regulating member 12 provided with the above, the same results as those of the developing devices of the above-described embodiments 1 to 4 can be obtained.

In the first to fourth embodiments, the coating layer 122 made of titanium nitride (TiN) is provided on the entire surface of the toner regulating member 12, but as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to provide the titanium nitride TiN coat layer 122 only at the end of the toner regulating member 12 that comes into contact with the toner 2 held on the surface of the toner carrier 11.

[0055]

As described in detail above, in the developing device and the toner regulating member according to the present invention, at least the surface of the toner regulating member for regulating the amount of toner on the surface of the toner carrier is made of titanium nitride. Therefore, even when an image is formed at a high speed or when a toner having a small particle diameter is used, the toner is appropriately charged for a long period of time, and fog and density unevenness occur in the formed image. Is prevented, and toner is prevented from sticking to the surface of the toner regulating member, thereby preventing generation of streak-like noise or the like in a formed image, and a good image can be obtained for a long period of time.

When at least the surface of the toner regulating member to be pressed against the surface of the toner carrier is made of titanium nitride as in the developing device and the toner regulating member of the present invention, the surface of the toner regulating member is made smooth by this titanium nitride. In particular, even when the end portion of the toner regulating member pressed against the surface of the toner carrying member is bent along the axial direction of the toner carrying member, the toner adheres to the surface of the toner regulating member and grows. Has been suppressed.

Further, as in the developing device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the surface has a Vickers hardness Hv of 1600-2.
When the toner regulating member having a range of 200 is used, wear of titanium nitride on the surface of the toner regulating member is suppressed, and regulation of toner on the surface of the toner carrier is more stably performed by the toner regulating member. And good images can be obtained over a longer period of time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state in which a plate-shaped toner regulating member is pressed against the surface of a toner carrier in a conventional developing device.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional developing device in which an end of a plate-shaped toner regulating member that comes into contact with a toner carrier is bent along the axial direction of the toner carrier; FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state in which the surface is pressed against the surface of FIG.

3A and 3B are a perspective view and a partial side view of a conventional toner regulating member in which an end portion on a side contacting a toner carrier is slightly bent along an axial direction of the toner carrier.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a developing device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view and a sectional explanatory view of a toner regulating member used in Examples 1 to 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory sectional view showing a modified example of the toner regulating member used in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image carrier 2 Toner 11 Toner carrier 12 Toner regulating member 122 Titanium nitride coat layer

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Minoru Nakamura 2-3-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Inside Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. (72) Katsunori Kurose 2-3-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2H077 AD01 AD06 AD13 AD17 AD22 AE03 CA04 FA14 FA16 FA26

Claims (3)

[Claims] An image forming apparatus includes: a toner regulating member configured to press a toner regulating member on a surface of a toner carrying member for conveying toner to an image carrying member; the toner regulating member regulates an amount of toner on the surface of the toner carrying member; 2. The developing device according to claim 1, wherein at least a surface of said regulating member is made of titanium nitride. 2. The developing device according to claim 1, wherein
The Vickers hardness Hv of the surface of the toner regulating member is 1
A developing device, wherein the developing device has a range of 600 to 2200. 3. A toner regulating member which is disposed so as to be in pressure contact with the surface of a toner carrier for conveying toner to an image carrier, and regulates the amount of toner on the surface of the toner carrier. Is formed of titanium nitride.