JP2002072768A - Seamless belt with guide - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seamless belt with a meander restriction guide which can suppress breakage due to the concentration of stress on both end surfaces of the meander restriction guide without increasing the number of components. SOLUTION: The meander restriction guide 2 made of a rectangularly- sectioned elastic belt body is adhered to one end part side of the opening of the inner peripheral surface of the seamless belt 1 which is formed endlessly and flexibly along the circumferential direction, and both the mutually opposite end surfaces 3 and 3 of the meander restriction guide 2 are cut obliquely at a specific angle to the circumferential direction and syphered in plane view. Thus, both the mutually opposite end surfaces 3 and 3 of the meander restriction guide 2 are cut obliquely at a specific angle to the circumferential direction and syphered in plane view, so even when the seamless belt 1 is repeatedly flexed at a roll part, the stress is concentrated on the join of the meander restriction guide 2 and no breakage is caused.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electrophotographic copying machine,
Guided seamless belts used in laser printers, etc., more specifically, with guides for photoreceptor substrates, intermediate transfer, paper transport, development, fixing, etc., used while suspended between multiple rolls It relates to a seamless belt.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional seamless belt with a guide is
Although not shown, meandering regulation guides made of an elastic band are adhered in the circumferential direction to both ends of the opening of the inner peripheral surface of the endlessly formed seamless belt, and both end faces of each meandering regulation guide abut each other. Glued. The end face of each meandering regulation guide is cut perpendicularly to the circumferential direction and the longitudinal direction.

[0003]

Since the conventional seamless belt with a guide is constructed as described above, when it is repeatedly bent at the roll portion, stress concentrates on both end faces of the meandering control guide, that is, on the seam. May be broken. Means for solving such a problem include a method of providing a reinforcing material at a joint of the meandering control guide and a method of using a seamless meandering control guide. However, in the method of providing reinforcement at the seam of the meandering regulation guide,
In the method of using a meandering control guide that increases the number of parts and uses a seamless meandering control guide, it is necessary to adjust the dimensions of the seamless belt and the meandering control guide with high precision, but since the material undergoes curing shrinkage or heat shrinkage, Very difficult to align.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a seamless belt with a guide capable of suppressing stress from being concentrated on both end faces of a meandering control guide and causing breakage without increasing the number of parts. It is intended to provide.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a meander made of an elastic band is provided at least at one end of an opening of an inner peripheral surface of a seamless belt formed endlessly. The restricting guide is adhered in the circumferential direction, and the opposite end faces of the meandering restricting guide are formed obliquely at predetermined angles with respect to the circumferential direction, and the both end faces of the meandering restricting guide are cut off. It is characterized by doing. In addition, at least the inner part and the outer part of both end surfaces of the meandering control guide can be respectively bonded.

The inventor of the present invention has focused on solving the above-mentioned problem by dispersing the stress acting on both end faces of the meandering control guide, that is, the joints, and has studied various methods and structures. As a result, it was confirmed that the adoption of the above-described configuration can suppress breakage from the seam of the meandering regulation guide by a simple method without increasing the number of manufacturing processes and the number of parts, and completed the present invention.

Here, the meandering regulation guide in the claims may be bonded to one end of the opening of the inner peripheral surface of the seamless belt, or may be bonded to both ends of the opening of the inner peripheral surface. But it is good. In addition to bonding,
Includes removable adhesive. In addition, the plywood is a kind of plying (technology in the field of construction and bonding), but must be substantially interpreted, and includes plywood and diagonal plywood.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the opposing end faces of the meandering regulating guide are formed obliquely at a predetermined angle and are overlapped and joined, so that the seamless belt can be rolled in various image forming apparatuses. Even if it is repeatedly bent at a portion, the concentration of stress at one location can be suppressed. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the acute angle side of the one end face of the meandering restriction guide and the obtuse angle side of the other end face opposite to each other are adhered to the minimum, the sharp angle section based on the ironing of the roll portion of the image forming apparatus is formed. Peeling can be suppressed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A seamless belt with a guide according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. A meandering control guide 2 is adhered to one end side of the opening on the inner peripheral surface of the inner circumferential surface so as to be attached in the circumferential direction, and opposing end faces 3.3 of the meandering restricting guide 2 are circumferentially oriented (left-right direction in FIG. 1). Are cut obliquely at a predetermined angle, so that both end faces 3, 3 of the meandering control guide 2 are cut off (also referred to as a scarf joint or oblique cut) in plan view.

The seamless belt 1 is formed endlessly with excellent flexibility and elasticity using a predetermined organic polymer material, and is suspended between a plurality of rolls 10 of various OA equipment.
(See FIG. 1). As a predetermined organic polymer material for forming the seamless belt 1, for example, PET, PBT, PE
N, polyester resin, polyimide resin, polyamide imide resin, polyamide resin, fluororesin, polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polycarbonate, aramid resin, polyetheretherketone (P
EEK), an epoxy resin, a crosslinked polyester resin, a melamine resin and the like. Since the thickness of the seamless belt 1 requires mechanical strength and flexibility, the thickness of the seamless belt 1 is about 0.03.
About 1.0 mm is preferable.

The seamless belt 1 may be required to have a certain degree of conductivity. In this case, a conductivity-imparting agent is appropriately added. As such a conductivity imparting agent,
Needle-like, spherical, plate-like and amorphous powders of metals and alloys, carbon powders such as acetylene black, Ketjen black, furnace black, natural graphite, artificial graphite,
Examples include graphite powder such as expanded graphite, ceramic powder, and various types of particles whose surfaces are metal-plated. The shape and size of the conductivity-imparting agent are spherical or irregular,
It is preferably about 0.01 to 10 μm.

The amount of the conductivity-imparting agent is appropriately adjusted depending on the degree of conductivity, but is selected from the range of about 1 to 25% by volume. This is because when the content is less than 1% by volume, the distance between the conductive substances becomes large, so that the conductivity does not appear. Conversely, if it exceeds 25% by volume, the mechanical strength of the seamless belt 1 may be adversely affected.

As a method of dispersing the conductivity-imparting agent in the organic polymer material, a known dispersion method suitable for the properties of the organic polymer material is used. Specifically, a mixing roll, a pressure kneader, an extruder, a three roll, a homogenizer, a pole mill, a peas mill and the like are used. Others
Various additives such as a plasticizer, a colorant, an antistatic agent, an antioxidant, an antioxidant, a reinforcing filler, a reaction aid, and a reaction inhibitor are appropriately added to the organic polymer material as needed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the meandering regulation guide 2 is formed of a single elongated elastic band having a rectangular cross section. When the seamless belt 1 is suspended, the guide groove 11 on the outer periphery of the end of the roll 10 is provided. Is fitted to. This meandering regulation guide 2
Examples of the material include materials having appropriate rubber elasticity and abrasion resistance, and specific examples include urethane-based elastomers, silicone-based elastomers, fluororesin-based elastomers, and styrene-based elastomers. Among these, urethane-based elastomers having excellent wear resistance are most suitable.

The meandering guide 2 has a thickness of 0.1 to 2 m.
m, preferably 0.5 to 1 mm and a width of 2 to 2
It is molded to 0 mm, preferably 3 to 7 mm. The reason why the thickness of the meandering guide 2 is set to the above range is that the thickness of the meandering guide 2 exceeds 2 mm.
This is because there is a possibility that cracks may be generated. Conversely, if it is less than 0.1 mm, a sufficient meandering prevention effect cannot be obtained. The reason why the width of the meandering control guide 2 is set in the above range is that if the width of the meandering control guide 2 is smaller than 2 mm, it cannot withstand the lateral stress, and a sufficient meandering effect can be expected. Because it is gone. Conversely, if the width of the meandering regulation guide 2 is larger than 20 mm, the product becomes large and the weight increases, which is not practically appropriate.

The both end faces 3.3 of the meandering guide 2 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 3, the seamless belt 1 is cut in parallel at a predetermined angle with respect to the circumferential direction and the longitudinal direction. The angle of each end face 3 is selected from the range of 5 ° to 75 °, preferably 15 ° to 60 ° on the acute angle side. This is because if the angle is too small, the bonding operation is deteriorated, and if the angle is too large, the stress cannot be sufficiently dispersed.

The meandering regulation guide 2 is a seamless belt 1
Can be directly bonded to one end side of the opening on the inner peripheral surface of the substrate, but a film made of a high elastic modulus material can be integrated to improve the workability and accuracy of the bonding. Examples of the material of this film include biaxially stretched polyester, polyimide, polyetherimide, nylon, and polypropylene. Among these materials, tensile modulus,
From the viewpoints of tear strength, heat resistance, price and the like, biaxially stretched polyester is most suitable. For film thickness,
Although not particularly limited, it is desirable to select from a range of 5 to 200 μm.

As an adhesive for bonding the meandering control guide 2 to the seamless belt 1, a known material can be used freely. However, if the adhesive is too thick, it may cause cracks, and if it is too thin, sufficient adhesive strength may not be obtained. Therefore, the thickness of the adhesive is 1-120.
The range of μm is good.

Next, a method of manufacturing the seamless belt with a guide according to the present embodiment will be described. When manufacturing a seamless belt with a guide, first, the seamless belt 1 is formed by various methods. Seamless belt 1
If a thermoplastic resin is selected as the material of the resin, centrifugal molding, extrusion molding, injection molding, etc. can be adopted, and if a thermosetting resin is selected, centrifugal molding, RIM molding, etc., should be adopted. Is possible. However, among these methods, the centrifugal molding method is most suitable because it can be applied to any material, has excellent thickness accuracy, and has a small variation in resistance value when imparted with conductivity. .

In the centrifugal molding method, the above-mentioned fluid material is poured into a cylindrical mold, and the mold is rotated to form a layer of the material on its inner peripheral surface by centrifugal force, and the material is dried or solidified by heating. To form a cylindrical molded product, and remove the molded product from the mold. The mold is formed using various metals, and the inner peripheral surface is mirror-polished and subjected to a mold release treatment with a fluorine resin, a silicone resin, or the like, thereby facilitating removal of the mold.

In order to form the seamless belt 1, a fluid material is prepared. It is preferable that the viscosity of the material is adjusted to be 50,000 mPa · s or less. This is because the viscosity is 50,000 mPa
If the distance exceeds s, it becomes difficult to level the inner peripheral surface of the mold by centrifugal force. The lower limit of the viscosity is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10 mPa · s or more in terms of handling of the material. When a thermosetting resin is used as a material, and the viscosity of the thermosetting resin is equal to or less than the above value, the thermosetting resin can be used as it is, but when a thermoplastic resin is used or a thermosetting resin exceeding the above value is used. When used, the viscosity can be adjusted by appropriately adding and dissolving and diluting a solvent.

After a fluid material is prepared, it is poured into a mold in a required amount. The injection amount of this material may be determined by calculating from the specific gravity of the solidified organic polymer material, the inner peripheral dimension of the mold, the thickness of the product, and the like. When the material is injected into the mold in this manner, the material is leveled at a required number of revolutions and centrifugally molded, and the mold is heated by a suitable heater or the like to dry or solidify the material. The timing of heating can be appropriately selected depending on the conditions for drying and curing the material.

After the material is dried or solidified, the mold is cooled, and the seamless belt 1 is released from the mold by utilizing the difference in thermal expansion between the mold and the seamless belt 1. Then, by cutting both ends of the seamless belt 1 to a predetermined length, a complete seamless belt 1 can be obtained.

Next, a meandering regulation guide 2 is prepared. Specifically, an adhesive layer is formed on one surface of the sheet-shaped meandering regulation guide material by a method such as coating or laminating. It is convenient in terms of operation if a separator is releasably attached to the surface on which the adhesive layer is formed. After the formation of the adhesive layer, the meandering regulation guide 2 having a linear shape corresponding to the inner peripheral surface of the seamless belt 1 is cut out from the meandering regulation guide material, and then the separator is peeled off while opening one end of the inner peripheral surface of the seamless belt 1. A seamless belt with a guide can be manufactured by gradually adhering the meandering control guide 2 from the end to the side of the section, and tearing off both end surfaces 3 of the meandering control guide 2 in plan view.

The length of the meandering guide 2 must be shorter than the inner circumference of the seamless belt 1. However, if the length is too short, the guide does not function sufficiently, and furthermore, the concentration of stress may cause the seamless belt 1 to break. There is. Therefore, the inner peripheral surface length of the seamless belt 1 and the meandering regulation guide 2
Is preferably 3 mm or less.

According to the above configuration, instead of cutting the end face 3 of the meandering control guide 2 perpendicularly to the circumferential direction and the longitudinal direction, the opposite end faces 3 are formed at a predetermined angle with respect to the circumferential direction. Cut each diagonally, this meandering control guide 2
Of the meandering guide 2, even if the seamless belt 1 is repeatedly bent at the roll portion, stress is concentrated on the both end faces 3.3, that is, there is no possibility of breakage. Since no reinforcing material is provided at the seam of the meandering control guide 2, an increase in the number of parts can be prevented. Further, since the seamless meandering guide 2 is not used at all, there is no need to adjust the dimensions of the seamless belt 1 and the meandering guide 2 with high accuracy. Furthermore, if such a seamless belt with a guide is used for various OA devices, remarkable stability of printing accuracy and a long life of the device can be achieved.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the inside and outside portions of the opposite end surfaces 3 of the meandering control guide 2, in other words, The acute angle portion and the obtuse angle portion, and the obtuse angle portion and the acute angle portion are bonded with an appropriate adhesive 4, respectively. The angle of the acute angle portion is preferably 45 ° or less. The other parts are the same as those in the above-described embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to extremely effectively prevent the acute angle portion on the end face 3 of the meandering regulation guide 2 from peeling off from the seamless belt 1.

In the above embodiment, the inner and outer portions of the opposing end surfaces 3, 3 of the meandering guide 2 are bonded, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the entire opposing end surfaces 3 of the meandering regulation guide 2 may be bonded with an appropriate adhesive 4. When the seamless belt 1 is manufactured by centrifugal molding, a black color may be applied to the outer peripheral surface of the mold to facilitate heat absorption.

[0029]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the seamless belt with guide according to the present invention will be described together with comparative examples. Example 1 First, a fluid material composed of a polyimidimide solution was prepared. In preparing this material, an equivalent of trimellitic anhydride and 4,4'-diaminodiphenylmethane is dissolved in dimethylacetamide, and the mixture is heated and reacted to give a solid content concentration (substantially completely closed polyamideimide) of 28% by weight. An aromatic polyimidimide solution was obtained. Dimethylacetamide was added thereto to prepare a polyamidimide solution having a solid content of 15% by weight and a specific gravity of the solid content of 1.2.

After preparing the material, the material is
168 g were injected into a mold rotating at a speed of m. The mold is
The inner diameter is 200 mm, the outer diameter is 220 mm, and the length is 400 mm.
0 mm and an outer diameter of 220 mm) were respectively fitted to prevent material leakage. When the material is injected into the mold in this manner, the mold is leveled at a speed of 1,000 rpm, centrifugally molded, the atmosphere temperature is kept at 80 ° C. by a hot air drier, and this state is maintained for 30 minutes to stop the mold. The mold was put into an oven at 180 ° C., and the mold was taken out after 45 minutes.

After removing the mold, the mold was left to cool at room temperature, and the seamless belt 1 was removed from the mold by utilizing the difference in thermal expansion between the mold and the seamless belt 1. Then, both ends of the seamless belt 1 were cut to have a width of 260 mm, and a seamless belt 1 having a thickness of about 100 μm was produced.

Then, a urethane sheet having a thickness of 0.9 mm is directly laminated on a film made of PET having a thickness of 100 μm to prepare a meandering control guide web. A double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive film (with a single-sided separator) provided with a 20-μm-thick acrylic adhesive was bonded to both sides of a 25-μm PET film. After laminating the double-sided adhesive film, the linear meandering regulation guide 2 corresponding to the inner peripheral surface of the seamless belt 1 is cut out from the meandering regulating guide material, and then the separator is peeled off while removing the inner peripheral surface of the seamless belt 1. The meandering control guide 2 is gradually pressure-adhered to both ends of the opening from the end, and both end faces 3.3 of the meandering control guide 2 are provided.
Then, a seamless belt with a guide was produced.

When cutting out the meandering control guide 2,
The long side length was 628 mm, the width was 200 mm, and the angle on the acute angle side was cut into a parallelogram of 30 °. Then, by cutting in the width direction with a width of 5 mm, the length of the long side is 628 m.
m meandering regulation guide 2 was prepared.

Example 2 Both end surfaces 3.3 of the meandering regulation guide 2 produced in Example 1
Then, a meandering control guide 2 is gradually applied from both ends to both ends of the opening of the inner peripheral surface of the seamless belt 1 while peeling off the separator, and the meandering guide 2 is applied. The both end faces 3 and 3 facing each other were bonded with a urethane-based adhesive to produce a seamless belt with a guide. The other parts were the same as in Example 1.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE Both ends 3 of the meandering control guide 2 are cut perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction, and the meandering control guide 2 is placed on both ends of the opening of the inner peripheral surface of the seamless belt 1 while separating the separator. Was gradually pressurized and adhered from the ends, and both end surfaces 3 of the meandering regulation guide 2 were butted to produce a seamless belt with a guide. The other parts are described in Example 1.
The same as above.

Evaluation The seamless belts 1 of Example 1, Example 2, and Comparative Example were suspended under tension of 60 N between two rolls 10 having a diameter of 25 mm, and the rotation speed was set to 15 rotations / minute. Was rotated to test the durability of the seamless belt 1. Each roll 10 has a diameter of 10 mm and a length of 300 mm
Of SUS304, thickness 7.5mm, hardness 60
° (JIS A) and silicone rubber covering the periphery of the cored bar. The test was terminated at 50,000 revolutions when no break occurred in the seamless belt 1.

[0037] Seamless belt 1 of Examples 1 and 2
It was confirmed that there was no problem in the durability even after rotating 50,000 times. On the other hand, in the seamless belt 1 of the comparative example, a crack was generated at the seam at 8,000 rotations,
It was completely broken at 500 rotations. Although the durability was not affected at all, peeling of about 2 mm in length was observed at the acute angle portion of the joint of the seamless belt 1 in Example 1. On the other hand, in the seamless belt 1 in the second embodiment,
No peeling was observed at the sharp corner of the joint.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively prevent the stress from being concentrated on both end faces of the meandering control guide and breaking without increasing the number of parts. is there. Further, since a seamless meandering control guide is not used, it is not necessary to precisely adjust the dimensions of the seamless belt and the meandering control guide.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view showing an embodiment of a seamless belt with a guide according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view showing an embodiment of a seamless belt with a guide according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory side view showing an embodiment of a seamless belt with a guide according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory plan view showing a second embodiment of a seamless belt with a guide according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 seamless belt 2 meandering regulation guide 3 end face of meandering regulation guide 4 adhesive 10 roll 11 guide groove

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03G 15/20 102 G03G 15/20 102 F term (Reference) 2H032 BA09 BA18 BA23 2H033 AA23 BA11 BA12 BB01 BB28 BB37 2H035 CA05 CB06 CF02 CG03 2H077 AD02 AD07 3F049 AA03 BA03 BB01 BB11 LA02 LA07 LB03

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A seamless belt with a guide in which a meandering regulation guide formed of an elastic band is adhered in a circumferential direction to at least one end of an opening of an inner peripheral surface of an endlessly formed seamless belt. A seamless belt with a guide, wherein opposing end faces of the regulation guide are formed obliquely at predetermined angles with respect to a circumferential direction, and both end faces of the meandering regulation guide are cut off. 2. The seamless belt with a guide according to claim 1, wherein at least an inner portion and an outer portion of both end surfaces of the meandering control guide are bonded to each other.