JP2002162838A - Cleaning device, image forming method and image forming device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device, an image forming method and an image forming device using the cleaning device, where a satisfactory intermediate transfer body cleaning performance can be maintained for a long period and a satisfactory electrophotograph can be formed, as for the image forming method using the intermediate transfer body. SOLUTION: As to the cleaning device for removing residual toner on the intermediate transfer body after a toner image formed on a photoreceptor is transferred from the photoreceptor to the intermediate transfer body, the cleaning device is provided with a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and as for the cleaning blade, the surface opposite to the surface coming into contact with the intermediate transfer body is brought into tight contact with the elastic member, and a level difference is arranged between the leading edge of the cleaning blade and the leading edge of the elastic member, and the level difference is formed so that the elastic member may be positioned further away from the intermediate transfer body than the cleaning blade.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device for an intermediate transfer member used in an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer using the intermediate transfer member, an image forming method using the cleaning device, and an image forming apparatus. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, development of a color image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer member has attracted attention. An example of the process of the color image forming apparatus is as follows. A first color toner image is formed on an image carrier such as an electrophotographic photoreceptor (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a photoreceptor), and the toner image is formed on an intermediate transfer member. After the primary transfer, the image carrier after the transfer is cleaned, the formation and transfer of the toner images for the second and subsequent colors are repeated by the same process as many times as necessary, and finally, collective transfer to recording paper (secondary transfer)
Thus, a desired recorded image is obtained.

[0003] It is also known to obtain a monochrome recorded image including black using the above process. However, in the image forming apparatus using the intermediate transfer member as described above,
There are various problems associated with the intermediate transfer member.

For example, as the number of times of image formation is increased, defective cleaning becomes evident, and filming occurs due to deposition of paper dust and toner on an intermediate transfer member, further deteriorating transfer performance. And image unevenness.

When a cleaning blade is used as a cleaning device for the intermediate transfer member, the contact friction between the intermediate transfer member and the blade during cleaning often becomes unstable, and blade deterioration such as turning over of the blade and squealing of the blade is likely to occur. .

On the other hand, in the electrophotographic image forming method, digital image formation has become mainstream due to the recent development of digital technology. Digital image forming methods are based on visualizing small dot images of one pixel, such as 400 dpi (dots per inch), and high image quality technology that faithfully reproduces these small dot images is required. Have been.

One of such high image quality technologies is a technology relating to a toner manufacturing technology. That is, an electrophotographic developer using a polymerized toner or an image forming method has been proposed as a means for achieving a uniform particle size distribution and shape of toner particles. The polymerized toner is obtained by uniformly dispersing the raw material monomers in an aqueous system and then polymerizing to produce a toner. Thus, a toner having a uniform particle size distribution and shape can be obtained. Is easy to reproduce faithfully.

However, when the polymerized toner is used in an image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer member, a new technical problem has arisen. That is, as described above, the polymerized toner is formed in a substantially spherical shape because the toner shape is formed during the polymerization process of the monomer. As is well known, the residual toner having a spherical shape tends to cause defective cleaning. In particular, when cleaning the toner on the belt-shaped intermediate transfer member, the cleaning performance often deteriorates, and toner filming is likely to occur on the intermediate transfer member. And image unevenness.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide an image forming method using an intermediate transfer member, which has a sufficient cleaning performance for a long period of time, has no image defects, and has a good image quality. An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning apparatus capable of forming an electrophotographic image, an image forming method using the cleaning apparatus, and an image forming apparatus.

[0010]

As a result of repeated studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have applied an elastic member to a cleaning blade for cleaning the transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer member. It has been found that the use of the cleaning device brings about a stable vibration to the cleaning blade and that good cleaning properties can be achieved, and the above-mentioned problem can be solved. That is, it has been found that the object of the present invention is achieved by adopting one of the following constitutions.

1. After developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor with a developer containing toner, and transferring the toner image visualized by the development from the photoconductor to the intermediate transfer body,
In a cleaning device for removing toner remaining on an intermediate transfer member, the cleaning device has a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member. And a step between the tip of the cleaning blade and the tip of the elastic member, wherein the step is such that the elastic member is located farther from the intermediate transfer member.

2. After developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor with a developer containing toner, and transferring the toner image visualized by the development from the photoconductor to the intermediate transfer body,
In a cleaning device for removing toner remaining on an intermediate transfer member, the cleaning device has a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member. And a free length (a) of the cleaning blade and a free length (b) of the elastic member are designed to satisfy Expression 1.

Equation 1 0.1 <b / a ≦ 0.9 3. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor is developed with a developer containing toner, and the toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to the intermediate transfer body, and then remains on the intermediate transfer body. A cleaning blade having a cleaning blade and an elastic member, wherein the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member; A thickness t ₁ of the elastic member and a thickness t _{2 of the} elastic member are designed to satisfy Expression 2.

Equation 2 1/30 ≦ t ₂ / t ₁ ≦ 2 4. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor is developed with a developer containing toner, and the toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to the intermediate transfer body, and then remains on the intermediate transfer body. A cleaning blade having a cleaning blade and an elastic member, wherein the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member; A cleaning device characterized in that the hardness K ₁ of the elastic member and the hardness K _{2 of the} elastic member satisfy Expression 3.

Equation 3 5/7 <K ₂ / K ₁ <10/7 (K ₂ , K ₁ : JIS
K6301A hardness) 5. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor is developed with a developer containing toner, and the toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to the intermediate transfer body, and then remains on the intermediate transfer body. A cleaning blade having a cleaning blade and an elastic member, wherein the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member; Wherein the rebound resilience H ₁ and the rebound resilience H _{2 of the} elastic member are designed to satisfy Expression 4.

Equation 4 2/7 <H ₂ / H ₁ ≦ 8/7 The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor is developed with a developer containing toner, and the toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to the intermediate transfer body, and then remains on the intermediate transfer body. A cleaning blade having a cleaning blade and an elastic member, wherein the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member; A step is provided between the tip of the elastic member and the tip of the elastic member. The step is such that the elastic member is located farther from the intermediate transfer member. A cleaning device characterized by being designed to satisfy the formula.

[7] After developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor with a developer containing toner, and transferring the toner image visualized by the development from the photoconductor to the intermediate transfer body,
In a cleaning device for removing toner remaining on an intermediate transfer member, the cleaning device has a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member. And a free length portion of the cleaning blade and the elastic member are free ends.

[8] The cleaning device according to claim 7, wherein a step is provided between a tip of the cleaning blade and a tip of the elastic member, and the step is such that the elastic member is located farther from the intermediate transfer member. .

9. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor is developed with a developer containing toner, and the toner image visualized by the development is primarily transferred from the photoreceptor to an intermediate transfer body,
9. The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein the toner image remaining on the intermediate transfer body is secondarily transferred to a transfer material to form an image. An image forming method characterized in that the image forming method comprises:

[10] The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor is developed with a developer containing toner, and the toner image visualized by the development is primarily transferred from the photoreceptor to an intermediate transfer member. An image forming apparatus for forming an image by secondarily transferring a toner image to a transfer material, wherein the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body is removed by the cleaning device according to any one of the above items 1 to 8. Image forming apparatus.

11. The toner according to the item 10, wherein the toner has a variation coefficient of shape factor of the toner particles of 16% or less and a number variation coefficient in a number particle size distribution of the toner particles of 27% or less. Image forming device.

12. The toner has a shape factor of 1.
11. The image forming apparatus according to the item 10, wherein a toner containing 65% by number or more of toner particles in a range of 2 to 1.6 is used.

13. 11. The image forming apparatus according to the item 10, wherein a toner containing 50% by number or more of toner particles having no corners is used as the toner.

The present invention will be described in more detail. By adopting the configuration of the present invention, the present inventors prevent the occurrence of blade turning, paper dust, and toner filming without excessively increasing the frictional force generated between the intermediate transfer member and the cleaning blade, It has been found that the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member can be effectively removed, and a good and stable image can be obtained for a long period of time. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus using the intermediate transfer member of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 includes a drum-shaped photosensitive member 10 (hereinafter, referred to as a photosensitive drum), a charging unit 11 used for image formation, an exposure unit 12, and a toner image forming unit for forming a toner image. Developing means 13 as means is provided in association with the periphery of the photosensitive drum 10.

The photosensitive drum 10 is formed, for example, by forming an organic photosensitive layer (OPC) on a cylindrical conductive support, and rotates in a direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 1 in a grounded state. It is configured in.

The conductive support is made of a metal drum such as aluminum or nickel, or a plastic drum or sheet obtained by depositing aluminum, tin oxide, indium oxide or the like, and preferably has a specific resistance of 10 ³ Ωcm or less at room temperature. .

As the photoconductor layer, various organic photosensitive layers (OPC) can be used. The organic photosensitive layer is a charge generation layer (CGL) containing a charge generation material (CGM) as a main component.
And a charge transport layer (CTL) mainly composed of a charge transport material (CTM).

The charging means 11 is, specifically, a scorotron charger for charging the organic photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 10 with a grid maintained at a predetermined potential and a corona discharge by a discharge electrode. Then, a uniform potential is applied to the photosensitive drum 10.

As the discharge electrode, a wire electrode, a needle electrode, a saw-tooth electrode plate, or the like is used. In FIG. 1, the exposure unit 12 has a configuration using an LED (light emitting diode) array module as a linear recording unit and a light converging light transmitter (also referred to as a selfoc lens as a product name) as an imaging element. Or using a semiconductor laser beam,
A configuration is used in which image exposure corresponding to an image signal is performed on the photosensitive drum 10 via a scanning optical system (not shown) including a known polygon mirror, and a charge (potential) is applied in advance by the charging unit 11. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum.

Other light-emitting elements used for image exposure include FL (phosphor emission), EL (electroluminescence), and PL (plasma discharge).

The exposure is read by an image scanner or input by an external signal or the like, and image signals of respective colors stored in a storage unit (not shown), for example, a RAM, are sequentially read from the storage unit through a control unit of the apparatus main body. And input to the exposure means 12 for each color as an electric signal.
EDs and semiconductor lasers are, for example, pulse width modulation (PW)
M method).

The light emitting wavelength of the light emitting device used in this embodiment is in the range of 600 to 900 nm.

The developing means 13 is arranged around the photosensitive drum similarly to the charging means 11 and comprises a developing device for containing a developer containing a toner. A developing sleeve 130 that rotates in the same direction (opposite direction at the contact portion) while maintaining a predetermined gap.

Each of the developing units is provided with the charging means 11
The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 10 formed by the charging of the photosensitive drum 10 and the image exposure by the exposure unit 12 is subjected to reversal development in a non-contact state by applying a developing bias voltage.

Reference numeral 100 denotes a cleaning device including a blade, which has a function of removing toner powder and the like remaining on the photosensitive drum 10 after transfer.

The above configuration is the main configuration for forming an image on the photosensitive drum. On the other hand, a document image to be formed and recorded (copied) is read by an image sensor in an image reading device separate from the present device, and is temporarily stored in a memory as an image signal.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a belt-shaped intermediate transfer member (hereinafter also referred to as an intermediate transfer belt).

The intermediate transfer belt 14 has a volume resistance of 1
0 ⁶ ~10 ¹² Ω · endless belt cm is preferred, for example, polycarbonate (PC), polyimide (PI), polyamideimide (PAI), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), d tetrafluoroethylene - ethylene copolymer (ETFE) Or a resin material such as silicone rubber or a rubber material such as urethane rubber, in which a conductive material such as carbon is dispersed or an ionic conductive material is contained. ~ 100
It is preferable to set the thickness to about 0 μm and about 0.3 to 2 mm for a rubber material.

In addition, as an intermediate transfer member, a cylindrical support such as an aluminum drum has a volume resistance of 10 ⁶ to 10 ¹² Ω ·
What has formed the conductive resin layer of cm.

The intermediate transfer belt 14 is provided with the guide roller 1
4A, a transfer roller 14B for transferring a toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 10 to the intermediate transfer member
(The primary transfer unit), the backup roller 14D is stretched around an entrance roller 14C, a backup roller 14D, and the like, which are arranged to face the secondary transfer unit 15 via a belt.
Is driven in a clockwise direction indicated by an arrow in synchronization with the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 10 by the power transmitted to the photosensitive drum 10.

In other words, the intermediate transfer belt 14 is
The belt surface between the guide roller 14A and the transfer roller 14B is brought into contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10 to form a transfer area (primary transfer area) of the toner image onto the belt surface.
By making the belt surface on the outer periphery of C face the transfer electrode constituting the secondary transfer means 15, a transfer area (secondary transfer area) of the toner image onto the recording medium when the transfer electrode is energized is formed. I have.

The transfer roller 14B has a function of a cleaning device (second cleaning device) for removing residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 14 by an electric action.

That is, when the transfer roller 14B is used as a second cleaning device,
An electric field is generated between B and the photosensitive drum 10 in a direction in which the residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt is transferred to the photosensitive drum.

The toner powder transferred to the photosensitive drum 10 is cleaned by the cleaning device 100.

The above operation is performed without forming an image. Reference numeral 140 denotes a cleaning device (first cleaning device) having a cleaning blade 143, and paper dust existing on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 before transfer (before primary transfer) or toner remaining after transfer (after secondary transfer). It has a function of removing powder and presses the intermediate transfer belt with an appropriate pressure.

The tip of the cleaning blade 143 faces the backup roller 14D, and is disposed so as to be in the counter direction with respect to the intermediate transfer belt 14.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a secondary transfer means comprising a transfer electrode.
It is provided so as to be opposed to the entrance roller 14C via the intermediate transfer belt, and discharges by supplying a voltage from a power supply 16, and as described above, a toner image is formed on the recording medium P from the intermediate transfer belt. Is transferred (transcribed).

The transfer electrode is not limited to the wire discharge electrode, but may be a needle electrode or a roller electrode. Reference numeral 17 denotes a paper feed roller, which is a transport roller for transporting a recording medium (hereinafter, referred to as recording paper) P such as paper or a film sheet fed from a tray (not shown).

Reference numeral 18 denotes a manual feed tray, reference numeral 19 denotes a timing roller, reference numeral 30 denotes a fixing means, which includes a heating roller 30A having a built-in heating source, and a pressure roller 30B which rotates by pressing against the heating roller.

Next, an outline of the image forming operation of the image forming apparatus having the above configuration will be described. When a photoconductor driving motor (not shown) is started at the start of recording, the photoconductor drum 10 is rotated counterclockwise, and a potential is applied by the charging unit 11.

Next, the photosensitive drum 10 to which the potential has been applied is subjected to exposure based on an electric signal corresponding to the image signal by the exposure means 12, and as a result, the photosensitive drum 10 A corresponding electrostatic latent image is formed. The electrostatic latent image is visualized by the developing unit 13.

That is, reversal development is performed with the developer on the developing sleeve 130 in a non-contact state, for example, to form a toner image on the photosensitive drum 10.

During the development by the developing means 13, a developing bias to which a direct current or a further alternating current is applied is applied to the developing sleeve 130, so that the developing means 13 is provided with a one-component or two-component developer. May be performed.

The toner image formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is thereafter transferred onto the peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 (primary transfer).

The transfer is performed by the action of the transfer roller 14B to which a bias voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied.

That is, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 10 is
The toner is conveyed to the transfer area without scattering toner by the guide of the grounded guide roller 14A, and is efficiently transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 14 by applying a bias voltage of, for example, 1 to 3 kV to the transfer roller 14B.

The toner and the like remaining on the photosensitive drum 10 after the transfer are removed by a cleaning device, and are prepared for the next recording.

The intermediate transfer belt 14, which bears the transferred toner image, continues to rotate and conveys the toner image toward the secondary transfer area.

On the other hand, the recording paper P sent from a tray (not shown) by an appropriate paper feeding means is fed to a timing roller 19 via a paper feeding roller 17 and is fed to the intermediate transfer belt 1.
The sheet is fed toward the transfer area where the secondary transfer means 15 is located so as to overlap the toner image area on the transfer sheet 4.

In the transfer area, the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt is sequentially transferred onto the recording paper P by the operation of the secondary transfer means 15 based on the application of a bias voltage having the opposite polarity to the toner from the power supply 16. Is done.

The recording paper P to which the toner image has been transferred is neutralized by the brush neutralizer 15A, and is conveyed to the fixing means 30 via the conveying plate 22.

In the fixing section, the recording paper P having the toner image fused and fixed by the heating and pressing of the heating roller 30A and the pressure roller 30B is discharged to the outside of the apparatus by the discharge roller 33. You.

Foreign matter such as paper powder and untransferred toner powder remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 14 after the transfer in the secondary transfer area is finished is always in a state of pressure contact with the cleaning blade 143.
To prepare for a new primary transfer.

Although the embodiment of FIG. 1 has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, latent images of image signals of four colors (red, blue, green, and black) are formed for each color on four photosensitive drums, and toner images corresponding to the respective colors are formed. A color image forming apparatus having a configuration in which the toner images of the respective colors are superimposed on an intermediate transfer body and then transferred onto a recording medium, or an image forming apparatus for forming only a monochrome image, The present invention can be applied to any image forming apparatus as long as it requires a transfer body. For example, the present invention can be applied to a printer, a digital copying machine, an analog copying machine, etc. used on a network. it can.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a color image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer member. In FIG. 2, Y, M, C, and K indicate an image forming unit for yellow, an image forming unit for magenta, an image forming unit for cyan, and an image forming unit for black, respectively.

Each image forming section has a photosensitive drum 1
0 (10Y, 10M, 10C, 10K), charging means 11
(11Y, 11M, 11C, 11K), exposure means 12
(12Y, 12M, 12C, 12K), developing means 13
(13Y, 13M, 13C, 13K) and primary transfer means 50 (50Y, 50M, 50C, 50K) comprising discharge wire electrodes for transferring a toner image from the photosensitive drum onto an intermediate transfer belt 14 described later. ) Is provided.

The intermediate transfer belt 14 has an entrance roller 14C, a backup roller 14D, and an intermediate roller, so that the space between the photosensitive drum 10 and the primary transfer means 50 in each image forming unit is part of a circumferential movement (rotation). Support rollers 14E and 14F
And is configured to rotate in the direction of the arrow.

Reference numeral 140 denotes a first cleaning device including the cleaning blade of the present invention, and 15 denotes a secondary transfer means.

Reference numeral 400 denotes a sliding member made of a long nonwoven fabric, which is a second cleaning device provided so as to be able to press against and separate from the intermediate transfer belt 14.

Further, the slidable printing member 400 is used at the time of warm-up after completion of image recording or after the power of the apparatus is turned on.
The rotating intermediate transfer belt 14 is pressed against the intermediate transfer belt 14 for a certain period of time or a certain number of rotations, and then the pressure contact with the intermediate transfer belt 14 is released.

Then, at the next press contact, the new surface is wound up by a predetermined amount so as to contact the intermediate transfer belt.

A voltage having the same polarity as the polarity of the toner may be applied to an appropriate number or all of the primary transfer electrodes 50.

In this case, the toner powder transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 14 to the photosensitive drum 10 can be removed by a cleaning device such as a cleaning blade (not shown) provided around the photosensitive drum.

The present invention provides a cleaning apparatus using a cleaning blade capable of removing a residual toner on an intermediate transfer member without causing filming or the like after transferring a toner image on the intermediate transfer member to a transfer material. It is to provide.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a cleaning device for an intermediate transfer member using the cleaning device of the present invention as the cleaning device 140 in FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 14 denotes an intermediate transfer member, and 14D denotes a backup roller. The backup roller may be a metal or an elastic body such as rubber. The cleaning device has a cleaning blade 143 and an elastic member 144 attached to a support member 145. As the material of the cleaning blade, a rubber elastic body is used, and as the material, urethane rubber, silicon rubber, fluorine rubber, chloropyrene rubber, butadiene rubber and the like are known. Of these, urethane rubber is other rubber. It is particularly preferred in that it has excellent wear characteristics as compared with For example, see JP-A-59-305.
Urethane rubber obtained by reacting and curing a polycaprolactone ester and a polyisocyanate described in No. 74 are preferable.

The elastic member of the present invention uses the same rubber elastic body as the cleaning blade.

In the cleaning device for an intermediate transfer member of the present invention, the elastic member 144 and the cleaning blade 1
When the fixing member 43 is fixed to the support member 145, the elastic member is disposed so that the cleaning blade is in close contact with the intermediate transfer body on the surface opposite to the contact surface, and is attached and held on the support member. At this time, a portion where the cleaning blade and the elastic member are in contact has a mechanism capable of reliably transmitting and absorbing the vibration generated by the blade to the elastic member. By adopting such a holding method, the vibration of the cleaning blade can be effectively absorbed by the elastic member, the vibration of the blade can be stabilized, and the intermediate transfer member is not excessively abraded without remaining. The toner can be sufficiently removed.

The conditions for properly pressing the cleaning blade against the surface of the intermediate transfer member are determined by a delicate balance of various characteristics, and are quite narrow. It depends on the characteristics such as the thickness of the cleaning blade and the setting requires accuracy. However, the thickness of the cleaning blade cannot be always set under proper conditions because the thickness of the cleaning blade may vary at the time of manufacture. It may deviate from the proper area. In particular, if the cleaning blade is used as it is for the belt-shaped intermediate transfer member, it tends to be out of the proper area, and the blade is turned up, and the filming of the toner and the paper powder is apt to occur. Once filming occurs, the transferability (primary transfer and secondary transfer) of the toner image deteriorates, image unevenness tends to occur, and the dot reproducibility of the digital image decreases.

Therefore, the present invention is also an effective means for canceling the variation in the characteristics of the cleaning blade, and effectively absorbs the vibration of the blade due to the elastic member even if the thickness of the cleaning blade varies. By doing so, it is possible to stably maintain the setting condition of the cleaning blade on the intermediate transfer member within an appropriate region.

In the cleaning device for an intermediate transfer member of the present invention, the tip of the cleaning blade that is pressed against the surface of the intermediate transfer member is loaded in the opposite direction (counter direction) to the conveying direction of the intermediate transfer member. It is preferable to press. As shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable that the distal end portion of the cleaning blade forms a pressing surface when pressed against the intermediate transfer member.

The positional relationship between the cleaning blade of the present invention and the elastic member is such that a step is provided between both ends as shown in FIG. Further, the free length of the elastic member is shorter than the free length of the cleaning blade. With this configuration, the deformation of the cleaning blade is prevented from being hindered by the deformation (deformation caused by pressing against the intermediate transfer member) at the tip portion of the cleaning blade, and the vibration of the cleaning blade is absorbed by the elastic member. Can be stabilized.

The ratio of the free length of the cleaning blade to the elastic member in the cleaning device for an intermediate transfer member of the present invention is expressed by the following formula (1), where a is the free length of the cleaning blade and b is the free length of the elastic member as shown in FIG. It is designed to satisfy. The free length is the length of the cleaning blade, the elastic member, and the portion that is not held by each support member, and as shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning blade and the elastic member before deformation from the end B of the support member 145. Indicates the length up to the tip point of.

Equation 1 0.1 <b / a ≦ 0.9 b / a falls within the above range, that is, b / a exceeds 0.1 and 0.1 / b / a ≦ 0.9.
By designing so as to be 9 or less, the deformation of the tip of the cleaning blade (deformation caused by pressing against the intermediate transfer member) is not hindered, and the vibration of the cleaning blade is absorbed by the elastic member, and the blade is turned up. It has been found that stable cleaning performance without filming of toner and paper dust can be realized. Furthermore, in the present invention, the range of 0.3 to 0.7 is more preferable. on the other hand,
When b / a is 0.1 or less, filming of toner or paper powder is likely to occur, and when b / a is greater than 0.9, blade turning is likely to occur.

In the cleaning device of the present invention, when the thickness ratio of the cleaning blade to the elastic member is t ₁ and the thickness of the elastic member is t ₂ as shown in FIG. Designed to be satisfactory.

Equation 2 1/30 ≦ t ₂ / t ₁ ≦ 2 t ₂ / t ₁ falls within the above range, that is, the value of t ₂ / t ₁ is 1/30 to
2, the cleaning blade is stably held by the supporting member, and the vibration of the cleaning blade is absorbed by the elastic member, so that the blade is not turned up and the toner and the paper dust are not filmed. I found that it was possible to achieve sexuality. Furthermore, the value of t ₂ / t ₁ is 〜 to 5/4, particularly preferably 1
To ／. On the other hand, if t ₂ / t ₁ is less than 1/30, filming of toner and paper powder is likely to occur, and
_{When 2} / t ₁ is larger than 2, blade turning is likely to occur.

In the present invention, preferable values of the contact load P and the contact angle θ of the cleaning blade to the intermediate transfer member are P = 5 to 40 N / m and θ = 5 to 35 °.

The contact load P is a vector value in the normal direction of the pressing force P 'when the blade 143 is brought into contact with the intermediate transfer member 14.

The contact angle θ is the tangent line X at the contact point A of the intermediate transfer member and the blade before deformation (shown by a dotted line in the drawing).
And the angle formed by 146 is a fixing screw for fixing the support member 145, and S is a load spring.

The free length a of the cleaning blade indicates the length of the tip of the blade before deformation from the position of the end B of the support member 145 as shown in FIG. A preferred value of the free length is a = 6 to 15 mm. The thickness of the cleaning blade is preferably 0.5 to 10 mm.
Here, the thickness of the cleaning blade and the elastic member of the present invention indicates a direction perpendicular to the bonding surface of the support member 145 as shown in FIG.

The cleaning device for the intermediate transfer member of the present invention can better control the cleaning conditions by designing the physical properties of the cleaning blade and the elastic member as follows.

The cleaning device of the present invention is JIS K63.
Hardness K ₂ hardness K ₁ and the elastic member of the cleaning blade due 01A hardness is designed to satisfy Equation 3.

That is, the cleaning device used for the intermediate transfer member of the present invention is designed so that the hardness K _{1 of the} cleaning member and the hardness K _{2 of the} elastic member satisfy Expression 3.
The A hardness is measured based on the vulcanized rubber physical test method of JIS K6301.

Equation 3 5/7 <K ₂ / K ₁ <10/7 (K ₂ , K ₁ : JISK
That is, K ₂ / K ₁ falls within the above range, that is, the value of K ₂ / K ₁ is 5 /
By designing the cleaning blade and the elastic member to be more than 7 and less than 10/7,
It has been found that the cleaning blade can be stably held, and the vibration of the cleaning blade can be absorbed by the elastic member, thereby achieving a stable cleaning performance without blade turning or filming of toner or paper powder. Further, the value of K ₂ / K ₁ is more preferably 11/14 to 9/7, and particularly preferably 13/14 to 15/14. On the other hand, K ₂ / K ₁ is 5
If it is / 7 or less, filming of toner or paper powder tends to occur, and if K ₂ / K ₁ is 10/7 or more, blade turn-up tends to occur.

The cleaning device for the intermediate transfer member of the present invention
Rebound resilience H of cleaning blade ₁And elastic members rebound
Elasticity H_TwoIs designed to satisfy Equation 4. here
What is rebound resilience?
This is an index that indicates the coefficient of restitution, specifically, JISK63
It is measured based on the vulcanized rubber physical test method of No. 01. Rebound
Sex values indicate%.

[0099] Equation 4 2/7 <a _{H 2 / H 1 ≦ 8/} 7 H 2 / H 1 in the above range, i.e., the value of H ₂ / H ₁ is greater than 2/7, so that the 8/7 or less With this design, the cleaning blade and the elastic member are stably held by the support 191 and the vibration of the cleaning blade is absorbed by the elastic member, so that stable cleaning without turning over the blade and filming of toner and paper powder does not occur. I found that it was possible to achieve sexuality. Further, the value of H ₂ / H ₁ is more preferably 3/7 to 8/7, particularly preferably 5/7.
~ 1. On the other hand, when H ₂ / H ₁ is 2/7 or less, filming of toner and paper powder is liable to occur, and H ₂ / H ₁ is 8%.
If it exceeds / 7, blade turning is likely to occur.

The free length portion of the cleaning blade and the elastic member of the cleaning device for an intermediate transfer member of the present invention, that is, the boundary surface between the free lengths a and b, are not bonded to each other but are free ends.
Thus, when the environment in which the cleaning device of the intermediate transfer member operates becomes low temperature, low humidity, or high temperature and high humidity, deformation due to contraction or expansion of the cleaning blade and the elastic member can be prevented, and the temperature is generally set at normal temperature and normal humidity. Cleaning conditions are stably maintained.

The hardness of the cleaning blade is 25 ± 5 ° C.
The JISA hardness in the range of 55 to 90 is preferable.
If it is smaller than 55, the cleaning performance tends to be reduced, and if it is larger than 90, the blade is easily inverted. The rebound resilience of the cleaning blade is 25 to 8
A range of 5 is preferred. When the rebound resilience exceeds 85, reversal of the blade tends to occur, and when it is less than 25, the cleaning performance deteriorates. Young's modulus is 294-588 N / cm
Those in the range of ² are preferred.

The cleaning blade may be sprayed with a fluorine-based lubricant on the edge portion of the cleaning blade which comes into contact with the intermediate transfer member, if necessary. To
It is preferable to apply a dispersion in which a fluorine-based polymer and a fluorine-based resin powder are dispersed in a fluorine-based solvent.

Next, the toner used in the present invention will be described. The toner of the present invention is preferably a polymerized toner having a relatively uniform particle size distribution and shape of individual toner particles. Here, the term “polymerized toner” means a toner obtained by forming a toner binder resin and forming the toner shape by polymerization of a raw material monomer of the binder resin and a subsequent chemical treatment. More specifically, it means a toner obtained through a polymerization reaction such as suspension polymerization and emulsion polymerization and, if necessary, a step of fusing particles together after the polymerization reaction.

The polymerized toner used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention is preferably a toner having a specific shape. Hereinafter, the polymerized toner that can be preferably used in the present invention will be described.

As the preferred polymerized toner applied to the present invention, the toner particles having a shape factor in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 are 65% by number or more, and the variation coefficient of the shape factor is 1%.
6% or less. It has been found that, even when such a polymerized toner is used, the present invention can stabilize the vibration of the cleaning blade and exhibit excellent cleaning performance.

The stability of the vibration of the cleaning blade also depends on the particle size of the toner particles. The smaller the particle size, the higher the adhesion to the photoreceptor or the intermediate transfer member. And the probability of toner passing through the cleaning blade is high. However, when the toner particle diameter is large, such a slip-through is reduced, but there is a problem that image quality such as resolution is deteriorated.

As a result of examination from the above viewpoints, it was found that the toner having a variation coefficient of the shape factor of the toner of 16% or less and a number variation coefficient of 27% or less in the number particle size distribution of the toner was used. It has been found that it is excellent in cleaning properties and fine line reproducibility and can form high-quality image for a long period of time.

Further, by using toner particles having no corners at 50% by number or more and controlling the number variation coefficient in the number and particle size distribution to 27% or less, cleaning properties and fine line reproducibility are excellent, and high quality is achieved. Image quality can be formed over a long period of time.

The shape factor of the toner of the present invention is represented by the following equation, and indicates the degree of roundness of the toner particles.

Shape factor = ((maximum diameter / 2) ² × π) / projected area Here, the maximum diameter is defined as a parallel line when a projected image of a toner particle on a plane is sandwiched between two parallel lines. Means the width of the particle at which the distance between the particles becomes maximum. The projection area refers to the area of the projected image of the toner particles on the plane.

In the present invention, the shape factor can be determined by taking a photograph in which the toner particles are magnified 2000 times with a scanning electron microscope, and then referring to the “SCCANNING” based on the photograph.
The measurement was performed by analyzing a photographic image using "IMAGE ANALYZER" (manufactured by JEOL Ltd.). In this case, the shape factor of the present invention was measured by using the above formula using 100 toner particles.

The preferred polymerized toner of the present invention is such that the number of toner particles having a shape factor in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 is at least 65% by number, more preferably 7%.
0% by number or more.

When the number of toner particles having a shape factor in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 is 65% by number or more, the triboelectrification property in the developer conveying member or the like becomes more uniform, and the excessively charged toner Is not accumulated, and the toner is more easily exchanged than the surface of the developer conveying member. Therefore, problems such as a development ghost are less likely to occur. Further, the toner particles are less likely to be crushed, so that the contamination of the charging member is reduced, and the charging property of the toner is stabilized.

The method for controlling the shape factor is not particularly limited. For example, a method of spraying toner particles in a hot air flow, a method of repeatedly applying mechanical energy by an impact force in a gas phase, or a method of adding a toner particle in a solvent that does not dissolve a toner to give a swirling flow, etc. Thus, there is a method in which a toner having a shape factor of 1.2 to 1.6 is prepared, and is added to a normal toner so as to fall within the range of the present invention. Also, controlling the overall shape at the stage of adjusting the so-called polymerization toner,
There is a method in which a toner whose shape factor is adjusted to 1.0 to 1.6 or 1.2 to 1.6 is similarly added to a normal toner to adjust the shape.

The coefficient of variation of the shape factor of the polymerized toner preferably used in the present invention is calculated from the following equation.

Coefficient of variation = [S / K] × 100 (%) [where S represents the standard deviation of the shape coefficients of 100 toner particles, and K represents the average value of the shape coefficients. The variation coefficient of the shape factor is 16% or less, preferably 14% or less. When the variation coefficient of the shape factor is 16% or less, the gap of the transferred toner layer is reduced, the fixing property is improved, and the offset is less likely to occur. Further, the charge amount distribution becomes sharp, and the image quality is improved.

In order to uniformly control the shape factor of the toner and the variation coefficient of the shape factor without a lot-to-lot variation, resin particles (polymer particles) are formed in a process of polymerization, fusion and shape control. An appropriate process end time may be determined while monitoring the characteristics of certain toner particles (colored particles).

Monitoring means that a measuring device is incorporated in-line and the process conditions are controlled based on the measurement result. That is, for example, in the case of a polymerization toner formed by incorporating measurement of shape and the like in-line and associating or fusing resin particles in an aqueous medium, the shape and particle size are sequentially sampled in steps such as fusing. Is measured, and the reaction is stopped when the desired shape is obtained.

Although the monitoring method is not particularly limited, a flow type particle image analyzer FPIA-
2000 (manufactured by Toa Medical Electronics Co., Ltd.) can be used. This apparatus is suitable because the shape can be monitored by performing image processing in real time while passing the sample liquid. That is, a pump or the like is used from the reaction field to constantly monitor and measure the shape and the like, and stop the reaction when the desired shape and the like are obtained.

The number particle size distribution and the number variation coefficient of the toner of the present invention are measured by Coulter Counter TA-II or Coulter Multisizer (manufactured by Coulter Co., Ltd.). In the present invention, a Coulter Multisizer was used, connected to an interface (manufactured by Nikkaki) for outputting a particle size distribution and a personal computer. The aperture used in the Coulter Multisizer is 100 μm and the aperture is 2 μm.
The volume and number of the above toners were measured to calculate the particle size distribution and the average particle size. The number particle size distribution represents the relative frequency of the toner particles with respect to the particle size, and the number average particle size represents the median size in the number particle size distribution.

The number variation coefficient in the number particle size distribution of the toner is calculated from the following equation. Number variation coefficient = [S / Dn] × 100 (%) [where S represents a standard deviation in the number particle size distribution, and D
n indicates a number average particle size (μm). The number variation coefficient of the toner of the present invention is 27% or less, and preferably 25% or less. When the number variation coefficient is 27% or less, the gap of the transferred toner layer is reduced, the fixing property is improved, and the offset is less likely to occur. Further, the charge amount distribution is sharpened, the transfer efficiency is increased, and the image quality is improved.

The method of controlling the number variation coefficient according to the present invention is not particularly limited. For example, a method of classifying toner particles by wind force can be used, but classification in a liquid is effective for further reducing the number variation coefficient. As a method of classifying in a liquid, there is a method of separating and collecting toner particles according to a sedimentation speed difference caused by a difference in toner particle diameter by controlling a rotation speed by using a centrifugal separator.

In particular, when a toner is produced by a suspension polymerization method, a classification operation is indispensable in order to reduce the number variation coefficient in the number particle size distribution to 27% or less. In the suspension polymerization method,
Before polymerization, it is necessary to disperse the polymerizable monomer in an aqueous medium into oil droplets of a desired size as a toner. That is, mechanical shearing by a homomixer, a homogenizer, or the like is repeated on a large oil droplet of the polymerizable monomer to reduce the oil droplet to the size of toner particles. In the method by a gentle shear, the number and particle size distribution of the obtained oil droplets becomes broad, and therefore,
The particle size distribution of the toner obtained by polymerizing this becomes wide. For this reason, a classification operation is required.

The corner-free toner particles of the present invention refer to toner particles having substantially no projections on which electric charges are concentrated or projections which are easily worn out by stress. Assuming that the major axis of the toner particle T is L, when the inside of the circle C having a radius (L / 10) is rolled while being in contact with the peripheral line of the toner particle T at one point on the inside, The case where the circle C does not substantially protrude outside the toner T is referred to as “toner particles without corners”. “Cases that do not substantially protrude” refer to cases where there are no more than one protrusion having a protruding circle. Further, the “longer diameter of the toner particle” refers to the width of the particle at which the interval between the parallel lines is the largest when the projected image of the toner particle on the plane is sandwiched between two parallel lines. FIGS. 14B and 14C show projected images of toner particles having corners, respectively.

The measurement of the toner having no corners was performed as follows. First, a photograph in which toner particles are enlarged by a scanning electron microscope is taken, and further enlarged to obtain a photographic image of 15,000 times. Next, the presence or absence of the corners is measured for this photographic image. This measurement was performed for 100 toner particles.

In the toner of the present invention, the proportion of toner particles having no corners is at least 50% by number, preferably at least 70% by number. When the ratio of the toner particles having no corners is 50% by number or more, generation of fine particles and the like due to stress with the developer conveying member and the like are less likely to occur,
It is possible to prevent so-called excessively adherent toner from being adhered to the surface of the developer transport member, to suppress contamination of the developer transport member, and to sharpen the charge amount. In addition, the amount of toner particles that are easily worn or broken and the number of toner particles having a portion where charges are concentrated are reduced, the charge amount distribution is sharpened, the chargeability is stabilized, and good image quality can be formed over a long period of time.

The method for obtaining a toner having no corners is not particularly limited. For example, as described above, as a method of controlling the shape coefficient, a method of spraying toner particles into a hot air flow, a method of repeatedly applying mechanical energy by an impact force in a gas phase, or a method of dissolving a toner It can be obtained by adding to a solvent that does not contain and giving a swirling flow.

In a polymerization toner formed by associating or fusing resin particles, the surface of the fused particles has many irregularities at the stage of stopping the fusion, and the surface is not smooth. By setting conditions such as the temperature, the number of rotations of the stirring blade, and the stirring time, toner having no corners can be obtained. These conditions vary depending on the physical properties of the resin particles. For example, by setting the rotation speed higher than the glass transition temperature of the resin particles, the surface becomes smooth and a toner having no corners can be formed.

The toner of the present invention preferably has a number average particle diameter of 3 to 8 μm. When toner particles are formed by a polymerization method, the particle diameter can be controlled by the concentration of the coagulant, the amount of the organic solvent added, the fusing time, and the composition of the polymer itself.

When the number average particle size is 3 to 8 μm, the presence of toner having excessively high adhesion to the developer conveying member or toner having low adhesion can be reduced in the fixing step, and the developing property can be reduced. In addition to being able to stabilize for a long period of time, the transfer efficiency is increased, the halftone image quality is improved, and the image quality of fine lines, dots, and the like is improved.

In the polymerized toner preferably used in the present invention, when the particle diameter of the toner particles is D (μm), the natural logarithm InD is plotted on the horizontal axis, and the horizontal axis is divided into a plurality of classes at intervals of 0.23. in histogram showing the particle size distribution of number criteria, the relative frequency of the toner particles contained in the modal class (m _1), the relative frequency of the toner particles contained in the following frequent the rank of the modal class (m ₂ ) And (M) is 7
The toner is preferably 0% or more.

When the sum (M) of the relative frequency (m ₁ ) and the relative frequency (m ₂ ) is 70% or more, the dispersion of the particle size distribution of the toner particles is narrowed. By using this, the occurrence of selective development can be reliably suppressed.

In the present invention, the histogram showing the number-based particle size distribution includes a natural logarithm lnD (D: particle size of individual toner particles) in a plurality of classes (0 to 0) at intervals of 0.23.
0.23: 0.23 to 0.46: 0.46 to 0.69:
0.69 to 0.92: 0.92 to 1.15: 1.15
1.38: 1.38 to 1.61: 1.61 to 1.84:
1.84 to 2.07: 2.07 to 2.30: 2.30 to
2.53: 2.53 to 2.76...) Is a histogram showing the number-based particle size distribution, which is a particle size data of a sample measured by a Coulter Multisizer according to the following conditions. Is transferred to a computer via an I / O unit, and the computer creates the program using a particle size distribution analysis program.

[Measurement Conditions] (1) Aperture: 100 μm (2) Sample preparation method: electrolytic solution [ISOTON R-1
1 (manufactured by Coulter Scientific Japan)
An appropriate amount of a surfactant (neutral detergent) is added to 50 to 100 ml, and the mixture is stirred, and 10 to 20 mg of a measurement sample is added thereto. This system is prepared by subjecting it to a dispersion treatment with an ultrasonic disperser for 1 minute.

Among the methods for controlling the shape factor, the polymerization toner is preferred because it is simple as a production method and has excellent surface uniformity as compared with a pulverized toner.

The toner of the present invention is prepared by a suspension polymerization method or emulsion polymerization of a monomer in a liquid to which an emulsion of necessary additives is added.
It can be produced by a method of producing fine polymer particles, and then adding an organic solvent, a coagulant and the like to associate. A method of preparing by mixing and associating with a dispersion liquid such as a release agent or a colorant necessary for the composition of the toner at the time of association, or dispersing a toner component such as a release agent or a colorant in a monomer. And then emulsion polymerization. Here, the association means that a plurality of resin particles and colorant particles are fused.

The aqueous medium in the present invention means a medium containing at least 50% by mass of water.

That is, various constituent materials such as a colorant and, if necessary, a release agent, a charge control agent, and a polymerization initiator are added to the polymerizable monomer, and a homogenizer, a sand mill, a sand grinder, and an ultrasonic disperser are added. Various constituent materials are dissolved or dispersed in the polymerizable monomer by a machine or the like. The polymerizable monomer in which these various constituent materials are dissolved or dispersed is dispersed in an aqueous medium containing a dispersion stabilizer into oil droplets of a desired size as a toner using a homomixer, a homogenizer, or the like. Thereafter, the stirring mechanism is moved to a reaction device, which is a stirring blade described later, and heated to cause the polymerization reaction to proceed. After completion of the reaction, the toner of the present invention is prepared by removing the dispersion stabilizer, filtering, washing and drying.

Further, as a method of producing the toner of the present invention, a method of preparing by associating or fusing resin particles in an aqueous medium can also be mentioned. This method is not particularly limited.
No. 5,252, JP-A-6-329947, and JP-A-9-15904. That is, a method of associating a plurality of resin particles and dispersed particles of a constituent material such as a colorant, or a plurality of fine particles composed of a resin and a colorant, particularly, after dispersing these in water using an emulsifier, the critical aggregation concentration At the same time as adding the above flocculant and salting out, the formed polymer itself is heated and fused at a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition temperature to gradually form a fused particle, thereby gradually growing the particle size. At this point, a large amount of water was added to stop the growth of the particle size, and the surface was smoothened while heating and stirring to control the shape. The toner of the invention can be formed. Here, an organic solvent that is infinitely soluble in water may be added together with the coagulant.

As the polymerizable monomer constituting the resin, styrene, o-methylstyrene, m-methylstyrene, p-methylstyrene, α-methylstyrene, p-chlorostyrene, 3,4- Dichlorostyrene,
p-phenylstyrene, p-ethylstyrene, 2,4-
Dimethylstyrene, p-tert-butylstyrene, p
-N-hexylstyrene, pn-octylstyrene,
pn-nonylstyrene, pn-decylstyrene, p
Styrene or a styrene derivative such as -n-dodecylstyrene, methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate,
N-butyl methacrylate, isopropyl methacrylate,
Methacrylate derivatives such as isobutyl methacrylate, t-butyl methacrylate, n-octyl methacrylate, 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, stearyl methacrylate, lauryl methacrylate, phenyl methacrylate, diethylaminoethyl methacrylate, and dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate. , Methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, isopropyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, t-butyl acrylate, isobutyl acrylate,
Acrylic ester derivatives such as n-octyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, stearyl acrylate, lauryl acrylate, phenyl acrylate, and the like, olefins such as ethylene, propylene, and isobutylene, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, and vinyl bromide , Vinyl fluoride such as vinyl fluoride and vinylidene fluoride; vinyl esters such as vinyl propionate, vinyl acetate and vinyl benzoate; vinyl ethers such as vinyl methyl ether and vinyl ethyl ether; vinyl methyl ketone and vinyl ethyl ketone , Vinyl ketones such as vinyl hexyl ketone, N-vinyl compounds such as N-vinyl carbazole, N-vinyl indole, N-vinyl pyrrolidone, vinyl compounds such as vinyl naphthalene and vinyl pyridine, acrylonitrile, Acrylonitrile, there are acrylic acid or methacrylic acid derivatives such as acrylamide. These vinyl monomers can be used alone or in combination.

Further, it is more preferable to use a polymerizable monomer constituting the resin in combination with one having an ionic dissociating group. For example, those having a substituent such as a carboxyl group, a sulfonic acid group, and a phosphate group as a constituent group of the monomer, specifically, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid,
Maleic acid, itaconic acid, cinnamic acid, fumaric acid, monoalkyl maleate, monoalkyl itaconate, styrenesulfonic acid, allylsulfosuccinic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid, acid phosphooxyethyl Methacrylate,
3-chloro-2-acid phosphooxypropyl methacrylate and the like.

Further, divinylbenzene, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, ethylene glycol diacrylate, diethylene glycol dimethacrylate, diethylene glycol diacrylate, triethylene glycol dimethacrylate, triethylene glycol diacrylate, neopentyl glycol dimethacrylate,
Polyfunctional vinyls such as neopentyl glycol diacrylate can be used to form a crosslinked resin.

These polymerizable monomers can be polymerized using a radical polymerization initiator. In this case, an oil-soluble polymerization initiator can be used in the suspension polymerization method. As the oil-soluble polymerization initiator, 2,2'-azobis- (2,4
-Dimethylvaleronitrile), 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile, 1,1'-azobis (cyclohexane-1-carbonitrile), 2,2'-azobis-4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvalero Azo or diazo polymerization initiators such as nitrile and azobisisobutyronitrile, benzoyl peroxide, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, diisopropyl peroxycarbonate, cumene hydroperoxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide, di-t-butyl peroxide , Dicumyl peroxide, 2,4-dichlorobenzoyl peroxide, lauroyl peroxide, 2,2-bis-
Examples thereof include peroxide-based polymerization initiators such as (4,4-t-butylperoxycyclohexyl) propane and tris- (t-butylperoxy) triazine, and polymer initiators having a peroxide in a side chain. .

When an emulsion polymerization method is used, a water-soluble radical polymerization initiator can be used. Examples of the water-soluble polymerization initiator include persulfates such as potassium persulfate and ammonium persulfate, azobisaminodipropane acetate, azobiscyanovaleric acid and salts thereof, and hydrogen peroxide.

The dispersion stabilizers include tricalcium phosphate, magnesium phosphate, zinc phosphate, aluminum phosphate, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, calcium metasilicate, and calcium sulfate. , Barium sulfate,
Bentonite, silica, alumina and the like can be mentioned. Further, a surfactant generally used as a surfactant such as polyvinyl alcohol, gelatin, methyl cellulose, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, ethylene oxide adduct, and higher alcohol sodium sulfate can be used as a dispersion stabilizer.

As the resin excellent in the present invention, a resin having a glass transition point of 20 to 90 ° C. is preferable and a softening point of 8
The thing of 0-220 ° C is preferred. The glass transition point is measured by a differential calorimetric analysis method, and the softening point can be measured by a Koka flow tester. Furthermore, these resins have a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 10 as measured by gel permeation chromatography.
00 to 100000, weight average molecular weight (Mw) 200
Those having 0 to 1,000,000 are preferred. Further, as a molecular weight distribution, Mw / Mn is 1.5 to 100, particularly 1.8.
-70 are preferred.

The coagulant to be used is not particularly limited, but those selected from metal salts are preferably used. Specifically, as a monovalent metal, for example, a salt of an alkali metal such as sodium, potassium, and lithium, and as a divalent metal, for example, a salt of an alkaline earth metal such as calcium and magnesium, or a divalent metal such as manganese or copper Salt,
Examples include salts of trivalent metals such as iron and aluminum, and specific salts include sodium chloride, potassium chloride, lithium chloride, calcium chloride, zinc chloride, copper sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and manganese sulfate. Can be.
These may be used in combination.

It is preferable that these coagulants are added at a concentration higher than the critical coagulation concentration. The critical aggregation concentration is an index relating to the stability of the aqueous dispersion, and indicates the concentration at which aggregation occurs when a coagulant is added. This critical aggregation concentration is
It varies greatly depending on the emulsified component and the dispersant itself. For example, Seizo Okamura et al.
7, 601 (1960), edited by The Society of Polymer Science and the like, and a detailed critical aggregation concentration can be determined. As another method, a desired salt is added to the target particle dispersion at a different concentration, the 、 (zeta) potential of the dispersion is measured, and the salt concentration at which this value changes is defined as the critical aggregation concentration. You can also ask.

The addition amount of the coagulant of the present invention may be not less than the critical coagulation concentration, but is preferably 1.2 to the critical coagulation concentration.
It is better to add it at least twice, more preferably at least 1.5 times.

The solvent which is infinitely soluble means a solvent which is infinitely soluble in water. The solvent which does not dissolve the formed resin in the present invention is selected.
Specifically, methanol, ethanol, propanol,
Examples thereof include alcohols such as isopropanol, t-butanol, methoxyethanol and butoxyethanol, nitriles such as acetonitrile, and ethers such as dioxane. Particularly, ethanol, propanol and isopropanol are preferred.

The amount of the solvent to be dissolved infinitely is 1 to 100% by volume based on the polymer-containing dispersion to which the flocculant has been added.
Is preferred.

In order to make the shape uniform, it is preferable to prepare a colored particle, and after the filtration, a slurry containing 10% by mass or more of water based on the particle is preferably fluidized and dried. Those having a polar group in the polymer are preferred. It is considered that the reason for this is that the existing water exerts an effect of slightly swelling the polymer in which the polar group is present, so that the shape is particularly easily uniformized.

The toner of the present invention contains at least a resin and a colorant, but may contain a releasing agent or a charge controlling agent as a fixing property improving agent, if necessary. Further, an external additive composed of inorganic fine particles, organic fine particles, and the like may be added to the toner particles containing the resin and the colorant as main components.

As the colorant used in the toner of the present invention, carbon black, magnetic substance, dye, pigment and the like can be used arbitrarily. As the carbon black, channel black, furnace black, acetylene black, and the like can be used.
Thermal black, lamp black and the like are used. Ferromagnetic metals such as iron, nickel, and cobalt as magnetic materials,
Alloys containing these metals, compounds of ferromagnetic metals such as ferrite and magnetite, alloys that do not contain ferromagnetic metals but show ferromagnetism by heat treatment, such as manganese-copper-
An alloy of a type called a Heusler alloy such as aluminum, manganese-copper-tin, chromium dioxide, or the like can be used.

As the dye, C.I. I. Solvent Red 1, 49, 52, 58, 63, 111, 1
22, C.I. I. Solvent Yellow 19, 44, 7
7, 79, 81, 82, 93, 98, 10
3, 104, 112, 162, C.I. I. Solvent Blue 25, 36, 60, 70, 93, 9
5 and the like, and mixtures thereof can also be used. Examples of the pigment include C.I. I. Pigment Red 5,
48: 1, 53: 1, 57: 1, 122, 1
39, 144, 149, 166, 177, 1
78, 222, C.I. I. Pigment Orange 31, 43 and C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 14, 17, and 9
3, 94, 138, C.I. I. Pigment Green 7, C.I. I. Pigment Blue 15: 3, 60 and the like, and mixtures thereof can also be used. The number average primary particle size varies depending on the type, but
About 200 nm is preferable.

As a method for adding a coloring agent, a method of adding polymer particles prepared by an emulsion polymerization method at the stage of aggregation by adding an aggregating agent to color the polymer or a stage of polymerizing monomers. And a method of adding a colorant, polymerizing, and forming colored particles can be used. When the colorant is added at the stage of preparing the polymer, it is preferable to use the colorant after treating the surface with a coupling agent or the like so as not to inhibit the radical polymerizability.

Further, low molecular weight polypropylene (number average molecular weight = 1500 to 9000) or low molecular weight polyethylene as a fixing property improving agent may be added.

The charge control agents are also various known ones.
What can be dispersed in water can also be used. Specifically, nigrosine dyes, metal salts of naphthenic acid or higher fatty acids, alkoxylated amines,
Quaternary ammonium salt compounds, azo-based metal complexes, salicylic acid metal salts or metal complexes thereof.

The particles of the charge control agent and the fixability improving agent have a number average primary particle diameter of 10 to 50 in a dispersed state.
Preferably, the thickness is about 0 nm.

In a suspension polymerization method toner in which a toner component such as a colorant is dispersed or dissolved in a so-called polymerizable monomer is suspended in an aqueous medium and then polymerized to obtain a toner. By controlling the flow of the medium in the reaction vessel, the shape of the toner particles can be controlled. That is, when a large number of toner particles having a shape factor of 1.2 or more are formed, the flow of the medium in the reaction vessel is made turbulent, and the polymerization proceeds to be present in the aqueous medium in a suspended state. When the oil droplets gradually become polymerized, the oil droplets become soft particles, and when the oil droplets collide, the particles collide to promote the coalescence of the particles, resulting in particles with an irregular shape . When spherical toner particles having a shape factor smaller than 1.2 are formed, spherical particles can be obtained by using a medium flow in the reaction vessel as a laminar flow to avoid collision of the particles. By this method, the distribution of the toner shape can be controlled within the scope of the present invention. Hereinafter, the reaction apparatus preferably used in the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a reaction apparatus (stirring apparatus) in which a generally used stirring blade has a single-stage structure, wherein 2y is a stirring tank, 3y is a rotating shaft, 4y is a stirring blade, and 9y.
Is a turbulence forming member.

In the suspension polymerization method, turbulence can be formed by using a specific stirring blade, and the shape can be easily controlled. Although the reason for this is not clear, when the configuration of the stirring blade 4y as shown in FIG. 4 is one-stage, the flow of the medium formed in the stirring tank 2y increases the wall surface from the lower part to the upper part of the stirring tank 2y. Only the flow that moves along. Therefore, conventionally, a turbulent flow is generally formed by disposing a turbulent flow forming member 9y such as a wall surface of the stirring tank 2y,
It has been attempted to increase the efficiency of stirring. However, in such an apparatus configuration, although turbulence is partially formed,
Rather, the presence of turbulence acts in the direction in which the flow of the fluid stagnates, resulting in less slippage of the particles, so that the shape cannot be controlled.

A reactor having a stirring blade which can be preferably used in the suspension polymerization method will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are a perspective view and a sectional view, respectively, showing an example of such a reactor. FIG.
In the reaction apparatus shown in FIG. 6, a rotary shaft 3y is suspended from a central portion of a vertical cylindrical stirring tank 2y having a heat exchange jacket 1y mounted on an outer peripheral portion thereof. Lower stirring blade 40y disposed close to the bottom of
And a stirring blade 50y disposed at an upper stage. The upper stirring blade 50y is provided with the lower stirring blade 4
0y is disposed with an intersection angle α preceding the rotation direction. In producing the toner of the present invention,
The intersection angle α is preferably less than 90 degrees (°). The lower limit of the intersection angle α is not particularly limited, but may be 5
° or more, more preferably 1 ° or more.
0 ° or more. When a three-stage stirring blade is provided, the intersection angle α between adjacent stirring blades is 90 °.
Preferably, it is less than the degree.

With such a configuration, the medium is first stirred by the stirring blade 50y disposed in the upper stage, and a downward flow is formed. Then, the flow formed by the upper stirring blade 50y is further accelerated downward by the stirring blade 40y disposed at the lower stage, and the stirring blade 50y is further reduced.
It is presumed that a downward flow is separately formed by itself, and the flow is accelerated and proceeds as a whole. As a result, it is presumed that a basin having a large shear stress formed as a turbulent flow is formed, so that the shape of the obtained toner particles can be controlled.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, arrows indicate the direction of rotation, 7y is an upper material inlet, 8y is a lower material inlet, and 9y is a turbulent flow forming member for making stirring effective.

Here, the shape of the stirring blade is not particularly limited, but is a square plate, a notch in a part of the blade, and one or more middle holes, so-called slits, in the center. Things and the like can be used. These specific examples are described in FIG. The stirring blade 5ya shown in FIG. 13 (a) has no medium hole, the stirring blade 5yb shown in FIG. 13 (b) has a large hole 6yb in the center, and the stirring blade 5yc shown in FIG. 13 (c). In the figure, the stirring blade 5yd shown in FIG. 3D has a vertically long middle hole 6yd (slit). Further, in the case where a three-stage stirring blade is provided, even if the middle hole formed in the upper stirring blade and the middle hole formed in the lower stirring blade are different, they are the same. There may be.

FIGS. 7 to 11 are perspective views showing specific examples of a reactor having a stirring blade which can be preferably used. In FIGS. 7 to 11, 1y denotes a heat exchange jacket, 2y is a stirring tank, 3y is a rotating shaft, 7y is an upper material inlet, 8y is a lower material inlet, and 9y is a turbulence forming member.

In the reaction apparatus shown in FIG.
A bent portion 411y is formed in y, and a fin (projection) 511y is formed in the stirring blade 51y.

When a bent portion is formed on the stirring blade, the bending angle is preferably 5 to 45 °.

The stirring blade 42 constituting the reaction apparatus shown in FIG.
In y, a slit 421y is formed, and a bent portion 422y and a fin 423y are formed.

Incidentally, the stirring blade 52 constituting the reaction apparatus
y has the same shape as the stirring blade 50y constituting the reaction apparatus shown in FIG.

A stirring blade 43 constituting the reaction apparatus shown in FIG.
In y, a bent portion 431y and a fin 432y are formed.

Incidentally, the stirring blade 53 constituting the reaction apparatus is used.
y has the same shape as the stirring blade 50y constituting the reaction apparatus shown in FIG.

The stirring blade 4 constituting the reactor shown in FIG.
A bent portion 441y and a fin 442y are formed in 4y.

Further, the stirring blade 54 constituting the reaction apparatus is used.
In y, a middle hole 541y is formed at the center.

The reactor shown in FIG. 11 has a stirring blade 45y.
(Lower stage), a stirring blade 55y (middle stage) and a stirring blade 65y are provided in a three-stage structure.

The agitating blade having the bent portion and the protrusion (fin) extending upward or downward effectively generates turbulent flow.

The gap between the upper and lower stirring blades having the above-mentioned structure is not particularly limited, but it is preferable that at least a gap is provided between the stirring blades. Although the reason is not clear, it is considered that the flow of the medium is formed through the gap, so that the stirring efficiency is improved. However, the gap has a width of 0.5 to 50%, preferably 1 to 30% with respect to the liquid level in the stationary state.

Further, the size of the stirring blade is not particularly limited, but the sum of the heights of all the stirring blades is 50% to 100%, preferably 60% to 50% of the liquid level in the stationary state. 95
%.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a reaction apparatus used for forming a laminar flow in the suspension polymerization method. This reactor is characterized in that a turbulence forming member (an obstacle such as a baffle plate) is not provided.

The stirring blades 46y and 56y constituting the reaction apparatus shown in FIG. 12 have the same shape and intersection angle α as the stirring blades 40y and 50y constituting the reaction apparatus shown in FIG. 5, respectively. are doing. In FIG. 12, 1y is a heat exchange jacket, 2y is a stirring tank,
3y is a rotating shaft, 7y is an upper material input port, and 8y is a lower material input port.

The reactor used for forming the laminar flow is not limited to the one shown in FIG.

The shape of the stirring blade constituting the reactor is not particularly limited as long as it does not form a turbulent flow, but is preferably formed by a continuous surface such as a square plate. It may have a curved surface.

On the other hand, in the case of a polymerization toner in which resin particles are associated or fused in an aqueous medium, the flow and temperature distribution of the medium in the reaction vessel at the fusion stage are controlled to further improve the shape after fusion. By controlling the heating temperature, the number of rotations for stirring, and the time in the control step, the shape distribution and shape of the entire toner can be arbitrarily changed.

That is, in a polymerization toner in which resin particles are associated or fused, the flow in the reaction device is set to be a laminar flow,
By controlling the temperature, number of revolutions, and time in the fusion step and the shape control step using a stirring blade and a stirring tank that can make the internal temperature distribution uniform, the desired shape factor and uniform A toner having a shape distribution can be formed. The reason for this is that when fusion is performed in a place where a laminar flow is formed, strong stress is not applied to the particles that are undergoing aggregation and fusion (association or aggregated particles) and the flow is accelerated in a laminar flow. It is presumed that as a result of the uniform temperature distribution in the stirring tank, the shape distribution of the fused particles becomes uniform. Furthermore, heating in the subsequent shape control step,
The fused particles gradually become spherical by stirring, and the shape of the toner particles can be arbitrarily controlled.

As a stirring blade and a stirring tank used in producing a polymerization toner for associating or fusing resin particles, the same stirring blades and stirring tanks as those for forming a laminar flow in the above-mentioned suspension polymerization method can be used. For example, the one shown in FIG. 12 can be used. It is characterized in that no obstacle such as a baffle plate that forms a turbulent flow is provided in the stirring tank. Regarding the configuration of the stirring blade, similarly to the stirring blade used in the above-described suspension polymerization method, the upper stirring blade is disposed with the intersection angle α preceding the lower stirring blade in the rotation direction. In addition, a multi-stage configuration is preferable.

The shape of the stirring blade may be the same as that in the case of forming a laminar flow in the above-mentioned suspension polymerization method, and is not particularly limited as long as it does not form a turbulent flow. ) Are preferably formed by continuous surfaces, such as those having a square plate shape shown in (1), and may have a curved surface.

Further, in the toner of the present invention, more effects can be exhibited by adding and using fine particles such as inorganic fine particles and organic fine particles as external additives. The reason for this is presumed that the embedding and detachment of the external additive can be effectively suppressed, so that the effect is remarkable.

As the inorganic fine particles, it is preferable to use inorganic oxide particles such as silica, titania and alumina. Further, it is preferable that these inorganic fine particles have been subjected to a hydrophobic treatment with a silane coupling agent or a titanium coupling agent. preferable. The degree of the hydrophobizing treatment is not particularly limited, but a methanol wettability of 40 to 95 is preferable. Methanol wettability is to evaluate the wettability to methanol. In this method, an inorganic fine particle to be measured is added to 50 ml of distilled water placed in a beaker having a capacity of 200 ml.
Weigh 2 g and add. Methanol is slowly dropped from a burette whose tip is immersed in the liquid until the entire inorganic fine particles are wet with stirring slowly. When the amount of methanol required to completely wet the inorganic fine particles is a (ml), the degree of hydrophobicity is calculated by the following equation.

Degree of hydrophobicity = (a / (a + 50)) × 100 The amount of the external additive to be added is 0.1 to 5.
0 mass%, preferably 0.5 to 4.0 mass%. Various external additives may be used in combination.

A fatty acid metal salt may be added as an external additive to the toner used in the present invention. Fatty acids and metal salts thereof include undecylic acid, lauric acid, tridecylic acid, dodecylic acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, pentadecylic acid, stearic acid, heptadecylic acid, arachiic acid, montanic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, etc. And metal salts thereof include salts with metals such as zinc, iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium, sodium, and lithium. In the present invention, zinc stearate is particularly preferred.

To prepare a two-component developer, it is prepared by mixing a toner and a carrier. The toner concentration in the developer is 2 to 10% by mass.

The development method according to the present invention is not particularly limited. Even in the contact development method in which development is performed in a state where the photoconductor surface and the developer layer are in contact with each other in the development area, the photoconductor and the developer layer are kept in a non-contact state in the development area, and an alternating electric field, etc. A non-contact developing method may be used in which the toner is caused to fly in the gap between the photosensitive member surface and the developer layer by the action of the toner to develop the toner.

[0195]

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples, but embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. In the description, “parts” means “parts by mass”.

The following photoreceptors were prepared as the photoreceptors used in the present invention. Production of Photoconductor P1 Polyamide resin Amilan CM-8000 (manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.) 3
0 g of methanol 900 ml, 1-butanol 100 m
1 and mixed at 50 ° C. under heating. This liquid was applied on a cylindrical aluminum conductive support having an outer diameter of 80 mm and a length of 360 mm to form a 0.5 μm thick intermediate layer.

Next, 10 g of a silicone resin KR-5240 (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) was dissolved in 1000 ml of t-butyl acetate, and Y-TiOPc (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-17066) was added thereto.
No., Fig. 1) 10 g was mixed and 20
After time dispersion, a coating solution for the charge generation layer was obtained. This liquid was used to coat the intermediate layer to form a 0.3 μm thick charge generation layer.

Next, 150 g of CTM (T-1: N- (4-methylphenyl) -N- {4- (β-phenylstyryl) phenyl} -p-toluidine) and a viscosity average molecular weight of 5
200 g of a polycarbonate resin TS-2050 (manufactured by Teijin Chemicals Ltd.) was added to 1,2-dichloroethane 1000
The resulting solution was dissolved in the solution to obtain a charge transport layer coating solution. This liquid was used to coat the charge generating layer on a circular slide hopper, and then dried at 100 ° C. for 1 hour to form a charge transporting layer having a thickness of 22 μm. Thus, a photoreceptor P1 including the intermediate layer, the charge generation layer, and the charge transport layer was obtained.

Production of Photoreceptor P2 The following protective layer was formed on the surface of the photoreceptor P1 obtained in the production example of the photoreceptor P1 to obtain a photoreceptor P2.

<Protective Layer> Methyltrimethoxysilane 150 g Dimethyldimethoxysilane 30 g Reactive charge transporting compound (Compound A below) 15 g Antioxidant (Compound B below) 0.75 g 2-propanol 75 g 3% Acetic acid 5 g is mixed. A coating solution for a resin layer was prepared. This coating solution is applied to the surface of the photoreceptor P1 with a thickness of 2 by a circular amount-regulating coating device.
A resin layer having a thickness of μm was formed, and was heated and cured at 120 ° C. for 1 hour, thereby producing a photoconductor P2.

[0201]

Embedded image

Production of Photoreceptor P3 The CTM (T-
1) Polycarbonate resin Iupilon Z-800 (manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company) 200 having 150 g and a viscosity average molecular weight of 80,000
g was dissolved in 1,000 ml of 1,2-dichloroethane to obtain a coating solution for the charge transport layer. Using this solution, each of the charge generation layers was coated, and dried at 100 ° C. for 1 hour to form a charge transport layer having a thickness of 22 μm. Thus, the photoreceptor P3 including the intermediate layer, the charge generation layer, and the charge transport layer
I got

The toner used in the present invention was prepared below. 9. Production of Toners T1 and T2 (Example of Emulsion Polymerization Method) 0.90 kg of sodium n-dodecyl sulfate and pure water
Add 0 L and stir to dissolve. To this solution, add Regal 330
1.20 kg of R (carbon black manufactured by Cabot Corporation) was gradually added, and the mixture was stirred well for 1 hour, and then continuously dispersed for 20 hours using a sand grinder (medium type disperser). This is referred to as “colorant dispersion liquid 1”. A solution consisting of 0.055 kg of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate and 4.0 L of ion-exchanged water is referred to as “anionic surfactant solution A”.

Nonylphenol polyethylene oxide 10 mol adduct 0.014 kg and ion exchanged water 4.0 L
Is referred to as “nonionic surfactant solution B”.
223.8 g of potassium persulfate was added to 12.0 L of deionized water.
Is referred to as "initiator solution C".

A 100 L GL (glass lining) reactor equipped with a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, and a nitrogen introducing device was charged with W.
3.41 kg of AX emulsion (polypropylene emulsion having a number average molecular weight of 3000: number average primary particle diameter = 120 nm / solid concentration = 29.9%), the entire amount of “anionic surfactant solution A” and “nonionic surfactant solution B” Add the whole amount and start stirring. Next, ion-exchanged water 4
Add 4.0 L.

Heating was started, and when the liquid temperature reached 75 ° C., the entire amount of “initiator solution C” was added dropwise. Then, while controlling the liquid temperature to 75 ° C. ± 1 ° C., the styrene 1
2.1 kg, n-butyl acrylate 2.88 kg, methacrylic acid 1.04 kg and t-dodecyl mercaptan 54
8 g are added dropwise. After completion of the dropwise addition, the temperature of the solution was raised to 80 ° C. ± 1 ° C., and the mixture was heated and stirred for 6 hours. Next, the liquid temperature was cooled to 40 ° C. or lower, stirring was stopped, and the mixture was filtered with a pole filter to obtain “latex-A”.

The resin particles in the latex-A had a glass transition temperature of 57 ° C., a softening point of 121 ° C., a molecular weight distribution of weight average molecular weight = 12.7 million, and a weight average particle size of 12 ° C.
It was 0 nm.

A solution obtained by dissolving 0.055 kg of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate in 4.0 L of ion-exchanged pure water is referred to as “anionic surfactant solution D”. Also,
A solution prepared by dissolving 0.014 kg of nonylphenol polyethylene oxide 10 mol adduct in 4.0 L of ion-exchanged water is referred to as “nonionic surfactant solution E”.

Potassium persulfate (Kanto Chemical) 200.
A solution obtained by dissolving 7 g in 12.0 L of ion-exchanged water is referred to as “initiator solution F”.

A WAX emulsion (polypropylene emulsion having a number average molecular weight of 3000: number average primary particle diameter: 120 nm / solid content: 29.9) was placed in a 100 L GL reactor equipped with a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, a nitrogen introducing device, and a comb baffle. %), 3.41 kg, the whole amount of “anionic surfactant solution D” and the whole amount of “nonionic surfactant solution E” are added, and stirring is started. Next, 44.0 L of ion-exchanged water
Input. Heating is started, and when the liquid temperature reaches 70 ° C., “Initiator solution F” is added. Then, a solution prepared by previously mixing 11.0 kg of styrene, 4.00 kg of n-butyl acrylate, 1.04 kg of methacrylic acid, and 9.02 g of t-dodecylmercaptan is added dropwise. After completion of the dropwise addition, the mixture was heated and stirred for 6 hours while controlling the liquid temperature to 72 ° C. ± 2 ° C. Further, the liquid temperature was raised to 80 ° C. ± 2 ° C., and the mixture was heated and stirred for 12 hours. The liquid temperature is cooled to 40 ° C. or less, and the stirring is stopped. The solution was filtered through a Pall filter, and this filtrate was designated as "latex-B".

The glass transition temperature of the resin particles in the latex-B was 58 ° C., the softening point was 132 ° C., and the molecular weight distribution was such that the weight average molecular weight was 245,000 and the weight average particle size was 11
It was 0 nm.

Sodium chloride as salting-out agent 5.36k
g in ion-exchanged water 20.0 L is referred to as “sodium chloride solution G”.

A solution obtained by dissolving 1.00 g of a fluorine-based nonionic surfactant in 1.00 L of ion-exchanged water is referred to as "nonionic surfactant solution H".

100 L of S equipped with a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, a nitrogen introducing device, and a particle size and shape monitoring device.
US reactor (reactor having the configuration shown in FIG. 11, intersection angle α)
Is 20 °), the latex prepared above-A = 2
0.0 kg, 5.2 kg of latex-B, 0.4 kg of colorant dispersion 1 and 20.0 kg of ion-exchanged water are added and stirred. Then, the mixture was heated to 40 ° C., and sodium chloride solution G and isopropanol (manufactured by Kanto Chemical Co., Ltd.) 6.00 k
g, Nonionic surfactant solution H are added in this order. Then, after leaving it for 10 minutes, the temperature was started and the liquid temperature was 8
The temperature is raised to 5 ° C. in 60 minutes, and heated and stirred at 85 ± 2 ° C. for 0.5 to 3 hours to grow the particle size while salting out / fusing.
Next, 2.1 L of pure water is added to stop the particle size growth.

The fused particles prepared above were placed in a 5 L reaction vessel equipped with a temperature sensor, a cooling pipe, and a device for monitoring particle size and shape (reactor having the structure shown in FIG. 11; intersection angle α was 20 °). 5.0 kg of the dispersion liquid was added, and the liquid temperature was 85 ° C
The shape was controlled by heating and stirring at ± 2 ° C. for 0.5 to 15 hours. Thereafter, the mixture is cooled to 40 ° C. or less and the stirring is stopped. Next, classification is performed in the liquid by a centrifugal sedimentation method using a centrifugal separator, and the liquid is filtered through a sieve having a mesh size of 45 μm. Next, non-spherical particles in the form of a wet cake were collected by filtration from the associated liquid using a Nutsche. afterwards,
It was washed with ion-exchanged water.

The non-spherical particles were dried at a suction air temperature of 60 ° C. using a flash jet drier, and then dried at a temperature of 60 ° C. using a fluidized bed drier. To 100 parts by mass of the obtained colored particles, 1 part by mass of silica fine particles and 0.1 part by mass of zinc stearate were externally added and mixed with a Henschel mixer to obtain a toner by an emulsion polymerization association method as shown in the following table. In the monitoring of the salting-out / fusion step and the shape control step, the number of rotations of the stirring and the heating time are controlled to control the variation coefficient of the shape and the shape coefficient. Was adjusted to obtain toner T1 and toner T2 shown in Table 1.

Production of Toner T3 (Example of Suspension Polymerization Method) Styrene = 165 g, n-butyl acrylate = 35
g, carbon black = 10 g, metal di-t-butylsalicylate = 2 g, styrene-methacrylic acid copolymer = 8 g, paraffin wax (mp = 70 ° C.) = 20
g was heated to 60 ° C., and was uniformly dissolved and dispersed at 12,000 rpm with a TK homomixer (manufactured by Tokushu Kika Kogyo Co., Ltd.).
To this, 2,2'-azobis (2,4-
(Valeronitrile) = 10 g was added and dissolved to prepare a polymerizable monomer composition. Then, 710 g of ion-exchanged water
Was added with 450 g of a 0.1 M aqueous sodium phosphate solution, and TK was added.
While stirring at 13000 rpm with a homomixer, 1.
A suspension in which tricalcium phosphate was dispersed was prepared by gradually adding 68 g of 0M calcium chloride. The polymerizable monomer composition was added to the suspension, and the mixture was added to a TK homomixer.
The mixture was stirred at 0000 rpm for 20 minutes to granulate the polymerizable monomer composition. Thereafter, a reactor (crossing angle α is 45 °) having a stirring blade configuration as shown in FIG.
The reaction was performed at 〜95 ° C. for 5 to 15 hours. Tricalcium phosphate is dissolved and removed with hydrochloric acid, and then, using a centrifuge,
Classification was performed in the liquid by a centrifugal sedimentation method, followed by filtration, washing and drying. In 100 parts by mass of the obtained colored particles,
1 part by mass of silica fine particles and 0.1 part by mass of zinc stearate were externally added and mixed with a Henschel mixer to obtain a toner by a suspension polymerization method.

By monitoring during the polymerization, controlling the liquid temperature, the number of rotations of stirring, and the heating time, the variation coefficient of the shape and the shape coefficient are controlled. By adjusting the coefficient, a toner T3 shown in Table 1 below was obtained.

[0219]

[Table 1]

Preparation of Developer Preparation of Developer 1 To 100 parts of the toner T1, 0.4 parts of hydrophobic silica particles (R805: manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.) having an average particle diameter of 12 nm as external additives, and titania particles ( T805: manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.) and mixed with a Henschel mixer at room temperature at a peripheral speed of the stirring blade of 40 (m / sec) for 10 minutes to obtain a negatively chargeable toner. The fixation ratio of this toner was 45%.

A ferrite carrier coated with a silicone resin and having a volume average particle diameter of 60 μm was mixed with the above toner to prepare a developer 1 having a toner concentration of 5%.

Preparation of Developers 2 and 3 Developer 2 was prepared in the same manner as in Preparation of Developer 1 except that toner T2 was used instead of toner T1.
A developer 3 was prepared in the same manner except that the toner T3 was used instead of the toner T1.

Cleaning Blade and Elastic Member The cleaning blade and elastic member used in the cleaning device for the intermediate transfer member of the present invention are described in each of the embodiments.
Commercially available cleaning blades and elastic members were mainly used, but urethane rubbers were newly produced for cleaning blades which are not available as commercial products.

The production of a new urethane rubber was carried out by using an ethylene adipate prepolymer (Mn = 2000, NCO% = 6.5%) as a raw material of the urethane prepolymer.
To this, 1,4-butanediol and trimethylolpropane were mixed at appropriately changed mixing ratios, poured into a pre-heated mold, and heated and cured to produce urethane rubbers having different physical property values, Molded. After molding, width, thickness,
The length was adjusted and cut to produce a cleaning blade.

The elastic member and the cleaning blade were adhered to the support plate with a hot melt adhesive to obtain a cleaning blade for an example.

Example 1 Change in Free Length of Elastic Member and Cleaning Blade Configuration: As shown in FIG. 3, the elastic member and the cleaning blade were bonded to a support member using a double-sided adhesive tape. The free length a of the cleaning blade and the free length b of the elastic member were changed as shown in Tables 2 and 3.

Other cleaning conditions of intermediate transfer member Intermediate transfer member: 0.8 mm thick silicon rubber (containing zinc oxide) belt Cleaning blade physical properties: JISA hardness K ₁ ;
Urethane with rebound resilience H ₁ ; 70, where * is K ₁ ;
H ₁ ; urethane of 30 Cleaning blade thickness t ₁ : 2 mm, provided that t ₁ marked with *
Is 1 mm Elastic member material: JISA hardness K ₂ ; 70, rebound resilience H ₂ ;
Urethane of 70, where * is K ₂ ; 88, H ₂ ; Urethane of 70 Elastic member thickness t ₂ : 1.5 mm, * is thickness t ₂ : 3
mm Cleaning blade contact angle: 20 ° Cleaning blade load (N / m): 25 N / m Evaluation of cleanability.

As shown in Tables 2 and 3, the free lengths of the cleaning blade and the elastic member were changed, and a digital copying machine (corona charging, laser exposure, reversal development, intermediate transfer) basically having the image forming process shown in FIG. Using a body), filming, blade turning, and dot reproducibility were evaluated. The evaluation is 400 dpi (1
Using an original image with a pixel ratio of 7%, a halftone photographic image, a solid white image, and a solid black image, each of which is a quarter of a digital image (400 pixels per inch), at room temperature and normal humidity Under environment (24 ° C, 60% RH)
A copying experiment was performed continuously for 90 minutes on four sheets at 50 sheets / min. However, before the above evaluation starts, in order to make the intermediate transfer member and the cleaning blade familiar, the setting powder is sprayed on the photoreceptor and the cleaning blade, and the intermediate transfer member is removed by one.
Rotated for minutes. Other conditions for image evaluation are described below. The evaluation results are shown in Tables 2 and 3.

Other Evaluation Conditions Other evaluation conditions using the digital copying machine were set as follows.

Photoconductor: P1 Developer: 1 (toner T1) Charging condition Photoconductor charger: Scorotron charger, initial charging potential was-
750V Photoreceptor exposure conditions; exposure amount set to -50V exposure section potential.

Developing conditions; DC bias; -550 V, D
sd: 550 μm Developer layer thickness: 700 μm Photoreceptor cleaning conditions Photoreceptor cleaning blade physical properties: JISA hardness 7
0 degree, rebound resilience 70 Photoreceptor cleaning blade thickness: 2 mm, free length:
8 mm Cleaning blade contact angle: 17 ° Cleaning blade load (N / m): 20 N / m Evaluation items and evaluation criteria Filming (filming of toner, paper powder, etc.) ○: No filming on the intermediate transfer member Δ: Some filming occurred on the intermediate transfer member,
No image non-uniformity occurred. ×: Point-like filming occurred on the intermediate transfer member, and dot-like image non-uniformity occurred. XX: Linear or planar filming occurred on the intermediate transfer member, dot-like or surface. Occurrence of image irregularities in the shape of a blade.

Dot reproducibility: The output area with respect to the input image dot area was expressed as%. ○: 105 to 95% Δ: 94 to 90% ×: 89 to 80% ××: 79% or less

[0233]

[Table 2]

[0234]

[Table 3]

As is clear from Tables 2 and 3, when the free length of the elastic member and the cleaning blade satisfies the condition of Expression 1, that is, 0.1 <b / a ≦ 0.9, the blade is turned up and filming co-occurs. No good cleaning property is shown. The dot reproducibility was also good. On the other hand, 0.1 ≧ b
When / a or b / a> 0.9, either blade turning or filming occurs, and the dot reproducibility is reduced.

Example 2 Change in Thickness of Elastic Member and Cleaning Blade Configuration: As shown in FIG. 3, the elastic member and the cleaning blade were bonded to a support member using a double-sided adhesive tape. The thickness t ₁ of the cleaning blade and the thickness t ₂ of the elastic member were changed as shown in Table 4.

Other cleaning conditions for intermediate transfer member Intermediate transfer member: 0.8 mm thick silicon rubber (containing zinc oxide) belt Cleaning blade physical properties: JISA hardness K ₁ ;
Urethane with rebound resilience H ₁ ; 70, where * is K ₁ ;
H _1; 30 of urethane cleaning blade free length a: 9mm, but * a sign of a
Is 10 mm Elastic member material: JISA hardness K ₂ ; 70, rebound resilience H ₂ ;
Urethane of 70, where * is K ₂ ; 88, H ₂ ; Urethane of 70, elastic member free length b: 5.4 mm, where * is b: 1 mm Cleaning blade contact angle: 20 ° Cleaning blade load (N / m): 25 N / m Evaluation of cleaning property.

The same evaluation as in Example 1 was performed by changing the thicknesses of the cleaning blade and the elastic member as shown in Table 4. However, the conditions for image evaluation other than those described above are the same as those in Example 1 except for the following developer. Table 4 shows the evaluation results.

Developer: 3 (toner: T3)

[0240]

[Table 4]

As is clear from Table 4, the thickness ratio between the elastic member and the cleaning blade is equal to the condition of Equation 2, that is, 1/30.
In the case of ≦ t ₂ / t ₁ ≦ 2, no turning over and filming occur, indicating good cleaning properties. or,
The dot reproducibility was also good. On the other hand 1/30> t ₂ / t ₁
Or t ₂ / t _1> when the two are either blade curling or filming occurs and is reduced even dot reproducibility.

Example 3 Change in Hardness of Cleaning Blade and Elastic Member Configuration: As shown in FIG. 3, the elastic member and the cleaning blade were bonded to a support using a double-sided adhesive tape.
Hardness K ₂ hardness K ₁ and the elastic member of the cleaning blade was changed as described in Table 5.

Other cleaning conditions for intermediate transfer member Intermediate transfer member: 0.8 mm thick silicon rubber (containing zinc oxide) belt Cleaning blade physical properties: rebound resilience H ₁ ; urethane of 70, where * is H ₁ ; 30 urethane cleaning blade free length a: 9 mm, but a marked with *
Is 10 mm Cleaning blade thickness t ₁ : 2 mm, where * is 1 m
m Elastic member material: urethane with rebound resilience H ₂ ; 70 Elastic member free length b: 5.4 mm, where * is b: 1 mm Elastic member thickness t ₂ : 1.5 mm, * is 3 mm Cleaning blade contact angle : 20 ° Cleaning blade load (N / m): 25 N / m Evaluation of cleaning property.

As shown in Table 5, the same evaluation as in Example 1 was performed by changing the hardness K _{1 of the} cleaning blade and the hardness K _{2 of the} elastic member. The conditions for image evaluation other than the above are the same as those in Example 1 except for the following developers. Table 5 shows the evaluation results.

Developer: 2 (toner: T2)

[0246]

[Table 5]

As is clear from Table 5, the hardness k _{1 of the} cleaning member and the hardness K _{2 of the} elastic member satisfy the condition of Expression 3, ie, 5
/ 7 <For K ₂ / K ₁ <10/7 without blade turn and filming, it shows good cleaning properties. The dot reproducibility was also good. On the other hand, 5/7 ≧
When K ₂ / K ₁ or K ₂ / K ₁ ≧ 10/7, either blade turning or filming occurs, and the dot reproducibility is reduced.

Example 4 Change in rebound resilience of the cleaning blade and the elastic member Configuration: As shown in FIG. 3, the elastic member and the cleaning blade were bonded to a support using a double-sided adhesive tape.
Resilience of H ₂ rebound H ₁ and the elastic member of the cleaning blade was changed as described in Table 6.

Other cleaning conditions for intermediate transfer member Intermediate transfer member: 0.8 mm thick silicon rubber (containing zinc oxide) belt Cleaning blade physical properties: urethane with hardness K ₁ ; 70, where * is K ₁ ; Urethane cleaning blade free length a: 9 mm, but a marked with *
Is 10 mm Cleaning blade thickness t ₁ : 2 mm, where * is 1 m
m elastic member material:; urethane hardness K ₂ 70, where symbol * K _2; 88 urethane elastic members free length b: 5.4 mm, where symbol * b: 1 mm elastic member thickness t _2: 1.5 mm Where * is 3 mm Cleaning blade contact angle: 20 ° Cleaning blade load (N / m): 25 N / m As shown in Table 6, the resilience of the cleaning blade and the elastic member was changed, and the same evaluation as in Example 1 was performed. went. Evaluation conditions other than the above are the same as those in the first embodiment. Table 6 shows the evaluation results.

[0250]

[Table 6]

As is clear from Table 6, the ratio of the elastic modulus between the elastic member and the cleaning blade is equal to the condition of equation 4, that is, 2 /
When 7 <H ₂ / H ₁ ≦ 8/7, no blade turnover and no filming occur, indicating good cleaning properties. The dot reproducibility was also good. On the other hand, 2/7 ≧ H
_{When 2} / H ₁ or H ₂ / H ₁ > 8/7, either blade turning or filming occurs, and the dot reproducibility is reduced.

Example 5 Example Conditions 1 to 8 The combinations of the photosensitive member, toner, intermediate transfer member, and cleaning conditions for the intermediate transfer member were set as shown in Table 7.

In particular, the combination of the cleaning blade and the elastic member changes the combination of the material, free length, and thickness of the cleaning blade and the elastic member.
As shown in Table 7, the values of Equations 1 to 4 were changed.

Cleaning blade contact angle of intermediate transfer member: described in Table 7 Cleaning blade load (N / m) of intermediate transfer member: described in Table 7 Evaluation of cleaning performance.

As shown in Table 7, the same evaluation as in Example 1 was performed by changing the combination of the photosensitive member, the toner, the intermediate transfer member, the cleaning blade of the intermediate transfer member, and the elastic member. However, the evaluation of blade squeal was also added to the evaluation items. Image evaluation conditions other than those described in Table 7 are the same as those in Example 1. Example conditions are shown in Table 7, and evaluation results are shown in Table 8.

In the table, Intermediate transfer member 1: Silicon rubber (containing zinc oxide), belt having a thickness of 0.8 mm Intermediate transfer member 2: Teflon (registered trademark) surface-treated silicon rubber (containing tin oxide), 0.8 mm in thickness Intermediate transfer member 3: urethane rubber (containing carbon black), belt having a thickness of 0.8 mm Elastic member A: rubber hardness (K ₁ ) 70 °, rebound resilience (H ₁ )
70% elastic member B: rubber hardness (K ₁ ) 70 °, rebound resilience (H ₁ )
50% elastic member C: rubber hardness (K ₁ ) 70 °, rebound resilience (H ₁ )
30%

[0257]

[Table 7]

[0258]

[Table 8]

Blade squeak An abnormal sound generated due to abnormal friction between the cleaning blade and the photosensitive member is called blade squeal, and the presence or absence of the abnormal sound was evaluated.

As is clear from Tables 7 and 8, among the combinations of the elastic member and the cleaning blade, Formulas 1 to 4
Combinations satisfying the above conditions and Examples 1 to 6 do not cause any of blade turning, blade squeal, and filming, indicating good cleaning properties. The dot reproducibility was also good. On the other hand, in the combinations that do not satisfy the conditions of Expressions 1 to 4, and Example Conditions 7, 8, and 9, at least one of blade turning, blade squealing, and filming occurs, and dot reproducibility is deteriorated.

Example 6 Configuration: As shown in FIG. 3, an elastic member and a cleaning blade of a cleaning device for an intermediate transfer member were bonded to a support member using a double-sided adhesive tape. Each combination of the free length a of the cleaning blade, the free length b of the elastic member, the conditions for bonding the free length portion (bonding), and the conditions of the free end (free end) where no bonding was performed was changed as shown in Table 9.

Cleaning Conditions for Intermediate Transfer Member Physical Properties of Cleaning Blade: Hardness 70 °, Rebound Elasticity 6
0 urethane rubber Cleaning blade thickness t ₁ : 2 mm Elastic member: hardness 70 degrees, urethane rubber with rebound resilience 50 thickness t ₂ : 1 mm Environmental conditions: normal temperature and normal humidity (20 ° C., 50%), low temperature and low humidity (1
0 ° C., 20%), high temperature and high humidity (30 ° C., 80%) Cleaning blade contact angle: 20 ° Cleaning blade load (N / m): 25 N / m Evaluation of cleaning property.

As shown in Table 9, the cleaning blade of the intermediate transfer body cleaning device and the free length of the elastic member were changed, and the same evaluation as in Example 1 was performed (however, evaluation of blade squeal was added).

Other conditions for image evaluation are the same as those in the first embodiment.
Table 9 shows the evaluation results.

[0265]

[Table 9]

As is clear from Table 9, in the case of the present invention in which the free length portions of the elastic member and the cleaning blade are free ends, normal temperature and normal humidity (20 ° C., 50%) and low temperature and low humidity (10 ° C., 20%) and good cleaning characteristics and good dot reproducibility for evaluation items such as blade turning, filming and blade squealing in any environment of high temperature and high humidity (30 ° C., 80%). In the case where the free length portion is not the free end and is outside the present invention, it shows good cleaning properties under normal temperature and normal humidity conditions, but under low temperature and low humidity, or under high temperature and high humidity, blade turning or filming etc. It is found that they easily occur and the dot reproducibility is also lowered.

[0267]

As is clear from the above embodiment, the use of a cleaning device having a cleaning blade having an elastic member bonded thereto under the conditions of the present invention allows the residual toner on the intermediate transfer member to be turned up by the blade and filming. No cleaning occurs, cleaning can be performed effectively, and a good image can be formed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer member of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a color image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer member.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an intermediate transfer body cleaning device using the cleaning device of the present invention in the cleaning device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a reaction apparatus having a single-stage stirring blade.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a reaction apparatus having a stirring blade which can be preferably used.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the reaction apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a specific example of a reactor having a stirring blade which can be preferably used.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a specific example of a reaction apparatus having a stirring blade which can be preferably used.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a specific example of a reactor having a stirring blade which can be preferably used.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a specific example of a reactor having a stirring blade which can be preferably used.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a specific example of a reactor having a stirring blade which can be preferably used.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing an example of a reaction apparatus used for forming a laminar flow.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing a specific example of the shape of a stirring blade.

FIG. 14A is an explanatory diagram showing a projected image of a toner particle having no corner, and FIGS. 14B and 14C are explanatory diagrams showing a projected image of a toner particle having a corner.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 10 Photoreceptor 11 Charging means 12 Exposure means 13 Developing means 14 Intermediate transfer body 15 Secondary transfer means 19 Timing roller 30 Fixing means 140 Cleaning device 143 Cleaning blade 144 Elastic member 145 Support member a Free length of cleaning blade b the thickness of the thickness t ₂ the elastic members of free length t ₁ the cleaning blade of the elastic member

Claims (13)

[Claims] An electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor is developed with a developer containing toner, and a toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to an intermediate transfer member. In the cleaning device for removing the toner remaining on the transfer member, the cleaning device has a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member. A cleaning step, wherein a step is provided between a tip of the cleaning blade and a tip of the elastic member, and the step is such that the elastic member is located farther from the intermediate transfer member. 2. An electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor is developed by a developer containing toner, and a toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to an intermediate transfer member. In the cleaning device for removing the toner remaining on the transfer member, the cleaning device has a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member. And a free length a of the cleaning blade and a free length b of the elastic member are designed to satisfy Expression 1. Formula 1 0.1 <b / a ≦ 0.9 3. An electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor is developed with a developer containing toner, and a toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to an intermediate transfer member. In the cleaning device for removing the toner remaining on the transfer member, the cleaning device has a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member. and it has a cleaning device, characterized in that the thickness t ₂ of the thickness t ₁ and the elastic member of the cleaning blade is designed to satisfy equation 2. Equation 2 1/30 ≦ t ₂ / t ₁ ≦ 2 4. An electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor is developed with a developer containing toner, and a toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to an intermediate transfer member. In the cleaning device for removing the toner remaining on the transfer member, the cleaning device has a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member. and has a cleaning apparatus characterized by hardness K ₂ hardness K ₁ and the elastic member of the cleaning blade is designed to satisfy equation 3. Equation _{3 5/7 <K 2 / K 1} <10/7 (K 2, K 1: JIS
K6301A hardness) 5. An electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor is developed by a developer containing toner, and a toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to an intermediate transfer member. In the cleaning device for removing the toner remaining on the transfer member, the cleaning device has a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member. and it has a cleaning apparatus characterized by resilience of H ₂ rebound H ₁ and the elastic member of the cleaning blade is designed to satisfy equation 4. Equation 4 2/7 <H ₂ / H ₁ ≦ 8/7 6. An electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor is developed by a developer containing toner, and a toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to an intermediate transfer member. In the cleaning device for removing the toner remaining on the transfer member, the cleaning device has a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member. A step is provided between the tip of the cleaning blade and the tip of the elastic member. The step is such that the elastic member is located farther from the intermediate transfer member. A cleaning device, which is designed to satisfy the relational expressions (1) to (4). 7. An electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor is developed by a developer containing toner, and a toner image visualized by the development is transferred from the photoreceptor to an intermediate transfer member. In the cleaning device for removing the toner remaining on the transfer member, the cleaning device has a cleaning blade and an elastic member, and the cleaning blade is in close contact with the elastic member on a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the intermediate transfer member. And a free length portion of the cleaning blade and the elastic member are free ends. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein a step is provided between a tip of the cleaning blade and a tip of the elastic member, and the step is such that the elastic member is located farther from the intermediate transfer member. 8. The cleaning device according to 7. 9. An electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor is developed by a developer containing toner, and a toner image visualized by the development is primarily transferred from the photoreceptor to an intermediate transfer member. 9. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein in the image forming method for forming an image by secondary-transferring the toner image on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material, the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member is removed. An image forming method characterized in that the image forming method comprises: 10. An electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductor is developed with a developer containing toner, and a toner image visualized by the development is primarily transferred from the photoconductor to an intermediate transfer body.
9. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body is cleaned by an image forming apparatus that forms an image by secondary-transferring a toner image on the intermediate transfer body onto a transfer material. An image forming apparatus characterized by being removed by an apparatus. 11. The toner according to claim 1, wherein the variation coefficient of the shape coefficient of the toner particles is 16% or less, and the number variation coefficient in the number particle size distribution of the toner particles is 27% or less. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10. 12. A toner having a shape factor of 1.2.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a toner containing 65% by number or more of toner particles in a range of 1.6 to 1.6 is used. 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a toner containing 50% by number or more of toner particles having no corner is used as the toner.